Where Do You Practice?

[Eager]

I've been shooting USPSA for a year now and I practice at a indoor range that's part of a gunshop near my home. It's very conveinient since it's close. They allow drawing from holster there (which is good), but since you shoot from partitioned "stalls", and I don't believe you're supposed to shoot across lanes, you cant move much or shoot more than one target. It's OK, I'm glad to have this place so close and that I can draw. But I've never seen any other IPSC type shooter there practicing.

I'll have to ask the guys at the match this weekend where they practice. I assume the most people do practice?

Where do you practice and what can you do there, i.e. move, shoot multiple targets, practice in groups, etc.?

__________________

[George]

Dry fire at home mostly. Validate at the range occasionally with some live fire, but the bulk is done at home dryfiring. Use a treadmill to learn to shoot the sights while walking.

[shred]

Actually many many IPSC shooters only practice on match day.. It takes a long time to get good like this, especially if there aren't a lot of local matches.

For me. it depends where I can get away to. Most of the time (which isn't that often ) it's the old-school NRA range I gripe about occasionally-- good facility, and 30+ minutes closer than anywhere else, but has rules like 'no steel closer than 40 meters', no movement, 'no uncontrolled rapid fire' and 'no unsighted fast-draw' (these last two I have to demonstrate over and over that I'm actually in control. They bitch anyway, so I usually don't if there's anybody nearby). Regardless, there's a lot that you can learn with single paper at the 25 or 50 yard lines of a bullseye range, or the 40m line of a silhouette range with a couple 12" steel plates.

If it's a weekend or a long summer night, then I can get to ranges where they host IPSC matches and I can do pretty much whatever we do at a match, so long as we haul it out, set it up and put it away again. In that cases groups can be good, cause the setup & teardown work is less and you can push each other.

[Bruce]

Mainly out amongst the spoil banks on the back 50 of my farm. Have one particular "lane" that is real nice...about 30 feet wide, 60 yards long, dirt on 3 sides about 30-40 feet high. Able to put up a bunch of steel plates, etc.

The one regret I have is not getting some of the awesome training that is available out there. I sure hope to some day, when things settle down a bit.

[bierman]

I am fortunate that I have access to a range 25 minutes from the house. My department leases it so we can shoot there whenever we want (including at night) and there are no restrictions on movement, drawing from the holster etc. I can practice pretty much whatever stage design I can come up with. Oh yeah, and lots of dryfire at the house, too.

[Front Man]

My driveway this time of year.

Once the crops are up and running the only time I shoot (at home) is to rezero, chronograph or

do function tests.

The best part is I can set up my chrono just outside from where I reload.

FM

[9x21]

My practice always takes place on stage 1 & stage 2 of match.

The old outdoor range got shut down years ago

(too much noise thay said, they should have put their muffs on!)

The 50' indoor range no longer allows the the dangerous practice drawing from leather or setting up more than one target. (their tired of fixing floors, walls & ceiling lights shot up by beginners)

I always mean to dry fire and practice my reloads, but I just don't seem to get around to it.

FY8825

[Dan Sierpina]

Like 9x21, it's the first few stages of the matches, sometimes 3 or 4! However, when I started the game, in the dark ages, I practiced pretty regularly, at the club I belong to, which was one of the clubs running IPSC in the area. Once the basic skills are established, it's pretty easy to maintain them. If you have aspirations to get a GM card, you have to make the decision to work your butt off, and find the best place to shoot the way you need to, as close to home a possible, to make it somewhat less a job.

John, the reloads are easy! That seems to be the least trouble I have after my long vacation!

[Bigbadaboom]

I have a friend who owns a private security company and trains security officers. His range (Outdoor) is about 5 minutes from my house and I can shoot out there whenever I like. His only request is that I police my brass (Boy , that's a harsh demand to make on an IPSC shooter). He also gives me all the once fired brass I want. It's a pretty good setup I only wish that work would allow me to utilize it more often than I get to. I do dry fire most every night.

Edited March 15, 2006 by Bigbadaboom

[boo radley]

Eager -- I have somewhat the same issue as you.

Close (10min) to my house is a county-funded modern indoor range (goes to 100y!). It's very nice for an indoor range, but has the same restrictions you mention -- ie, no multiple targets.

I run a couple different drills when I'm there, and so far haven't run out of ways to maximize the time, or creatively practice. The current drill I'm doing, which is busting my *ss, is stapling 5 or 6 of the small paper-plates in two rows, to the carboard backer, and shooting those against a timer. Very hard (for me) to shoot this clean in a reasonable time....

But options are endless. Aim out to the right of your physical target, at something imaginary, shoot twice, then transition to the paper target. Track hits, time, etc.

Get a timer, if you don't have one.

Then, in my garage, I'll put a couple dry-fire challenges, and run those against the timer, or if I'm feeling lazy, I'll just spend 15 minutes in my office in my house, dry-firing against a couple reduced-size targets I've taped to the wall.

It's a hard call. I'd certainly like to find/join a club that would let me do IPSC-style drills outdoors against steel, paper, with movement, but I only know of a few and those are an hour or more away, with waiting-lists. As long as I feel like I'm continuing to improve with the practice I'm doing, I'll probably maintain the status-quo.

[schmitz]

My 'home'range is a 30 metres indoorrange at appr. 20 minutes from my home. I'm allowed to draw.

