The 2015 Season
The Scores
| Date | Location | Standing | Sitting | Rapid Prone |
Slow Prone |
Aggregate | |
| April 12 | Bonfield | 96-3 | 100-5 | 99-4 | 191-5 | 486-17 | 97.2% |
| April 26 | Bonfield | 99-3 | 99-4 | 98-4 | 193-5 | 489-16 | 97.8% |
| May 2 | Milan | 192-2 | 199-8 | 191-1 | 195-7 | 777-18 | 97.1% |
| May 9 | Bonfield | 193-2 | 199-7 | 198-10 | 200-11 | 790-30 | 98.8% |
| May 17 | Bonfield | 99-3 | 97-1 | 97-3 | 191-3 | 484-10 | 96.8% |
| May 23 | Lodi | 99-3 | 100-1 | 99-3 | 194-5 | 492-12 | 98.4% |
| May 24 | Lodi | - | - | 192-4 | 386-15 | 578-19 | 96.3% |
| May 30 | Milan | 194-7 | 200-10 | 195-3 | 196-5 | 785-25 | 98.1% |
| June 6 | Lodi | 195-7 | 194-10 | 196-6 | 192-6 | 777-29 | 97.1% |
| June 7 | Lodi | 94-4 | 100-5 | 97-1 | 195-5 | 486-15 | 97.2% |
| July 5 | Bonfield | 96-2 | 99-7 | 96-3 | 196-5 | 487-17 | 97.4% |
| July 20 | Camp Perry | 98-3 | 97-3 | 98-4 | 195-7 | 488-17 | 97.6% |
| July 21 | Camp Perry | 88-0 | 98-4 | 99-0 | 192-7 | 477-11 | 95.4% |
| July 22 | Camp Perry | 95-1 | - | 99-4 | 95-4 | 289-9 | 96.3% |
| July 23 | Camp Perry | 99-4 | 100-6 | 100-4 | 195-8 | 494-22 | 98.8% |
| July 24 | Camp Perry | 97-3 | 99-5 | 97-0 | 198-11 | 491-19 | 98.2% |
| July 26 | Camp Perry | 193-5 | 198-7 | 200-6 | 192-7 | 783-25 | 97.9% |
| July 27 | Camp Perry | 183-2 | 200-9 | 198-5 | 192-4 | 773-20 | 96.6% |
| July 28 | Camp Perry | 193-3 | 199-9 | 198-7 | 195-10 | 785-29 | 98.1% |
| August 29 | Van Meter | 97-0 | - | 99-3 | 92-0 | 288-3 | 96.0% |
| August 29 | Van Meter | 99-3 | 97-1 | 99-1 | 197-7 | 492-12 | 98.4% |
| August 30 | Van Meter | 195-4 | 200-12 | 194-5 | 196-7 | 785-28 | 98.1% |
| September 5 | Milan | 192-1 | 189-13 | 180-0 | 196-9 | 757-23 | 94.6% |
| September 6 | Milan | 193-3 | 198-8 | 194-3 | 194-4 | 779-18 | 97.4% |
| September 13 | Bonfield | 97-3 | 100-4 | 100-6 | 199-8 | 496-21 | 99.2% |
| September 19 | Bonfield | 191-3 | 198-4 | 197-4 | 199-13 | 785-24 | 98.1% |
| September 20 | Bonfield | 196-3 | 198-8 | 196-6 | 198-7 | 788-24 | 98.5% |
| October 4 | Bonfield | 196-4 | 200-12 | 196-3 | 194-6 | 786-25 | 98.3% |
| October 10 | Milan | 194-8 | 200-7 | 198-2 | 193-3 | 785-20 | 98.1% |
The Stories
The highpower season came along rather quickly. I have been reloading over the winter and had a stockpile of ammo ready but the rest of my gear still had to be prepared. The night before the first match I took my re-barreled upper out of the box and put it on a lower. I put some of the included Loctite on the front sight base around the barrel but it just wound up going all over the place. A new sling also went on.
April 13
The first match can be hit or miss with regards to weather. We really hit this year. The temperature was pleasant with a gusty breeze and the skies were clear.
There wasn't a lot of wind in standing but it did gust on occasion. I didn't have much of a starting point for zeros so I just came up five clicks, started shooting, and paid attention to my calls. At first the shots were coming up above call a little so I began to come down. At two clicks above bottom the shot positions matched my calls. At that point I started shooting a bit faster so that I wouldn't run out of time. This made me get a bit sloppy and I fired 9's for shots three and four.
One thing I forgot to bring today were the "come-ups" to go from a newly acquired standing zero to sitting and the other stages. Memory told me that my sitting was always a little higher than standing so I went to six clicks up and fired my first sighter. That was slightly higher than call so I came down one and was fine. At first I had the sling too high on my arm, almost into my arm pit, so I brought it down to the upper part of the pulse pad on my coat. The rapid string felt alright even though a few shots got a little fuzzy. With the bright skies contrast on the target wasn't as good but the shots broke clean.
My guess at 17 clicks of elevation for rapid prone was pretty good and I never changed it. My sighters were right on call. During the string things felt good. My front sight focus seemed OK and there weren't any shots that I thought would be bad. The group was a little bigger than I would have wanted though spreading out from the center to the left and down with an almost mid-ring nine at 7 o'clock. I would have liked to know if the group started in the X-ring and worked it's way out or if I went back and forth between good shots and bad.
Slow prone is where I was a bit frustrated. I wanted to shoot with a slightly higher position than I have in the past. I felt this would give me a more upright face position and let me look closer to the optical center of my glasses. The whole thing just ended up not feeling as well as I wanted. Compounding the problems was that I should have clicked over to the left earlier on.
| Offhand: | 96-3 |
| Sitting: | 100-5 |
| Rapid Prone: | 99-4 |
| Slow Prone: | 191-5 |
| Aggregate: | 486-17 |
April 26
It was supposed to be a clear and sunny day today but it started rather chilly. In addition there was a wind blowing which made it feel colder than it really was.
I wasn't sure how hard the breeze was for standing as I pulled targets and scored. Once I was in my prep I could feel that it was moving me around when it blew but there were lulls where you could take shot opportunities. The cold didn't bother me too much in just a shooting coat and I could concentrate on shooting. The entire trigger control phase of my shot process was good and the rifle was going off smoothly. My calls were either right on or the shots were inside of call. I lost the only 9 on shot three. Later on I was trying to line up the sights with the target and the rifle moved as I fired. I could have sworn that there was all kinds of white around the front sight and my guess was that it would be a seven. It came up a 10. I guess it's better to be lucky rather than good.
On its own, my sitting position was pretty good. The gusting wind kept moving me around and this led to poor trigger control as I snatched at the trigger when the sights moved past the target. The group wasn't great but most of it was centered except for one very low nine.
I used the same elevation as the last match and it worked for both sighters and the string. Because of the gusting wind it was hard to nail down my windage zero though. The sighters got me in the middle but I need to shoot in a no-wind condition to confirm. I tried to be methodical during the string and not rush things. I did hold my breath for most of the string even though I knew I shouldn't. The resulting group was a bit odd. There were eight shots clustered on the edge of the X-ring and a wide nine on each side.
