Precision
Shooting
Do #2 and #3 at the same time
[Frank Higginson]
Sounds simple; doesn't it?
Scores
Scores are the results of groups. Everything we do on paper
targets is the result of groups. Groups show your wobble area.
When scoring somebody else's target, score accurately. Use an
overlay and don't give points away if the shooter did not shoot
them. Let the competitor whine and cry and make such a fuss. I
never lower my standards. It's not fair to all the other
shooters. Why have a match if everyone scores a 100 on each
target?
I don't want anyone to score my target higher than what I shot.
It isn't sporting or fair to the others.
Once your are labeled a cheater, you lose the respect of
everyone.
If you disagree with the score the person gave you, go first to
the person who scored the target and then to a range officer if
you still have a problem. Never go to the referee first. Then if
your still not satisfied that your target was scored correctly go
to the referee. You may have to give him/her $2 to challenge the
score, but if you win the challenge you get your $2.00 back.
Wobble
Area
Wobble area is the area your barrel is moving around when it is
extended out. Pretend to have a zillion power laser on the barrel
of your pistol. The wobble area would be the part that is all
burnt on the paper target. Put a blank paper behind your target.
Never change the blank paper. At the end of the match or training
look at the blank paper and you can see your wobble area. Your
wobble area is the same size as the groups you have just shot.
Wobble area increases or decreases with training, eating, stress,
drugs and smoking.
You have to accept your wobble area. It is not going to get any
better at the given time you are about to shoot. Your wobble area
may increase or decrease as the match goes on. I find as my
muscles get warmed up and stretched out during the match my
wobble area decreases. I like to fire 10 rounds or so of air
pistol in my basement before I travel to a match. I set the
trigger to the same weight as the firearm I am about to shoot.
Gripping
the Gun
To Correctly position the gun in your shooting hand:
Rules
It is the competitors responsibility to know the rules. Here are
some rules that are good to know.
Whatever classification you have attained, you can shoot that
class in ANY Indoor/Outdoor NRA competition. For example: You
have made marksman in indoor pistol shooting therefore you can
shoot any NRA match; pistol, small bore, high power etc. in
marksman class.
Look at each target before you hang them. Look for holes, the
proper target for that event; slow, timed, rapid, the correct
distance target. Make sure your name or competitor number is on
each target, when required.
Score your targets as you pull them to verify posted scores.
Outdoors make sure the score on the scoresheet is correct. Check
addition.
Verify your scores in the time allotted to make sure they are
correct. Believe me when I tell you how frustrating it is to
shoot better than you ever have and find the posted scores are
wrong and the time limit is up to challenge it.
Muscle
Memory
One can never practice enough. Muscle memory is only accomplished
by live firing, dry firing or air pistol practice. Limit your dry
firing and air pistol practice to 30 minutes to avoid burnout and
boredom. Lifting a weight every day and holding the weight in
your shooting position for 90 seconds builds your shooting
muscles. You should do the same exercise with your weak hand to
balance your muscles. Exercise is very important. Aerobic
exercise can be done on the day of a match. Body building, free
weights and nautilus type machines should be avoided up to 3 days
before a match. Push-ups can be done early in the day, if you
have a night match. Advanced athletes should do up to 25 push-ups
every day, 5 days a week. Aerobics are great to calm yourself and
keep in shape. Bringing your heart rate up twenty minutes a day,
three days a week is minimum to keep the heart in good shape.
Stair steppers, walking, running, step aerobics, ski machines,
bicycles, and stationary bicycle machines are a few ways to do
aerobics. If you build up your health, you will be less stressed
under match conditions and you won't fatigue.
Everything
Effects Your Shooting
Eat light at least two hours before a match. No Caffeine, sugar,
chocolate, fats or smoking. It is hard not to eat or drink the
stuff that tastes so good, but think of the good taste of
shooting a tight group. 2700's start early and run until mid
afternoon. You should eat a light lunch. I eat a banana and a
bagel. Also bring plenty of water for summer matches. Stretching
your muscles before and during a match helps relax your muscles
and mind.
