The 2021 Season
The Scores
| Date | Location | Standing | Sitting | Rapid Prone |
Slow Prone |
Aggregate | |
| April 24 | Milan | 190-1 | 199-10 | 198-9 | 198-9 | 785-29 | 98.1% |
| May 2 | Bonfield | 196-4 | 200-13 | 200-9 | 199-12 | 795-38 | 99.4% |
| May 8 | Bonfield | 195-3 | 200-11 | 200-11 | 200-11 | 795-36 | 99.4% |
| May 29 | Milan | 197-5 | 200-9 | 198-6 | 192-9 | 787-29 | 98.4% |
| May 30 | Milan | 196-5 | 200-13 | 192-3 | 195-2 | 783-23 | 97.9% |
| June 12 | Bonfield | 197-6 | 200-9 | 195-7 | 199-10 | 791-32 | 98.9% |
| June 26 | Milan | 196-10 | 200-5 | 197-5 | 197-10 | 790-30 | 98.8% |
| June 27 | Milan | 94-2 | 100-4 | 99-3 | 199-10 | 492-19 | 98.4% |
| July 4 | Bonfield | 196-7 | 200-11 | 199-14 | 200-13 | 795-45 | 99.4% |
| July 17 | Wyoming | 193-6 | 197-11 | 197-6 | 198-7 | 785-30 | 98.1% |
| July 27 | Bonfield | 198-8 | 199-11 | 198-4 | 200-10 | 795-33 | 99.4% |
| August 2 | Camp Perry | 97-3 | - | 89-0 | 86-3 | 272-6 | 90.7% |
| August 3 | Camp Perry | 96-2 | 100-7 | 100-3 | 190-4 | 486-16 | 97.2% |
| August 4 | Camp Perry | 97-4 | - | 98-5 | 94-2 | 289-11 | 96.3% |
| August 5 | Camp Perry | 97-4 | 99-7 | 100-5 | 195-8 | 491-24 | 98.2% |
| August 23 | Camp Atterbury | 98-5 | 100-7 | 100-5 | 196-9 | 494-26 | 98.8% |
| August 24 | Camp Atterbury | 98-5 | 100-3 | 98-5 | 195-8 | 491-21 | 98.2% |
| August 26 | Camp Atterbury | 195-4 | 200-7 | 196-5 | 200-16 | 791-32 | 98.9% |
| August 27 | Camp Atterbury | 194-4 | 200-14 | 196-9 | 199-12 | 789-39 | 98.6% |
| August 28 | Camp Atterbury | 196-5 | 199-10 | 200-11 | 197-10 | 792-36 | 99.0% |
| September 4 | Milan | 193-6 | 200-13 | 199-9 | 197-7 | 789-35 | 98.6% |
| September 5 | Milan | 196-5 | 200-9 | 200-12 | 196-5 | 792-31 | 99.0% |
| September 18 | Bonfield | 197-7 | 200-8 | 197-7 | 198-14 | 792-36 | 99.0% |
| September 19 | Bonfield | 196-8 | 200-9 | 198-7 | 198-8 | 792-32 | 99.0% |
| October 2 | Milan | 199-8 | 200-7 | 200-10 | 189-1 | 788-26 | 98.5% |
The Stories
I put my rifle away last October and didn't take it out again until mid-April. I put on a new sling but didn't do any dry-firing or any other preparation. That's not the best way to start the season but my low motivation level created this reality.
April 24
It was a decent day to shoot, weather-wise. At the start I was more concerned with how rusty my shooting skills were. But as I got started it was my equipment that gave me more worry.
Standing became an exercise in learning a position over again. I tried to learn how to get the best NPA, a good bone-supported position, and consistency from shot to shot. While I was doing this, and shooting plenty of nines in the process, by the sixth record shot I noticed that the case wouldn't eject from the rifle. Looking through the ejection port the bolt had extracted the case from the chamber but the head of the case was stuck, at an angle, to the face of the bolt. I pulled the case out and noticed the primer was missing. I continued but this cropped up several more times. After finishing I gathered up my brass and noticed that three cases were missing primers and the rest had healthy burrs from the ejector. This was not a good sign when I had a weekend worth of shooting ahead of me.
As I had a new sling on my rifle, I had to guess at its correct position for sitting. I adjusted this a couple times in prep but it still didn't feel right. Both sighters felt good and were in the middle. As I worked my way through the first string my hold wasn't very good but the trigger control for most shots made up for it. But I did notice that the rifle seemed to cant more and more towards the right with every shot. This was a decent clean with half the shots out of the X at 4 o'clock. The second string felt similar but that rightward bias showed up with a lost shot on that side.
My reticle in rapid prone was never really clear. On both strings it was out of focus. This was coupled with a target that was also out of focus so I wasn't sure what I was looking at. Despite this I managed to clean the first string. The second string had worse trigger control and I was breaking shots based on cadence instead of sight picture. The second group was spread out to the right with two nines that were just out.
Trying to remember the amount of rifle cant I had from last year was paramount for slow prone. I tried lining up my horizontal crosshairs with the bottom of the sighting black on my left and the top of the sighting black on my right. That worked fairly well as I stumbled my way through the string. The wind wasn't worth very much but that didn't stop me from leaking out a couple of nines.
| Standing: | 190-1 |
| Sitting: | 199-10 |
| Rapid Prone: | 198-9 |
| Slow Prone: | 198-9 |
| Aggregate: | 785-29 |
May 2
Really nice weather today with mild temperatures. It started out sunny but got a little more overcast as the day went on. After last week's overpressure problems I scrubbed my barrel and hoped that today would not have any equipment worries.
After a rusty standing last week I wanted to get back to the level that I know I can shoot at. As I stepped up to the line I wanted to focus on getting the best NPA as well as making better shot decisions. The NPA wasn't quite where I wanted it as the rifle wanted to sit above the target. My hold improved a bit when I let the rifle cant into my face a little more. Calls were good and trigger control was pretty smooth which surprised me. The four shots that I lost were pretty obvious and I was berating myself before the bullet even reached the target for letting them go .