My prime takeaway from slow prone is that I was uncomfortable. My head wasn't sitting on the stock in a way that I was relaxed and my neck felt very strained for the whole string. More worryingly, the front sight was difficult to focus on and I had to restart my shot process several times to clear it up. I dropped five points in the last six shots.
| Offhand: | 99-3 |
| Sitting: | 99-4 |
| Rapid Prone: | 98-4 |
| Slow Prone: | 193-5 |
| Aggregate: | 489-16 |
May 2
The weather was really great today. But very much a mediocre day performance-wise.
As I prepared to shoot standing a feeling of anxiety and nervousness washed over me. It was so intense that I questioned whether I should shoot or not. Of course I was going to shoot but I get these feelings every once in a while. Sometimes in big matches, other times at a local match like this one. I really haven't come up with a plan to shed these types of feelings other than just trying to focus on executing the shots. This only partially works and I had that nervous feeling for about half the shots. Conditions were almost perfect starting out but a few gusts came up later. I don't feel I performed particularly well but I don't remember what aspect of my shooting was to blame.
Sitting wasn't terrible and the first string started well. I was so focused on shooting it surprised me when I emptied the first magazine and I almost forgot what to do next. Instinct took over and I swapped magazines and kept going. My position was solid and sight picture was good early on. Later in the string things got a little fuzzy and my trigger control got worse. The target still came up a clean. I had good trigger control for the second string but I let the sights drift a bit high and I wound up with a mid-ring 9 out the top. You can see my target after standing and sitting.
I couldn't figure out what was going on in rapid prone. The wind looked like it was going pretty much downrange so I fired my first sighter at my windage zero. That was an X at one and I called it good. I called the second sighter a little on the left and that was a 10 at six. The first string fell good. I tried to breathe and had good front sight focus. The resulting group was on the right side with two 9's on the right and one out the top. I only came over two clicks to the left for the second string which didn't feel great but still decent enough. This one was way on the left with four 9's and even an 8.
After some mediocre slow prone performances I was eager to see how I could do at a different range. The front sight focus was good and I was quite comfortable in position. The wind was coming from about 5 o'clock and variable. I started with a 10 and was able to stay in that ring for a while. I got caught in a pick-up and lost an eight straight out to the left. Then, back in the X-ring. Shot 11 was a nine out the right and I had nines on the final two shots. At least one of these was elevation but overall I held that pretty well.
| Offhand: | 192-2 |
| Sitting: | 199-8 |
| Rapid Prone: | 191-1 |
| Slow Prone: | 195-7 |
| Aggregate: | 777-18 |
May 9
I actually thought we were going to be rained out today. There was a heavy overcast for most of the day with the sun peaking out towards the end.
Standing wasn't working as well as I wanted. It wasn't that it was really bad, it's just that the shots took just a little longer to get off. It started with only a mediocre hold as the sights didn't slow down like they sometimes do. My aim was also off as I had to force the rifle to the middle rather than letting it settle by itself. Where I really noticed a sub-par performance was in my trigger control. I was anticipating the shots and my whole body was moving before I would shoot.
I'm getting more confident of my zero in sitting. But while the groups are mostly centered, they are still bigger than I would like them to be. There was nothing to adjust from my sighters and I fired my first group straight-away. This string started alright and felt good for the first half but then my sights started to get fuzzy and I wasn't sure I was putting the front sight in the same place on the sighting black. The result had a nine on the outside of the ring on the right. For the second string I tried to place the buttplate higher in my shoulder. I think this gives me better cheek pressure. I also tried to place my right hand in a position where it wasn't trying to twist the rifle around the axis of the bore. This group was about the same size as the first but without that wide 9.
Both of my strings of rapid prone had good front sight focus. The first one was a bit slower than normal and quite deliberate as I wanted to make sure of a good shot before I squeezed the trigger. I had to muscle the gun a bit as well. The second string was fired a little bit faster as my typical cadence took over again.
My position in slow prone wasn't the greatest. Most times I will start shooting and the position will settle downward over the string. It's probably imperceptible to an observer but I can feel it. Today was no exception but I was shooting well and the front sight focus was quite good so I didn't want to make any mid-string changes.
| Offhand: | 193-2 |
| Sitting: | 199-7 |
| Rapid Prone: | 198-10 |
| Slow Prone: | 200-11 |
| Aggregate: | 790-30 |
May 17
Most of the time, when the weather forecast is not too good, I will still travel to a match because you can never tell if it will get cancelled. There have been times in the past that I have stayed home only to find out I missed an opportunity to shoot and compete. Today's forecast called for a possible window of no rain for the morning so I decided to gamble and drive to the range. Part of me is glad I did because I got to shoot but the other part of me isn't glad because I didn't shoot well.
I have been getting into a groove with my standing. Once I get to my firing point my system takes over and I go through my setup of placing my feet, mounting the rifle to make sure it comes across my chest enough, seeing where I come down on the target, adjusting my NPA, and gauging my hold. I brought the sights left a couple of clicks as I felt the shots were coming up too far to the right of my calls. After this my calls were right on to where the spotter came up.
Just when I was getting more confident of my sitting zero I have a string like this. I called the first sighter on the left side of the X-ring and it came up as a high 10. The second sighter should have been a 10 at about eight o'clock. That was just off the X at 10. Since both of these were higher than call I decided to come down a click. Things felt good as I started the string and even after the magazine change. About half-way through the sight picture got fuzzy and I had a hard time getting it back. The resulting group would have been good enough to clean the target but it was displaced towards five o'clock.
My rapid prone position had the rifle too low. This meant that I had to bring my head down to the stock. I tried to fix this in prep but there just wasn't enough time. My sighters were on the opposite side, for windage, of my calls but good for elevation. The string felt decent enough and I had good front sight focus except for a few shots. It was a good sized group, certainly mid-ring 10 size.
Slow prone was very frustrating as I couldn't get comfortable and shot a lot of corner shots. A little wind didn't help matters but most of it was my fault as the shots weren't breaking clean.
| Offhand: | 99-3 |
| Sitting: | 97-1 |
| Rapid Prone: | 97-3 |
| Slow Prone: | 191-3 |
| Aggregate: | 484-10 |
May 23
What great weather for a rifle match. Solid blue skies and comfortable temperatures. A little breeze would come up every now and then but it was a really nice day to be outdoors. Today was a team match.
I went to the pits first and then came out to shoot standing. The advantage for me in pair firing is that we have a lot of time (27 min.) to get our shooting done. This lets me pick and choose my shots a lot more carefully. I know that I can stop and start my shot process over as many times as I need to. My hold and trigger control were good. The center of my aim was very good. I came over to left before I started as I felt that there was enough breeze to warrant it. But the shots kept coming up to the left of call so I came back to the right. This made me adjust my zero one click to the right. As I was working my way through the string I just tried to focus on breaking good shots and not throwing away opportunities. I may have just given up on shot 7 as the pressure to be disciplined and the required mental focus was really weighing heavily on me.
