limit my guns?

[iyn]

If you have limited time to train is it better to focus on one platform of pistol, rifle and shotgun vs. going back and forth between different guns?

 

[Ed Ames]

That depends on your goal.

If you are interested in competing in a sport that focuses on one type e.g. Trap Shooting or long range target shooting then choosing one type and practicing yourself raw is the way to go.

If you are interested in multiple sports, or a sport that involves multiple types such as Three Gun, practice with what you will use.

Personally, I see a value in being at least somewhat familiar with every type of firearm I am likely to encounter so I not only split time between types, but I change weapons more frequently than ultimate mastery might dictate. That is consistent with my goals and priorities but it may be the wrong choice for you.

There is a certain amount of cross training benefit, but in general you could spend your whole life trying master any one discipline and never reach the end of it.

 

[Kendal Black]

Yes.

Pretty obvious, isn't it? Repetition is an important part of skill building.

Then there is the old saw about "Beware the man with one gun..."

 

[JohnBiltz]

Define limited time. I feel if your shooting 100 rounds a month and carry, it should be with your carry. If your shooting 1,000 rounds a month I think its safe to diversify some. On the other hand if 900 rounds of that is with a 1911 and you are carrying a Shield you could be getting yourself in trouble by building the wrong reflexes.

 

[grampajack]

Absolutely. This is something I've been guilty of in the past, going back and forth between carry guns and jumping on the next new thing. Obviously, this doesn't allow for proper training with each new flavor of the month (well, more like year). For better or worse, I've decided on the G19, and that's what I'll be sticking with until I see a darn good reason to switch to something else.

 

[Deaf Smith]

If you have limited time to train is it better to focus on one platform of pistol, rifle and shotgun vs. going back and forth between different guns?

Yes.

But if you have shot guns and trained for over 40 years... then the answer is No.

Deaf

 

[Sovblocgunfan]

There is something to be said for knowing how to use well all the tools in your toolbox. An organized, disciplined rotating training schedule may not lend itself to immediate expertise, but may provide opportunity to be well-rounded.

Depends on what you are training for.

 

[Warp]

If you have limited time to train is it better to focus on one platform of pistol, rifle and shotgun vs. going back and forth between different guns?

One.

 

[Good Ol' Boy]

Define limited time. I feel if your shooting 100 rounds a month and carry, it should be with your carry. If your shooting 1,000 rounds a month I think its safe to diversify some. On the other hand if 900 rounds of that is with a 1911 and you are carrying a Shield you could be getting yourself in trouble by building the wrong reflexes.

^ Bingo.

 

[jmorris]

I enjoy them all, even in the gun games. I rotated between them working my way up to master, one level at a time rotating between them all.

No doubt the faster path would have been with one platform, starting with the one I was most acclimated to and preformed the best with.

 

[CoalTrain49]

I can answer that.

I excelled at the shotgun sports after many years. I was into it deep and IMHO was in the top 25% of the general public who shot the games in competition. Not a hard feat if you practice for 10 years every week. I was also a hard core upland bird hunter for many years so the two meshed very well.

Then it became apparent that I had missed something, pistol and rifle shooting, which I had enjoyed in my younger days. I purchased a few rifles and pistols and set my shotguns aside. I rediscovered something enjoyable that I had given up for many years. I think a person can become too focused in their shooting. Not necessarily a bad thing until it limits enjoying the full spectrum of the shooting sports.

I don't focus on any one platform. My rifles are SA and bolt. My handguns are revolvers and SA. My shotguns are O/U, sxs and pumps.

I guess I get bored with too much of the same thing.

 

[MachIVshooter]

I find that muscle memory is highly adaptive. I own, well, I'm not gonna say how many guns, but more than a few. I have absolutely no trouble switching between them and still having manipulation be second nature, almost subconscious. My hands remember the feel of each one, and remember what is where and how to hold for which operation without really having to think at all. Maybe I'm just lucky? Or maybe it's a secondary benefit of a career in auto repair, driving multiple different vehicles on a daily basis? I don't know. But either way, I've never found my feet searching for a clutch pedal that wasn't there, and likewise have never had fingers going for safeties or mag releases in the wrong place.

 

[Ed Ames]

But either way, I've never found my feet searching for a clutch pedal that wasn't there, and likewise have never had fingers going for safeties or mag releases in the wrong place.

The way it happens for me is that I rent a car and drive it a LOT (maybe 1000+ miles in a week)...then get back in my jeep and wonder briefly why it won't start. I pressed the brake and turned the key...oh yeah, clutch. Rental cars don't have those. Or I'll pull up towards a stoplight and realize at about 400rpm that I really should hit the clutch before coming to a complete stop. Doesn't last long but it definitely happens.