Both of my strings in sitting had a common theme. My contact with the rifle and cheek pressure changed from first magazine to second. The groups were decent enough except for a wild shot on the second string. My cheek had good contact with the stock on the first magazine but after changing to the second there was less contact pressure and the position felt "looser". I think I'm not mounting the buttplate high enough in my shoulder which leaves the stock too low relative to my face. In addition the rifle wanted to cant toward the right and I wasn't sure how to deal with this.
Rapid prone was where I started to tempt fate. My first string was a good group. Well centered except for two 10's just off the left side of the x-ring. My sight picture was good and I felt like I was shooting like I should. On the second string the rifle picked up the 7th round but all I heard was a click when the hammer fell. Upon opening the bolt, I saw a cartridge with no primer in the case. When I shook the magazine I heard something rattling around inside which turned out to be the missing primer. I loaded an emergency magazine for the alibi string in case any other problems cropped up. I didn't need it but my thoughts were on my equipment rather than my shooting.
After getting my sling at a comfortable tension for slow prone, I just wanted to relax, see the reticle dot well, and squeeze the trigger. My first sighter was a 9 on the right side so I came three clicks to the left and shot a mid-ring 10 on the right for the second sighter. That was a bit puzzling so I put on another two clicks of left. My first record shot clipped the top of the x-ring so I put on another insurance click to the left. Sure enough, the second record shot was out on the left side. I came back to the right but with the damage already done there wasn't much to get excited about for the rest of the string.
| Standing: | 196-4 |
| Sitting: | 200-13 |
| Rapid Prone: | 200-9 |
| Slow Prone: | 199-12 |
| Aggregate: | 795-38 |
May 8
I just received my re-barreled upper and last night I transferred my scope over to it. That means that I now have to get zeros and today is the day I start doing that. The morning was quite cool and in the mid-40's but it warmed up nicely with calm conditions.
Being able to shoot standing a couple of times this year allowed me to remember my position and shake some rust off. I'll need that today as having a consistent wobble and accurate call will help in finding my zero during the string. I broke the first sighter on the left side of the black and the shot was a 7 at 9 o'clock. I came over a full correction and would adjust on each shot after that. Once I was satisfied that the shots were matching my calls I could shoot at more of a rhythmic pace. Making decisions wasn't my strength today and I had a couple of shots that I knew were out but I fired anyway. My hold wasn't helping matters and the rifle would drift in and out and in again.
I knew my normal sight changes from standing to sitting. So I just made that same adjustment after I finished standing and got into the sitting position. My first sighter was in the middle of the X-ring and the second one was just off the left side. That was good enough that I decided to stick with what I had for the first string. My wobble got worse and worse as it went on and my sight picture got a little fuzzy towards the end. I had a couple 10's below the X-ring and one more just out the right. The remaining seven X's were at the bottom so I came up a click for the second string. That one felt good at the beginning but got sloppier as it went on. The group wasn't as good as the first with only four X's.
Since my standard sight changes worked from standing to sitting, I thought that going into rapid prone would be straightforward. I got a surprise when my first sighter was a 9 at five o'clock. I came up a full correction of four clicks and got a high X. I let that ride but had a bouncing reticle during the first string. I broke some middle shots on that bounce but I also broke some low ones as well. There were four low shots in that group and I assumed they were the result of the bounce. Checking the tablet screen after the first two shots of the second string showed an X on the right and a 10 just below it. At that point it felt prudent to put another click of elevation on and keep going. Between a fuzzy sight picture and a heavy mirage, I had to wait slightly to see the image I wanted. The resulting group was pretty good but slightly low. Too bad as it would have been a 9X clean if I had another two clicks of elevation.
A good portion of my prep period for slow prone is getting my cant set up correctly. It's also something I try to pay attention to during the string. By my second record shot I had my elevation dialed in. After that it was just a couple of clicks either way for windage. Nothing significant about the string except that it never felt as tight as I would have liked. What I mean is that I didn't really keep a small group except for a string of five X's early on. Outside of that it was an occasional X followed by several 10's. While it was a clean score, the group took up too much of the 10-ring to be really happy.
| Standing: | 195-3 |
| Sitting: | 200-11 |
| Rapid Prone: | 200-11 |
| Slow Prone: | 200-11 |
| Aggregate: | 795-36 |
May 29
The weather was so nice today. The high was in the mid-60's and there was nothing but blue skies overhead. It was a bit of a frustrating day today as my performance did not match my expectations.
There was a little breeze in standing but nothing too bad and I really forgot about it for most of the string. My first sighter broke on the right edge of the black before I could really dress it up and got an eight because of it. My hold was decent and the calls were good. I did notice that my trigger control was very smooth. That was different than the "sharp" break I normally have. My NPA was a little to the right and I didn't spend as much time in the middle as I would have liked.
Sometimes I keep shooting my sitting in the wrong place even though I know I shouldn't. On my first string I was breaking shots low in the 10-ring and I told myself not to do it, and then kept doing it anyway. It turned out the shots weren't that low as they were only in the bottom of the X-ring. The group opened up some for the second one.
The most pronounced thing that I remember from rapid prone was how clear the reticle was when I was shooting. I don't know if it was the light or some other factor, but a lot of times I just see a fuzzy dot. Clear or not, it wasn't enough to offset unrefined zeros and a large group. I adjusted for the second one and cleaned it, but I had already given up points that I didn't need to .
This is the first time I'm shooting this barrel at full distance slow prone. I'm guessing at the zero and just used the difference between 300 and 600 from last year of 35 clicks. My first sighter was a low 7 so I came up a partial correction of seven clicks. The second sighter was a low nine, just where it should be. I came up another five clicks and fired my first record shot. That was now a 7 out the top. The knob was cranked down four clicks and now I was in the X-ring. But all through the string every shot felt wrong. Too much wobble, lack of smoothness in the trigger squeeze, and a dot that wouldn't clear up. I fought through it but the whole string didn't feel right. After I was done, and thoroughly frustrated, I sat up and noticed that the top buckle on my coat wasn't even buckled. What a rookie mistake!
| Standing: | 197-5 |
| Sitting: | 200-9 |
| Rapid Prone: | 198-6 |
| Slow Prone: | 192-9 |
| Aggregate: | 787-29 |
May 30
The weather was just as nice today as it was yesterday. Just a little bit warmer but still clear skies and low humidity.