During prep for sitting I just wasn't happy with how my left hand felt underneath the handguard. I felt like I had to reach up to grab the rifle so I shortened my sling and that brought my palm in better contact with the rifle. There was bright sunshine and during the string the post was coming and going from one shot to the next. I have gotten used to this in sitting. The better hand position gave me a better hold and that allowed me to break smoother shots. Despite my sighters the group was all on the right side so I adjusted my zero one click to the left.
My hunch for wind in rapid prone was about four clicks of left. This was good and I used that correction for both sighters and the string. Both sighters were a little high but that has been how I like them for this stage. I fired the string slow and deliberate trying to make sure each shot was a good one. I had lots of cheek pressure on the stock and it felt solid but I think this had more to do with the rifle height in my shoulder than anything else. I have been shooting 300 rapid with an elevation of either 17 or 18 this year. This group was fired at an elevation of 17 and it was still high. The lone nine was just out at 12.
Typically at Lodi, once we get into the afternoon, the west-facing range puts shadows on the targets. So today the sighting black in slow prone blended into the frame much more than normal. This actually made the front sight more distinct and I could make it out better. The result was being able to hold elevation pretty well. The challenge was figuring out what the wind was doing. I started the string with 8 clicks of left and then working my way down to about 4-5. About 3/4's of the way through the wind completely reversed. I was able to see this and tried to wait it out but it wasn't coming back. So I put about four right on and went back to shooting.
| Offhand: | 99-3 |
| Sitting: | 100-1 |
| Rapid Prone: | 99-3 |
| Slow Prone: | 194-5 |
| Aggregate: | 492-12 |
May 24
The weather forecast for the individual showed rain for the last several days so I wasn't holding out a lot of hope for a dry day. The morning brought heavy overcast with dark skies but there was no rain....yet. I set my gear down on my firing point at 600 and waited to start.
Rain drops started falling just as were about to begin our prep period for the first slow prone match. I threw my rain jacket over my back to protect my shooting coat but it was really all in vain. Everything else was getting wet so it didn't matter. The dark sky really made the sighting black disappear so I wasn't sure where the first shot was going to go. I used the same elevation that I had yesterday and put my first sighter just off the X at five o'clock. It turned out that this was just the top of my group. As I was shooting I would get these 8's out the bottom that really frustrated me. I came up with my elevation and I also held a little high but they were still there. Just the result of a careless sight picture.
The second slow prone match had a little more light to it but it was still raining. By this time most of my stuff was soaked. The objective lens on my scope was dry because I extended the sun shade but the rain drops on the eye piece cover made it hazy to look through. I started this string with four clicks of extra elevation over the first string. The additional light made the target easier to see but the other conditions were about the same. I didn't have to hold as high and my dropped points consisted of a corner 8 at 10 o'clock, a windage 9, and another corner 9.
After a stint in the pits (it still hadn't stopped raining) we came out for rapid prone. At this point it was decided to end the match after 300 yards. After all the elevation problems earlier I decided to come up about three clicks from my normal zero. My sighters were in the middle so I should have been good to go. I fired the first string as best I could but lost the target on the last couple of shots. I shot quite slow trying to make each shot good. The group was well centered but a little big with nines out on the left and out the bottom. The second string was fired with the same settings and was smaller but was way out in the nine-ring at 10 o'clock. At that point I did not really care as I wasn't shooting well and just wanted to be done.
| Slow Prone: | 190-7 |
| Slow Prone: | 196-8 |
| Rapid Prone: | 192-4 |
| Aggregate: | 578-19 |
May 30
The forecast called for rain today and the skies didn't disapoint. It started drizzling when I was almost done in standing and continued for most of the morning. Not a heavy rain but still enough to soak all of my stuff by the end of the day.
The first thing I noticed about standing was that my hold was pretty good during prep. This continued for most of the string but centering that hold on the target was the challenge today. My first 9 came on shot two and it was barely out. The next shot was another nine that was just as close. After that I was a bit more disciplined and re-started my shot process if I held too long. On shot 15 I started and stopped several times and finally broke a shot that looked good but it was still a 9. After that I fired four X's for my final five shots.
The rain continued during sitting. The only problem with this was that I had to keep my data book under my rifle case and my buttstock and pistol grip were getting wet. This made my cheek weld and hand grip more difficult to get. My sighters came in lower than my calls but I didn't want to adjust as I have never been convinced that all shots wind up in the same place. As I was firing my first string I noticed that my grip on the pistol grip was very loose. I knew this was wrong but I kept with it. That group narrow but nothing above the center of the X-ring. The second string was shot with one more click of elevation and had more wobble and didn't feel as good. This one was also low which I attribute to the heavy overcast.
By the time I came out of the pits for rapid prone the rain had trailed off. The skies were still overcast but there was more light that brightened the range. My 300 yard zero had been coming down because of my high groups and these sighters were also high. The first group had a clear front sight. I shot it quite slow but still held my breath through most of it. The group was still high. I came down a click and took short breaths between shots. The post was clear but I kept losing the target once the front sight came into it and the group was still high.
My first sighter in slow prone was an X at 10 o'clock which is always a good confidence booster. I started with two clicks left because there wasn't enough evidence of needing more. In the first half I started building on the right and kept having to put on more left windage until I was up to five. I couldn't believe that the wind was worth that much but I asked other shooters on my relay and they mirrored my thoughts.
| Offhand: | 194-7 |
| Sitting: | 200-10 |
| Rapid Prone: | 195-3 |
| Slow Prone: | 196-5 |
| Aggregate: | 785-25 |
June 6
After two weeks of rainy matches it felt good to
have a perfect day for shooting. The sun felt warm and the skies were
blue. I actually felt like I worked and performed better than my score
shows. It was just that I made major mistakes that threw away points in
bundles.
I started standing with a little bit of that nagging
anxiety that I get sometimes. My firing point wasn't that great so my foot
placement had my heels slightly higher than my toes. But the bigger problem
was light. This range faces west so the targets were brightly lit from the
rising sun. This washed out the target and made it difficult to acquire a
good sight picture. When I can't get a good sight picture then I have to
start my shot process more times than normal. The string started well with
shots coming up inside of call. My hold was a little big and erratic but I
kept working hard for each shot. I didn't drop any points until shot 7 with
an outside nine. As I went on each shot got harder to break. Shot 13 was an
eight and I was very disappointed with myself. As each shot took longer to
break I was constantly aware of my timer. I tried to keep pace as the
minutes ticked away but it was so challenging to have the discipline to
start over. By the final shot I had less than a minute left and had to start
and stop several times. I let it go for another 8.
The bright targets were still there in sitting. I
fired my sighters straightaway and didn't feel like I had to adjust for the
string. During the first string I became aware that I was muscling the rifle
with my forward arm. I couldn't do much about it and I kept going. The sight
picture got worse and worse from the brightness that I had to pause before
shooting my final shot. That took too long and I shot just as the target was
going into the pits for a five out the top. The second string went faster
and I had one nine just out on the right.
