# Gun owners: how do you maintain your shooting skills? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 30, 2013, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gun-owners-how-do-you-maintain-your-shooting-skills/657144 "2013-04-30T21:06:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Running\_with\_Scissors](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a183cd/32.png) [@Running\_with\_Scissors](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Running_with_Scissors)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2013, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gun-owners-how-do-you-maintain-your-shooting-skills/657144/1 "2013-04-30T21:06:49Z")
I’m curious, as I’m completely unfamiliar with gun culture. Do you go to a shooting range? Shoot cans in the backyard? How frequently? How much ammo do you use? Does your aim deteriorate if you don’t practice every once in a while? Please note: this is NOT a gun debate thread. We’ve already got loads of those. There’s a reason I opened this in GQ. ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2013, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gun-owners-how-do-you-maintain-your-shooting-skills/657144/2 "2013-04-30T21:37:31Z")
By shooting, of course. I used to go out a minimum of twice a month to the local public range about 15 minutes from my home and fire around 200 rounds of various calibers. With the ammunition shortage I almost never get out anymore, and when I do I notice that my aim is noticeably deteriorated. I can still hit the target, but it requires more focus. Before I could start with the weapon low-ready and get right on target, now it’s more deliberate. Looks like I need to get out this weekend. Thanks for reminding me. ---
**Author:** ![Bumbazine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bumbazine/32/362_2.png) [@Bumbazine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bumbazine)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2013, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gun-owners-how-do-you-maintain-your-shooting-skills/657144/3 "2013-04-30T22:03:40Z")
Me too. I belong to a club that has a small indoor range. I try to go out there to shoot at least once a month. I’m starting to get low on ammo\* though, and haven’t been for awhile. I would always take at least one .22 handgun and one or more centerfire Handgun. .22s are good for practicing your ‘form’ for cheap, 'cause of the price of .22 ammo, but you always want to shoot at least some of the larger calibers also, because recoil management is something shooters need to practice as well. Last time I went I noticed that I had to concentrate more to get it right. Contrary to what you see in the movies or on TV, it takes a certain amount of skill, and practice, to shoot a pistol well. \*I was never an ammo hoarder, but would usually buy an extra box or 2 whenever it was on sale. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2013, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gun-owners-how-do-you-maintain-your-shooting-skills/657144/4 "2013-04-30T22:09:15Z")
Since their is no “one correct” answer. I’'ll move this from GQ to IMHO. **samclem** , moderator ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2013, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gun-owners-how-do-you-maintain-your-shooting-skills/657144/5 "2013-04-30T22:13:46Z")
Practice, practice, practice at the range. We’ll shoot sporting clays out at the ranch or at the nearby course. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2013, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gun-owners-how-do-you-maintain-your-shooting-skills/657144/6 "2013-04-30T23:29:16Z")
The desert. There’s a range, but why bother? I don’t go often enough, so I’m still crap. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2013, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gun-owners-how-do-you-maintain-your-shooting-skills/657144/7 "2013-04-30T23:56:51Z")
I shoot in my backyard. Everything from .22LR to .50 BMG. I have a large supply of ammo stashed in the basement, so ammo availability is not a problem. Even then, I really don’t like to use up my .308 and .223, so most of my shooting is .22LR. ---
**Author:** ![GaryM](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garym/32/241_2.png) [@GaryM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaryM)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2013, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gun-owners-how-do-you-maintain-your-shooting-skills/657144/8 "2013-05-01T00:10:18Z")
I also shoot in my yard, as do several of my neighbors in theirs. 22lr to 308 on a regular basis. I also go to my club range for more formal practice as well as competition. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2013, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gun-owners-how-do-you-maintain-your-shooting-skills/657144/9 "2013-05-01T01:07:37Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > The desert. There’s a range, but why bother? I don’t go often enough, so I’m still crap. QFT. ---
**Author:** ![Projammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/projammer/32/559_2.png) [@Projammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Projammer)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2013, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gun-owners-how-do-you-maintain-your-shooting-skills/657144/10 "2013-05-01T01:23:39Z")
What **Bumbazine** said. 200 rounds of .22 for cheap grouping and form practice. One or two boxes of larger caliber for recovery and recoil control once a month. Maybe twice if friends are visiting from out of town and want some range time. With the current ammo shortage the numbers are 50 of .22 and 20 of other. ---
**Author:** ![stoplight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea666f/32.png) [@stoplight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stoplight)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2013, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gun-owners-how-do-you-maintain-your-shooting-skills/657144/11 "2013-05-01T02:02:00Z")
saving the ammo I have…so not shooting at all lately… ---
