Training With Just 50 Rounds

[BJB]

Just now, bimmer1980 said:

wasn´t it 28.000 ?

No sir, it was 2800.

[bimmer1980]

9 minutes ago, BJB said:

No sir, it was 2800.

Right. I just checked again... thats pretty amazing! But it also tells you that shooting less rounds on more days per week is much better than shooting many rounds every one or two weaks. 

[rowdyb]

I was talking to Elias Frangoulis about some practice stuff and he said to me, "I shoot a swinger probably 500 times a day." And I just said what the heck?!?! He then went on to explain that he often doesn't get to train how he wants. So during the day he visualizes shooting different targets. And not just shooting them but shooting them perfectly, realistically. He says he can recall swingers from matches or practice sessions well enough to use them or make one up on his own. He then "sees" it from his perspective looking through the sights and see himself doing it perfectly. Over and over and over.

 

Which reminds me of something I tell students about mental/visual practice when the seem reluctant to accept what a great difference it makes. When you think of a dill pickle do you salivate? Likely, even though one isn't present but your body acts as if it were. Power of memory. Remember being a child and waking up in a sweat and afraid from a nightmare? You weren't actually being chased by a monster but it sure made you feel like you were. The power of imagery. They are real, they effect your physical body and you can harness them to your performance betterment.

[Intheshaw1]

@rowdyb I struggle with swingers and ended up building one out of scrap 2x4s I had. I made it to use standard 1 in weights and can change the weight to make it swing faster or slower. Just watching and visualizing the target moving and the path it takes and the pause at the top end of the arc helped me a lot. 

 

I'm all about visualization and imaging what success looks like. 

 

@Flea, I would just dry fire twice as much as you are or more (hopefully you are) and go to the range just to work on recoil Management. Indoor ranges have a lot of restrictions so there likely aren't make drills you can do. I know my local range frowns upon firing quickly.

[Orlandoech]

If I had only 50 rounds to live fire practice with, it would be either 25 yard double taps, and or hardcover/noshoots at 10-17 yards, double taps as well. Measuring and logging my splits, times, and hits (points).

[MattInTheHat]

Maximum bang for buck: 

 

[jt1207]

I'm new to uspsa but a long time range shooter. I range shoot solely at 25yds and I feel like shooting at a greater distance there relative to what I see in uspsa matches has made me feel very comfortable shooting all these close up uspsa targets (especially the partially obstructed ones). Does this sound like a viable theory--that with limited ammo and access to only a regular range, one could use what little ammo he/she has to shoot solely at a greater distance and that would be good use? Limited ammo doesn't allow much shooting, and regular range doesn't allow movement, rapid fire.

[B585]

The one thing there is you don’t learn how to cut corners and learn what you can get away with.  I would definitely want to doubles/practical accuracy at the minimum.   YMMV

[xrayfk05]

19 hours ago, jt1207 said:

I'm new to uspsa but a long time range shooter. I range shoot solely at 25yds and I feel like shooting at a greater distance there relative to what I see in uspsa matches has made me feel very comfortable shooting all these close up uspsa targets 

 

In my opinion you will never learn how to shoot "hoser" stages/ close targets or what an acceptable sight picture is at 1, 3, 5 7, 10 and 15 yards.

The majority of the targets will be at (a lot) closer distances, it would make more sense to me to train at those distances and just take a few shots per training at 25 yards.

 

A while ago I had a drill setup for me and a friend of mine I think at 5 yards, my friend told me that was "too easy" because of the distance.

He was a full second slower than me, I did it in 3 seconds and he in 4 seconds. (no movement involved and his draw is better than mine)

[jt1207]

2 hours ago, xrayfk05 said:

 

In my opinion you will never learn how to shoot "hoser" stages/ close targets or what an acceptable sight picture is at 1, 3, 5 7, 10 and 15 yards.

The majority of the targets will be at (a lot) closer distances, it would make more sense to me to train at those distances and just take a few shots per training at 25 yards.

 

A while ago I had a drill setup for me and a friend of mine I think at 5 yards, my friend told me that was "too easy" because of the distance.

He was a full second slower than me, I did it in 3 seconds and he in 4 seconds. (no movement involved and his draw is better than mine)

Oh okay, thanks, I appreciate the input! 

[Jeremyc_1999]

On 12/15/2020 at 9:06 AM, mikeg1005 said:

If all you have is 50rds to practice don't waste your time standing and shooting groups... or standing and drawing.  All of that stuff can be incorporated into a drill... Then work on the fundamentals in dryfire (which you should probably do fairly often for 15-30mins to account for the last of live fire). 

 

I'd work on entry/exit drills with 2 targets and 2 plates.  Put the plates at 15yds (or w/e distance is hard) and the paper at 7yds (whatever distance you can comfortable shoot into/out of).   With 50rds its a 6 shot drill, you can do it 9 times.  

 

(easy exit, easy entry) Draw on steel/leave on paper then enter on paper/finish on steel. 

(hard exit, hard entry) Draw on paper, leave on steel, enter on steel, finish on the paper. 

(easy exit, hard entry) Draw on steel, leave on paper, then enter on steel, finish on paper.

Hard exit, easy entry) Draw on paper, leave on steel, enter on paper, finish on steel.

 

Throw in reloads between positions.  

 

Entry/exit is the most common thing you do in a match and the most difficult to practice in dryfire (as you can lie to yourself on how stable your gun is if you're not actually shooting).  Plus you're drawing and reloading under an actual match scenario which is more realistic than standing and drawing at target.  

 

I wouldn't practice SHO/WHO if you have limited ammo, while this is a VERY important skill to have it comes up very rarely and would not be a priority if you have such a limited round count.   

Any video examples of this drill? I'm having a hard time visualizing it in my head for some reason and I don't think it should be that difficult to visualize. 

 

[Rasmilling]

With 50 rounds the Dot Torture drill could be an option. You get draw, strong hand, weak hand, reloads etc. 

And you can increase the difficulty by adding more and more range. 

[ShredderTactical]

Plenty of good training options with limited ammo, limits imposed by indoor ranges, and using dryfire at home and on the range.  Many top shooters have been talking about how to maximize training with these limitations, especially in the current environment with Covid and scarce or expensive ammo.  I try to study training tips from Ben Stoeger, Hwansik Kim, and Joel Park, who have provided a lot of discussion and ideas about this topic on Ben's podcast Practical Shooting After Dark.

 

I've also started shooting Steel Challenge during these crazy times, as it has divisions for .22 rimfire.  With the price on that ammo, compared to centerfire, I have been able to justify buying some guns and gear to get setup in that sport.  And while the classifiers and stages are limited compared to USPSA, I find the skills required are a subset of USPSA skills and it allows you to focus on speed to first shot and fast transitions.

 

Good luck and don't give up!

[Hunter91]

On 12/11/2020 at 1:57 PM, RangerTrace said:

One of the main reasons for live fire practice is to work on your recoil management.  If you are only shooting slow fire, I think you are going to miss out on some of the benefit of live fire practice.  Not to mention, those ranges are close enough, that you should be able to fairly quickly put your rounds on target.  I'd say use 1/4 of the rounds for freestyle speed shooting at the distance of your choice, 1/4 of the rounds for strong hand only, 1/4 of the rounds for weak hand only, and 1/4 for freestyle group shooting at a minimum of 10 yards, but farther if the range is capable of it.  Thats just a quick though off the top of my head.  But I had surgery yesterday and may not be thinking very clearly either.

Agreed. The difference between live fire and dry fire is the physiological response to an explosion happening in our face.