How often should you practice with live fire?

[welshrabbit]

I understand that dry fire is very important and should be done more often than live fire, but how many rounds is it wise to send downrange in a month or few months. At what point in time are you just making brass and not benefitting from your practice?

 

[Jon_Snow]

Loius Awerbuck told my handgun class that the best idea was to try and get 50 to 100 rounds downrange a week. He also said that 50 rounds 3 times a month is a lot better than 200 rounds once a month. The idea is that after about 50 or 100 you start to get tired, and you start to pay less attention to the fundamentals. Shooting more than that is effectively practicing the wrong things and can be detrimental. Always sounded like a good idea to me.

 

[Mr_Rogers]

There is a saying in the welding world:
"You can't learn to weld without burning rod".
Same with guns, dry-firing is useful but intelligent live firing is even better.

 

[kyo]

Once a month 100 rounds, or twice 50 each.

 

[Deltaboy1984]

I shoot once a month and I shoot air rifles and air pistols weekly.

 

[blitzen]

You can get a lot out of 100 or 150 rounds per month if you break it up into 2 or even 3 sessions. Make every round count for something if you are trying to improve at IDPA, Bullseye or whatever.
I like to shoot a little more but price is starting to be a factor.

 

[possum]

i shoot and more importantly train as much as possible. the fewest that i have shot in a year since getting into serious shooting and training is 10,000rds a year, that was a slow slow year, and this year i am going to surpass 30,000rds.

it is not so much the amount of rounds that you fire, it is the amount of training value that you get out of shooting them, i could get away with shooting alot less and maintaining my skill set,. but i just love it so much, and can't shoot and train enough. i will never fell that i will put enough rounds down range.

now back to your original question, i think 200-250rds every other week is good.after you have a good base and understanding of the fundementals of course.

 

[GRIZ22]

Anything more than 100-150 rounds a hour is just making brass. For the rest of my opinions see Jon Snow's post above.

 

[owlhoot]

In order to make your trigger time productive you should set ever advancing goals for yourself.

One of the most useful training items you can purchase is a timer.

Shooting without working toward predetermined goals is essentially just plinking, a pleasant way to turn money into noise.

 

[Jeff White]

You can train on the basics of marksmanship on the cheap. I used to shoot 50 rounds of .22 a day and 50 rounds of 9mm out of my duty weapon at the time a week. I had a 25 meter range on my property so it was not much of an effort to shoot. I worked from the holster with a Ruger Standard Model .22 auto and from my duty belt when I fired 9mm. Did that all Summer that year.

You have to train though, not just blast away. I had a goal for each day's practice.

 

[welshrabbit]

Thanks Guys

I was trying to work up a budget for myself since I am married and don't want to spend all our money on shooting, even though I like it, I like other things as well. It is nice to have an idea about how much would it take to be able to improve my skill level without breaking the bank. This may sound silly but would say frequent practice with bb or airsoft guns help?

 

[Mr_Rogers]

A good airsoft is a help. I used to walk around my property and select prominent leaves, marks on tree trunks, and such targets to fire at. This gives you practice firing at different shaped targets at random distances.

As others have said there is certainly a place for the 22 and its low-cost ammo. A real dream, bearing safety in mind, is a suppressed 22 that you can use in any SAFE location for cheap informal plinking without upsetting the neighbors.

Edit
I suppose I should add that you should be careful about using an airsoft in public. You never know when some idiot will call the local SWAT and they are likely to arrive set to party.

 

[Hungry Seagull]

Fortunately we dont have any airsoft walking around inviting local leos to join the party.

Previously when we first started we shot until we got tired. Tired = unsafe.

So We shoot x round a month and we sort of compete to try to do better, always better, faster and without mistakes in firearm safety.

Every time we finish the shoot, a short time later becomes gun cleaning time. And a few replacement boxes of ammuntion are ordered.

We vary types of targets and we changes the shoot distances with each visit.

The key is regular visits. Quality visits with aimed shooting, not just bang away.

 

[possum]

there are alot of skills to train on, and keep up to snuff on, and it is really hard fro me to see one being able to stay up to par in the many aspects of fighting in 50rds a week. shooting and marksmanship yeah ok i might can see that, but not a fight. and even if i could why would i when i have the option to shoot more.

btw no matter how many rounds i shoot at the range or in a training course i am never "making brass" it all has a purpose, and i am getting something out of it. i take training seriously, i don't bs myself or others. i do lotd of different drills, and more importantly i do alot of reps.

 

[Mr_Rogers]

Hungry Seagull,
Good point about the targets. We have turning targets so we use different paper target faces, stapled on the targets at different heights, for practice.

As someone said; just shooting is manufacturing used brass. Intelligent shooting is practice.

 

[YammyMonkey]

The below assumes the OP was asking about a defensive mindset & training program since this is the S&T forum.

How many rounds you shoot depends on you. If you’re worn out after 50 rounds then there you have it. If you can shoot more then by all means do so. Coming up with an arbitrary number like 100 an hour is pointless. There are a lot of people out there who can shoot well over than & not be wasting ammo. In general I agree with the fewer rounds more often prescription. That said, you need to push yourself as well.

This was brought up in a thread a while back, but I think you should shoot until you’re fatigued every once in a while. Shoot past your fatigue & see how you feel when you hit that wall. Figure out why you start missing or fumbling or otherwise see degradation in your skills. This does two things. The first being that the next time you go out you’ll be able to shoot more. Just like working out in your comfort zone will not allow you to make much progress, stopping your range time because you’re starting to feel a little off will limit your progress. Secondly you get to recognize the feeling of not being on your game & you’ll know what to expect in terms of your performance. The real challenge comes when you see if you’re able to bring your shooting back in line once you recognize a drop off in performance. When you’re fatigued you’ll learn to drive your mind & that is what will get you through a fight.

With very few exceptions you won’t get to pick the time & place of your gunfight. Preparing for that fight under perfect conditions- be it weather, fatigue, state of mind, etc. is foolish. When the time comes you’ll need to perform in whatever condition you’re in.

There is obviously a line to draw before safety is compromised. But there’s a big difference between not being able to print one hole groups from a static stance & seeing your usual fist size groups open to hand size groups while you’re moving, working cover, manipulating & running the gun on the clock.

You may be practicing “bad” habits but there’s a lot more to using a gun as a weapon than the ability to execute the fundamentals perfectly. You may not have a perfect sight picture or you might snatch the trigger a little but you KNOW what to expect when you’re fatigued & that knowledge is very powerful.

As a disclaimer I do not advocate practicing when you’re unsafe, drunk, broken to the point that continued practice will cause severe damage, accepting a spray & pray or if it hit the target it’s good enough mentality. Likewise I do not think that this should be something you do every session. Practice & train often & hard. Test yourself on a regular basis to gauge progress.