Quote:
Originally Posted by TotalNewbie
Do I go the range every week for an hour, and put 200 rds down range?
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It's not practice that makes perfect, it's perfect practice that makes perfect. Loading up your mags and blasting away will not make you better. Concentrating on specific things will. The real instructors on this thread will tell you the same thing.
At first, 200 rds is way too much. Practice is only valuable for as long as you're able to concentrate. Once you reach burn-out, you lose focus, and practice becomes first a waste of time, then rapidly actually counter-productive (you start flinching, etc, which is entrenching a bad habit you'll have to spend time unlearning). So shoot for only as long as you can retain focus, then stop.
A friend of mine just started shooting, and at first he too was simply blasting his mag dry. I had him load just one round in the mag, get a good grip (clamshell grip is what I showed him), take careful aim, fire one round. Then reload and do again. This provided forced time between shots to breathe, regather focus. He then spent a fair amount of useful time, got tangibly better in the one range trip, and only went through one box of ammo.
Once he has that down pat, I'll have him fire one round, hold the trigger back after the shot, breathe, then trigger reset and fire one more round, etc.
Even now, I would consider 300 - 350 rds the absolute upper end for me on a range trip. Usually it's more like 200 - 250 rds per trip.
This is why I preach training at the earliest opportunity. Then you have something concrete TO practice. Random practice will not move you forward rapidly, if at all.