User Panel
Posted: 12/31/2022 8:34:27 PM EDT
I see all kinds of holes in my shooting and don't consider myself particularly good.
BUT I'm a Master class USPSA Carry Optics shooter and placed at 24th of ~150 (3rd A Class, 82%) at my Area Championship. These are reasonably significant accomplishments in the context of USPSA. So...what's your bar? |
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When you can shoot a flea off of a mouse's ass at 250 yards with iron sights
Or when you beat rustedace at cola warrior |
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Quoted: I see all kinds of holes in my shooting and don't consider myself particularly good. BUT I'm a Master class USPSA Carry Optics shooter and placed at 24th of ~150 (3rd A Class, 82%) at my Area Championship. These are reasonably significant accomplishments in the context of USPSA. So...what's your bar? View Quote When you can make a decent living doing it as a job. |
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When I didn't feel like it was hard anymore and I didn't understand why people couldn't hit shit with a pistol.
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Depends on what kind of shooting you do...
When I can consistently shoot MOA groups with a rifle/ammo combo I know can do it When I can keep 'em in a 4" circle at 25 with a pistol and irons (or 2-2.5" with a red dot) When I can shoot 23+ of 25 on the skeet/trap range |
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Shooting and killing squirrels with a single shot to the head at 25 yards with a BB gun at the age of 7. I have also shot the head off of a butterfly on a leaf with a pellet gun at 20 yards. I mastered shooting decades ago.
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Sport's Shooting or combat shooting? Significant difference. I enjoy USPSA matches, but the A/C zone games would get lots of innocents killed in a HR mission. Suppressing fire will definitely cause to be at the low end of the ranking game.
I'm confident in my skills based on my various life's adventures and skills, but there is always room for improvement. |
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When I’ve been told multiple times that I made an amazing shot by professional hunters that see many shots on a daily basis. I must be doing something right. Can’t brag much about my pistol skills even though I’m above average on that too, I’ve seen much better.
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Walking the Prize Table, or bringing home trophies.
Most mid-pack shooters are in the top 1% of the gun community. |
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You're pretty good in my book if you can do this
Dorothea Wierer fastest shooting 2020 |
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Its sorta a skill you need to actually have in the first place... Like drawing, some folks have just a natural gift for it, and they take classes to hone that skill and be come a better artist, but if you can draw for shit to begin with, no amount of glasses or training is going to help you... I think the same goes for shooting... Some folks just are not good at shooting.. I have a good friend thats like this, bow, crossbow, gun, anything he shoots its all over the place, you would think he shoots with his eyes closed sometimes, but he just can not shoot well.... I have another friend on the other hand who will pick up a pistol and pop a running wood chuck at 75-100 yards like its nothing, or take a shot a deer at 3-400 yards with a smoothbore 12 gauge and the deer will just drop.... He rarely shoots and is what a lot of you would consider a "fudd" but give that man a gun, and 98% of the time he will hit what he points that gun at... Im sorta in the middle, I suck at pistols, Im rather decent with a rifle, and very good with a bow however I would only consider my self an average shooter...
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When I made High Power Master classification with iron sights.
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View Quote Our prior 4H Shooting Sports State Coordinator was an Olympic Air rifle trainer in the Springs for years. We had some serious shooters in 4H shooting sports. |
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I never went crazy buying multiple handgun platforms.
I stuck with a glock19 a 1911 and a s&w full suze 45acp. I practice with them extensively. At least 2k in glock and another 2k between the 45's yearly. I'm extremely confident with them and although not a master, I am pretty damn confident. |
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Quoted: I see all kinds of holes in my shooting and don't consider myself particularly good. BUT I'm a Master class USPSA Carry Optics shooter and placed at 24th of ~150 (3rd A Class, 82%) at my Area Championship. These are reasonably significant accomplishments in the context of USPSA. So...what's your bar? View Quote Davy Crockett Shoots Santa Anna |
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Never. Anyone who says they've quit learning or have peaked is a fool.
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Middle of the pack at any competitive practical shooting match is "competent" or "decent", IMO. Such a shooter will likely shoot better than 99% of people who have never shot competitively. But, it is a perishable skill.
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I consider my self decent. One example, last thursday I did a drill. Drew from concealed fired 2 rounds at 5 yards, holstered did it again. Then started walking backwards while continuing to shoot. I ran out of ammo ( 15 rounds ) around the 12-13 yard line. All rounds where in a 3 inch circle, most under 2 inches. Iron sights. Standing still most people could keep the same group, but how many could do it while walking backwards.
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Quoted: I see all kinds of holes in my shooting and don't consider myself particularly good. BUT I'm a Master class USPSA Carry Optics shooter and placed at 24th of ~150 (3rd A Class, 82%) at my Area Championship. These are reasonably significant accomplishments in the context of USPSA. So...what's your bar? View Quote I also got my M card this year and even though I did OK at Area 1, I see all kinds of mistakes when I watch my match video. |
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Between SC & USPSA I’m a 4x GM and I still only see areas in which I need to improve. There are lots of people better than me.
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I'm not all that great with a rifle but way above average with a pistol.
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You always self evolve as the conditions and monetary funds to support allow.
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As has been mentioned shooting is a perishable skill.
When I was shooting 5 matches a month religiously I felt like I was in a good place and making progress. I haven't shot a match in a year and a half now because its gotten to the point I don't have the means to replace what I shoot. Heck I don't even shoot at home hardly at all. I used to shoot 1k rounds a month. All that said you're never "done" getting better. |
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When I was young and single I shot all the time. Ranges, hunting, competition, etc. I was shooting thousands and thousands of rounds. That consistent shooting put me in a place where I would def say I was good.
