Shot my first match of the year and I suck.

dhuze

dhuze

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I shot my first Highpower match this year and I have never blown my offhand like I did today. I looked back at the last 5 years of my records and I have never shot like this. One complete miss of my target frame and two out of scoring. I think I shot this bad the first time I tried offhand at 200 yards. I made up a little with the rest of my shooting which saved me from having a truly pathetic score. I managed to shot the lower end of my average. Had I done acceptable with my offhand I would have shot damned close to my highest. It looks like I'll be practicing more offhand.
 
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I too, am struggling a bit with offhand this year. I'd say my average last year was 92-94 or so; this year I'm fighting to keep it over 88. It really sucks because my rapids and slow prone are cleans or high-master level at least.

I chaulk it up to my arrogance after last year and thinking I don't need to practice.
 
dont feel too bad. ive been practicing my ass off, and i STILL managed to drop 90+ points in my rapids saturday. offhand struggled...but you kicked ass and put it together for the rest of the match. it's all you can do. now, you know what has to be done...so go out and do it!
 
There are those who have crossfired....and those that will. I don't sweat it. I look at it like this...I'm technically a "lowly marksman"....shooting high expert and master scores. I'm ahead of the curve for now. I'll be a little fish on a big pond when that master card comes though.
 
Remember this... no matter how bad you think you suck... I am a much worse shooter than any of you! By a long shot... so to speak.

I've been at this about 18 months now and it is truly a humbling sport. Almost makes me want to go back to my other nemesis... golf!

:)
 
Another thing that sucks is when your target puller yanks your target down just before you are breaking your shot - because the shooter next to you crossfired.
 
Sunday was a big bag of suck for me. I concentrated so hard on turning in a halfway decent offhand score, I totally dropped the rest of the match.
Had my first saved round EVER during sitting rapids. No idea where I lost the time. Had an alibi in my prone rapids (rounds stuck in magazine). I never have alibis and always bitch about people who don't have their crap squared away before a match, so I was a little sheepish after that one.
At 600yds, for some reason I refused accept the fact that my shots were going left and go ahead and add some windage.
I suck.
 
I don't feel so bad after reading this thread.......I practiced for Perry yesterday. My offhand was acceptable, my prone was good. I couldn't find anything which even came close to what I'd call an NPA when it came to sitting. My knee hurts and my ankle felt like it wanted to fall off. I was fine last year. I've got some work ahead of me if I wanna do decent come the last week in July.
 
PatMcD said:
Sunday was a big bag of suck for me. I concentrated so hard on turning in a halfway decent offhand score, I totally dropped the rest of the match.
Had my first saved round EVER during sitting rapids. No idea where I lost the time. Had an alibi in my prone rapids (rounds stuck in magazine). I never have alibis and always bitch about people who don't have their crap squared away before a match, so I was a little sheepish after that one.
At 600yds, for some reason I refused accept the fact that my shots were going left and go ahead and add some windage.
I suck.
Click to expand...


sounds like my saturday. offhand was uncomfortable, to say the least. could not get out of the 8 ring. 8 @ 9, 8 @ 3, 8 @9, 8 @ 3, etc etc. toss in a couple of X's just to get my hopes up, only to follow up with another 8. 175x2. yikes. i shot that 2 weeks ago with a crossfire! just would NOT settle down. front sight was doing big figure 8's. i figured NPA, but i couldnt even get it to settle down in the WRONG spot. oh well.

sitting/prone rapids went okay. 193xsomething and 188xsomething (group prone was great, just went vertical for the first string, and horizontal for the second. cant explain it. oh well. pair of 94's) 600yd's was just ugly with the wind. reading's usually pretty temperate...it'll blow one direction for a while, maybe switch, maybe boil, etc. saturday, with the heat, the mirage was so bad i had a hard time seeing the target. threw 2 elevation shots (9 @ 12, and a 9 @ 6). lost a couple of 8's to the wind switching up on me. 188xsomething

finished with a 743x13 or 14? not happy. just gotta shoot better next week.
 
PatMcD said:
Sunday was a big bag of suck for me. I concentrated so hard on turning in a halfway decent offhand score, I totally dropped the rest of the match.
Had my first saved round EVER during sitting rapids. No idea where I lost the time. Had an alibi in my prone rapids (rounds stuck in magazine). I never have alibis and always bitch about people who don't have their crap squared away before a match, so I was a little sheepish after that one.
At 600yds, for some reason I refused accept the fact that my shots were going left and go ahead and add some windage.
I suck.
Click to expand...


LoL! I cross fired on Saturday if it makes you feel any better.

B
 
Pat, sometimes you're the windshield. Sometimes you're the bug. And if the glass don't kill you, the wiper will......
 
Somehow I feel much better today.

The last match there were alibi's for every leg. I've never seen so many at one match. Each leg had 2-3 people shooting Alibi's. Somebody had a saved round during the rapid sitting, but decided to not shoot an alibi.
 
You can't have an alibi for a saved round. The only way to get better is to have good practice, if you are doing it yourself that maybe the problem because you are unable to see what if anything you're doing wrong, it could be something very small. Consentrate on maintaining a great head position in each stage of the match in order to find the exact zero. Guys, you will probibly not believe this but your diet and proper conditioning has a lot to do with good shooting.
 
