Why Am I The Only One Not In A Chair?

At my local range, run by state F&G, there are benches alternating with spaces to run the stances.

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Rabbit Creek?

Is this something other folks notice at their rifle ranges as well, or is it a local problem?

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If it's Rabbit Creek, it may be because their rules are such that a lot of people don't use it (I've been told they don't allow any drills involving drawing from the holster for handguns, which is enough to keep me going elsewhere). Out at Birchwood I have seen a lot of shooters working various positions besides the bench -- and there's an obvious range of ability there, from what I've seen. The only guys out there I've seen really tied to the bench were guys who were obviously fine tuning something on a hunting rifle.

Why stand when you can sit, why sit when you can lie down? This has been a saying for as long as people have communicated with each other. You obviously like to challenge yourself, and make yourself a better shot (as do I). Some people are challenged just to have time to shoot after a hard day at work, and like to take a break while taking a break. We all shoot different ways for different reasons. My shooting buddy just pulled somthing in his back, and I was glad he showed up to shoot today. I didn't care if he had to even lie down to shoot his handguns. I was just glad he made it out to shoot.

No offense but unless you're "going over the top" in wwI or laying in a foxhole for cover in the deer woods shooting prone is if anything a more useless skill than sitting from a bench.

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Maybe to you that is true. However, the last elk I killed was done while I was laying completely still in the middle of a recently harvested pea field. There was no concealment at all other than my ability to lie very flat and still.

My closest range has benches lined up with not much space between. What space there is is hard, rocky, bare, lopsided and generally uninviting.

I don't expect a red carpet, but the way my knees are these days, I'm not dealing with it, so I end up on the bench or standing. I actually enjoy prone shooting, but I'll need to find another venue before I resume that style of practice.

My two best shooting buddies, my dad and uncle, are in worse shape than me, so we do the old fart shuffle from the benches. It's still fun.

Observe me on a formal range and it will almost certainly be the Josephine County Sportsman Park. I do less than ten percent of my shooting there, the rest being solo on my own land or with friends on BLM land. While I do a lot of plinking at the range, all offhand, and a little position shooting with the friends on BLM land, shooting on my own land includes a lot of random range, random grade, field position work that lacks only the urgency and moving targets of hunting. Your experience at the range would lump me among the bench jockeys because your sampling technique is lacking.

I will go prone before using a bench. This is partly due to a bench not being available or a bench that is shaky. I can think of 2 ranges with good benches. Neither has a decent chair or stool.Another aspect is the games I play are either position shooting or F Class TR which I consider positional with a bipod. At no point have I been interested in using a rest. The result is I am not good off of a bench and don't have desire to develop that skill or purchase/haul more equipment.
Shooting well off of a bench requires a few sets of skills the way I see it.

This is the next step for me. I've FINALLY locked on to a load that is boringly accurate out of the 06 when shooting at the bench, that I'm going off the bench.

I clicked on this thread thinking it was going to be some manner of musical chairs metaphor.... oh well.

At the range, I usually shoot my AR standing or braced against a post. My bolt gun shooting stays on the bench with sand bags for now because I am still trying to work up an optimal go-to hunting load for my 30-06. When I get my load finalized, I'll start working more on field positions.

Cosmo,

It's self defense training.

Since 95% of our days is sitting on our butts, what better way to practice self defense???

What are the odds that I'm going to need to defend myself standing up when I stand up so rarely.

I am envious that you are allowed to fire from positions other than seated at a bench! The nearest decent range, to my location in a sprawling metropolis, only allows slow-fire from a bench, on their rifle ranges. The handgun and shotgun ranges allow standing and such.

I would usually avoid prone, anyway, because of thick vegetation in this region, and my bad knee means that going prone means staying there a while, like it or not. Getting back to my feet takes a bit of time. Kneeling and sitting are about the same challenge in getting back to my feet, and of limited usefulness in the field in this region, due to vegetation.

I miss having good access to local private land, as I did in the 20th Century, where I could practice any position. Bench rest shooting is fairly boring, unless I am working on sighting-in, or checking POI and accuracy of a particular load.

I use the bench because I'm old!

I use the bench. Where else am I going to put all my stuff?

I wouldn't worry about it. You can shoot anyway you want and let everyone else make their own decisions about how they shoot.

I think shooting from the bench is more fun, but that is probably because I suck at off-hand. But I am constantly tweaking my rifles so I am also constantly testing to see how it alters the way it shoots.

I can understand the merit, however, for real world use, to practice in positions that you would mostly be using in the field.

I see this all the time too. I shoot in NJ, PA and NC at both private clubs and public outdoor ranges and it's the same in all three places. Time and time again people sitting at the bench, sometimes not just sitting but with both the front of the rife and the rear of the rifle in a rest. Even worse, some guys with the gun is a lead sled.

I understand this is useful for sighting in, testing loads, etc. but these guys aren't doing that. This is just a regular range trip. I don't see the point of it and to be honest, I know that to each his own but it just looks stupid. Of course you can shoot nice groups at 100 yards when you're not even holding the rifle. Why bother? Just looks to me like a waste of time and money.

R.W.Dale said:

No offense but unless you're "going over the top" in wwI or laying in a foxhole for cover in the deer woods shooting prone is if anything a more useless skill than sitting from a bench. I've shot deer sitting in a chair with the rifle on a "bench" I have yet to lay on my belly and crawl around in the sawgrass rocks and briars to shoot at lunch.

prone shooting skills today are only useful in shooting "games" for sportsman and other civilian marksman, and since the advent of body armor the last thing you want to do is present only your head and shoulders to the enemy

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Wut?

-F-class is getting very popular. All prone. Shooting games are a huge part of the gun industry.

-any military longrange marksman is going to spend alot of time shooting from prone.

-Deer don't shoot back and in my area can be taken with a spear. Prone is a nice skill to have, if my local range deosn't allow me to shoot prone, the only way I can get some good practice in is to do a one handed, handstand while shooting, or maybe a few Russian Spetsnaz backflips.

Too many shoulder injuries prevent me from shooting off hand without pain. I used to shoot alot of bullseye but I cannot hold the pistol up like that any more....chris3

I went out with rifle and pistol the other day; first time in several years. I few days later went to a range about 50 miles from home. I haven't been hunting since the mid-1980s. I really enjoyed just shooting targets. I have 3 Marlin .22s, a single six, and a Bersa .380; and a couple of shotguns. I don't get around as well as I once did. Although I used the bench most of the time, I did shoot standing some of the time. Don't plan to go hunting; just shooting for fun.

Can't we all just be friends ... brothers (and sisters) in arms?



Me ... I just like to shoot. I'll shoot zombies off of benches , free hand, prone, kneeling, ... whatever. When you see me at the range (I don't shoot at a "range") you'll know which zombie zapping technique I am practicing by my stance that day ... don't bug me!!!!

Hey, you should feel lucky. At our local range, we're lucky if we get a chair instead of a stump or a piece of wood

"People don't like doing things they're bad at."

So we're all bad at it, are we? If you say so. Fwiw, I learned to shoot offhand in the 1950s.

People also like to put words in my mouth.

Then keep it shut. B Y O B:

Bring Your Own Bench. Seen good rifle benches at many stores for less than $50. Or build one yourself. DAO.