The wind really caught me in rapid prone. I called my first sighter, "good" and it came up on the right side of the X-ring. Just to stay safe I put on two clicks left and got an outside 10 at 3 o'clock. I put on two more for a total of four clicks left, which I felt was plenty for the condition that I saw. The group was strung out into the 9-ring on the right. For the second string I put on two more left windage and was finally in the middle with one shot out the bottom.
Slow prone had a problem that had nothing to do with
holding and aiming the rifle. Because I have shot the last couple of weeks
in the rain, my spotting scope had some moisture in it. This made the image
quite foggy so it was very difficult to make out the mirage. I could see
that it was running to the right but discerning velocity changes was almost
impossible. I don't usually watch flags as much as mirage but today I didn't
have much choice.
| Offhand: | 195-7 |
| Sitting: | 194-10 |
| Rapid Prone: | 196-6 |
| Slow Prone: | 192-6 |
| Aggregate: | 777-29 |
June 7
The rain returned today for the team match.
We got some wind for standing this morning. But at least the heavy overcast kept me from having the same sight picture problems as yesterday. It got a little frustrating as the rifle would sway just as I was lining up the sights. My head wasn't quite as into shooting as it was yesterday and my trigger control was poor. The shots just seemed to always be off call. When I would call an outside 10, it would be a 9. In the end I did something I don't think I have ever done before in standing. All my shots were either 9's or X's. I didn't have a single 10.
We really don't put on any wind in sitting for most matches. But since I finished standing with 3 clicks left, that's what we used to start here. I called my first sighter low and it was a nine. We came another click left and I called an X. The second sighter was just to the left of the X-ring and that was fine as we wanted to be on the upwind side. The group felt sloppy when I was shooting it and I broke a few high. The result was a clean but it went from edge to edge.
Rapid prone was another case of sighters being in one place and the group being in another. The wind didn't really matter as I just shot a big group.
Slow prone had very even light with a layer of overcast. The wind was running left to right. I was pretty happy that I didn't have any elevation problems at 600. Even so, many of my shots were corner 10's and it was a challenge to shoot a bunch of X's.
| Offhand: | 94-4 |
| Sitting: | 100-5 |
| Rapid Prone: | 97-1 |
| Slow Prone: | 195-5 |
| Aggregate: | 486-15 |
July 5
We have had a lot of rain over the past few weeks and this really soaked the range. The grass held in a lot of moisture and the pits had a lot of run-off water. Once the temperatures got into the mid-80's the humidity really made the air feel oppressive. Other than this the weather was really great and there was lots of light. There was no wind to speak of and the atmosphere was very still.
I have been doing a fair amount of dry-firing lately and I was pretty confident in my standing. One thing that I wanted to do is try to shoot at a faster pace since standing in the National Trophy matches would only be 10 minutes and I didn't have any time to spare. I would fire, load, and mount the gun as the target was coming back up. Today I started well even though I didn't think my hold was that great. After a few shots I kept coming up below call so I came up a click. After this I was inside of call although I wished my trigger control was better. I stayed clean through six shots. On the seventh one the sights dropped down and swung wide to the right for an eight. My hold got worse after that and I had nines for my final two shots.
There was something with my sitting position today that made me bounce around too much. I tried adjusting my foot position in prep but to no avail. Even so, after about the third shot of the string, the rifle seemed to settle and the shots were going off in the middle. Towards the end I was snatching at the trigger a bit and that's where the nine came from.
For rapid prone I wanted to try putting my right elbow outboard a little more than normal. I thought this would make a better pocket in my shoulder for the buttplate and give me a more in-line position. Unfortunately, this moved my left elbow further away from the rifle and dropped the sight plane down. As I was firing the string, I was fighting to get the sights aligned with the target. I had 7 shots that were only three clicks high but there were two high 9's and even an 8.
My slow prone position was about as good as it was in rapid prone. I wasn't comfortable and my neck and shoulders felt strained. The most noticeable problem trying to tilt my head high enough to look through my glasses. It seemed like I was looking through the top of the lens and the frame. In addition I didn't have my scope set up like I normally do and had to move my head to look through it. Because of these extraneous problems I wasn't paying attention to where the shots were going and focusing on the task at hand.
| Offhand: | 96-2 |
| Sitting: | 99-7 |
| Rapid Prone: | 96-3 |
| Slow Prone: | 196-5 |
| Aggregate: | 487-17 |
July 20
The skies were sunny and clear for the six-man
team match. Despite all the rain that Camp Perry got this summer I
didn't feel a lot of humidity. Weather wise it was a very pleasant day
to shoot.
When I first mounted the gun in prep the sights came
down right on the target which I felt was a good sign. Because there was so
much blue sky in the background it was little hard to see the target through
the aperture. My hold was also bigger than normal and I couldn't come into
the target as smoothly as I normally do. But my trigger control was good and
I was breaking shots without a lot of excessive movement. I was inside of
call on all my shots and didn't drop any points until shot eight.
Sitting just never really started off well. In prep I
was bouncing around with inadequate support under the rifle. When the
targets came up I sat down, looked through my sights and I was on the wrong
target so I had to yank the rifle over. The string just seemed to be me
fighting my position.
I wish rapid prone strings were only about seven shots, because after that my position has really broken down. The sights would start in the middle and then the rifle will start slipping down and I'm trying to chase it with my head. This was coupled with poor breathing and it's a wonder I only had two high nines.
The wind wasn't helping matters in slow prone. It
would slow down, speed up, reverse, and sometimes stop altogether. This
wouldn't be so bad except it would do this as fast as we were turning the
knobs. I was very happy with my elevation and the lighting gave me a clear
front sight to focus on. On a few shots I had to stop, blink, and clear out
my eye which slowed down our pace. My coach had me turning my windage knob a
lot but it was all working pretty well.
| Offhand: | 98-3 |
| Sitting: | 97-3 |
| Rapid Prone: | 98-4 |
| Slow Prone: | 195-7 |
| Aggregate: | 488-17 |
July 21
Today's weather was a little odd. It was clear
when I walked out to the range, then the skies got dark and the wind
started to blow, and then it cleared and became a bright sunny day. All
within a couple of hours.
By the time my relay had to shoot standing the wind
had picked up speed. I started with a couple of 9's and then a ten. On the
fourth shot the sights swung wide for a six. After that I got back into the
black but still struggled against the wind.
My position in sitting felt quite stable. The wind
pushing against me wasn't. I came off of standing with three clicks of right
so I put on four for the rapid. I tried to squeeze the shots and I had good
cheek pressure on the stock. Despite this there were two nines out on the
right.
I was on the first relay to shoot at 300 so I couldn't
use anyone else's group to dope off of. I made a wind call of three clicks
right which turned out to be spot on. My firing point had good support under
my left elbow and the stock felt tight in my shoulder. The string felt good
but there wasn't a single X in the group.