As much as I wanted to focus on standing, my head just wasn't in the game this morning. After an X and a 10 for sighters, the first shot was a 9. After that my pace was slower than normal. It was a great morning to shoot standing but each shot was taking too much effort. My mind was wandering and it was difficult to concentrate on the task at hand. Each shot was a struggle and I had a hard time having good calls.
I couldn't wait to see my target after the first sitting string. As I was shooting it the dot would return to the middle and I was breaking shots without disturbing the sights. When I was almost finished I told myself that this was going to be a good group. It was certainly decent enough but there were two shots above the X-ring and one below. The second group was actually better because all 10 shots were in one cluster. But this one was low and could have been a 10X clean if it was two clicks higher.
After shooting my first string of rapid prone, I felt good about it. The second half was better than the first but at least I thought I would get a good result. The group was strung out towards 4 o'clock. I followed that up with a string that felt as good as the first. But the wind picked up half-way through and pushed my shots out on the left.
To avoid yesterday's problem in slow prone I made sure to buckle the top buckle of my coat. In this case that was the only one I buckled because I wanted it to be tight across my shoulders and not have any loose material. That worked fine but today's problem was that one of the legs on my scope stand was just under my support arm and kept digging into my arm. I would subconsciously try to lift to avoid it and now I had all kinds of muscle tension in my arm. This meant that I would be fighting elevation problems for the rest of the string. Nothing was in the middle and I didn't really give myself a chance to be successful.
| Standing: | 196-5 |
| Sitting: | 200-13 |
| Rapid Prone: | 192-3 |
| Slow Prone: | 195-2 |
| Aggregate: | 783-23 |
June 12
The temperatures soared today into the mid-90's. This, coupled with high humidity, made the air oppressive and a hard day to get through.
I wasn't checked-in, mentally, when I started standing. But at this point I have a good process, and whenever I feel like I need to restart things, I just focus on the steps of my process. Load, delta ring between middle and ring fingers, close eyes, shoulder rifle, left elbow across my torso, let rifle settle, slide pinkie over ejection port, open eyes, check/adjust NPA, come to the target, take up first stage, find my shot window, fire. After a few shots I finally started to feel engaged in what I was doing. My NPA was a little too good and I was already in the 10-ring before I could take up the first stage on the trigger. That meant I had to find another shot window after I was set with trigger pressure.
From the beginning of the sitting stage my position never seemed right. I would adjust during prep but I felt like I was angled to the line of the rifle and target. This is troublesome as I'm fighting my position and I know the group is going to be big. That's exactly what happened as the strings felt chaotic and the rifle was bouncing all over. I was just hanging on hoping to finish the string.
Rapid prone was an example of how, after years of experience, a shooter will still overlook the simple things. I have never been able to shoot prone well when my left elbow is in a depression in my firing point. But in this case I got lazy and thought I could muddle through it. The first group was huge and had three 9's. On the second string I fired all 10 shots but the target system only registered 9 of them. Our rules are that you have the option to take a shot equal to your worst shot to fill in the missing one. I had a nine on that string so I gave myself another one.
I didn't remember too much from slow prone. The position felt fine and I only had to click a few times during the string. The sighters were low and I came up a couple at the beginning. Shot 12 was a bit high and the electronic targets gave me a 9. But when I looked at the actual paper, the bullet hole was clearly in the line.
| Standing: | 197-6 |
| Sitting: | 200-9 |
| Rapid Prone: | 195-7 |
| Slow Prone: | 199-10 |
| Aggregate: | 791-32 |
June 26
The forecast for this entire weekend didn't look promising. It had been raining at home for the last couple of days and more rain was expected at the range. As it turned out, there were several phases of drizzle during the day which caused us to put on rain jackets. But as long as the pasters and target centers stayed dry, all was fine.
Today's standing goal was to get into my process from the very beginning. I think I succeeded even though I had a 9 early on. My NPA was decent enough but I was really impressed with my trigger control. The trigger would break clean without any extra movement. The whole string had the feeling that I was just along for the ride and someone else was doing the work.
My groups seem to wander around the 10-ring in sitting. Both of these strings felt good with a position that limited the wobble of the rifle. There were a few shots on the first one that broke a little low. That string had a group that was taller than it was wide and just to the right of the X-ring. The second string had a shifting position and I found myself muscling the gun a little bit. This group was below the X-ring and a bit wide. Sometimes getting things centered can be the hardest part.
There has been a lack of success in rapid prone recently so I wanted to turn things around today. I went back to buckling the top two buckles on my coat like I had been before. The first string had a very fuzzy sight picture to the point that I seemed to be guessing at where the dot was on target. The resultant group reflected that even though it was a clean. As a harbinger of the future, the bolt didn't stay locked back after shot #2. As I was shooting the second string, and wondering how I can sharpen up the sight picture, the bolt went forward after the 8th shot but the trigger just went "click". The bolt had tried to strip the 9th round but could not. I think this was because the bolt wasn't coming completely back. I loaded another set of mags and fired the alibi string. I had to take the low two shots from the alibi string and the group was on the right with two shots out.
There weren't a lot of condition changes in slow prone. I started with two clicks of right for my first sighter and shot an X on the left. I came up to 4 clicks of right early on but then took off a click, put it back on, take it off again during the string. I finished with the same two clicks of right and shot X's for the final two shots. Of the three shots I lost, one was wind and two were both out the top. There was just too much turning of the elevation knob for me to be happy.
| Standing: | 196-10 |
| Sitting: | 200-5 |
| Rapid Prone: | 197-5 |
| Slow Prone: | 197-10 |
| Aggregate: | 790-30 |
June 27
After we dodged major rain yesterday, today was dry but overcast. The sun finally came out a bit at the end of the match. This was a Leg match which I don't shoot many of. Still, it's good to practice starting rapids from standing as the Trophy matches are coming up in a month or so.