**Author:** ![ducati](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/cc9497/32.png) [@ducati](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ducati)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2013, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gun-owners-how-do-you-maintain-your-shooting-skills/657144/12 "2013-05-01T02:14:08Z")
Since everything I have is suppressed, I can use my yard or basement or a buddy’s farm. Well, suppressed .50BMG is still not neighborhood-friendly, but everything else is quiet. I have .22 versions of many different guns, so I use them a lot, saving my more expensive ammo. 300BLK is harder to find than anything else right now, so I’m saving it for special occasions! ---
**Author:** ![MacTech](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MacTech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacTech)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2013, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gun-owners-how-do-you-maintain-your-shooting-skills/657144/13 "2013-05-01T03:49:20Z")
My local rod and gun club is a quick 10 minutes away from home, and is also on the way home from work, I usually hit the range a couple times during the week on the way home from work, as well as Saturday and Sunday I also have a small backyard range at home I shoot my center fire rifles and shotguns at the range, the .22’s I shoot both at the range and at home, at home I tend to use the ultraquiet ammo like CCI CB’s, CCI Quiets, Remington CBee, and Augila Super Colibri, mainly to be a good neighbor and not scare my sister’s horses at her boarding stable on our property (50 acres of Timothy and alfalfa hayfields) Any time I feel like shooting, I just go shooting, it’s nice to have options ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2013, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gun-owners-how-do-you-maintain-your-shooting-skills/657144/14 "2013-05-01T04:11:06Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > QFT. You agree that you’re crap, or I’m crap? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![JLRogers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ce73a5/32.png) [@JLRogers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JLRogers)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2013, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gun-owners-how-do-you-maintain-your-shooting-skills/657144/15 "2013-05-01T11:32:46Z")
> [@ducati](#): > > Since everything I have is suppressed, I can use my yard or basement or a buddy’s farm. Shooting in a basement is a really, really bad idea unless it is properly ventilated. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2013, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gun-owners-how-do-you-maintain-your-shooting-skills/657144/16 "2013-05-01T14:11:07Z")
Even when you can get ammo, it’s god-awful expensive. Being able to afford to practice regularly is becoming a serious issue. One better than nothing workaround are laser target systems, where you use a fake cartridge that’s a mini laser pointer along with a target that detects and displays the “shots”. ---
**Author:** ![Running\_with\_Scissors](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a183cd/32.png) [@Running\_with\_Scissors](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Running_with_Scissors)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2013, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gun-owners-how-do-you-maintain-your-shooting-skills/657144/17 "2013-05-01T14:21:39Z")
Does increased skill with a rifle directly translate into increased skill with a handgun? Or vice versa? ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2013, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gun-owners-how-do-you-maintain-your-shooting-skills/657144/18 "2013-05-01T15:10:36Z")
I’m not much on gun ranges, especially nowadays when it’s more crowded. So when I’m in Texas I rarely go. However, when we’re in Colorado I have the ranch, miles and miles of remote land with a half dozen [places](https://dumpyourphoto.com/photo/1ErmQOwhTp) I’ve used as a [range](https://dumpyourphoto.com/photo/olKjhrAPRQ) in the past, against shale hills, etc. I’ll shoot many hundreds of rounds there at targets, prairie dogs and varmits and yeah, aim and skill appreciate significantly when I can practice on a whim. I will say that lately, since a squirrel problem cropped up and I’ve been dispatching them in the yard with regularity with a pellet gun, that I probably do benefit from that too. It’s like any physical skill, it’s got to be maintained to best operate effectively. > [@Running\_with\_Scissors](#): > > Does increased skill with a rifle directly translate into increased skill with a handgun? Or vice versa? Yes and no. Being proficient in one doesn’t guarantee you will be in the other. However many of the same skills are required, proper position/handling of the weapon, breathing, squeezing, relaxation techniques, competence with the sight/scope, etc. Personally I think handguns are a lot more difficult to master. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2013, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gun-owners-how-do-you-maintain-your-shooting-skills/657144/19 "2013-05-01T15:21:58Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > You agree that you’re crap, or I’m crap? 😃 Let’s just say we both shoot like the Feds in Miami. \*\*\*Ron White: \*\* You ever see tape of the Kehoe brothers from Ohio ? Those guys that get outta that white Suburban? They show it on Cops-- you seen it ? These guys, folks, have a shootout with the police at point-blank range ! Nobody gets hurt. I would love to have been at the office the next day when that guy’s bein’ interviewed by the chief: " "Well, at that point, "I unloaded my semiautomatic "9-millimeter weapon " " " nice shootin’, Elmer Fudd. There was a kid in detroit, three years ago, shot eight bullets, hit nine people. These two cops shot 22 bullets, didn’t even hit THE FUCKING SUBURBAN. \* ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2013, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gun-owners-how-do-you-maintain-your-shooting-skills/657144/20 "2013-05-01T15:23:03Z")
I hate to admit it but I almost never shoot. I live in a very un-gun-friendly state. The local indoor range I used to go to closed. I’ll have to find a new one. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gun-owners-how-do-you-maintain-your-shooting-skills/657144.md?page=2)