With the wind blowing right to left I put on 8 clicks.
It turned out I caught the wind at the tail end of a let off because I was
on the left side and then suddenly I was on the right. Once I got caught up
I stayed at 7 left but I had already dropped too many points.
| Offhand: | 88-0 |
| Sitting: | 98-4 |
| Rapid Prone: | 99-0 |
| Slow Prone: | 192-7 |
| Aggregate: | 477-11 |
July 22
Beautiful weather all day with just a slight
breeze mostly in our faces.
As always I was a little nervous for standing. My hold
wasn't very good but because of the early morning light it was a little hard
to make out the sighting black. That meant it took me longer to decide to
shoot. I tried to shoot quickly and was always ready with the next shot.
There weren't any really bad shots, just too many nines.
The wind for rapid prone was mostly back towards us
and to the right. When I stood up I felt like that right component was still
there so I put on two left. My
position felt good and the rifle wasn't moving around in my shoulder. The
group was good as well but I should have shot straight away as everything
was on the left side.
Watching the mirage at 600, the correction would not
have to be great but it may need to be in both directions. The predominant
condition was to the right maybe 4-5 clicks but it would stop and sometimes
reverse for just a little while. When I got ready to shoot it seemed to stop
so I waited for a couple of minutes until I saw it come back. My first shot
was a high ten so I thought I was OK. My second shot was an eight on the
right side. That was followed with another eight. I finally got caught up
but the damage was already done.
| Offhand: | 95-1 |
| Rapid Prone: | 99-4 |
| Slow Prone: | 95-4 |
| Aggregate: | 289-9 |
July 23
The days just keep getting nicer and nicer. Today
was clear with bright blue skies. My biggest problem was a sore throat
that descended on me overnight. It made the day a bit of a blur and I
didn't enjoy it as much as I should have.
I finally had enough light to get a good sight picture
in standing. This made the decision process a little easier although each
shot felt different than the last. I fired 10's for sighters and then stayed
in the middle with good calls. As I went on, it took more effort for each
one to break until shot 8 when I let one go as the sights were moving out to
the left.
Sitting felt better than it had in a while. Not
perfectly stable but the movement was contained enough to squeeze the
trigger. The sight picture got fuzzy on a few shots but I trusted that they
would still go in the middle.
Today's rapid prone felt a lot like every other rapid
prone string. The shots looked like they were going in the middle but this
time they actually were. My breathing could have been better as I held my
breath for some shots and breathed for others.
No problem watching mirage today with such a clear
day. My goal for slow prone, since I had a coach, was to try to break the
best shots I could. My performance in that respect wasn't as good as I
wanted because there were some shots that I fired with less than optimal
focus on the front sight. That post was clear for the most part but I would
still drop out the bottom or force a corner shot.
| Offhand: | 99-4 |
| Sitting: | 100-6 |
| Rapid Prone: | 100-4 |
| Slow Prone: | 195-8 |
| Aggregate: | 494-22 |
July 24
Yesterday's sore throat has now become today's
cold. I spent the day coughing, sneezing, and being generally miserable.
All this despite the great weather and mild conditions.
I was looking forward to standing as there was barely
a breeze and it was a good day to shoot a good score. Because we were
pair-firing there was plenty of time and I could take as long as I wanted to
get the shot right. Nothing really horrible stands out about the string but
I certainly should be able to perform better given the conditions.
There was a little too much bounce in sitting and I
didn't know how to get rid of it. The best I could do was try to squeeze the
shots in the middle of the bounce and hope for the best. This was working
until the last shot when I let the sights drop too low and got a nine just
off the line.
Rapid prone was just a scattered group without a
single X. I still don't know what to do about the inconsistent results with
this stage. The position feels fine when I start out but then gets chaotic
as I fire. Maybe more attention to my breathing and cadence but I don't want
to waste too much time.
The wind in slow prone was pretty much in our faces
and only a few clicks were needed. My first five shots were all X's and I
didn't drop a point until shot 15. This was out the bottom as was the one
three shots later. I had to stop half way through as the cold symptoms were
exhausting me and it was getting harder to concentrate.
| Offhand: | 97-3 |
| Sitting: | 99-5 |
| Rapid Prone: | 97-0 |
| Slow Prone: | 198-11 |
| Aggregate: | 491-19 |
July 25
I bought some medicine to deal with the cold but I
could certainly feel it this morning. The congestion and general feeling
of illness made the day go by a little slower. I didn't feel it while
actually shooting but the other tasks such as walking out on the line,
pulling targets, and moving around the range were more difficult.
I was pleasantly surprised by how good my hold was in
standing, but trigger control still limited my shots. The hold would move
into the target and my body would move it out again as I pulled the trigger.
My first two shots were nines so I felt like was already in a hole. The 11th
shot broke out to the left, which I would call a solid nine, but wound up an
eight.
Sitting also gave me problems with calling shots. I
felt like I was breaking good shots but the groups were a little big and I
dropped a point on each one.
I tried to be more conscious of my breathing and
cadence in rapid prone. The buttplate was still slipping in my shoulder so
my position changed from beginning to end of each string. While I got the
wind right the groups were pretty sloppy as I used the whole 10 ring.
| Offhand: | 193-5 |
| Sitting: | 198-7 |
| Rapid Prone: | 200-6 |
July 26
We had some rain overnight so there was a lot of
moisture in the very still air this morning. Once the wind picked up it
took all the humidity away and left us with warmth and sunshine.
I took the line for standing with a stiff wind coming
out of the northeast. I tried to be efficient with my time and disciplined
with my shots so that I could find the windows of opportunity when the wind
was weakest. At first things were working fine. I would fire and reload
right away. It took concentration on each shot but I only dropped two points
in the first eight shots. Then the windows for shots became smaller, the
sights never wanted to get back to the target, and I was taking shots on the
way out.
I really wanted to redeem myself from yesterday's
sitting. My position and hold felt good but I kept losing definition on the
target. That made it difficult to discern how high to place the front sight
on the black. I was more concerned about getting the wind right because it
was moving along pretty well. I wound up shooting both strings with 6 clicks
right. On my second string, when the rifle was chambering the 9th round, it
felt like the bolt caught on something as there was almost an interrupted
motion of the bolt. The gun functioned fine and I was able to finish the
string.
The wind was pretty stiff for slow prone. I initially
went on with 20 clicks right. As I progressed through the string it began to
let up. I would lose a shot on the right and then have to take off a couple
of clicks. Then that cycle would repeat. I finished with only 14 clicks on
the gun.
| Offhand: | 183-2 |
| Sitting: | 200-9 |
| Slow Prone: | 192-7 |
July 27
The weather is still good and very pleasant to shoot.
I was squeezing the trigger pretty well in the first string of sitting despite my less-than-optimal position. I had a bit of a bounce in my hold but I was working my way through it until I broke a shot just as the sights bounced high and got a mid-ring 9. The second string didn't feel as good and I wasn't really breathing very well but I cleaned it anyway.
