How much practice to maintain a minimum skill level?

[10-Ring]

I've had some personal things going on lately and haven't been able go shooting for almost 2 months A buddy called & said I needed some stress relief & took me shooting the other night and geez, in that time, I've noticed a drop in discipline and skill -- okay in the general sense, but not what I was doing 2 months ago.
Anyway, my question is this...how much practice/trigger time is necessary to maintain a minimum skill level?

 

[glockman19]

Anyway, my question is this...how much practice/trigger time is necessary to maintain a minimum skill level?

IMHO at least 100 rounds per week with carry gun(s).

 

[Sir Aardvark]

This differs with individuals.

Some people are a "natural" when it comes to certain things - so this would be something that needs to be decided by the individual in question.

Also, depending on what one considers as a "minimum skill level", it is not just the amount of practicing that one does, but also the type of practice: some people respond better to force-on-force training or F.A.T.S simulators - trying to keep the scenario as "real" as possible will help build better skills for certain situations.

So... this is a very subjective question as some people require more practice to hone and maintain their skills than others.

 

[Grandpa Shooter]

That depends on what YOU consider to be a minimum skill level. We have no way of knowing how good you used to be. If you were a competition shooter and now your timing and instantaneous sight acquisition are slower, that can be frustrating, but not life threatening.

If, however, you used to be able to shoot to center of mass, or do double taps with a quick pace, and now can't hit the barn, you have a problem for certain. It has been my experience that the higher level of skills you had, the quicker you recover from the time off.

Practice is the only cure. You could easily benefit from using a CO2 powered BB or pellet pistol to keep your handling and speed up to par. That cuts way down on the needed range time.

 

[Mad Magyar]

Couple of months is a long time. Depending on your lifestyle-income level, I say go out as often as you can. Even though I complain about ammo & gas prices, I would go "" if I couldn't go out once a week firing couple of calibers.
Old habits are difficult to break and I try to concentrate on my weak points.
At least you're going out....I hate to admit that some of friends, even CCW holders, are lucky to go out & fire 2 or 3 times a year....

 

[GRIZ22]

It all depends what skill level you're at. If you're really good your skill shouldn't degrade much after not shooting for 2 months. I used to see shooters who would only shoot at quarterly qualifications who would consistently shoot max scores and well on exercises with no practice.

Glockman 19's suggestion is pretty good but you also have to consider the quality of your practice. There are people who say they shoot 1000 rds a week and comment there is no sense in practicing at more than 10 yds. I feel you should include shooting out to 25 yards or so. If you can shoot accurately and fast at 25 yards it not only prepares you for that eventuality but gives you skills and confidence at closer ranges.

 

[MICHAEL T]

What ever you feel is nessary.
Lots of people never go to rang and protect themselves every day in America with a pistol. I belive more mental Any one should be able to hit a man size target at 7 to 10 yds
with little or no practice.
Wait a min, I suit up as the 1000 rounds a week and every gunfighting school known to man crowd answers. be something like this

 

[Huddog]

I try to fire at least 100 a month but don't always get that much and sometimes get more. More important than how much is that you use range time to work on your skills not just blast bullets down range like so many I see.

 

[mljdeckard]

I wish it wasn't a matter of money, but it often is. What I have found, is, that even though I can't often afford to crank out 100 rds a week, or even a month at the range of .45, I can pop on my .22lr kit onto my 1911 frame and shoot THAT until my hand gets tired.

I was relieved to know that the rent-a-cops at the gates of my military post actually have to qualify once a month with their sidearms. I suppose that's some kind of DOD requirement. If I had guessed, I would have said maybe once or twice a year. (Seems to be enough for the actual soldiers around here.) grr.

 

[possum]

i agree that it is an individual thing, it isn't so much as the rds you put down range it is the quality of the parctice/ training, you can get alot of training value with very few rds down range. as well you can get alot of "trigger time" with no rds down range at all.

you could very easily do 100rds every 2 weeks, and dry fire drills and stay at a ok skill set, yo aren't gonna progress but you aren't gonna be set back either. again that is on a personal basis. i have alot of experience doing this kinda thing being in the army. sometimes i shoot alot sometimes i am in the field and it may be 7-10 days, sometimes months. right now it has been 8 months since i have shot a handgun since i am deployed. i shot on rxr 300rds and that is all the trigger time that i have had in 15 months of this deployment.

i could see that i wasn't shooting as good as i know i can or nearly as fast while i was on rxr but it was still pretty good. also i was using a brand new 1911 that i bought and i was just trying to get a feel for it, but even after 8 months with a brand new gun that is very different than all the other guns that i have i was still able to make one hole groups on the various drills i did. they were larger than normal but still very much in the fist size group standard.

 

[Hook686]

How do you define "Minimum skill level" ?