But what I'm more concerned with knowing is stuff like ...well, the Beretta 418 has a lever on the left side of the frame, above and behind the trigger, that can swing down to run parallel to the magazine, or swing up to run parallel to the barrel. Is that a takedown lever, safety, magazine release, or something else entirely? If it is a safety (which it is), is it in safe or fire when swung forward to run parallel to the barrel? Can I tell if it is loaded without putting it in a condition to fire?

What are the odds I will ever use a Beretta 418 in combat? As close to zero as I can make them. What are the odds I'll encounter one in totally unknown state, in a place where an internet search isn't possible, and where nobody around is more qualified to deal with it than me? Well, it has happened once....

 

[Sovblocgunfan]

Interesting topic, as a similar (not identical) topic is going on in a handgun forum:

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=808705

The difference being the OP in this topic is asking about switching among types (pistol, rifle, shotgun), whereas the handgun topic is focused on switching brands/models/configurations inside a specific type and format (autoloading pistol).

 

[DaisyCutter]

I honestly enjoy shooting all my different guns. Yeah, I could be more proficient if I ONLY shot my duty weapon, but I have to carry it every day and shooting it is boring. Admittedly, my skill set would be higher with a given gun if I dedicated to one gun, but I think it would be negligible.

Nobody ever thinks about what you GAIN shooting different platforms from different holsters. Working different platforms helps your mind. It hones your OODA loop.

Using my Glock 22 and duty holster, I have great muscle memory, I'm fast & efficient, and can focus 100% on target and sight alignment. Mag changes, trigger control, weight shift from slide lock back, etc. are all memorized. My brain's ability to actively multitask diminishes. I get mentally lazy.

When I use my Glock 41 or 1911s, or Kahr PM9, my brain has to learn to sufficiently maintain sight alignment and trigger control AND use a different holster, different trigger, different action, different sight radius, different safety, and heavier or lighter or shorter mags. A double stack 45 ACP mag is heavy, fat, and easy to fumble if you are only focused down range. My brain learns to multitask under stress and time compression, focusing on several factors.

A defensive shooting will likely have several dimensions and require some adaptation, versus shooting on the square range or even in competition. So, there is a benefit to changing things up.

Ultimately, I like guns and enjoy shooting a variety of them. Note, I was a gun owner before there was internet or cell phones, so what I can get away with may be different than a novice shooter, because my fundamentals were ironed out almost 3 decades ago.

 

[Warp]

I honestly enjoy shooting all my different guns. Yeah, I could be more proficient if I ONLY shot my duty weapon, but I have to carry it every day and shooting it is boring. Admittedly, my skill set would be higher with a given gun if I dedicated to one gun, but I think it would be negligible.

Nobody ever thinks about what you GAIN shooting different platforms from different holsters. Working different platforms helps your mind. It hones your OODA loop.

Using my Glock 22 and duty holster, I have great muscle memory, I'm fast and efficient, and can focus 100% on sight alignment and trigger control. My brain's ability to multitask diminishes. I get mentally lazy.

When I use my Glock 41 or 1911s, or Kahr PM9, my brain has to learn to sufficiently maintain sight alignment and trigger control AND use a different holster, different trigger, different action, different sight radius, different safety, and heavier or lighter or shorter mags. A double stack 45 ACP mag is heavy, fat, and easy to fumble if you are only focused down range. My brain learns to multitask under stress and time compression, focusing on several factors.

A defensive shooting will likely have several dimensions and require some adaptation, versus shooting on the square range or even in competition. So, there is a benefit to changing things up.

Ultimately, I like guns and enjoy shooting a variety of them.

...yet if you only seriously trained with your duty gun, you would be better with it if you had to use it in a defensive shooting. From from the perspective of using it defensively I don't see any logical way to say anything other than the one-gun training method being superior.

 

[tarosean]

Define limited time.

This...


If I cannot make it out to the range.. a few mins of dry fire is always beneficial and you can do it just about anywhere, day or night.

Fundamentals are more important than the gun, whatever it may be.

 

[entropy]

As others have said, depends on your goals. My goal has always been being better than the average with all types of weapons, in all their applications. I have overachieved that in several, but could use more work in some of the more obscure types and uses.