I'm still trying to breathe properly in rapid prone. This gives me a better cadence and lets me make good shots instead of rushing them. On both strings I had a hard time getting a clear front sight. The first one had a good group towards the upper right corner of the 10-ring but it was still a clean. I wasn't squeezing the trigger as well on the second string and had a bigger group that was all over the 10-ring with two wild 9's.
The sight picture was challenging in slow prone since there was so much brightness from the sky. My first sighter was a way off eight. I followed that with five nines. I kept having to take off wind and struggled to keep up in the first half. The back half was better with only an elevation nine on the final shot.
| Sitting: | 199-9 |
| Rapid Prone: | 198-5 |
| Slow Prone: | 192-4 |
July 28
The final day of the championship and I'm ready to be done. The weather has been great but shooting every day without a break is really getting to be a grind.
I walked out for standing this morning with a confidence that I would do well. I didn't do as well as I had hoped but it was decent enough for the last day. There weren't any really bad shots I just threw nines away every now and then. Things were fine until I shot nines on three of the last four.
My rapid prone position felt pretty good which hasn't been happening very often. I tried to keep good cadence by breathing between shots. Looking through the sights it seemed like the sighting black was biased a little towards the left side of the frame. The first string had eight shots in a good group and then two high nines. I called one shot on the second string a bit high but that one was clean despite being at the top of the 10-ring.
Just like yesterday, the brightness of the targets made it difficult to get a good sight picture. I had a ten and X for my sighters and then fired a nine for the first record shot. Shot six was another 9 and two shots later I had an eight. Just like yesterday, the back half was a 99 with a nine on the final shot.
| Offhand: | 193-3 |
| Rapid Prone: | 198-7 |
| Slow Prone: | 195-10 |
| Aggregate: | 2341-74 |
August 29
The range got some rain last night so the ground was very muddy. This Regional weekend is usually held in July but it originally got rained out so we made the trip out in August. Today was a 2-man team match but because I haven't shot in a month, shooting seemed very foreign to me.
Standing felt decent enough but I still made poor decisions and fired 9's on my first two shots. I settled down for a while but then shot another one on number nine.
I have started closing the zipper in the sleeve of my shooting coat because it may give me a little more stability in my left elbow. This gave me a good feeling rapid prone position but the sky had a lot of overcast so the sight picture was a bit dark. The group was a bit on the left side with one high nine.
I fired my first shot at 600 with the same elevation that I have been using at Camp Perry and it was a low 7. After a long sigh and a roll of my eyes I came up a couple of clicks and fired a ten. Another ten for the third shot and I thought I was good. Then I shot a low eight and a couple of nines. Once I was done I had come up six clicks from where I started.
| Offhand: | 97-0 |
| Rapid Prone: | 99-3 |
| Slow Prone: | 92-0 |
| Aggregate: | 288-3 |
August 29
After the team match in the morning now we are going to shoot a Leg match. The air is still humid but some of the mud has dried out.
Standing had a good hold this afternoon. The first shot broke well and I got an X. The second shot didn't break as well and I got a nine. I was on cruise control after that with good shots that I was able to fire without spending an inordinate amount of time dressing them up.
My sitting certainly didn't feel as good when I dropped into position. But it wasn't just a large group that was the problem. The shots on target were too low but I don't know what caused that.
I have been trying to get in the habit of breathing deliberately during rapid prone. That part was fine but I felt like I was muscling the gun a little bit. Usually this leads to a big group but this one was pretty good. The problem was that it was shifted to the left edge of the 10-ring with a lone nine on that side.
There were still overcast skies for slow prone but almost no wind made conditions very mild to shoot in. My goal was to spend as much time as I needed to make sure the front sight was clear before the shot went. I started with a 10 and didn't have to deal with the same elevation problems from the team match. My first dropped point was shot 13 and had two more after that.
| Offhand: | 99-3 |
| Sitting: | 97-1 |
| Rapid Prone: | 99-1 |
| Slow Prone: | 197-7 |
| Aggregate: | 492-12 |
August 30
A lot of fog when we drove into the range this morning for the Regional. Visibility was poor during registration but then the mist lifted when we went to the firing line. The weather turned out fine but the sun didn't come out until we were almost done.
I was really surprised how well the rifle sat during my standing prep time. I would bring it to the target and it just sat in the 10-ring even after dry-firing. Of course this changed once I started shooting but it wasn't too bad. I broke a nine on the second shot and then three in a row on 4, 5, and 6. That really frustrated me as I felt like I was really behind and I had to dig myself out of a hole. It wasn't too bad after that even though it became harder and harder to break shots as I didn't want to let go of a bad one. Shot 15 came up a nine at 12 that was so close I felt like I had to challenge it. I lost the challenge and then saw that I was running low on time. I fired the final five shots quickly but they still broke well.
I was fidgeting too much with my sitting position during prep, especially my forward hand position but nothing felt really good. As I was shooting the first string I had to bring the sights back to the target and I was losing the sight picture with the smoke from the other rifles. The group was a good size but still low. I came up a click for the second group which felt about the same as the first. This one was a 7x clean.
Once again I am deliberately breathing in rapid prone. Both of my sighters were X's and the first string felt good despite the front end slipping in my glove a little. The group was rather tall with 10's right on the line and a high nine. The second string didn't feel as good as the first but not that bad. On target though, everything was strung out to the left all the way to the edge of the 9-ring. I wish I knew if I started there or shifted during the string.
Not much wind in slow prone and I started with the same elevation I used yesterday. My first sighter was an X. Elevation was good except for one 9. The other points were lost to windage even though there was only a couple clicks worth.
| Offhand: | 195-4 |
| Sitting: | 200-12 |
| Rapid Prone: | 194-5 |
| Slow Prone: | 196-7 |
| Aggregate: | 785-28 |
September 5
Hot, humid weather made its appearance today. Temperatures were in the low 90's with everyting very sticky. I tried to stay hydrated but I could still feel my pulse pounding in my head when I went to shoot.
I'm pretty in tune with how I shoot standing so I can usually tell when things don't feel right. This morning, things definitely didn't feel right. I couldn't put my finger on why this was the case. It wasn't my NPA as I tried to make sure my feet were situated properly. My position was loose and it took a lot of effort just to bring the sights into the middle. Instead of getting into a rhythm early on, I had to start and stop for each shot right at the beginning. My calls were non-existent and I just tried my best to get the rifle to go off in the center. My only X came on shot 15 but there were just too many 9's during the string.
The wheels really started to fall off in sitting. My position felt stable as I shot the first string. The sight picture was coming and going. Sometimes I would lose the post, sometimes I would lose the target. Despite this I had an 8X clean. On the second string the rifle mis-fed the final round and the cartridge got caught between the bolt and the barrel extension. When I looked at it I briefly toyed with the idea of clearing it but that seemed risky. I reached down into my ammo box and started loading rounds into my magazines for the alibi string. I wasn't really paying attention to how the ammo was arranged and I wound up loading 2 in the first magazine and 10 into the other. Firing 12 shots gave me a zero for the re-fire string and a miss for the shot missing on the second string.
