Shooting box size

drmitchgibson · Feb 8, 2012

I made up some shooting boxes that are one square meter, which I inferred from the USPSA rule book, but they seem way too large. Anyone know if there is a standard size for shooting boxes? Or anyone measured the ones at OKCGC? I'm going to use them to set up short stages to practice transitions.

TroyF · Feb 8, 2012

Go buy some hula hoops......
Fun for the kiddos when Dad aint using em. Cheap too.

dennishoddy · Feb 8, 2012

Meter? Speak English!

Sorry, I know it's in the book. Just my rant.

Scott Hearn · Feb 8, 2012

Sounds about right to me. Throw them down in the yard outside, they probably just look big on the garage floor.

jtischauser · Feb 8, 2012

If there isn't regulations in the big IPSC or USPSA book then anything goes. In this case size doesn't really matter anyway. You can practice getting ready to shoot coming into a position and being ready to leave a position without having a box.

The Antichrome · Feb 8, 2012

I made mine 3' x 3'

BTW, using boxes for most of your training sessions is a very good practice.

dennishoddy · Feb 8, 2012

Use some chalk to draw a box inside the garage?

TroyF · Feb 8, 2012

dennishoddy said:
Use some chalk to draw a box inside the garage?

Painters Tape on the floor works too

drmitchgibson · Feb 8, 2012

Jesse Tischauser said:
If there isn't regulations in the big IPSC or USPSA book then anything goes. In this case size doesn't really matter anyway. You can practice getting ready to shoot coming into a position and being ready to leave a position without having a box.

Ah, but with boxes I can practice running into them instead of jumping into them, and then there won't be any reason to call me Peter Cottontail.

The Antichrome · Feb 8, 2012

USPSA rules do not define how large a shooting box should be...except in Classifiers that use a box where an exact size will be specified. (usually 3'x3')
The rules do require the height of boxes and fault lines to be a minimum of .75" on hard surfaces and 1.5" on soft surfaces.
Fault lines and boxes have to be something that can be felt with the feet...which is why you cant use paint, tape, etc. to make fault lines at a match.
Now of course for practice, anything goes.

dennishoddy · Feb 8, 2012

Mitch Gibson said:
Ah, but with boxes I can practice running into them instead of jumping into them, and then there won't be any reason to call me Peter Cottontail.

I can relate!
Keeping all of the other solutions in mind, we use cheap PVC at our range for boxes.

jtischauser · Feb 9, 2012

Mitch Gibson said:
Ah, but with boxes I can practice running into them instead of jumping into them, and then there won't be any reason to call me Peter Cottontail.

Lol! For the record that was Tony and your brother. I just laughed! When I said you don't need a box I was thinking the box is no different than shooting around a wall or a barrel or from the edge of a fault line. Just practice slowing down 3-4 steps prior to the box with your gun coming up on target where your sights are settled ready to shoot 1-2 steps before you stop moving no matter of its in a box over a fault line or up to a fault line. Don't fixate on the box it's all movement work and boils down to thinking about your sights being ready on target not getting into the box.

Wall · Feb 9, 2012

Mitch Gibson said:
Ah, but with boxes I can practice running into them instead of jumping into them, and then there won't be any reason to call me Peter Cottontail.

Easter is just around the corner

drmitchgibson · Feb 9, 2012

The Antichrome said:
USPSA rules do not define how large a shooting box should be...except in Classifiers that use a box where an exact size will be specified. (usually 3'x3')
The rules do require the height of boxes and fault lines to be a minimum of .75" on hard surfaces and 1.5" on soft surfaces.
Fault lines and boxes have to be something that can be felt with the feet...which is why you cant use paint, tape, etc. to make fault lines at a match.
Now of course for practice, anything goes.

Yeah, the size of the box is a gray area, but somewhere in the rule book it calls a box four fault lines connected as a square (not verbatim), and the minimum length for a fault line is one meter. I don't really care about any of that, per se, but do want to have something to use to better emulate running a stage with as close an approximation to reality as I can get. I may hold back on focusing on this too much, since at the last match I ran the stages really well for the most part, but my shooting suffered heavily for lack of attention.

The Antichrome · Feb 9, 2012

Mitch Gibson said:
Yeah, the size of the box is a gray area, but somewhere in the rule book it calls a box four fault lines connected as a square (not verbatim), and the minimum length for a fault line is one meter. I don't really care about any of that, per se, but do want to have something to use to better emulate running a stage with as close an approximation to reality as I can get. I may hold back on focusing on this too much, since at the last match I ran the stages really well for the most part, but my shooting suffered heavily for lack of attention.

Shooting boxes are usually square, but they dont have to be. Minimum length for fault lines that extend rearward is 3 feet.
Most common size for shooting boxes is 3' x 3'.

Having said all that, I'll restate that its good practice to use shooting boxes for your training sessions. It has little to do with moving in/out of boxes. Work with boxes for awhile, good stuff will happen. Trust me.

2.2.1.3 Fault Lines extending rearward (uprange) should be a minimum

of 3 feet in length, and unless otherwise stated in the written

stage briefing, are deemed to extend rearward to infinity.

shootingbuff · Feb 10, 2012

The Antichrome said:
Having said all that, I'll restate that its good practice to use shooting boxes for your training sessions. It has little to do with moving in/out of boxes. Work with boxes for awhile, good stuff will happen. Trust me.

I have to agree. A lot of time can be lost moving in and out of a position. More so than bring the firearm up. It is all important but if you come hopping, sliding, running through a position / shooting box you have lost a lot of time. That stated what JT stated is very important as well. It doesn't matter though if your firearm is up if you as in your body is still moving, especially if out of control. Smooth is fast.

Without boxes it is hard to realize if you are out of the box until you look at foot placement. Knowing how one is going to go into the box / position is very important to help from falling out of the box which I alluded to already. Anything is better than nothing, but if you are going to practice then I would suggest if possible to get the max benefit and returns from it. Thing with practice is bad practice makes bad habits.