Standing was such a frustrating experience. Having to fire 10 shots in only 10 minutes can be hard to find an ideal pace. With sighters and more shots I have more margin to alter my pace. So from the beginning I felt like I was rushed. This was coupled with my mind not focused like it should be and a poor performance was inevitable. I was wobbling all over the target. My trigger squeeze had plenty of added movement. My shot selection was poor. At one point I flew around the black and then pulled the trigger anyway to get a 7.
Whenever I have to stand up before shooting sitting, I have always kept my feet crossed. This was fine when I was in my 30's and we all had to do it every time. But now it makes it more of a struggle and I need to find a better way of getting up and coming down without losing my position. So I put my 8 round magazine in my crotch and my data book binder at my left foot. These helped mark two key positions to orient myself when I sat back down after standing up normally and moving my feet. This worked better than expected as I felt comfortable when I mounted the gun and started shooting.
Standing up and getting down in the correct position is easier in rapid prone than sitting. Still, I dropped on my mat, shouldered the rifle and was shifting a bit to get the right NPA. I never really found it as I found myself muscling the rifle to the left during the string. The group was on that side and I felt a bit lucky to only lose one point.
Today's slow prone was a good day to get a no-wind zero. There was a slight breeze from behind but nothing really from the side. I think I had maybe a click to the left or right. I also stayed at the same elevation for the string which is encouraging. Although the shot that I did lose was way at the top of the 9-ring.
| Standing: | 94-2 |
| Sitting: | 100-4 |
| Rapid Prone: | 99-3 |
| Slow Prone: | 199-10 |
| Aggregate: | 492-19 |
July 4
It got warm today. Only upper 80's but I started to feel it by the end of the day.
I didn't give myself the best chance for success in standing today. The bolt on my rifle wouldn't lock back on about half the shots so that was a bit distracting. But the bigger problem was my left arm position. To get the best rifle height, especially when the targets are a bit elevated as they are at this range, I typically bring my left elbow across and down against my torso. I wasn't bringing the elbow over enough. The consequence was that I didn't have enough support under the gun and I was always trying to force the rifle higher. Despite this I was inside my calls for the most part. I started off alright with no points dropped in the first 5 shots. On shot 6 I lost focus and my body shuddered while the gun went off. That was a 7. I shook it off and kept going only to fire a 9 a couple of shots later. After that I remained in control and cleaned the final 12 shots.
Sitting had plenty of problems due to some bad brass that I was shooting up. The brass was only on it's second loading but was fired in my last barrel which had high pressure signs, so the primer pockets were a little "generous". This was coupled with a bolt that would sometimes not lock back after the last round. On the first string I got off six rounds and then the trigger went "click". The one in the chamber was missing a primer so I get an alibi. The second string proceeded without incident and was a 7X clean. I was concerned that I may have more problems in my alibi string so I loaded another magazine of 8 just in case. On that string, I fired my first shot and then got a click on the second round. I ejected that one and then changed to my second magazine. At this point I realize that this will bring me to nine rounds and I will have to change to my reserve magazine to fire the last shot. So I began firing at an accelerated pace to make up for the extra time I would need to change mags. The last round in my normal second magazine went click as well. I ejected that and changed to my reserve magazine. Now I know that I have to fire two more rounds (and no more than that) to make a full 10-shot string. I planted myself back into position and rapidly shot the final two shots with 6 seconds to spare.
Rapid prone wasn't nearly as exciting as rapid sit. There were no malfunctions but I was still worried there might be. So I had a reserve magazine ready and I shot pretty fast in case I needed the extra time. Shooting fast didn't adversely affect me although I found myself muscling the gun a little bit.
Even though it was getting uncomfortable laying in the sun for slow prone, I wanted to be as deliberate as possible when shooting. I wanted a relaxed forward arm, the right sight picture, smooth trigger, and only firing when I wanted. I also worked on making sure the buttstock pulled the shoulder on my coat down in the same way. The group that was forming was good with enough X's to keep me happy. I did have two shots that were close to being out the top. These seem to crop up every time I shoot this stage.
| Standing: | 196-7 |
| Sitting: | 200-11 |
| Rapid Prone: | 199-14 |
| Slow Prone: | 200-13 |
| Aggregate: | 795-45 |
July 17
I traveled to shoot at this 200 yard range so I could try out my rifle after replacing the bolt stop. No improvement in function since the bolt was still not locking back in slow fire. This was more distracting than I thought but my firing point gave me even more problems. There was a slope downward from left to right so my supporting side was always higher than my other side.
Before every standing match, I typically find a place on my firing point that feels like a good place to put my feet. This morning I couldn't find any such spot. The entire point sloped in such a way that my toes were lower than my heels. The whole string was an exercise in balance as I swayed left to right. This was part of my horizontal NPA problem and I was breaking shots as they were leaving the middle. Adding to the problems was the distraction that my bolt still was not locking back. Now it was doing it for just about every shot.
My sitting position lacked support on my right side. My left arm was on my leg and was supported like normal. My right side though felt loose like it was flopping in the breeze and gripping the pistol grip wasn't possible. The bolt was still not locking back on the last shot for 3 out of the 4 magazines.
Rapid prone has a position that is very biased towards my left side. So the slope in the firing point didn't affect me as much here. Still, my NPA was off and I could tell I was muscling the gun to compensate. During the first string I had a malfunction where the bolt partially over-rode the final shot in the magazine. After adjusting my sights I cleaned the second string and the alibi string.