Do Not stop your normal routine the day of a match. For example,
if you have 3 cups of coffee in the morning continue to have
them. You could experience withdrawal symptoms if you decide not
to follow your regular routine.
Shooting
To Win
One theory is to "see" yourself shooting in "real
time". Picture yourself walking up to the line, setting up
your gun box, preparing your equipment and mind to shoot.
Identify your target. See yourself shooting each perfect shot in
slow, timed and rapid fire. Visualize yourself winning the match.
Now you just have to go through the routine.
Identify your target. Pickup up the gun by the barrel with your
non-shooting hand and correctly position it in your shooting
hand. Raise the gun slightly above the target with your finger
off the trigger. Slowly lower your arm to the black of the
target. "See" the front sight (red dot). "
See" your wobble area. Accept your wobble area. Don't fight
it. If the wobble area has sharp corners or choppy movements, you
are fighting your wobble area. Your wobble area should be
rounded. (This is easier to notice with a red dot sight.) Feel
the gun relaxed in your hand (like a handshake). Stop breathing.
Start pressing on the trigger without disturbing the sights. Keep
the trigger moving. When the shot breaks you should be surprised.
Then follow through. This means watch the movement of the sights
or red dot as it moves from the recoil. Call your shot.
Good scores aren't hard. Good scores flow free. [Storrs
Dutko]
Match
Jitters
Yes, we all know match jitters. The butterflies in the stomach.
The feeling you're going to pee your pants. How do you deal with
it?
Well everyone gets match jitters. It's normal. It took me 3 years
not be nervous during the local Wednesday night matches.
I still get them at Camp Perry during the Team matches. Shooting
with top shooters like Charlie Gippert and the others on the top
team really can put the pressure on you, if you let it.
How do you deal with it? Joking around really helps!
You have to compete in every match you can. You have to tell
yourself, "been there, done that ".
You have to tell yourself, "I have done this so many times
before, I know how to do this. Open my mind. Set my mind
free."
Do stretching exercises before and during the match.
Breathe slow at least 4 breaths before each shot in slow fire.
Breathe in through your nose and slowly blow out through your
mouth making a blowing sound you can hear. It's relaxing.
Do the best you can. You can't ask for anything more.
Good scores are a product of relaxation of muscles and mind! The
next Shot is all that matters.
The next shot is all that matters. The last shot is history. It
doesn't matter anymore, done, finished, gone...The next shot is
all that matters!!! Open your mind. Set your mind free.
Comfort
Zone
We all know our average. When we start to shoot higher than it,
we leave our comfort zone. Our pulse gets heavier, our wobble
area gets big. Wammo, the shot gets thrown. Ahhhh, we feel
better. We are back to our comfort zone. Ah, Bullshit to the
comfort zone. You have practiced long and hard to hit those 10's.
You expect to hit them. You can do them all day long. That's what
I expect. That's what I trained for. That's what I will do.
Mounting
A Scope On A .45
The scope should be mounted as low as possible. Mounting it on
the slide is the way to go. Frame mounted scopes will not be
accurate when the slide, lug and rails start to wear. The top
shooters have them on the slide.
Working out, eating right, and dryfiring, a half hour a day, and
of course if you can live fire, will get your scores up. When you
shoot your 45, say to yourself during timed and rapid, "keep
the trigger moving".
Dropping
The Slide On A .45
Don't drop the slide on a precision .45 without a magazine and
round in it. Let the slide down slowly. If you don't you will
elongate the lugholes, which will damage the barrel to frame rail
or fracture the lug, which can cause more damage, depending on
when??? it fractures.
Tips
Is your dot not as bright as you want it? How old are those
batteries? Keep them fresh for outdoor matches where the sun is
very bright.
Do you put your finger fully into the trigger housing wrapped
around the trigger? Use the tip of your finger to press the
trigger to the rear. The trigger pull feels lighter as you cam
the trigger. You are using leverage when you do this.
