How many people REALLY shoot anymore

[ford8nr]

GREAT replies and thoughts. Most are pretty much on line with my thoughts and observations. While I TOTALLY agree anyway a person shoots, traditional or supported is great for the sport and 2nd Admendment. One observation with young shooters is they don't want to or have the attention span to become a good marksman. Off a bench almost anyone can hit paper, offhand is a different story. My wife shot her one and only .22 Sil Match at the end of this season...off a bench 5 targets at 25, 50, 75 and 100yds, 20 total. Shot a clean 20, only one of ten or twelve shot all season and had a blast. Wants to shoot again next season, GREAT DEAL.

Now I told her we need to work on offhand if she wants a bigger challenge.

 

[wally]

Other than sighting in I shoot steel plates and water filled plastic bottles at un-measured distances standing, kneeling, sitting, or prone (if the weeds aren't too high).

Paper, bench and sandbags are only for sighting in for me.

 

[ford8nr]

I can still hit the paper in any traditional position and you have a hell of a lot to learn about a love of the shooting sports and the gun in general.

Since you don't know me, I disagree...been shooting since 1968. Competatively since 1973. Shot through High School and College.
NRA Smallbore Distingished Expert and Light Rifle Expert. Rifle Coach and RSO.
Just got back into 4 position indoor smallbore after a 35 year absence due to raising a family. Positions got tougher, folding myself into sitting is a challenge, but I keep going back. Be my 3rd year back with a focus and am almost back to my old average. Only need to improve on my own weekly scores, nothing to prove to anyone but myself. Maybe one day I'll be tied to a bench, but at that point just like you I can say ... "been there, done that."

 

[Reloadron]

GREAT replies and thoughts. Most are pretty much on line with my thoughts and observations. While I TOTALLY agree anyway a person shoots, traditional or supported is great for the sport and 2nd Admendment. One observation with young shooters is they don't want to or have the attention span to become a good marksman. Off a bench almost anyone can hit paper, offhand is a different story. My wife shot her one and only .22 Sil Match at the end of this season...off a bench 5 targets at 25, 50, 75 and 100yds, 20 total. Shot a clean 20, only one of ten or twelve shot all season and had a blast. Wants to shoot again next season, GREAT DEAL.

Now I told her we need to work on offhand if she wants a bigger challenge.

Well I figure it a little differently. I don't see it as much attention span as developing the self discipline. The really cool thing with developing good shooting skills is developing a high level (standard) of self discipline. I figure anyone who plays golf well or shoots well just seems to also be successful and driven.

Those who want to shoot again? That is like a defining line. Take some out shooting and they have a nice time and add shooting to their life experiences, take others out and they can't wait to try it again.

Ron

 

[taliv]

i don't know what's up with all the 'range won't allow offhand shooting' stuff. i have an indoor and regular 2 outdoor ranges within 15 minute drive, and 3 1000 yard ranges within 100 miles. all of them not only allow but promote positional shooting and 4 of the 6 host matches that involve positional shooting.

i'd certainly encourage anyone and everyone to shoot whatever type they enjoy. I'd only get a little derisive when people try to give me a lot of opinions about tactical stuff and let on like they're commandos, but when i see them they are always shooting from a bench.

 

[Reloadron]

Since you don't know me, I disagree...been shooting since 1968. Competatively since 1973. Shot through High School and College.
NRA Smallbore Distingished Expert and Light Rifle Expert. Rifle Coach and RSO.
Just got back into 4 position indoor smallbore after a 35 year absence due to raising a family. Positions got tougher, folding myself into sitting is a challenge, but I keep going back. Be my 3rd year back with a focus and am almost back to my old average. Only need to improve on my own weekly scores, nothing to prove to anyone but myself. Maybe one day I'll be tied to a bench, but at that point just like you I can say ... "been there, done that."

Cool with me. I merely disagreed with part of your initial post. We can agree to disagree. I still do the positions just not as well as I once did. I do tend to gravitate towards the bench. No lead sled stuff but a Wichita Rest and Bunny Bag figure in. My shooting time is my leisure time and I intend to enjoy as best I can. Finally retired I now have the time, just not quite the body.

Ron

 

[moonzapa]

I shoot mostly at a public shooting range in Garland, TX. I'm not sure if they would allow shooting prone from a mat or not. Last year I had the pleasure of shooting from the kneeling position on a 9-point Whitetail Deer in El Dorado, TX. The shot was only 105 yards, but I was proud of myself. I hit the deer right behind the front leg and using a Hornady 139 SST bullet dropped him DRT. I wasn't a ground pounder in the service, just a swabbie. However, I know that our military trains our Airmen, Soldiers, Sailors, and Marines to prepare them for battle. I would question the importance of the sitting position, but the prone, kneeling and off-hand positions should be required. Especially in properly using a sling to shoot with, not just to carry your rifle. (My dad was a WWII vet of North Africa and he taught me how to use a sling to steady my aim when I didn't have cover to use.)

