The Difference Between Practicing and Training with Your Firearms



Practicing and training at the shooting range are two different things, but gun owners often get them confused. One is more about getting comfortable with your firearms, while the other improves your skills. Knowing the distinction between the two helps ensure your range days are more productive. Look up an ammo prices chart, plan your range trip, and learn the difference between these two approaches.

Person wearing eye and ear protection firing a handgun at an outdoor shooting range, with a spent shell casing ejecting midair.

What Shooters Often Mean by “Practice”

Practice is more casual than training. Practicing is about slowing down and getting comfortable with your firearms. Building that comfort is key and a crucial step in becoming a competent shooter, but it’s not as skill-focused as training. Repetition during practice builds confidence and familiarity with your guns. It’s the perfect time to set up a few targets, get your firearm, and plink away. You aren’t going through a ton of ammo quickly, so the prices for 9mm ammo shouldn’t be a worry here.

Person firing a handgun at a steel target on an outdoor shooting range, with a spent shell casing ejecting and desert terrain in the background.

How Structured Training Improves Skills

Training, on the other hand, involves drills and structure to achieve measurable goals. When you go to the range with a set of drills, you create consistency in your training methods, even as you practice different skills. Using a shot timer can help you build speed, an improvement that is easy to see and measure. Using specific targets can help you improve groupings, long-range accuracy, or both. The bottom line is that “training” is about being productive at the range. It might not always be as fun as plinking, but it’s crucial to advancing as a shooter.

Planning Your Range Time

Planning how you will use your range time can help you make the most of a trip. Looking at current ammo prices might help you decide how many rounds to bring on a trip, or better inform you when it's time to replace what you use. With that in mind, choose drills that focus on the skills you want to improve, like accuracy or draw time, or plan tactical drills for your range friends to improve their firearm familiarity. How you use your time is up to you, and both practice and training have their purposes, but knowing what you are going to do beforehand makes you more efficient.

Person wearing eye and ear protection aiming a rifle with a mounted optic at an outdoor shooting range.

About AmmoSquared

The AmmoSquared team believes that buying ammunition shouldn’t be hard. They have worked tirelessly since 2015 to provide the average gun owner with a seamless way to buy and stack ammo. Having an ammo reserve is essential for all gun owners, and when you’re facing price spikes and empty shelves, AmmoSquared ensures you’re always prepared. Check the current 300 Blackout ammo price, add to your stack with recurring payments, and build your ammo reserve quietly and consistently.

Build your ammo stack for range training and general preparedness at https://ammosquared.com/

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