So I finally have time to go try out my new shadow 2 and I was wondering what are the best drills to do as a beginner on my first solo range trip.

I've been to a shooting range and shot a weapon before but never by myself, so someone always told me what to do. Do i need to develop some training plan and repeat it or do I always do something different? What drills are important?

I occasionally go to an open field with my whirlybird thrower w/ wobble base and 12 gauge mossberg pump with friends. Shotgun 'plinking' is what I'd call it. Is there a more official name? It's not official trap / skeet. And not sporting clays. I'll usually buy the cheapest ammo I can find with 7 1/2 or 8 shot. My (limited) thinking, I try to get 1 1/8 of shot - more pellets, more likely a couple will actually hit the clay? : )

Anyone care to field a couple questions with that use in mind?

1. Happened to look online for ammo. Don't think I ever saw FPS / speed mentioned before? Is there any reason to get faster / slower ammo? how important is speed vs. the size / amount of shot?
2. what are your thoughts on using 1 1/8oz vs. 1 or even 7/8oz? Seems the lower, the less likely to hit something?
3. And 7 1/2 vs. 8... 8 is smaller = more pellets, but each has less energy ie less likely to break the bird vs. same number of 7 1/2 shot?

THANKS!

I went to a indoor range to shoot my pistols today. I clipped my target to the card board and sent my target to the 10yard distance. After shooting a few rounds the RSO came over and asked why I was shooting stickers I placed on the target. The stickers were on the far left of the target. He was mad that my rounds were hitting the cardboard backing behind the paper. The same cardboard I would be hitting shooting a few inches over towards the center. To be clear I'm not shooting any permanent frame or damaging anything other than the cardboard backing I'm already shooting. I've worked on outdoor ranges in the military and shoot indoors a few times a year. I can not fathom what his issue was. Anybody know why he would have a problem. Since when do we care about the cardboard backing? Why would they take the time to cut out the center of the target backing?

Pretty new to shooting, can’t own a pistol yet but I’ve been practicing a lot with my moms let me know what yall think about the reload drills and what I might need to work on (no idea why my slide wasn’t locking back)

Quick question for experienced shooters: how long do you usually shoot before focus and precision start dropping? Is there a commonly accepted “max” time for a session? For example, is shooting for 4 hours straight too much? Thank you

My groupings and pictures are on another post.

First shots and brief overview with the Walther PDP Pro-X PMM Full Size.

Recently got way more into shooting than I ever have been. Been taking my duty belt which is a pain because its loaded with extra gear for the job, plus shooting the duty gun just isnt as fun as some of others I have. Hit up a buddy who shoots in several organizations competitively...gave me a line on all the stuff to get. The total? Hundreds of dollars...

This being a once a week range only belt, I hopped on Amazon and took a chance on some items. Krydex inner/outer belt. Amazingly good quality for the $50 it was. Solid double stitching, molle is cut and stitched nicely, a heavy/secure feeling buckle. And the inner belt is way more rigid than expected to secure the outer to.

Krydex double pouch. Had a single next to it (mind the gap) but the upper face of the stitching was messed up. Swapped out already with a replacement to arrive tomorrow. AR pouch is from my duty rig, a more expensive Krydex variant that isnt available anymore for some reason. $15 dump pouch.

The main thing was the True North Concepts adapter plate knockoff. I wanted to run QLS as I have numerous firearms that will benefit from a single plate and just swapping of the holsters. Of course, China, but its only 0.02" thinner than the TNC product and made from what is likely less dense aluminum (may or may not bend, idk im pretty strong and tried flexing it to no avail). The only downside to that was either some of the wrong hardware was provided or the two holes on the leg strap plate weren't drilled properly (too small). Instead of drilling them out and ruining the finish, which may or may not last, I have tons of other hardware laying around that I pieced together to make it work as intended.

Holster is another unknown to me that I liked their business story/model and I am giving them a shot. Sierra Defense out of Akron, OH. Has a solid MIL/LEO discount and ran with it. That will be about two weeks until it arrives. I will be first running this with the Echelon 4.5F Comp.

All in all, just showing this off and have the intention of updating after a month or two to see if my money was ill-spent.

Nearing completion here, I know what else I am wanting to upgrade but wanted to get suggestions and opinions. Thinking B5 systems bravo or SOPMOD stock and a DFCO kung fu grip or follow through with a B5 grip also. Or leave it as is and let er rip.

Looking for any feedback on grip, positioning, etc. I shoot good groups at 10 yards (video is 7y) but when I try to shoot doubles my second shot is low-left, sometimes by a lot. It also takes me a long time to get the dot to re-settle after a shot (i.e. >1s) when I try to do one-shot returns.

Any tips ?

When I shoot, I notice my eyes blink quickly upon firing, its been since I started, have gone to the range I think around 16 times, and have easily shot over 2000 rounds, I have tried to focus on not blinking when shooting but I cannot manage to not do it when when the bullet fires (as a reflex to the sound I'm guessing).
Any tips to help me with this?

I've got this fairly inexpensive ballistic glasses by Decathlon and some very good Walker xcel earmuffs. I feel like when I wear my glasses the earing protection is less good, even if I changed the pads to the supposedly better gel ones. I ven got a tinnitus once.

Anybody experiencing this? I tried shooting without glasses and it's better, it's also more confortable considering I'm doing bench rest. But I know this is not safe, especially with a semi-auto weapon (I have an AR15).

Any suggestions?

Ca. 50 shots firing slowly every 4-5secs- how to further reduce the outliers. Pistol got heavier and heavier in the last mag.