Range Warmup

[weisse52]

Greetings,

Just wanted to know if I am alone in my range / shooting warm-ups. Not sure that I ever planned to do it this way it just seems to have developed over time.

No matter what I take to the range I always bring my Ruger MKII. I start by firing 20 to 30 rounds of 22. I then move on to the next most powerful round I brought up to the most powerful.

I always start with singles, then doubles, then a three shot drill. Weaver, then strong hand, then weak hand. I then load 2 to 3 magazines with 2 to 3 rounds each and practice shooting to empty and then reload.

I always seem to start at about seven yards and then progress after that. After that I am all over the place with distance, # of shots, etc.

I never really noticed till some of my shooting buddies started to tease me about my “rituals” for practice.

So, am I alone, or do others have a routine they follow?

 

[junyo]

I always start with running a target out a random realistic range (3-7 yards), then pounding out the current magazine in the carry gun, as fast as the range allows. In real life you don't get a warmup. I want to know what I can do cold. Then I get into the rimfires. Finish with the centerfires. That's just how I do it.

 

[Omaney]

Yep...I usually empty the carry gun as well...straight from the holster.

 

[skidmark]

Every time I go to the range I have a set of "exercises" to practice - be it plinking or running IDPA/IPSIC drills. That way I can guage how well I am doing, and how much I have improved (or gotten worse :banghead over the last time.

I have a bunch of "exercises" written down on index cards so I can refer to that before and afterwards. Each card describes the "exercise" and the minimum criteria for a passing score. I can pull one out at random, or pick one that I know I need more work on.

My feeling is that without goals and objectives I am just throwing lead downrange instead of building muscle memory. At today's prices I don't feel like wasting ammo. For you who are wondering, plinking covers both general form and enjoyment - something I need more of in my life.

stay safe.

skidmark

 

[CountGlockula]

I stretch out a lot before shooting. Very relaxing, then it's time to rock 'n roll baby!!!

 

[jrfoxx]

So, am I alone, or do others have a routine they follow?

I dont really have anything I do consistantly, other than I always take my 2 carry handguns and thier holsters to practice with.Other than that, what guns I take, how I shoot each particular gun, what distance I shoot at, what order I shoot my guns, etc all just depends on what I feel like doing at that particular moment.I shoot in a quarry all by my self the national forest, so I'm completely free as to what I do, and how I do it, so I like to mix it up quite a bit.

 

[Jeff22]

practice drills

I have a whole bunch of practice drills that I have accumulated over the last 25+ years that I use when I go to shoot in practice. Which drills I shoot depends on what I'm trying to accomplish, and is often dictated by an upcoming training session at work or IPSC or IDPA match.

(some of them are in a post called "practice drills" in the "strategies & tactics" section)

I think warming up with a .22 is a good idea.

For the first 7 years of my military career (and about 6-1/2 yrs of my civilian police career) I carried a S&W 15 revolver as a duty gun. (I was a Law Enforcement Specialist in the AF Security Police). I bought a used S&W 18 .22 Combat Masterpiece as a practice gun, because .22 was lots cheaper than .38. We had sporadic access to the 50 ft indoor range at a nearby ARNG armory where we could only shoot .22s and .38 wadcutters (because the steel in the backstop was soft and the ventilation wasn't very good) and I'd usually shoot about 150 rounds of .22 to warm up and then 50 (or sometimes 100) rounds of the .38 for "real" practice.

I've had many instructors over the years advise, when it comes to shooting in practice, "start with accuracy and end with accuracy". Warming up with a .22 is a good way to make sure that your brain & trigger finger are hooked up before you begin shooting the "big" guns.

 

[AirForceShooter]

I always start my shooting with a .22 at 7 yards. Any exercises I do are done in the parking lot.

AFS

 

[Double Naught Spy]

My range sessions usually start with draw and fire drills at 5-10 yards, 1-2 mags, single shot. Then I either work on doubles and mozambiques or retreat and fire drills. Then lateral fire on the move.

I always like to start with a cold draw from the holster just to evaluate my "cold fire" capabilities. I figure my cold fire abilities at the range probably better reflect the best capabilities I could expect in real life than my hotshot warmed shooting abilities. I am almost always a much better shot after being warmed up, but it isn't likely I will be in a gunfight after having just warmed up at the range.

Okay, warmed up I am not a hotshot either, but am better then than my with my cold shots.

 

[weisse52]

OK,

So how does "excercises" get into this? OH YEAH, ha, ha, we laugh....

And while I agree that first using the carry gun might help determine how you would do cold. I am not 100% certain that it simulates that. By the time you drive to the range, unload, setup and put your target out your mind and body have prepared themselves for the action.

I do a like the drill, but I do it the basement with Airsoft. Which by the way is a cheap way to practice up close.

 

[kle]

so you're half-warmed up (at least mentally) by the time you get to the range--might be a case for going several times a week, so that you're always in a semi-ready state =)

I like the idea of shooting the carry piece first. Unfortunately, I go infrequently enough (maybe once every few weeks) that I flinch at the gunfire from other shooters before I even shoot. A few cylinders of .22 from my 617 to warm-up clears that right up. Then I'm ready for the bigger stuff.

Probably the only time I start off with the larger calibers (9mm or .40 or .357) with no warm-up is when I'm shooting with my friend, since he doesn't really have enough of a target-practice mentality (he shoots even less frequently than I do) to want to "work up" to his Glock 23.

 

[MarshallDodge]

I used to do the .22 warmup thing but now I shoot cold. The warmups don't help me in being prepared for a real life scenario.

 

[skipjack_1st]

I've found that I've been setting up two targets, at staggered ranges, 12' and maybe 18'. Start out drawing and doing double taps in an effort to hone my response time and target acquisition. I don't do any bulls eye plinking until I'm comfortable with my level of skill on the first excersise. Since I carry whenever possible, I want to be sure I am as ready as possible. I can say my point shooting has improved dramatically!

 

[BullsEye10x]

I have found that no matter what you are shooting, slow fire and accuracy building exercises should be done first. Your eyes work better for precision aiming when they are not fatigued; by the end of an average 400-500 round session I have trouble focusing clearly on the front sight. Sometimes (though not often) I will start off drawing my CCW and firing 2-3 round strings at 3-5 yards until both mags are empty. I never miss those

For the first 50-100 rounds, I usually put up a few very small dots (1/2" circles) at 7-10 yards and try to shoot each one completely off the paper (slow well aimed shots, 10 rounds per dot). When I first started doing this my groups were OK up close, but would open up considerably at longer ranges (even on a bigger target). Now I can make one ragged hole at 7 yards, and hold respectable clusters out to 25 on a 6" bullseye. Combat accuracy has improved as well. I still think I can get better, and this excercise has always helped me do so. It stresses the fundamentals of marksmanship (sight alignment, trigger control, etc...)

Once I've got the basics in my head, I start the real-world stuff. Remember, the fundamentals still apply in a defensive situation; they are just being applied faster and not as precise. Double taps, reloads, body armor drills (mozambique), malfunction clearings, weak hand firing, etc...I mix those up quite a bit to keep it fun. Of course this all depends on the range I'm at too, as many do not allow rapid or holstered fire. Haven't found one yet that will let me shoot on the move

 

[K3]

I don't warm up, and I'm a little odd in that I shoot my hardest kicking rifle first and then move down in recoil as the shooting session progresses. Sounds strange, but it works for me.