Sundayafternoon we're allowed to use the range in front of the 'stalls'. So we're able to practise Bianchi and IPSC.

Several props are available such as a 12 plate plate-rack (in stainless-steel), pepperpoppers, bobber, gravity-turner etc.

There's one disadvantage: in wintersdays it's cold....stonecold 'cause there's no heater

[Clay1]

I feel damn lucky. I belong to 3 gun clubs. One 7 mins, one 15 min and one 40 minutes from the house. The closest one is in the basement of a manufacturing complex. It's old and dark but has a 50' range that I can do whatever I want. They run a practical league so they are familiar with USPSA style shooting.

The second club, we tried to introduce a practical shooting game to but would have none of that "running around with a loaded gun" stuff. They have wonder concrete shooting benches for the benchrest boys and a 200 yard range, trap, archery and it's a big bullseye club. They have an indoor bulleye range but no jackets bullets are allowed.

The third and farthest is a true USPSA organization with a wonderful indoor facility that has 3 indoor bays and runs a once a month 4 stage match. I can grab whatever props the club has and practice to my hearts desire. They let you practice from the holster after you are holster certified and give you a button to put on your range bag. You can only practice from the holster on one of the designated ranges and your electronic key is enable to open the lock on that range. If you aren't holster certified you don't get on that range.

So two useful indoor ranges to practice at and that is exactly what a boy from Wisconsin needs when it is really cold out there.

Go to USPSA.org and use the club finder to see if you can find a club closer to you.

Rick

[Jake Di Vita]

I feel obliged to mention that in the early stages of your devlopment, dry fire is much more important than live fire. The ratio should be about 80% - 20%.

[George]

+1 to Jake.

Another plus for beginning with a lot of dryfire is that you won't develop "flinch" as easily as with live fire learnin' only.

[reneet]

I am extremely lucky to have as My home range The Shootout in Princeton, LA ... home of Area 4 for the last several years, Clark Custom Guns, Inc., and Bang Inc.

I walk the 20 yards from the shop to my car, drive the 100 yards or so to whatever bay I want to play in and commence doing whatever needs to be practiced. No one to say "You can't do that."

Kay & Jerry keep the Steel Challenge courses set up in the back bays most of the year. Many of the targets for Sportsman Team Challenge are in the back bays as well. In one of the front bays, there resides 2 plate racks and a TX *. Area 4 pushes all of this stuff out of the way but when they leave, we get to keep the stages up in the back bays and play on them for several weeks, then the juniors come for camp and we play on them some more then modify them for the end of junior camp match.

[Bigbadaboom]

I feel obliged to mention that in the early stages of your devlopment, dry fire is much more important than live fire. The ratio should be about 80% - 20%.

I should be a GM by now then.

[Bruce]

I feel obliged to mention that in the early stages of your devlopment, dry fire is much more important than live fire. The ratio should be about 80% - 20%.

Now I know why my pistol shooting sucks.

[ihatepickles]

I do my drawing and reloading practice at home while dry firing. Most of my live fire comes at matches. Occasionally I need to work out bugs in my live fire outside of match conditions, so I drive up into the mountains and pick a deserted gulch.

I'm not fond of going to public ranges that allow holster draws, meth-fueled rednecks seem to know my schedule and stand near me. It's not fun making police statements about the idiot next to you that shot his foot... and then make another police statement half an hour later about the next idiot the shot his foot (true story - same cop took both reports). I like gunfolks, but rarely are the people at public ranges gunfolks.

[JFD]

I'm a member of a club 10 minutes from home.

They have restricted access to a pair of 25 yard practice bays with all the necessary props including a plate rack. No Texas Star, but I feel a plate rack is all you need for any steel.

My wife, daughter and I will spend 3 - 5 hours out there every Sunday possible.

With my wife shooting now, I set up a lot of high round count stages because she has fun shooting them. Damned if my own personal weakness (long field courses) hasn't improved dramatically. I duplicate as many situations as I can that we'll see at any of the local matches we shoot. Not the way I'm told I'm supposed to do it, but we have fun and that's my goal.

[JD45]

Jake,

When you said the 80/20 rule is best for early development, exactly how early do you mean? Solid B class? Or more like low Master class?

[Jake Di Vita]

I would say from beginner all the way up until they make GM. At GM, live fire starts taking precedence.

[bayoupirate]

I have my own range about 1 mile behind the house.

It's great when your working up a load and you can set up the chrono, shoot 10.

go home, adjust the load, load 10 more and get back to the range and chrono in less than 10 minutes.

Where to practice is not my problem.

Finding time to practice is the problem. Lately, I'm like the person who posted earlier, I practice on Stage 1 and Stage 2 of whichever match I'm shooting.

Still hoping to make Master one day.

[Bill Nesbitt]

I'm pretty lucky. We have our own range behind the house.

[hopalong]

With 500 plus acres on the home farm and another 200 on my sisters adjoining farm I can shoot about any where I want to........

for an organized practice I go to the range 30 minutes away.

[Joneser5000]

There are 2 nearby indoor ranges by my house. One is in Oceanside allows holster work and has a fun steel match on Thur. nights. The other in Laguna Niguel they are not so nice but they do have a IPSC style shoot every Wed. night.

If your in south Orange County CA, there are good practice places.