Have you ever been to the range with more guns than you can carry in your arms in a single trip? Do you switch guns between strings of fire often? Do you shoot the same target for the whole range session or with multiple guns?

If so you might have Range Add.

A few weeks ago, I went to the range with a friend and former coworker for some social shooting and to catch up. While we were there shooting on a common firing line with other members of his club, I noticed that everyone on the range appeared to have a case of what I consider range ADD.

Now maybe everyone was there for a social outing and only wanted to throw lead with their friends. If that is the case, that’s fine, I’m as much for enjoyment of second amendment rights as the next guy. You don’t need a rhyme or reason to be at the range shooting, and Americans enjoying their liberty is always a great thing.

That said, I’m also a huge proponent of making every round down range a learning experience. Ammo is too expensive and hard to find these days to throw down range with no return on investment. Even if I shoot firearms that I know I’ll never use to defend my life or home, I still make efforts to use the opportunity to practice fundamentals. Learning and improving on fundamentals requires consistent practice and feedback. Range ADD prohibits both feedback and consistency.

Three Ways You Can Avoid Range ADD

Bring Fewer Guns

The first symptom of range ADD is bringing too many guns. Do you need to only own one or two? Absolutely not! Owning more guns is never a bad thing. But you don’t need to bring them all every time you head to the range. I like to bring between 1 and 3 depending on my plan for the range trip. If I’m working on pistol skills and I feel like bringing more than one gun, I might bring my carry gun, a .22 pistol and a ‘fun’ pistol that might be part of my historical collection.

I would start with the carry gun to practice defensive skills before transitioning to the other pistols to continue working on marksmanship skills. I am still enjoying my “toys” while also making the trip a worthwhile training experience.

Plan Your Range Day

If you are heading to the range without a plan, you are almost guaranteed to get less out of your day than you would with a plan. Do you need your plan to detail how every round will be shot? No. But knowing which drills you plan on working on is a good start. Maybe you start every trip with a diagnostic drill and then choose drills to work on your weakest areas that day. Your plan can be flexible as long as it has some logic behind it.

Rotating through guns with every string or shooting at random is going to make it harder to improve on fundamentals.

Use Good Targets

No matter what you are shooting, make sure you change or paste targets frequently enough to get solid feedback, and use targets that help you learn. Shooting your target to swiss cheese with your entire collection makes it difficult to see where your shots went, and therefore removes the target from your feedback loop. If that’s your plan, why use a target at all? At least you might see where your hits land on the berm. If you don’t want to head down range as often, hang more targets, or use reactive targets like clay pigeons or steel. Feedback is necessary for improvement.

So do you have range ADD? Please share your opinions and experience in the comments below!

photo credit: dagnyg via photopin cc