Help for Target Shooting

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bcurko

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Hey guys at The Firing Line

I shoot competition for my school with .22 anschutz Rifle and Open sight. Now i am currently running into problems into improving my score. We shoot lying down at 20 Metres from the Target holding the rifle with our left hand and the rifle strap taking the weight.

I don't know what i am doing wrong my scores range from 80-90 but for my mate he's scores are always about 92 and if i don't improve my score i will be dropped from the A's Team as last semester my Average was 90

Can someone suggest what i should do or help me?
 
I'm not sure about the competitions you are doing, but where is your grouping going, or is it spread out more?

Could be you need to control breathing, could be you jerk the trigger, could be your hand muscles are slightly moving the rifle as you pull the trigger.
 
The easiest way to improve your scores is to experiment with different ammunition! I'm sure that the others here are already familiar with the improvement that this can make. Back in the late seventy's I ran into the younger brother of the local "grease monkey" that complained that, being on the local rifle team, the local shooters could not compete with another team from the area that shot with Anschutz rifles. When I took him to the local indoor range and asked what they used for ammo, he showed me some high velocity ammo that had been bought on sale! I shot a few of them then shot some CCI Mini Group ammo (unfortuately long since discontinued.) The difference was like night versus day! It makes a heck of a difference!! After this little demonstration I started looking up the match results in the paper. His team was undefeated for the next three years! :D
 
Work on your breathing, trigger control, building your bone-bridge, don't be satisfied with an "almost ok" sight picture, take your time, relax relax relax (a USAMU shooter once told me if you have never fallen asleep while shooting prone, you are not relaxed enough).

What kind of match is this? Prone only? If so, 92s are pathetic, you should be looking to blow your buddy out of the water, not end up where he is. Even on international cards (1mm x-ring) decent competitors will be shooting 99s and 100s ("possibles") exclusively during prone stages.

It's probably not the rifle or the ammo, but what kind of ammo are you using? Eley Tenex? Federal GM Ultramatch? Top-of-the-line Lapua loads? If it's not one of those three, look into buying your own ammo. It will not be cheap, but it will be worth it once you get your fundamentals under control (and it does not seem like you do at this point).
 
Help.

As a previous poster noted, .22 prone competition is generally a game of 10s.
Just a check, though, on one idea. By "open sight" you mean a Patridge-type blade and post set. Is that correct? ("open" as opposed to "aperture")
I ask because that is an unusual and less precise type of sight for rifle competition.
Pete
 
Just a check, though, on one idea. By "open sight" you mean a Patridge-type blade and post set. Is that correct? ("open" as opposed to "aperture")
I ask because that is an unusual and less precise type of sight for rifle competition.
Pete
Click to expand...

No Sir, in compitition open sights, meaning iron sights, apeture or patridge. In ISU, Small Bore, High Power Rifle, open sights mean you dont use scopes, aim points ETC.

Some shooting sports do state what type of sights, CowBoy Action is one, but Service rifle is a better example, Service rifle rules state the sights issued with the rifle. In our case (USA) its the sights that come on the service rifle, the peep rear and post front, (carefull, they do allow match sights but they still look like the service rifle sights.

So when someone says OPEN SIGHTS, they met to exclude scopes, aim points, etc.
 
sights

Kraig: Thank you. I was aware of the difference, though. I am, myself, used to thinking of the target sights that I have on my Anschutz and FWB rifles as "aperture" sights, like the Anschutz 6805. Perhaps incorrectly, though they are "iron" sights, I don't consider them to be "open" sights like a Patridge since both front and rear elements incorporate a "tube"/light baffle through which the shooter looks.
Just a difference in words, I suppose.
Pete
 
Get into your prone position the way you think it should be. Close your eyes and mount your rifle so it's pointed at the target as best you can. Now open your eyes and see if your rifle is on target.

If it's not, the BODY positiion must be changed so the rifle comes up naturally every time. The rifle will be at an angle to the body. Once the position is found, you'll be able to get into easily each time without the closing the eyes, etc. stuff.

The same applies to the other positions, like sitting and kneeling.

NOTE: An inexperienced shooter will sometimes get the feet too straight behind him in a position that is neither natural nor compfy.

If your position doesn't feel compfy enough so it feels like you could hold the rifle on target a long time, then it's not right.


When you get the right position, then it's the basics with sight alignment, trigger pull, and breathing all co-ordinated.

Don't you have a coach?
 
could be your "STRAP"

It's a SLING--if it's not tight enough and your elbow under your rifle--then you position isn't good enough--when you have proper sling tension,,you have to place the rifle into your shoulder--if it doesn't hurt at first it's too loose
 
NanoLube will increase accuracy

Treating the bore with NanoLube will increase accuracy and make it much easier to clean up afterwards - as carbon, lead and copper refuse to stick to a treated barrel. Just several drops on a patch, swab the cleaned barrel, shoot and repeat this simple process 30 times, and your done.

Of course the two drop trigger job will also improve accuracy - except when poundage pull drops - you will need to be readjusted up again however the action will be smoother than you ever thought possible.

In use by IPSC, Bullseye and Cowboy action shooters across the country.

www.diamondlube.com
 
accuracy

"except when poundage pull drops"

If he's shooting an Anschutz target rifle, he doesn't have to worry about poundage; he should be down around two ounces.
This is a great thread, good advice about body position, sling use. Watch your elbows in relation to the gun. Support should be as directly beneath the rifle as you can get it.

Pete
 
Don't try too hard

Try & relax a little. Get your sling tension right, lay as comfortably & naturally as you can and work on breathing & trigger techniques. If you feel you are rushing your shot.... stand off (lay off) and start again... if you 'know' you are about to force/botch a shot, stop what you are doing, and start again on that shot.

I know myself, when I try too hard, I tend to shoot worse than when I feel relaxed :D
 
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