As bad as sitting was, it was about to get worse for rapid prone. I didn't think there was really any wind so I fired my sighters straight away. The both came up as X's. During the first string I breathed and tried to break good shots. The position felt good and there was nothing that indicated a problem. When the target came up my shots were way out towards 10 o'clock in a badly misplaced group. I thought that maybe my sling was too tight and was pulling the rifle towards the left so I loosened it. During the second string the position felt the same but I noticed that I was looking through the very top of the lens in my glasses. Also, there was some counter-clockwise cant in the front sight. The second group was even worse than the first with three shots in the 8-ring. I was left scratching my head searching for answers.
After the lousy rapids I just wanted to get the day over with. My slow prone position wasn't very good and I felt like I had to stretch my neck from the left to see through the sights. Also, I was looking through the very top of my glasses lens. I tried to get a higher position but it wasn't working. Despite all this I started shooting X's. Unfortunately, these were interspersed with 9's. There was very little wind and I stayed on three clicks right for most of the string.
| Offhand: | 192-1 |
| Sitting: | 189-13 |
| Rapid Prone: | 180-0 |
| Slow Prone: | 196-9 |
| Aggregate: | 757-23 |
September 6
Today was another hot and humid day. It was a team match with no sighters but I shot out of competition with a couple of other shooters.
When I got ready to shoot standing I felt a little behind time-wise. So I took my position and spent a minimal amount of time to prep. When I was ready, I started shooting. With the position of the sun and the haze of the morning, my sight picture wasn't very clear. This made it very difficult to get any calls. I disregarded this since my zeros are good and just shot for the middle. I would mount the gun, get a shot off, load up, and go again as soon as the target came back up. Things were going fine and I was clean through the first 12 shots. Then I started to slow down but the real problem was terrible trigger control. My mind would decide to shoot, I would impart a lot of movement into the rifle, then the gun would go off. Frustrating as I had two 8's.
My sitting position actually felt better than it has in a while. The front sight looked alright but my trigger squeezing left something to be desired. The first group was just plain tall with a nine out high and low. The second group had a much better trigger squeeze and turned out to be much smaller. It only had 3 X's but that's because it was higher than it should have been.
What stood out to me most in rapid prone was my collapsing position. The rifle would descend with each shot and all I could do was follow it down. Once the rifle comes down far enough, the magazine contacts the sleeve of my coat and pushes it into a cant. The resulting groups are sometimes round, sometimes oval, but usually big. It is frustrating because it is so hard to diagnose in dry-firing and I can't really do much during the string.
I had wanted to borrow a friend's rifle as he has a lens in his rear sight. Maybe an additional positive correction would help keep the front sight sharper with less effort. Since our zeros were different the first shot was a guess for elevation. It turned out to be a high 7. Then I came down too far and had a low 8. The third shot was a 10 and things were fine after that. While it still took effort to get the front sight clear and sharp, it wasn't as much work as on my rifle.
| Offhand: | 193-3 |
| Sitting: | 198-8 |
| Rapid Prone: | 194-3 |
| Slow Prone: | 194-4 |
| Aggregate: | 779-18 |
September 13
The morning started out a little cool. Just enough to require a sweatshirt and to let you know that summer is fading away. The skies were clear for most of the morning and then we started to get some clouds that would put the targets in occasional shadow.
My standing hold could have been better but the sights never seemed to really settle into a slow movement. The motion was still a little jerky and trigger control was spotty. The targets were very bright in the sun but my calls were good. Things started well but then I broke shot four with the sights too much on the left to be good. I then broke the very next shot in the same way. After that I started favoring right-hand breaks. On shot 8 I lost concentration during the shot process and yanked the rifle as it fired. I was hoping to hit black and fortunately it was still a nine.
There was more muscle being used to hold the rifle in sitting. Not that this helped my hold but maybe it did something. I was certainly gripping the handguard. Trigger squeeze was decent and the string felt good.
After the last few matches of zipping my left sleeve I decided to go back to unzipped starting this rapid prone. It just didn't have the advantage that I thought it might. Now that we had some clouds overhead the lighting conditions were changing quickly. During the string the light changed from bright to overcast. During the dark parts I tried to get the post as clear as I could but it was difficult. Some shots were taken despite a less than perfect sight picture. My position was also a little lower than it has been. Despite this my neck didn't feel strained and I wasn't looking through the very top edge of my glasses. I got lucky on the group because I had two 10's right on the line.
The light in slow prone was really changing. They weren't extreme changes but enough to go from a bright target to a gray one. I wasn't going to try to wait out the light so I shot through the changes and it didn't affect my elevation. Once I started shooting I found myself having to come up a couple clicks. I never really had a string of X's and only had two sets where any were back to back. Mostly it was 10's below center. Things were moving along well until shot 16 was a 9 out the right. I clicked over and finished fine.
| Offhand: | 97-3 |
| Sitting: | 100-4 |
| Rapid Prone: | 100-6 |
| Slow Prone: | 199-8 |
| Aggregate: | 496-21 |
September 19
It was dreary driving to the range in a light rain. By the time I had gotten there it had mostly stopped but we still walked out to the line in a mist. Fortunately that ended as we took our positions for standing.
What really sticks out for me in standing is that I felt distracted. Not really distracted by any one thing, just that my mind wasn't on the task at hand. This was apparent in my lack of horizontal NPA and inability to get it. I would adjust my feet and still be off center. Of the nine bad shots that I had, all but one were out the side.
In sitting I found myself putting a lot of muscle into holding the rifle up. Instead of hanging on to the gun, I was trying to elevate it to the target. I could tell there was less force down on my left elbow than normal. Both groups were on the right side of the 10-ring with a lost shot on each one.
In an effort to avoid the rifle slipping lower in rapid prone, I decided to start off low. I thought that if I started there I wouldn't be going there during the string. My worry was that the side effect of this would make me look through the top edge of my glasses but that part didn't seem so bad. The butt did slip a little during both strings and the lower position felt a little foreign. The first string had the better group. The second string had a good eight-shot group with a couple of wide nines.
Conditions were good for slow prone. Nothing really stands out for me about my position or the way I shot. It seemed the same as always. I was somewhat relaxed but not perfectly and I tried to have the front sight in focus. Shot five was a 9 straight out the top but of the next 10 shots, 9 were X's.
| Offhand: | 191-3 |
| Sitting: | 198-4 |
| Rapid Prone: | 197-4 |
| Slow Prone: | 199-13 |
| Aggregate: | 785-24 |
September 20
The conditions were even better today than they were yesterday. It was a great day to shoot.
Standing felt good at the very beginning. I was calling shots really well but then they got worse. My shots were inside of call but they were based on my impression of the shot when it broke. As I went on I found myself imparting motion in my body between the decision to shoot and when the gun went off. This motion made me feel like my call was further outside than the shot. Each time it happened I couldn't understand why the spotter wasn't coming up in the nine ring. I felt like the score reflected more luck than performance.