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dhuze said:
I've only crossfired once. I called the shot and we couldnt find it on my target. When we went down range it was exactly where I said on my teammates target.
Click to expand...

It's worse when you put an entire string on somebody else's target.

(In my defense, sort of, I was on the last target in use, the number boards sucked, and the match director changed his mind very late in the game about whether there'd be a hospital target on the unused point to my right. It was also a walk-and-paste match so I didn't get immediate feedback, and it was a CMP JCG match so we started with prone slow. I just looked at the first far-right hit on "my" target, adjusted a few minutes left, and (since my initial zero was actually pretty good) put a nice group on the edge of the 5 ring. It's actually good that I wasn't putting them into the middle, since the guy to my left still got more-or-less the score he deserved.)
 
Jasper said:
There are those who have crossfired....and those that will. I don't sweat it. I look at it like this...I'm technically a "lowly marksman"....shooting high expert and master scores. I'm ahead of the curve for now. I'll be a little fish on a big pond when that master card comes though.
Click to expand...

Jasper, Congrats on That newly minted "Expert card". I know You received it in the mail. I recently got my new card as well. Good Shooting. DPS Out
 
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well this weekend went better! spent a BUNCH of time this week just snapping into position in the basement, and lots of dryfiring offhand.

80shot league match yesterday, pulled off a 192x5 on my feet! best ive shot so far. made the rest of my day enjoyable (finished with a 768x16...dropped 12 out @ 600. light was in and out, and wind switched up on me a couple times. 2 bad elevation shots when the mirage boiled heavy (shoulda been one, but im hesitant to make sight corrections on elevation shots).

4man team match today. no "official" score, but i kept track in my data book (50shot match)....93x1 on my feet, 94x2 rapid sitting (argh), 95x1 rapid prone (elbows sliding out, new mats coming this week), and a 194x3 out @ 600...hammered it. 476x7 for the day....another personal best!

time to load some ammo this week (i'm LOW, and i broke my xl650 to boot), and lots more dryfiring.

big thanks to duane and dave m. for the coaching. apparently my offhand position isnt as bad as i thought. gotta try to correct the outward cant, (and keep my head a little more upright), but so far, it's repeatable, and i shoot decent scores with it. sitting, gah i dont know. it isnt terrible, but i'm fighting pulse like you read about. i can fix it a LITTLE by tightening up the sling to the point of being painful, and really muscling hte rifle into my shoulder, but the minute i breathe my elevation up or down, i get a bobble that takes me from midring 9's @ 6oclock to midring 9's @ 12oclock. sad too, since the group's are usually a c-hair wider than the X ring.
 
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Jasper, 768 is a good score! Congrats on a new high! I wish my offhand scores were as good as yours. Master card sounds like it will be in the mail within a couple more matches.
Sitting is where the easiest points are. Any good shooter should be able to clean it. Don't be rushed. Take time during prep to get a perfect NPA. There is enough time to get off at least a ten-ring shot every time. Experiment with different leg positions. Most shoot a cross-legged, or "Indian" style position. I can't use it without an incredible pulse bounce like you describe. I have to shoot a cross-ankle, which is actually a much lower and stable platform.
 
PatMcD said:
Jasper, 768 is a good score! Congrats on a new high! I wish my offhand scores were as good as yours. Master card sounds like it will be in the mail within a couple more matches.
Sitting is where the easiest points are. Any good shooter should be able to clean it. Don't be rushed. Take time during prep to get a perfect NPA. There is enough time to get off at least a ten-ring shot every time. Experiment with different leg positions. Most shoot a cross-legged, or "Indian" style position. I can't use it without an incredible pulse bounce like you describe. I have to shoot a cross-ankle, which is actually a much lower and stable platform.
Click to expand...

thanks pat! i'll have to do it again next week though, or write it off as a fluke! lol. 768x16 / 476x7 for the weekend made me happy though, and got a new shooter hooked on the sport! (he already ordered an upper from Hollinger).

i'll give the crossed ankle position a try. ive never tried it, so we'll see how it feels dryfiring...maybe a little .22LR practice @ 25yds. if i can start cleaning up my rapids, i'll be in GOOD shape for Perry (i'm actually going this year! woohoo). i THINK i've ironed out my issues @ 300yds (groups are good when i borrow a mat, but my right elbow slides out on me BIGTIME on the Dillon mat i've got. the new Creedmoor mat oughta be here today or tomorrow, so we'll see). all thats left is to figure out something for a mitt/glove for prone. the creedmoor mitt i've got hasnt got crap for padding, and i cant use a full fingered glove (pulls the glove back, pinching off my index finger and thumb). i REALLY like the 10-X mitt, but they dont make em anymore. (bummer!).
 
I've got an old mitt here someplace. I'll bring it to Perry in case I run into you. Have you got quarters yet? I might have a ride, but have no idea where I am staying.
 
Felt I had to revive this thread.......


So I'm all hopped-up to go out to Perry and do well. I shoot an 80-rd'er today just to make sure I've got my zeroes nailed down. And I go and shoot a 742! NOT what I was looking for, to say the least.[thinking]

Loaded my 2-rd mag for rapid prone and put both of them into my neighboor's 10-ring. The other 8 went on my target no problem.

Not the confidence-booster I was hoping it would be.

I've really got my head up my ass this year.
 

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