Range time; alone or with a friend?

I prefer solo. I'm not there to socialize.

I like shooting with family & friends but that depends on the friends. I have one friend that does dumb things at the range like load his gun lay it down then walk in front of it down range to put up his target. I have to keep watch over him all the time.

I use to go with my wife, it was fun, but since the virus I've been going alone, not as much fun, but it is a good stress reliever.

Trey Veston said:

I'd shoot with someone that loved George Thorogood and had a Cousin Eddie avatar, lol.

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Ditto

Poll needs an option for "A mix."

I will admit to preferring solo for indoors, as the booth is too small as is.

I also have a wrinkle on this, if I'm in a group, I want my group to be 'alone' at the range. That way everyone can spread out and do their thing if they need to, but the rest are nearby as needed/required.

I've been shooting a loooooong time, and I've put countless rounds down range. I'm confident I can ring the 500m plate (the furthest my range supports) consistently w/ my Mosin, I'm confident I can clear a FTF/FTE very nearly automatically, I know I can draw, point, and hit center mass @ 25ft, quickly enough (slow is smooth, smooth is fast). Now I get more enjoyment out of introducing new shooters to the range, the weapons, and 'gun culture', or by spending time with my kids and helping them improve their marksmanship. If I go by myself, I generally end up talking guns with perfect strangers (I don't get to go very often so I don't see the same faces very often). That's not to say I don't occasionally want to go by myself, but it's not often.

No preference, it depends on why I'm there.

Sometimes I'm just running 50-100 rounds through my conceal carry handgun and only plan to be at the range for 30 minutes, then I want to be there alone.

But if I have more time I'll bring my stepdaughter or a buddy.

I test early in the morning , always by myself . Evenings I meet my Sons at the range , I usually bring something I already have an established load for because my concentration is not as keen when folks are around . We chat while we let our barrels cool and then afterwards until it gets dark . I enjoy those range sessions more for the friendship , when It comes to straight up shooting those sessions when the sun is not even visible over the berm and I have the place to myself...that's heaven .

I don't have any friends except you guys. And I'm not too sure even then....
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gonoles_1980 said:

I use to go with my wife, it was fun, but since the virus I've been going alone, not as much fun, but it is a good stress reliever.

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Why "since the virus" haven't you been going shooting with your wife, gonoles_1980? Just curious.
I hope the virus hasn't affected you or your wife badly.

Col. Harrumph said:

I don't have any friends except you guys. And I'm not too sure even then....
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I'm your friend, and if we didn't live so far apart, I'd go shooting with you - maybe.

I don't really have any friends other than my wife. I like to shoot with her as often as possible. I tried shooting with her brothers but they are idiots. If she can't go I shoot alone...

I'm OK with either way, but let me pass on a bit of wisdom, acquired (almost) the hard way:
When I was testing my XM177E2 clone for function and reliability after some minor troubles with it, I was walking back from the 50 yd target when I noticed two kids had pulled in, and were 'admiring' my AR. I yelled "PUT IT DOWN NOW!" while I put my hand on the pistol I had IWB. Fortunately, I also had the only AR mag I'd brought with me in my pocket, and they hadn't gone in the ammo can. They beat feet and piled in their car and tore off.
This was at a public range, which had a 'caretaker' in an old construction trailer at the gate. He hadn't seen them come in, and there had been gun thefts there before.
I stopped going there. The one I am a member at now is private, RFID gated, and I've never had such an experience there. I do still enjoy company when shooting, though sometimes I end up playing gunsmith for others.

I haven't shot by myself in a long time. Years maybe.

.308 Norma said:

Why "since the virus" haven't you been going shooting with your wife, gonoles_1980? Just curious.
I hope the virus hasn't affected you or your wife badly.

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She didn't like going out where you had to were masks, but our range doesn't require masks. It's a mental thing more than anything else, so I go buy myself.

I enjoy shooting at the range but I'm also serious about what I'm doing. I have noticed that most friends that I have paired up with on shoots are too distracting. My routine involves a warmup, a Bullseye round and ending with an informal portion where I shoot my CCW and an assortment of guns at various ranges. The informal shooting is OK with other people in the mix but for my Bullseye round I prefer to be left alone. My wife is by far the best shooting buddy I have ever had.

USUALLY, If I'm alone I'm working on specific stuff, not shooting for fun. Some times it helps to have a second there, but for the most part, I prefer to do that kinda stuff alone so I can get where I need to be as quickly as possible. ..I find I don't really enjoy the workie sort of shooting as much as I used to.

Days when Im just mad at or tired of the world and go "hunting" I go by myself and just decompress.....again not what I really consider "fun" but relaxing and necessary.

"range" days are just fun days for me and usually involves friends or family. Get there at 9 sometimes don't leave till 5, shoot a few thousand rounds, and grumble about picking up brass. Mostly just hang out and have a good time. Ill take small projects to these shoot, stuff I'm 99% sure is either going to work right out of the box or guns to sight, but none of the more intensive projects/load work.

I am in the it depends category. If I am working up a load I just as soon go by myself so I can concentrate.
Then at other times it puts a smile on my face when others shoot with me and they get smiles on their faces. So it depends on work or play.

Legitimate practice I like to go alone.
Plinking, long distance shooting and general tomfoolery I like to go with my wife or cousin.

I rarely shoot socially. Usually I'm working on some aspect of my abilities or equipment, in which case I don't need distractions.

When I shoot socially, I don't actually do much shooting.

Generally alone.....sometimes my wife will step outside the house and join me! memtb

I enjoy shooting with my family, especially the younger ones. It's mostly them shooting and grandpa offering advise and help which includes loading magazines for the youngest. The others are well into adulthood and I just answer when they have a question if I can help. I even put in a little time burning powder but leave the shooting mostly to them. I have outlived all my friends so that version is out. I am acquainted with some of the range members and we visit and compare guns when we run into each other.

I can go to the range early on weekdays by myself and that is when I do my serious shooting. Sighting in a new scope, doing load development, testing modifications made, or just shooting for groups is when I prefer to be alone. Sometimes there is no one but me there and I'm usually the only one or close to it when the late sleepers begin to show up. Yesterday I arrived just as the sun cleared the horizon and had the place all to myself for about an hour and a half. The another shooter arrived and did his thing for awhile and I did mine. We had met before and we discussed his AR in 6.8 SPC and coyote hunting for awhile before we both loaded up and left. My idea is to go early to beat the crowds and heat and it has worked well for several years.
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As much as I like taking new people to the range I don’t expect to shoot much when I do that.
If I want some trigger time I go alone.

Preferably I like shooting with family and friends if we're indoors. Just seems like it's more fun that way. When I go shooting at an outdoor range I like to have someone along to watch our gear and my back when we take turns going down range to set up targets.