 

[un_lucky]

I shoot weekly ,but usually only do SD drills every one or two months. Also don't let one bad range session make you think you lost it. Shooting is like golf or bowling we all have off days.

 

[Chris Rhines]

Only you can answer that question, and it depends on a lot of factors. I find that I start losing my edge if I shoot less than once a week, 3-400 rounds. Actually improving requires more practice than that.

Lanny Basham's seminal With Winning in Mind has some interesting insights on this subject. Go read it.

- Chris

 

[jhco]

its a personal issue there is no certain answer but you should practice offten


i know a guy who only plays golf 3 or 4 times a year and only in tournoments but he always places in the top 5 hes just a natural and he never practices

 

[CWL]

It is like any sports or martial arts. Your abilities will drop the longer you keep from practicing, but the good news is that it all comes back pretty quickly. Ever notice that after a break of 1-month, your first few strings of fire are pretty bad -but you improve quickly as you get back into your rhythm?

How fast you forget & how fast you pick everything back up really depends on the individual and how intense you previously trained.

 

[easyrider604]

If you mean minimum skill level for IPSC or similar competition, that may mean five hundred rounds a week or more.

But if you mean self-defense or home-defense, I'd say, 6 rounds a month, or at the worst, 3 rounds a month. After all, it is the first shot that counts.

If you cannot do that, dry firing at home, even just 6 shots every night, will do wonders. Follow all safety rules, of course.

 

[doc2rn]

I am able to improve with shooting only one mag of regular load at beginning and end. The middle is with a .22 barrel swap and about 100 rds each week.

 

[RustyShackelford]

Richard Marcinko AKA; The Rogue Warrior...

Richard Marcinko, CDR, US Navy-retired, the SEAL officer who started the top secret Red Cell counter terrorist unit and SEAL team 6 (now called DevGroup, ) wrote in his series of books that a good sign of marksmanship with handguns would be to hit a 3"x5" card on a target from 30' or so, . You should be able to use either hand and also shoot from different angles. Learn to use the sights and train hard!


Rusty S

PS: Marcinko's SEAL/spec ops units used HK USPs, S&W model 66 revolvers and 1911a1 .45acp pistols...

 

[jackdanson]

I don't know, I shoot 50 pistol rounds a week and I believe I have an acceptable skill level. (sometimes shoot more, rarely shoot less.

 

[tntwatt]

I think it all depends on what skill level you want to maintain. Center mass single shots, double taps, head shots......
I will say that like anything else, it is extremely personal. I need at least once a month to maintain double taps in center mass(my absolute minimum requirement) but I have a friend who shoots about 2 times a year and can do the same. He's a natural.

 

[mr.72]

This is an intriguing question that I have been asking myself recently as I have only just become interested in acquiring this skill to begin with. I understand that many of the THR regulars are shooting hobbyists and this is a form of recreation for them. But my life does not have room for another hobby. So I have to consider this critically.

Given the cost of ammo and more importantly the amount of time required to get to a place to shoot often for those of us living in the suburbs or in an urban area, a minimum standard rule of thumb would be great. I think one trip per week and 100 rounds per month sounds reasonable, but there's no way I can work that into my regular routine. More likely one trip a month is the max I can schedule, and in that case, for SD practice, what's the point in shooting more than one magazine? It's the first round that matters, right?

This is why I am seriously considering an airsoft gun for practice. I can do that in my back yard, 25 rounds a day with only a 5 minute time budget if I want.

 

[sinistr]

it seems that in any skill the closer you are to the pinnacle of your ability the faster you lose it when you do not practice. if i take some time off;shooting ,billards it actually helps my skill.but i have never really trained enough to reach my peak.right now,with the way the economy is,i shoot 200 rounds once every 3 to 4 weeks.it used to be evey 1 to 2 weeks.

 

[Hoppy590]

who ever coined the phrase practice makes perfect was an idiot.

perfect practice makes perfect.

if you practice bad technique then you only reinforce it with more practice.

iv seen alot of people like that. they are content with hitting the paper at 25 yards.

i suggest a starter course THEN at least 200 rounds a month using those skills you learned

 

[BrianB]

I've found that proper dry practice at home improves my range experience--and it's cheaper than even .22!

 

[22-rimfire]

What skill level? With my carry gun, if I can hit a 6" pie plate at 5-10 yds, it is good enough for me. I'm not planning on fighting any wars nor shooting an apple off someone's shoulder at 20 paces.

If that shooting was with one of my 22's or my favorite 41 mags, I'd say I have to brush up a bit. But I don't carry a 22's or 41's for self defense. The fact is I don't particularly enjoy shooting my carry gun. I shoot my carry gun when I go to the range. I hit what I am at and I don't need to shoot 200 rounds with it to convince myself of that fact. I much prefer to shoot other guns. I'm on a rifle kick these days anyway and have not been shooting handguns much.