Sitting was affected by my sight picture more than anything else. Sometimes the target would be fuzzy and sometimes it was the front sight. It was worse on the first string where I had two shots just out the bottom.
My rapid prone is really suffering from large group size. My position isn't consistent and when the targets are really bright I lose the sighting black. The shot process isn't rhythmic where each step in the sequence smoothly follows the one before it. One shot is executed properly but the next one isn't. I don't really have solution for this and that's the frustrating part.
Unlike rapid prone, slow prone flowed pretty well. It didn't feel as good as yesterday and that's why my X-count was lower. I only had two sets of back-to-back X's as I used most of the 10-ring. But the slower pace and good front sight focus kept most shots out of the 9-ring.
| Offhand: | 196-3 |
| Sitting: | 198-8 |
| Rapid Prone: | 196-6 |
| Slow Prone: | 198-7 |
| Aggregate: | 788-24 |
October 4
A breezy, chilly, and blustery day. Heavy overcast hid the sun for most of the day and made it seem very autumn-ish. I spent most of the day wearing a coat but at least that kept me comfortable.
As soon as I took my coat off and put on my shooting coat for standing, I felt cold. As time went on I got used to it and forgot about the weather. The hold was only mediocre but I was able to bring the sights to the target without much difficulty. My NPA was decent as well but the problem was seeing the right sight picture for the shot. My eye would generate tears because of the conditions and that would cause the sights to fuzz out. I would blink but by then the sights had drifted and I would have to start in again. Without clarity of the sights, my calls weren't very good even though the differential wasn't great. I also had trigger control problems with added movement right when the rifle was going off. The pace of my shooting was actually faster than normal. I hit a string of 10's to start with, shot a nine for my 5th shot and then back with the 10's. I had windage nines for three straight shots starting with number 9. I let them go and just worked on each shot after that.
Both sitting strings had the same score but two very different ways that I got there. The first string had very sloppy trigger control. I felt like I was yanking on the rifle for each shot. That group had a couple shots right on the line that could just as easily have been out. I was squeezing the trigger much better during the second string. The hold was good too. I called the first shot high but settled down after that.
Rapid prone was an interesting contrast between how I felt during the string and how the strings were scoring. It's amazing how bad a string can feel if the position is not right. My head seemed to be on the left side of the rifle and I was straining to get it on top of the stock. During firing my forward hand was slipping towards the sling swivel and the buttplate seemed to be following it down. The groups weren't terrible (I've shot worse) but I was really struggling with the position and controlling the rifle.
Slow prone just kept me guessing as I wasn't sure where each shot was going to end up. I started off with my first sighter being a seven on the left side. That kind of set the tone as I never felt in control of what I was doing or where the shots wound up. At one point I shot a corner eight that wasn't on call. It was all I could do to keep trying and not give up after a frustrating prone day.
| Offhand: | 196-4 |
| Sitting: | 200-12 |
| Rapid Prone: | 196-3 |
| Slow Prone: | 194-6 |
| Aggregate: | 786-25 |
October 10
While the morning started out chilly, as soon as
the sun came up it was quite comfortable. We had a fluctuating breeze
all day but not too bad.
In standing I felt like I had to bring the rifle
across my chest more than normal. My NPA was fine but I just felt like my
position was more open towards the target. The hold started well and I was
able to break the shots quickly. In the second half it wasn't as good and it
took longer to shoot. My calls were really good, when I could see. As the
sun came up it put glare on the front and rear sights and it was hard to
make out the sight picture. I broke a lot of shots with a fuzzy sight
picture.
I had the same glare problems in sitting as I did in
standing. With so much light in my eyes it was hard to make out the dark
target. The position was fair and I could feel tension in my forward hand. I
shot the first string as best as I could with the difficult light. I had one
high shot but the rest of the group was low in the 10-ring. The second
string was centered really well but still larger than the X-ring. My score
wound up tying another competitor for the win in this match so we were going
to come back at the end of the day for a shoot off.
In rapid prone, the sling position on my left arm made my position a lot better than it has been feeling. Everything felt snug and I wasn't fighting the rifle. During the first string my front sight focus varied between shots. On some shots it was very clear, on other shots it was a little fuzzy. This group was peppered all over the right side of the 10-ring with no X's and one nine out the top. I came one click left for the second string. The position didn't feel as good as the first string. My front sight focus was decent but I kept losing the target on a couple shots. This was a wider group with another nine out the top.
Slow prone was just a guessing game of where the shot
would come up. I felt like I had a good position and the rifle wasn't loose.
My first sighter was a low and right eight. I came up two and left two and
shot a ten. Then the first record shot was a nine and I thought this was
going to be a long day. I kept it in the 10-ring for a while and then shot a
corner eight on number 12. That was followed up by a nine. The final shot
was an eight which just left me shaking my head. Afterwards I could feel
soreness in my left forearm like I was straining with my support arm. But I
didn't really feel any muscle tension during the string.
For the sitting shoot off we would be on adjacent
firing points shooting on adjacent targets. I went though the same procedure
that I normally do for sitting and got all my stuff ready. After a prep my
two sighters were both slightly high 10's. The target looked clearer than
this morning but
smaller in the afternoon sun. My hold during the string wasn't very good and
I was breaking several shots on the move. The group looked almost the same
as my first sitting string this morning with one high 10 and the rest of the
shots lower.
| Offhand: | 194-8 |
| Sitting: | 200-7 |
| Rapid Prone: | 198-2 |
| Slow Prone: | 193-3 |
| Aggregate: | 785-20 |
When the season started this spring it felt like we constantly had poor weather. Even if it didn't rain, the skies looked like they were about to. By the time the weather became nice it was time to head to Camp Perry. The pushed forward schedule only allowed me three matches between May and the Nationals. Regardless of the weather and other factors, 2015 did not shape up to be a stellar year. While better than last year, I still couldn't regain the overall form of previous seasons.
The real bright spot for me this year was my standing performance. I began shooting well in this stage early on and continued throughout the year. There were some poor scores but these were due to windy conditions rather than marksmanship. I went to line with a lot more confidence than I have in the past.
My average score in sitting remained unchanged from last year. The average group size went down and was more in line with previous years. But even though the group size got a little smaller, I wasn't able to capitalize on this because the groups were shifting.
The story in rapid prone is the opposite of sitting. My average score went up despite the average group size remaining the same as last year. But statistics can't tell the story of what was going on as I was shooting the strings. The sighters are coming up in the middle but the strings are all over the place. In addition, sometimes I can't really tell when there is a problem until after the target is scored. Other times the rifle is slipping and sliding down and I don't have much choice but to chase it with my head.
Although it's hard to believe, I was actually more consistent in slow prone than I was last year. That probably has more to do with how bad last year was rather than a good performance this year. My inability to get comfortable in position had a lot to do with my underachievement. It seemed like I was fighting the position or my neck would start to hurt mid-way through the string. That was coupled with a hit-or-miss front sight focus and large groups are the result.