These days, I lucky to shoot 2-3 times are year. I am still way way better than your average shooter but no longer good. |
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Quoted: Shooting and killing squirrels with a single shot to the head at 25 yards with a BB gun at the age of 7. I have also shot the head off of a butterfly on a leaf with a pellet gun at 20 yards. I mastered shooting decades ago. View Quote Attached File |
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When I triple on wood ducks from a kayak jump shooting on the river with a crappy 20 ga. pump, going 12 for 12 on snow geese, or a triple on decoyed Canada geese...
I have only done this a minimal amount of times. Obviously I am not a rifle shooter |
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2500 yard torso target hit. Don't really consider I'm great shooter, just a great feeling of accomplishment when I did it.
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I knew I was good at shooting… When I knew I didn’t need to add any sort of cowitnessing sights on my pistol RDS.
I knew I was good at shooting a rifle when I was leaving my flip up irons DOWN with a RDS. |
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It's not that I'm a really good shooter...it's just that the majority of people I see shoot...they suck! Ha.
The reality is, a lot of folks shoot or hunt occasionally, but they don't shoot more than a handful of times a year. Even if they do shoot say once a month, how many rounds do they shoot per session? Maybe a couple boxes or so of ammo and they call it good. If so, are they able to hit the target? Can they do it repeatedly? Can they do it cold? Can they do it with virtually any number of guns? Can they do it under duress? If they can answer "yes" to all of that, then they probably are good shooters. If not, well...it's hard to say at times. Shooting is a perishable skill, you have to practice to stay at the top of your performance curve. Sure, some folks have a natural ability and all, but many don't. For myself personally, I have my own range that I have access to at any time. I reload multiple thousands of rounds each year, as well as shoot that much, although not as much as I have in the past. I've shot competitively in the past and earned trophies or prizes. Also had the highest scores for the range when I went through the police academy years ago, and qualified Sharpshooter, etc. Heck, I also find myself routinely helping others shoot or giving them advice based on my years of experience. That includes basic fundamentals, sighting in their weapon, etc. In that regards, I feel I am a pretty good shooter...but, I also realize their are others that are leaps and bounds ahead of me as well. As such, I try and remain as humble as possible, because even at this stage in my life, there is always something I can learn from others to make me a better shooter overall. |
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I made Master this year in the NSCA, I’m pretty fair at flying targets.
Never competed with pistol or rifle though. |
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Everything I've shot has died, by that standard alone, I qualify myself as good enough.
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I shot a running coyote at 300 yards with an M1 carbine.
I figure that makes me a decent shot. |
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There is always more to learn, and room to improve my skill.
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Quoted: Never, shooting is a perishable skill. View Quote Yep. Can’t stop. Won’t stop. Also, different types of shooting. I used to focus on tight groups on paper at 100 yards from iron sighted military rifles. Got good at it. Now I’m more focused on how fast I can hit steel targets with pistols and rifles in a practical setting. More fun too. |
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I shoot a lot. I have a range right outside my door and I reload. Even after shooting a while and being able to shoot MOA pretty consistent I didn't think that I was very good because of the internet. Everyone on here shoots like .32 moa. I didn't know how much people exaggerate or cherry pick groups. Then when I started shooting with friends I could see I wasn't bad.
I think it's hilarious you ask GD. You know everyone on here can shoot .3 moa with iron sights and .1 with a 4x scope. |
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Go shoot at the Ben Avery public range on a Saturday and watch most of the other shooter’s lanes. You’ll feel like you’re good at shooting.
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When I can nail my kid in his temple at a full sprint (him not me) with a Nerf dart from across the basement.
He was so close to making cover. |
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There’s no such point. Could always improve in accuracy or speed, and occasionally just have a shit day.
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Back when I was in college and we had a range on campus, I was there shooting one night and a guy I knew was bitching at me about how sloppy I was shooting.
So, I reeled my target back in, and held it up to his chest so he could see the number of holes over his heart and said "Looks good enough to me." He turned and walked away and didn't speak to me again. Sometimes it's not about the cleanness of your shot groupings so much as it is letting people know what you're thinking about while you're shooting. |
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Quoted: Go shoot at the Ben Avery public range on a Saturday and watch most of the other shooter’s lanes. You’ll feel like you’re good at shooting. View Quote There is a lot of truth to this. The pock marks from errant bullet strikes on the walls, floor, and ceiling of two of our local ranges can attest to this. I had to chuckle one time. Wife and I went to the indoor range last winter for a date night. Indoor range is 25 yards. We took a couple handguns and some life size targets the range had. As we were finishing up, two kids, early 20's or so, with an AR-15 set up in the lane next to us. They had a life sized target from the range as well. They set it out at 10-15 yards and each proceeded to fire a full mag at it. They brought it back and were all excited about how many times they hit the target. I'm guessing it was about 15 shots out of 60 or so. Meanwhile, my wife was finishing her last mag from her S&W at 25 yards, same type of target. She hits the target retrieval button and brings it back in. 10 for 10, basically center mass. The two guys saw her target and what she did, and you could see the look on their face like man...that's impressive. Wife smiled, we packed up, said have fun fellas and left. I'm guessing they left some additional bullet marks in the ceiling as well. |
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Don't ask, but where I work we run simulators for any distance.
Simply hitting the target at 600yds standing with open sites using an ar15 is basic for the SME's. I felt like I could 'hold my own' when I could do this proficiently. |
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Quoted: Shooting and killing squirrels with a single shot to the head at 25 yards with a BB gun at the age of 7. I have also shot the head off of a butterfly on a leaf with a pellet gun at 20 yards. I mastered shooting decades ago. View Quote |
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