I find myself hunting from a blind these days, I'm 59. However, if the chips are down, I feel very confident I can get the job done. The bottom line is that you should have fun and enjoy yourself when you go shooting.

 

[FinnComm]

Quite surprised to hear about the "no off-hand shooting" restrictions over there. We always hold you guys up as the "freedom end" of this wonderful hobby, which adds to the surprise.

Over here it's a mix of off-hand, prone, kneeling and bags for sighting-in. Have never seen a benchrest sled thingy "in the flesh", but everyone should be allowed to choose their own hobby

We do have a few terrible shots, guys who only sight their rifle in off bags and then think they're ready for moose. One guy last season swore he shot a moose through the neck, before it ran off. Four days later the team downed it and found a painful-looking hole through the snout.

On the positive side, most hunters I know will practice from field positions before hunting.

 

[B!ngo]

Shooting is both science and skill.
My fondest memory's of shooting was being less than ten years old at a summer camp, lying prone on a pad in a wooden outdoor shooting range with a .22lr single shot made for right handers. I am left handed. But it was the perfect intro. I had the skill and interest and really excelled. I try to make it a point to focus on these skill-fulfilling experiences these days rather than a bench-centric approach.
But the science side of shooting - load tuning, repeatability testing, centering an optic, testing ones part of the repeatability equation as well as the rifles abilities, are all best served by whatever aids that best remove the variability of the shooter. So the sleds, the bags or whatever is needed just helps good shooting science.
In neither case however am I much interested in just shooting a mag or two in short order. Doesn't float my boat, is expensive and is neither skill nor science but some other emotional fulfillment I suppose. It's also why I am getting more attracted to bolt operated rifles rather than wooden or all-black semi's. Otherwise the ammo just gets used up too fast and it's anything but those days in summer camp.
B

 

[twofifty]

Seated Marine position

Anyone who wants to shoot lots of offhand (22LR and/or centerfire) in a competition or club setting should look into Metallic Silhouette.

Anybody here do regular work with the Seated Marine position?

 

[TheGoldenSaber]

To each their own but when I shoot I always shoot for realism. If the crap ever hits the fan I don't want my only practice to be shooting very slowly at a stationary, unarmed paper target. When I go to the range I'm the only one that stands up with rifles. I know that I can easily do very well using a bipod, so I only practice like that once in a while.

 

[MarshallDodge]

Interesting subject. Not sure why shooters have lost interest in shooting off-hand, etc.

For me, most of the rifle shooting I do is off a bipod. The reason is that they are heavy precision rifles for long range and varminting.

I shoot my carbines off hand 90% of the time but the target is usually a large steel plate at distances inside of 200 yards. Where I spend a lot of time shooting off-hand is with my pistol because that is the gun that I will most likely have to use if I defend my life.

 

[chris in va]

I enjoy pinging 300 yard steel plates standing, with a hasty sling.

 

[rbernie]

I shoot mostly at a public shooting range in Garland, TX. I'm not sure if they would allow shooting prone from a mat or not.

They used to, but do not any longer. Forcing you to shoot from the bench (into the raised berm and under the baffles just downrange of the bench) is a fallout of the litigation that they just cleared regarding the potential for stray rounds to leave the range.

 

[oldpapps]

Lots of experience listed above.

As for me.
Currently I still have a 25 pound restriction. It's better than the 5 pound and 15 pound ones I had earlier. Most of my long gun stuff has been slow fire off of 'rice bags' (like a sand bag only filled with rice, much lighter and I can carry them out to the pick nick table).
Before my surgeries I preferred to stand. As this was only target work, it is acceptable.

I never like the concept of 'prone' or 'off of a barricade'. Where I retired from was most all concrete and at the previous employment I had experimented with 'skip shot', mostly pistol and shotgun. Nope, I don't think I want to get into the line of 'skip fire'.
Younger, I was always too squishy and a setting position was more of a on my butt wiggle position. (set on the floor, place the bottoms of both feet flat together, rest both knees on the floor - squishy - no solid support.)

Another thought, mobility. Flat on the ground or flat on your butt, move fast.

It goes back to basic training; breathing, sight picture, trigger squeeze. Stable positions are a continuation. Weaver or isosceles, 'push-pull' or 'cup & saucier', sitting/prone/standing. If 'it' is a 'game' or for competition, set the position. To live in an actual gun fight, forget it, I will do what I know works. I know, 36 years of staying alive or preparing has me in a mind set to innovate, change tactics often, move and live.

I am amused when I think of shooting the old 'PPC' course. Amble back to the 50 yard line and take up position by a wobbling 4 by 4 stuck into a pipe in the ground. Slow fire, single action, with a 4 inch .38 Special using the cheapest 148 grain grease ball wad cutters. Oh yes, that was useful, not.