Slow prone went about as well as I expected after the day I had. After trying different magazines for the first few shots, I changed to a borrowed Bob Sled and the bolt locked back every time. I spent most of the string having to bring my elevation down after my first shots were at the top of the 10-ring. But I would still be shooting in the middle and then fire a high shot.
| Standing: | 193-6 |
| Sitting: | 197-11 |
| Rapid Prone: | 197-6 |
| Slow Prone: | 198-7 |
| Aggregate: | 785-30 |
July 27
With the Trophy matches coming up, I was running out of time to fix the problem of the bolt locking back. I bought a Bob Sled, replaced the magazine springs with Wolff springs, and got a new buffer and buffer spring as well. My only chance to test things out was taking the day off work and shooting the Tuesday league. The match went quickly in warm and humid conditions.
Standing started out a bit rough. I was seeing more darting around of the reticle than I wanted. My sighters broke on the move and they were both nines. My first record shot went off on the right side and that was a 9 as well. I wasn't looking forward to the remaining 19 shots. But at least my trigger control was good today. The shots were going off without a lot of drama and I would think about firing and the gun would go off. NPA wasn't too bad but it was biased to the right a little bit. I lost my second point out on the right on shot 8. After that I tried to have good pressure with my cheek and a counter force from the way I was holding the pistol grip.
For sitting, my position had my body elevated slightly higher than my feet. Like I was shooting downhill. There was too much movement as I was lining up the shots and my trigger control wasn't like it was in standing. Both strings were low but at least the bolt was locking back and everything was functioning properly.
My rapid prone sight picture was so fuzzy, at least for the first string. As I was shooting it was a struggle to make the dot in the reticle as distinct as I would like it to have been. The resulting group was quite low with the last two shots out the bottom. I brought my elevation up for the second string and had a better sight picture this time. But the group was still low despite being a clean. At least the rifle functioned correctly as the bolt locked back on every empty magazine.
The humidity was really making me sweat in slow prone. While uncomfortable, I still tried to make sure I had the right sight picture before letting the shot go. It was hard to have good calls but I worked my way through the string hoping to be smooth and deliberate.
| Standing: | 198-8 |
| Sitting: | 199-11 |
| Rapid Prone: | 198-4 |
| Slow Prone: | 200-10 |
| Aggregate: | 795-33 |
Now it's off to Camp Perry, OH for the Trophy Matches. After attending every year since 1998, last year was cancelled. It will be good to go back and see friends from all over the country again.
August 2
A really nice day to shoot the President's Rifle Match. Things started off very cool in the morning and I wore my sweatshirt out to the line. The day warmed up to the mid-70's with mostly blue skies and low humidity.
Standing was greeted by some breezy conditions. I wasn't sure how bad it would be but it turned out that the wind didn't affect me too much. When my prep period started I reached into my glasses case and the glasses came apart. I was scrambling to re-assemble them and was wondering how I was going to shoot when the glasses wouldn't stay on my face. I finally found the missing screw and tried to get it back in but it was so small. I finally got the glasses assembled when my prep ended. I checked my NPA a few times when firing started and then began shooting. I was nervous like always am for this match but the shots were breaking well. The first one was a nine but I was able to stay disciplined in shot decision-making while still shooting at an efficient pace. I started with 2 clicks of left. When I fired shot #8 the sight picture was really clear and I called a mid-ring 10 at three o'clock. It came up a 9, I put another click of left on the gun, and fired a called X on the bottom.
I spent plenty of time before rapid prone gauging the wind and trying to bracket the correction. Velocity was 5-8mph from about 11 o'clock. I decided to be bold and shoot with 4 clicks of left. As I dropped into position, I thought I saw the closest flag straighten out and point in our faces. But it wasn't clear and I hate second guessing myself when I'm ready to shoot. The sight picture was pretty clear but I found myself running out of breath early on. The only thing I didn't like was that I felt the last shot went a little high. Still, I was hoping for a decent result. The target came up with a good group but misplaced low and left. All 9's except for one 8 that made things even worse. I can explain the leftward shift by the let-up right before I shot. But the low group is harder to diagnose.
To hedge my bets in slow prone, I came up a couple of clicks from my elevation that I used at home before I started. The wind was fishtailing but it was readable and I was confident I could keep up with it. My first shot was a 7 at seven o'clock. After adjusting the elevation my second shot was an eight out the top. That really topped off the day. Ten points gone in the first four shots. The up and down shots were really frustrating and I wound up finishing only three clicks higher than I started.
| Standing: | 97-3 |
| Rapid Prone: | 89-0 |
| Slow Prone: | 86-3 |
| Aggregate: | 272-6 |
August 3
Great weather for the NTI today.
I got into a hole early on in standing by shooting 9's for my first two shots. The shots were more off-call than I prefer. Whether they were in or out I just had a hard time predicting where they would go.
After many years of standing up for rapid fire sitting in Leg matches with my feet crossed, this year I decided I'm getting too old for that. Now I just mark where I sit and where my left foot is. Then I stand up normally and, when the targets come up, I drop into position based on my markers. Some NPA adjustment is always necessary but I don't feel like I'm losing anything by doing this. Today I put on one click of right wind and fired a group that felt good except for several shots that seemed to be low 10's. The group on paper was slightly low and would have easily been at least a 9X clean if I was a click higher.
The wind for rapid prone barely had any left-right component. I decided to put on one click of left and that was the right call. I put on a full elevation correction from yesterday's group as I didn't want another disaster. During the string I pulled through the second stage on my trigger which surprised me. The group wasn't the best but at least it was a centered clean.
I was only down four points going into slow prone but yesterday's elevation problems at 600 really worried me. All I could do was put on the elevation I had on yesterday and break good shots. But I still had problems as I was shooting high and low shots. Chasing the spotter in that case isn't much of a help and the elevation problems distracted me from watching the wind.
| Standing: | 96-2 |
| Sitting: | 100-7 |
| Rapid Prone: | 100-3 |
| Slow Prone: | 190-4 |
| Aggregate: | 486-16 |
August 4
This match is a two-man format doubles match and the weather continues to be great.
Another calm day for standing. Between shooters and scorers, there were a lot of people on the line. Normally I can tune this out but today the conversations around me filtered into my shot concentration. There was plenty of time to get the shots off so I remained patient and restarted when I needed to. On the last shot I had to restart a couple of times because the shot just didn't want to go. Even with this extra work I managed to shoot a 9.