 

[DaisyCutter]

.yet if you only seriously trained with your duty gun, you would be better with it if you had to use it in a defensive shooting. From from the perspective of using it defensively I don't see any logical way to say anything other than the one-gun training method being superior

If decisions were only based on logic, then people who aren't required to carry guns wouldn't be carrying guns at all, or at minimum not allowed to own more than one gun. Nurses would holster carry a stethoscope, engineers a calculator, surgeons a scalpel, and mechanics a wrench. Heck, I shouldn't spend any time reloading or fishing, because the time should be spent mastering my one gun.


So, maybe 5% of my skillset with my primary gun temporarily diminishes by practicing with others, but my mental ability to move, use cover, manipulate any firearm AND track the front sight and target(s) increases 10% overall. Then 20 minutes with the primary and I'm up to 100% again, in addition to better overall mental conditioning.

Today my competition gun IS my duty gun. I'm qualified to carry three different handguns.

Try a shooting competition with an unfamiliar gun sometime and see first-hand how your brain has relegated a lot of critical functions to the background.

We are all blessed with the freedom to carry whatever we desire. A world where we are all locked into only one tool for life would be miserablely boring. The new challenges keep my brain strong, and keep me shooting weekly, versus the cop with one neglected gun.. that only comes out of the holster for inspection.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

I don't compete but I love to shoot. I shoot all three depending upon who I'm going to the range with.

 

[iyn]

thanks guys! over 20 years ago i started with pistols, 1911s. then ventured in revolvers, shot gun, rimfire rifles and now ARs. I can the only range 2x per month. keeping an inventory of 1000 rounds per caliber takes up a lot of room and is pricely, according to my wife, and trying to keep up skills in each is tough.

 

[toivo]

Define limited time. I feel if your shooting 100 rounds a month and carry, it should be with your carry. If your shooting 1,000 rounds a month I think its safe to diversify some. On the other hand if 900 rounds of that is with a 1911 and you are carrying a Shield you could be getting yourself in trouble by building the wrong reflexes.

^ Bingo.

Point taken, but it could be worse. Trying to sweep off a safety that isn't there is a lot less of a problem than not sweeping off one that is.

 

[grampajack]

Someone said something about muscle memory being adaptive, and I think I agree with that. So if you're shooting different varieties of the same basic type of firearm, then it's probably okay to go back and forth. I think the problem would be, say, if you train with a striker fired pistol every week for several years, then switch to a 1911 style pistol without doing much training with it. If you ever had to use it, you'd probably end up forgetting to take the safety off. But if you simply switch to another striker fired pistol, like say going from a Glock to an M&P, then it probably wouldn't cause you any major issues.

 

[ATLDave]

I think you have to explain what you mean by "training." If you mean standing at the line and shooting groups, then I think it makes little difference if you swap around guns and even gun types; I think you may even get some cross-training benefits.

If you're talking about fast gun handling with an emphasis on a fast index, then I think it gets more complicated. I don't think that switching between rifle and handgun will cause any confusion - those are pretty different, and your brain won't likely try to use one set of skills with the other. And if you're talking about very similar guns - similar dimensions, similar grip angles, similar sights, similar controls - then that's also going to be fine.

I think the tricky zone is when you're trying to do fast work with broadly similar, but nevertheless seriously different, guns. For instance, going back and forth between a Glock and a CZ variant or a 1911/2011... it will probably take you a while to reset your index for each.

But if you're just standing there and punching paper, then I don't think that hurts at all.

 

[entropy]

thanks guys! over 20 years ago i started with pistols, 1911s. then ventured in revolvers, shot gun, rimfire rifles and now ARs. I can the only range 2x per month. keeping an inventory of 1000 rounds per caliber takes up a lot of room and is pricely, according to my wife, and trying to keep up skills in each is tough.

Work on the one you have the least history with the most. You started with pistols, so maybe cap off a range session with a mag or two from your 1911, then a cylinder or two from a revolver. Spend the bulk of your time with that AR, and maybe some shotgun. That way, you keep 'a hand in' on the skills you know, while building new skills with the limited time and ammo available.

From my personal experience, I shot Trap and bird hunted enough when younger, I can go a while not shooting a shotgun and the skills are still there. I once shot a round of Trap after not having shot it for over ten years, and shot a 23, with a gun of a type I normally didn't use!
I was an Armorer in the Army, and have plenty of rounds downrange with AR type rifles. (I somehow accidentally ordered a little too much ammo each range trip, and somebody has to shoot it up......) I don't even own one, but every time I shoot someone else's, I can do it in a state of mushin, that is without thinking about it.
I do notice deterioration in my pistol skills if I don't keep working on them, so that is where I concentrate my efforts these days.