Time is close for me to go to the pharmacy for more meds.

Thanks for a hobble down memory lane. Wonder what my BP is now?

 

[MtnCreek]

i don't know what's up with all the 'range won't allow offhand shooting' stuff. ......

I know of a range that has gone to bench only. They installed a ~2x8" in front of the bench and this just gives a small window to shoot. The idea is that it will keep all bullets in the berm.

Shooting at close to moderate range is mostly with an AR and standing (or moving). Shooting a bolt action is mostly prone off a bipod, but pretty often I'll get a few shots in from sitting (one of my favorite) or leaned against a tree or hood. I rarely shoot a bolt gun at med - longer range while standing; I should probably give it a try. I'm sure it will be humbling.

 

[LebbenB]

When I'm zeroing or have a new load to test and tweak, I'll bag up from a bench IOT take "me" out of the equation as much as possible.

I practice classic positional shooting every so often, but usually my range time is spent on CQM drills with carbine and pistol. I have a 1000 yd range nearby for long rage precision rifle. Usually I'll shoot prone supported with a 'pod.

 

[CraigC]

I would wager that a large number of shooters do not shoot "in the field". Lots of shooters only shoot for the enjoyment of punching paper, if not the majority. I would bet that the vast majority of shooters have to shoot at ranges, rather than in free-er circumstances. As stated, lots of ranges do not allow anything but bench or off-hand shooting. There's a lot of valuable practice that can't be done at most ranges, not just with rifles. This is quickly becoming a world where most shooters only shoot in a very controlled environment. It's obvious by many of the posts here as well.

 

[crazyjennyblack]

Since I moved to the country, shooting "in the field" is about all I do. I don't have the time or permission to build a bench, so I do a lot of leaning on a log, standing, and kneeling. I also sit on my butt and prop it up on my knees.

Frankly, I never used a bench except to sight in. I always thought that I should practice how I actually have to use it. When I did shoot at a range, it was a public outdoor range with no RO to shout at you. The benefit was that you could do anything you wanted. The downside was that if you didn't go early in the morning just as the sun came up, or when it was cold or nasty, the idiots would be out fooling around. So glad to be able to shoot in the field now.

 

[mavracer]

Corn-Picker
I don't think your giving enough credit to the demand cardio places on biatheletes, If you go to a NRA high power event or even a appleseed event you'll see that a rifleman should be capable of approching what they can do from a bench when shooting prone and 3-4 MOA off hand should be easily within reach with instruction and practice.

 

[Schwing]

I don't believe I have ever paid much attention to how other people shoot. How or why they do what they do doesn't have any hold on my own perceptions and enjoyment of the hobby.

One of my favorite activities at the range is playing bench rest games of shoot golf or seeing how far out I can peg my spinners with my .357 from a rest... neither of which are training for anything anymore than hiking with my kids at the reservoir near my house is turning me into a survivalist.

I do see a lot of shooters who seem to pass judgement on other shooters. It seems like they feel they are above the crowd or that their way is the only way and everyone else doing something different should defer to their wisdom.

One of the most uncomfortable social situations I encounter are these "professionals" offering unsolicited advice to other folks at the range who clearly just want to enjoy their outing under their own devices. As long as they are shooting safe, I am just glad to see them there.

 

[SC Shooter]

I belong to a gun club that is a complete range. The trap, skeet and 5 stand ranges are alway busy and usually there are shooters waiting for access to one of the ranges. Real shooting going on there. At the pistol ranges, there is always people standing there before their tragets with some at the ends trying their draws and shooting. Real shooting going on there too. Now at the long gun range, you have some whose focus is custom reloading and they use a sled to test and verify the quality of their loads. I am pretty sure they consider themselves real shooters because they don't carry their sled in the woods when they are hunting. Be careful though not to challenge them. They will be more than happy to show you the tightness of a 5 or 6 shot pattern of their custom loads as compared to your store bought stuff.

As someone pointed out earlier, it's all real shooting.

 

[rdhood]

I would practice all three (offhand, prone, kneeling/sitting) if I could. Unfortunately, most ranges frown upon prone/sitting.

Nonetheless, you can take your basic instruction for establishing a stable platform and apply it to other situations as best you can.

 

[Ironman615]

I've been shooting at the same privately owned range since 1983, and yes, it's changed dramatically in that time. It was originally just an open field, and there was no RO or any restrictions of any sort. Today there are covered shooting positions, benches, pistol pits, and RO's. It was good before, and it's good now. I shoot rifles mostly from a rest. I shoot handguns mostly off-hand. As long as you're safe, the range doesn't care how you shoot. Neither do I.

 

[DeadFlies]

The only rifle that I shoot at the range is a lever action with irons, which really precludes any bench shooting. I enjoy shooting offhand anyway so that's about all I do.