I think I now have a better zero for rapid prone. When I dropped into position and racked my bolt, the top round in the magazine wasn't picked up but I didn't realize it. Pulling the trigger for the first shot resulted in a "click". I racked the charging handle and got back on the rifle but now I felt like time was against me. I shot quickly and didn't dress the shots up enough. The group was centered pretty well with a couple of high shots that I pushed out.
The wind for slow prone was about 3-5mph out of 2 o'clock. We started with five clicks of right but my first shot was a low 9 which defeated the point of a good wind call. The rest of the string I struggled with elevation. If it wasn't high, it was low.
| Standing: | 97-4 |
| Rapid Prone: | 98-5 |
| Slow Prone: | 94-2 |
| Aggregate: | 272-6 |
August 5
The 6-man team match today and the weather continues to be fantastic. There's been barely any clouds over the range this week. It's a stressful morning as organizing this team has really sucked all the fun out of this match for me.
By pair-firing standing, I only had half of the firing point to find a good place for my feet. My NPA was a little to the right but it was my trigger control that I wasn't happy with. The first shot broke fine for a 10 but the second one went flying and I had the only eight my team fired in standing today. Things settled down after that and shots were mostly inside of call.
My biggest take away from sitting was that I wasn't squeezing the trigger. As I fired the string my shots weren't smooth and I was rushing the process instead of taking each shot one-by-one. The last shot was rushed too much and I pushed it into the 9-ring.
My position for the first magazine in rapid prone was pretty good. But after I reloaded it was like a different situation. Things were breaking down and, combined with holding my breath, it got harder and harder to fire the shot as the string went on.
This week's history of elevation problems in slow prone gave me a lot of worry as I didn't want to let the team down. Fortunately I started in the 10-ring but was shooting high and lost a few shots that way. Over the course of 20 shots I came down 5 clicks and finished lower than what I started the week with. That just didn't make any sense.
| Standing: | 97-4 |
| Sitting: | 99-7 |
| Rapid Prone: | 100-5 |
| Slow Prone: | 195-8 |
| Aggregate: | 491-24 |
August 23
The NRA matches start off with a 2-man team match. It was a hot one today with temperatures reaching 95F. But the skies were clear except for the occasional F-16 or helicopter flying by.
The local insects were out in force during our standing. They were flying around my head and would land on my glasses sometimes. My NPA was adequate and the points I lost were to erratic trigger control. On about half the shots the spotter would come up inside of my call.
The initial sitting position didn't feel great so I had to adjust quite a bit when I was in prep. Pivoting my body, adjusting my legs, shortening the sling. After all that I still wasn't perfectly happy. The air was still enough that we went with my no-wind zero. During the string I found myself almost afraid of pulling the trigger. My finger would touch it and I hesitantly took up the first stage.
Using my Camp Perry zero would have been a disaster for rapid prone as I had to come down 4 clicks from my first sighter to the string. The position felt decent enough but I used every bit of the 10-ring to get the clean.
My slow prone goal was just to hold good elevation. At Camp Perry my elevation was anywhere from 57 to 64. So I split the difference and put on 60 for my first sighter. That was a high nine. I still lost a high one for my first record shot even though I was coming down with the knob. The spotter stayed in the middle for most of the string but I was getting uncomfortable with the heat. The pick-ups and let-offs gave us some problems at the end.
| Standing: | 98-5 |
| Sitting: | 100-7 |
| Rapid Prone: | 100-5 |
| Slow Prone: | 196-9 |
| Aggregate: | 494-26 |
August 24
The 4-man team match today and the heat returns. I was downing water all day but it didn't ease the misery.
It was buggy again for standing. After my sighters I felt that my calls were below the shot locations so I came down a click. The trigger wasn't breaking perfectly but it was still pretty good with little movement. On shot 5 the reticle was hanging on the edge of the black at 5 o'clock but I shot it anyway.
Poor trigger control in sitting just like yesterday. I think this is because I'm waving around the target so much that I'm hesitant to shoot even though a smooth squeeze would still be fine. On one shot I pulled through the second stage.
We had 3 clicks of right for the sighters in rapid prone. I took one off to start the string. I was on the right for the first shot and my coach had me favor a little left with the second shot. I took another click off during the magazine change and kept shooting. The reticle was a bit fuzzy and that led to a tall group that wound up really narrow.
I was a lot more confident in my elevation for slow prone after yesterday. The wind for the previous shooters would switch directions and it did for us as well. Anything from 9 clicks of right to a couple left. It didn't take long in position to start feeling uncomfortable from the heat. Each time we stopped to deal with windage just felt like we were going backwards. I just wanted to be done and out of my coat and sweatshirt.
| Standing: | 98-5 |
| Sitting: | 100-3 |
| Rapid Prone: | 98-5 |
| Slow Prone: | 195-8 |
| Aggregate: | 494-26 |
August 25
The heat of the last couple of days was pushed away for the first day of the championship. But it was pushed away by a thunderstorm that caused us to evacuate the range after we shot standing and sitting.
Today's standing had a large hold from the very beginning in prep. The reticle would jerk around the target as I tried to find ways to slow it down. My horizontal NPA was good but I couldn't find the right vertical placement. Only a few shots broke really centered and everything else was going to the fringes.
I had a higher buttplate position in sitting today. This gave me better cheek pressure and more control over the rifle. Trigger control was a little better as well but I don't know if that was a by-product of the increased control.
Good buttplate placement in rapid prone gave me high hopes for good groups. But alas, poor trigger control ruined that. Holding my breath during the string is disrupting my timing and causing a distraction. Changing that is going to take some work.
| Standing: | 195-4 |
| Sitting: | 200-7 |
| Rapid Prone: | 196-6 |
August 26
Hot weather came back today. But it just didn't feel as miserable as the team match days.
