# Not a bad day at the range...



## NHJIM (Oct 16, 2008)

Went to the range today and had the best results so far. I am pretty new to handguns (picked up my XD-9 a few weeks ago) but I have been working at it. 
Here are the details: XD-9, WWB 115gr, 7yds, loud indoor range. 
I am pretty happy with the results but know that I still have quite a bit of work to do. Quick question...my current line of thinking has me currently focusing on shooting well at 7yds and once I feel as though I am comfortable at that distance, move to 10yds...then 15...you get the idea. Is this a good way to approach things or should I be shooting at different distances each time out. I would appreciate any feedback. Thanks in advance.


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## zhurdan (Mar 21, 2008)

I'm a big proponent of shooting slow and close until you get the dynamics of good shooting down. 7 yards is a great starting point. Shoot slow and methodically, practicing good trigger control, and trigger reset, proper stance and proper grip. Shoot at this range until you can get repeated results within a good 2" group or less. Then back up the target to 12 yards and repeat the process. After you achieve repeatable results at 12 yards, back it up to 15 yards and repeat. (Your groups might get a bit bigger at longer ranges)

Now, if you are practicing for the soul purpose of defensive shooting, you can focus your time on the 7-12 yard range, but please, do not get caught in the trap of "I must shoot faster". Take your time, do lots of dry fire practice at home (safely of course). Do not even practice drawing from a holster until you are completely comfortable with the controls on your pistol. Like you can run it with your eyes closed, comfortable. (not that you'd want to hehe) I recommend to people that they do dry fire/draw practice a minimum of 1000 draws before ever trying to draw from the holster with a live round. This sounds like a lot, and it sounds tedious, but it's much better than putting a hole in your leg on accident.

Shooting slow and close builds your confidence as well, if you try to jump right into the hard stuff, you will probably get frustrated and do the thing that bothers me most about new shooters... the dreaded "This gun sucks, it's not me, it's the gun!" routine. Start slow, get smooth, then worry about distance and speed much MUCH later.

Good luck and Shoot Safe.

Zhur

PS if you don't recognize any of the terms that are underlined, you need to ask some more questions, and please do. Any one of us is here to help when we can.


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## Bisley (Aug 24, 2008)

I guess it just depends on what you're trying to accomplish.

A lot of self-defense instructors will tell you that's good enough, if you can do it in semi-rapid-fire 5 shot sets, out to 15 yards. I don't necessarily disagree with them, but I like the challenge of shooting tighter groups at longer distances, and I like to practice.

If you want to be just an all around decent pistol marksman, the best way to do that is the 'aim small, miss small' philosophy. Stick a 1" dot on a piece of paper at 15-25 yards and do some slow fire practice, concentrating on your grip, stance, breathing, and trigger control.

Mainly, just keep improving your fundamentals and practicing.


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## unpecador (May 9, 2008)

Welcome to the forum. I usually stay around 7-10 yards but my main purpose of practice is for self defense in my home.


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## NHJIM (Oct 16, 2008)

zhurdan said:


> I'm a big proponent of shooting slow and close until you get the dynamics of good shooting down. 7 yards is a great starting point. Shoot slow and methodically, practicing good trigger control, and trigger reset, proper stance and proper grip. Shoot at this range until you can get repeated results within a good 2" group or less. Then back up the target to 12 yards and repeat the process. After you achieve repeatable results at 12 yards, back it up to 15 yards and repeat. (Your groups might get a bit bigger at longer ranges)
> 
> Now, if you are practicing for the soul purpose of defensive shooting, you can focus your time on the 7-12 yard range, but please, do not get caught in the trap of "I must shoot faster". Take your time, do lots of dry fire practice at home (safely of course). Do not even practice drawing from a holster until you are completely comfortable with the controls on your pistol. Like you can run it with your eyes closed, comfortable. (not that you'd want to hehe) I recommend to people that they do dry fire/draw practice a minimum of 1000 draws before ever trying to draw from the holster with a live round. This sounds like a lot, and it sounds tedious, but it's much better than putting a hole in your leg on accident.
> 
> ...


Thanks Zhur,
I have been working on stance and grip and have, I think, come to the best solution for me. Trigger conrtol and reset are still a work in progress....when I really slow things down things go pretty well but when I get excited and speed things up my shooting goes in the crapper. I need to stay focused and slow down!
Regarding dry fire practice, I do it early and often and feel as though I have it down...it is, acording to one of my shooting pals, my anticipating recoil that gets me all screwed up....I guess I have to just shoot more..it is getting better but......
I have not even thought about drawing from a holster yet, I am trying to take this whole process very slow and one step at a time but when I get to the point where I fell as though I am ready to take that step I will take your advice and draw / dry fire the heck out of it.
I did have a bit of the "this gun sucks" thing going on but I quickly realized that it was most likely operator error (the gin is fine....I suck).
Thanks for all the great advice.


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## Ram Rod (Jan 16, 2008)

Any day at the range is a good day!


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