Muscle memory is a big part of shooting. Your mind and muscles
remember what to do at a subconscious level. You think the shots
into the center.
Follow through is very important. Watching the front site with
100 % focus is the most important, with the proper trigger
movement. (Smooth, 8 seconds or less for slow fire, 4 seconds or
less for each timed fire shot, 2 seconds for each rapid fire
shot.) You must be able to call your shots, meaning where the
shot should be on the target after you shoot it, even on rapid
fire. I should be able to walk up to you and ask you, "Where
did the third shot hit on the first string?" and you should
be able to answer me.
After slow fire, use a timer to look at seconds to get your mind
set for 2 seconds. Tap your finger or foot to the 2 seconds or
press against something like your pressing the trigger.
You will accidentally fire an early shot. It is part of the
learning process.
You may see the "hotshots" break an early shot by
accident.
You have to focus on shooting when the guy next to you shoots
early. It's hard to do.
Do not use shock buffers in the 1911. It's rubber or plastic and
when it falls apart it jams the gun.
How To
Analyze Your Performance
Equipment
You need a good Bullseye gun. A rimfire firearm is good to start
with because you need a rimfire firearm for most matches. The
ammo can be inexpensive and you don't have to reload. Buying a
used target gun is usually a good idea. Buying equipment is a
vicious cycle until you learn from your mistakes or learn from
someone that's been there before. This is what usually happens:
1. New shooter buys a $250+ firearm. . Next they need a trigger
job $75+ and firearm is at the gunsmith for three months. Grips
$50, magazines, $20 each times 4 = $80. So far the total is
easily reaching $455.
2. New shooter now looks around and sees the other shooters
shooting the "Plasma smorf fantastic racing shooting
machines," and the new shooter wants one.
3. New shooter puts their perfectly good firearm on the market so
the they can upgrade to the perceived better firearm.
4. Educated new shooter finds "built" firearms for
great prices. You can only sell your firearm for blue book or
going rates in the area. You might have sunk $200 dollars into a
$300 gun. Don't think your going to sell that firearm for $500
dollars.
5. New Shooter finds the new "Plasma smorf fantastic racing
shooting machine" shoots as well as their last firearm.
Another option is to save and shell out the $475 or less and buy
a used Smith and Wesson 41, or a High Standard Victor,
Supermatic, or other High Standard 107 Frame built in the Hamden,
Connecticut plant or a Ruger Bull barrel firearm that's been
already "built". Note: Rugers are hard to disassemble.
If you can afford the fancy smancy guns and are serious about
Bullseye Shooting then the Pardini, Hammerly 208S and Walther are
the usual choices but once you own one you can't use the excuse
"must be something wrong with the gun".
One mistake that many shooters make is that they need a long
barrel to make the firearm more accurate. The bullet accelerates
fastest in the first inch and a half. The longer the bullet stays
in the barrel the more likely you can move the firearm away from
the point you "broke" the shot. Don't forget the gases
leaving the barrel still effect the shot passing around and
behind the bullet. This can cause tumbling bullets. Follow
through is important.
You will need a gun box so you can keep all shooting equipment in
one place. Supplies you will need are:
· Screwdriver
· Allen wrenches
· Cleaning rod
· Shooting diary
· Pen
· Extra batteries for red dots scopes
· Scoring overlays and plugs
· Rule book
· Shooting glasses (indoor-yellow tint and outdoor-darker tint)
· Earmuffs (I use earplugs and earmuffs, called double plugging)
· Magazines
· One inch surgical tape
· Garbage bag (when it rains outside you place the bag over your
box)
· Wooden or brass rod just in case the bullet takes a nap in
your barrel (push the bullet out the way it came in)
· Spare parts
I take it back, you don't need a gun box, you need a pick up
truck to carry all this stuff around.
Did I remember AMMO?