Standing had a large hold like yesterday. It was just starting to get warm when I shot but there weren't as many bugs as the last few days. It's hard to diagnose where this larger hold is coming from. I believe I'm bringing my support arm across my torso like always, checking my NPA, and keeping firm pressure on the rifle from my grip as well as my cheek. The reality is that I can never have the same variables on every shot. The first half went fine even though I only had a single X. I was clean through 9 shots and the shots were inside of call. On the back half it was hard to keep control of the rifle and expand my shot window. After I was done I noticed that the bottom buckle of my coat wasn't buckled.
Sitting had strings that were more like what I expect. The shots broke clean and I had good pressure on the rifle. Any wobble was dealt with by smooth trigger breaks. I had a little twist to counter-clockwise in the pistol grip as this gave me better contact with my cheek.
All my prep for slow prone felt like it always does. I used the same elevation as two days ago and guessed at the wind being worth four clicks left. My first sighter was a 10 at about 8 o'clock. I took off a couple clicks of wind and the second sighter was a 9 at about 7 o'clock. I came up two clicks of elevation and came back to windage zero. After a couple of 10's I went another click right and fired seven X's in a row. The whole string was a bit surreal as I would send the bullet downrange and it would come up an X even if it felt a little off. By shot 16 I fired a 10 on the right side so I came back to my no-wind zero and finished with four X's.
| Standing: | 194-4 |
| Sitting: | 200-14 |
| Slow Prone: | 200-16 |
August 27
Despite the heat and humidity I was able to tolerate most of the day. That is, until we got back to 600.
From the beginning my sitting hold was a little concerning. The dot was waving around and that makes my trigger control worse. I was trying to be smooth when I wanted the shot to go but the wobble made it difficult to make the shot decision.
Rapid prone was where I had the major disappointment of the day. Both sighters were right at water line and my groups were centered for windage. But despite the strings feeling pretty good, they both had shots out the bottom. Things were solid and I tried to shoot with a clear sight picture but I'm dropping shots and not seeing them go low.
By the time I took my firing point for slow prone, the heat and humidity were brutal. There wasn't much wind out there. Just some lazy mirage moving right to left. I fired my first sighter with two clicks of right and got a 10 up top. Coming down a click I fired again and had a 10 on the left so I put on another click of right and kept going. Elevation kept me out of the middle early on but as I worked through the string my pulse was pounding in my head. The tips of my fingers in my support hand felt like they touched a hot stove. Each sight picture had the dot bouncing in the black as I strained to find the right time to pull the trigger. On shot 15 I broke one low for a dropped point but kept going just so I could finish and take off my gear.
| Sitting: | 199-10 |
| Rapid Prone: | 196-9 |
| Slow Prone: | 199-12 |
August 28
The last day of the championship and I'm ready to be done. The week has been a grind, like it is every year. I want to be done but I also want to finish with the best score I can.
My foot position in standing was probably the best I had all week. They were fairly level and I hoped this would give me good balance and minimize the poor hold I had. Nope. The wobble was still large and difficult to control. I don't remember a single shot that I fired with the first pass into the target. The hold was so erratic that I couldn't be confident of taking the shot unless I could better control the movement and this usually took me several tries. I tried adjusting my cheek pressure, hand grip, support elbow placement, etc. Nothing really improved matters so I just had to stay disciplined and find the best shooting opportunity on each shot.
Rapid prone was a stressful stage now since I lost so many points in this stage during the championship. The previous groups were tall and I was losing points out the bottom. My first string felt pretty good but I knew that can sometimes be deceiving. I waited for a clear sight picture before shooting and the dot looked centered on the target. That had more shots below the X-ring than above it so I clicked up one for the second string.
The conditions for slow prone were pretty good except for the clouds that would roll in. These hid the mirage that I use to judge wind changes. I didn't think it would change much but I would have preferred to use a confirmation system. I went with 5 clicks of right for the first sighter and shot an X. I lost a 9 early on and then had one out the bottom. Towards the end I was rolling along and got a 9 straight out the right. I came left three clicks and fired 4 X's. It wasn't the score I was hoping for but I was at least glad to be done.
| Standing: | 196-5 |
| Rapid Prone: | 200-11 |
| Slow Prone: | 197-10 |
| Championship Aggregate: |
2372-107 |
September 4
A cool, heavily overcast day. Not much wind but the skies always looked like they were going to get us wet.
Things started off in standing just fine. I was working within my hold, confirming NPA, and shooting when I was ready. A couple of nines on the front half turned into a string of them on the back half. The shots seemed to still break in the same way but only a couple of those nines were on call. The others were firing when I thought I was in the 10-ring.
My wobble in sitting actually surprised me. It was moving but certainly manageable. This helped my decision-making process and I could squeeze off the shots when I knew the rifle was pointed in the middle.
The first string of rapid prone had a nice clear sight picture. It certainly wasn't perfect as the overcast sky made things a bit dark. But I wasn't looking at a fuzzy image. That was a nice, well centered group. The second string wasn't as clear with more haziness and the whole string just didn't feel as good. Although not called, I had a shot out the bottom.
My slow prone came down to simply not being able to hold elevation. I would shoot a couple shots high, come down a click, then shoot a couple in the middle, then they would go low. The knob would be turned and the process would repeat itself in reverse. Any wind was very slight but I could never get that elevation to where I was shooting with rhythm. The only thing I can think of was that my coat had loose material in my shoulder and I had to pull that down when I mounted the gun.
| Standing: | 193-6 |
| Sitting: | 200-13 |
| Rapid Prone: | 199-9 |
| Slow Prone: | 197-7 |
| Aggregate: | 789-35 |
September 5
Today's team match has no sighters. Not a big deal but it keeps me on my toes as I don't the sighter period as an extra prep.
We had cool and calm conditions for standing. It was almost like I shot two different matches. The front half was more of a struggle with a large wobble and off-call shots. At one point I adjusted my hip position by making them more square relative to the target. This gave me a more consistent hold and larger shot window. I did notice that I was breaking shots early in my process rather than starting over multiple times.
Sitting was worrisome in the beginning as I was very stiff when I got into position. This was because I shot standing for so long when we pair-fired that my back was a little sore when I got into a sitting position. The first string reflected this with a larger wobble area. My back muscles had relaxed by the time I shot my second string so I could get more forward lean.
We added some wind for rapid prone but it wasn't enough as we put on another click during the magazine change on the first string. The sight picture was fair but a little dark or cloudy at times. I added a click of elevation as the group was a little low and I didn't want to risk putting one out the bottom. The second string was another good group just at the top of the X-ring.
There was a fishtailing wind at our backs for slow prone. Its velocity and direction made the mirage very difficult to see. My bigger problem was elevation as my first shot, with yesterday's 600 elevation, was an 8 out the top. So I started coming down. That part was really frustrating as I could have had a better performance with more X's if I could avoid going from high to low and back again.
| Standing: | 196-5 |
| Sitting: | 200-9 |
| Rapid Prone: | 200-12 |
| Slow Prone: | 196-5 |
| Aggregate: | 792-31 |
September 18
I was a little thrown off today as the normal spot where I set up my stat office at the range was reserved by someone else. After moving all my stuff and registering everyone I could finally get to shooting.
In standing I tried to follow up on last time where I had my hips a bit more square to the target. This was an effort get a smaller hold. It may have helped a little but it moved my NPA to the right as well. What stood out the most though was the bright spot of glare that I was getting from the chamfer around the center opening in my tinted lens that I have on my scope. Every shot that I lined up there was this bright point of light just to 8 o'clock of my sight picture. Shooting was pretty straightforward although I had a bunch of shots right at the edge of the 10-ring.
With electronic targets it's hard to trust your zeros and that's what happened in sitting. I came down a click based on sighters, broke a bunch of shots a bit low, and then had a really low group for the first string.
My sight picture for rapid prone looked rather odd today. Instead of a round sighting black, the target looked about the same height as normal. But the width seemed narrower. Like someone compressed the width and left points at the top and bottom. Additionally, the reticle dot was pretty fuzzy against it.
My first sighter in slow prone was a nine at 1 o'clock. I came down three clicks and shot a ten at 7 o'clock. Coming back up one click my first shot for record was up near my first sighter. Ugggh! That's already a point gone and I'm barely getting started. I didn't want to play the elevation game with my scope so I fired another shot and put my second one right next to the first. I came back down and was in middle but it was frustrating to lose points so early. Unlike other strings though, I was able to get centered up eventually and shot all X's for my last 10 shots.
| Standing: | 197-7 |
| Sitting: | 200-8 |
| Rapid Prone: | 197-7 |
| Slow Prone: | 198-14 |
| Aggregate: | 792-36 |
September 19
Yesterday had great weather and today was just as nice. Sunny, warm, and very little wind.
Getting my standing NPA can sometimes be hit or miss. But today I had it from the beginning. I would mount the gun, bring it down with my eyes closed, and be centered left-to-right. My hold is more comfortable when I can put a little more weight bias toward my toes. Whereas yesterday I was breaking shots at the edge of the 10-ring, today the group was much tighter towards the center. This didn't stop me from making mistakes though. On shot 6 I decided to fire and then proceeded to wiggle my entire body before I pulled the trigger. That launched an eight. A few shots later I had a nine that was right on the edge of the black. Those were the outliers as the main group was very well centered and away from the edges.
In sitting I accidentally found that if I bring my head straight in from the top, my cheek pressure is vertical and my hold was smaller. This works better when you can break clean shots which I am inconsistent at. I think I had too much side cheek pressure for the second string and that group was way out at 4 o'clock.
A very bright image for rapid prone. The sun was making the target very bright and fuzzy. But my NPA felt really good and the recoil was solid into my shoulder. My trigger control wasn't as good and I was breaking shots with added movement.
I always say that when you shoot slow prone, if you are firing wide 10's eventually you're going to get burned with a 9. My group was frustrating today in that I wasn't able to get centered up very well where I was shooting a string of X's. I would shoot around the 10-ring and then have an X, then back out into the 10. Towards the end I did lose a couple but that was expected when I shoot a large group.
| Standing: | 196-8 |
| Sitting: | 200-9 |
| Rapid Prone: | 198-7 |
| Slow Prone: | 198-8 |
| Aggregate: | 792-32 |
October 2
A very overcast day made for a gloomy atmosphere despite the mild temperatures. But I was more relaxed than probably any match this year. My general feeling on the day was just moving through the match, executing what I can control, and finishing the day with no pressure on myself.
Although I was relaxed for standing, part of the mood was set by the overcast, gloomy conditions. My hold was a bit erratic with the dot darting around the target and NPA was sub-optimal as well. But it was seeing my reticle that was the real challenge. As the dot would come into the black I would have a hard time discerning it and seeing the contrast between it and the target. It was frustrating as I had to do more guessing of when I should fire the shot.
After shooting so many sitting strings and slapping the trigger, it was a relief to actually shoot my first string where I was happy with how I was squeezing the shot off. Even with the rapidly moving rifle I could see shots breaking smoothly. Although it was the same position, my second string had a better hold and less movement. It's moments like this that I really want to know what changed in the way I was holding the rifle.
Rapid prone was an example of getting an acceptable result while doing the wrong things. My NPA was only fair and I could feel myself slightly moving the rifle. But the trigger was being pulled smoothly which certainly helped matters. The worst part was that I was seeing two dots on my reticle. They weren't far apart, actually slightly overlapping. But it was a weird sight picture trying to pick one to center on the sighting black.
Being down only one point going into slow prone was a good feeling but I was still relaxed and looking forward to shooting. My position felt good and the rifle settled nicely in the sling. But as I lined up each shot the reticle dot would get lost in the black. I could kind-of see it when it partially covered the spotter on the target. But even when the dot touched the spotter in the 10-ring, I was still having elevation problems. Clicking up and down was a lost cause and it was frustrating every time the target would come up with a high or low shot.
| Standing: | 199-8 |
| Sitting: | 200-7 |
| Rapid Prone: | 200-10 |
| Slow Prone: | 189-1 |
| Aggregate: | 788-26 |