Ammo
Indoors is very forgiving for accuracy because your only shooting
50 or 75 feet. Outdoors at 50 yards you find out which ammo
shoots tight. Try different brands.
.22
Caliber
General rule is don't use Remington or Winchester Rimfire ammo.
They aren't reliable to go bang each time. I have seen many
misfires due to these brand 22's. I use R.W.S. Target ammo from
Grice Gun Shop. I pay about $250 per case of 5000 rounds. I like
to buy a case of ammo (5,000 rounds) because all the bricks (500
rounds) are from the same lot. Same lot means all the rounds are
made the same. This matters at 50 yards.
.38
Caliber
SLOW FIRE 50 YARDS:
· Bullet head- 148 grain H.B.W.C. (Hollow Base Wad Cutter) from
Zero
· Powder- 3.1 grains W.S.T. (Winchester Super Target)
· Primers- CCI primers
· Brass- Winchester
NOTE: Wind affects the trajectory of the 38 more than the 45 at
50 yards
INDOORS AND 25 YARD TIMED AND RAPID (SHORT LINE) LOAD:
· Bullet head- Zero in mixed cases
· Powder- 2.5 grain W.S.T. (Winchester Super Target)
· Primers- CCI Primers
· Brass- mixed
.45
Caliber
SLOW FIRE 50 YARDS:
· Factory Federal Match 185 GRAIN- Semi Wad Cutter
INDOORS AND 25 YARD TIMED AND RAPID (SHORT LINE) LOAD:
· Bullet head -200 lead S.W.C. (Semi-Wad Cutter) from Accucast
· Powder- 4.1 grains Powder W.S.T. (Winchester Super Target)
made by Winchester
· Primers - CCI primers
· Brass – mixed for 50 ft, Federal for big matches and 25
yards
Note: Never vacuum primers and powder as the primers may explode
and start a fire. (Not to mention that they are loud when they
explode.)
Supplies
Shooting
Supplies & Equipment
Champion's Choice, Inc.
201 International Blvd.
LaVergne, TN 37086
615-793-4066
www.champchoice@nashville.com
.22
Ammo
Grice Gun Shop
P.O. Box 1028
Clearfield, PA. 16830
814-765-9273
Best
Magazine for Competitive Bullseye Shooting
SHOOTING SPORTS USA
NRA
11250 Waples Mill RD
Fairfax, VA 22030
703-267-1000
*Annual subscriptions for NRA members are $ 5.00 for classified
shooters and $ 10.00 for non-classified shooters
Ultradot
Sights & Hammerli's and Gunsmithing
Larry's Guns
49 Hawthorne St
Portland, ME 04103
207-772-0998
Fax: 207-772-0628
www.larrysguns.com
Note: Larry Carter holds many local, state, regional and national
pistol championship records.
I Buy Most of my Equipment, Firearms and minor Gunsmithing here-
Talk to Moe
Mo's Competitior Supplies & Range
M.C.S.
34 Delmar Drive
Brookfield, CT 06804
203-775-1013
Best
Gunsmithing for Major Jobs
George Madore
405 Camelot Dr.
Brookhaven, PA. 19015
610-872-3854
Best 45 for You to Buy to Send to George Madore to Accurize
(Blued, bottom of the line model)
Springfield Armory
420 West Main
Geneseo, IL 61254
309-944-5631
Fax: 309-944-3676
www.springfield-armory.com
Best
grips
Bowlers Olympic grips
27a High St
Little Bytham Grantham
Lincs NG334QJ
047684493 (telephone)
Best
Grips- Fastest to Acquire
Morini Grips sold by:
International Shooting Supply
ISS
P.O.Box 185234
Fort Worth TX 76181
817-595-2090
877-595-2090 Toll free
Best
Loading Press
DILLON 550B
Dillon Precision Products, Inc.
8009 E. Dillons Way
Scottsdale, AZ 85260
800-762-3845
480-948-8009
480-998-2786 Fax
www.dillonprecision.com