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What do you do for them? I have a left to right movement with my dot. I think its partial age and problably to much coffee. But don't want to give that up.
mark II

Your hold will steady up with time and practice. Everyone has a 'wobble' zone. The idea is to minimize the arc of movement. A red dot sight can intensify your movement and also elevate your stress level as one feels they cannot control the dot's movement. When you are comfortable and relax that dot will stop and settle on the target for a short time, that's when you know you've made progress in your aiming sequence with the dot. Over time you'll be able to make the dot 'sit' for longer time periods. The key is to relax.

R,
Bullseye

Hi Bullseye,
Relax when I have 2 seconds to shoot, that is tough to do. I was in a winter league, lasted about 4 months and did ok. Came in first in Marksman with a 261. I noticed my scores dropping towards the end of the season, go figure. A short summer league is starting in a couple of weeks so I'll work on a 270. I'll have to try dry firing more and I saw a post of yours about a wrist roller, I like that idea. Along with arm and shoulder exercises. Can't hurt.
Thks,
mark II

As your skills progress you will not have problems steadying your dot, even during rapid fire strings. When you are really concentrating on your trigger control the sight alignment just happens automatically. When you're not actively trying to steady the dot it will sit perfectly still as you go through the entire sequence of recoil, recovery and squeezing.

R,
Bullseye

Like the saying goes practice makes perfect or is that prefect practice makes perfect.
How many days and how much time do you guys practice at home? What kind of routines do you do?

Thanks,
mark II

I don't practice as much now as I used to but you don't have to be knee deep in brass to get in a good practice session.

How much practice will depend on how much shooting, and what type of shooting you plan to do. If your just a recreational shooter then a few times a month can suffice. Looking on getting into competition, plan on spending some more regular time working on stance, sighting, and trigger control. Building physical stamina is important, using a wrist roller or some weights can build those muscles that you mainly call on just for shooting. The idea is to condition to the point that muscle fatigue (trembling) is eliminated. You are not trying to go for the Mr. Universe trophy.

Dry firing can take up plenty of practice time. I like to use a 1911 with the free floating firing pin for this style of practice. I don't recommend using your Ruger 22 Auto. Even though the Ruger's have a firing pin stop, repeated dry firing will damage the stop and could result in chamber mouth damage. Some dry firing is OK but don't over do it. Inspect your firing pin stop pin periodically to check for wear or breaking. Establish a routine and stick with it. Don't keep changing things because you hear or see someone else doing it. Everyone is built differently, and as such has to adapt in their own ways to compensate. Consistency is the key to top performance.

Another fine method is to use a pellet gun. Pellet training can be accomplished at home in a relatively small space with the proper projectile trap.

Range time can go from once to multiple times a week. I can remember spending three to five days a week when I was competing heavily. My range sessions typically went from two to four hours, sometimes they were far longer but that was the exception not the rule. When you feel like your just going through the motions and not caring on your technique, that's when it's time to pack up and head home.

Getting into local competitions or bullseye leagues is a great way to gain match experience. No amount of practice can simulate the match environment. You have to be there to get the feel of total concentration while chaos is happening all around you.

Finally, plot your scores. Keep track of each element: slow fire, timed, and rapid. Monitor how your doing by plotting your percentages. This is the best and most true way of evaluating your performance. Over time you will see your scores and experience improve. For some it takes a longer time to improve than others. Don't expect miracles over night, many folks spend years before they truly get competitive.

R,
Bullseye

Hi Bullseye'
Sounds like you have some history in bullseye shooting, care to share it?
mark II

mark II wrote:Hi Bullseye'
Sounds like you have some history in bullseye shooting, care to share it?
mark II

Bullseye is a Double Distinguished, as he has earned Distiguished Marksman in both rifle and pistol.

Like Len said, I have a lot of trigger time behind me. Uncle Sweetheart spent a lot of time, and money, making sure that I had the very best training and experience. I started shooting competitively over thirty years ago and have been promoting the shooting sports ever since. I'm always happy to share my knowledge as those who went before me did when I was just beginning competition training. The neat thing about marksmanship is everyone is capable of high level performance. Shooting is one of the few sports where males and females can compete on a totally level playing field.

R,
Bullseye

Hi guys,
I like the idea of writing everything down to track my progress, thats something I don't do now. I'll throw a notebook in my box to record things. I start a summer league this Wed. so that will be fun.
I bought my son a single shot 22 rifle and he loves it but I can't get my daughter off the bench and gun out of her hands when she goes shooting with us.
mark II

Make yourself some copies of these and keep track of your scores.

http://www.bullseyepistol.com/f4-4.gif

R,
Bullseye

Thank you for the score cards Bullseye, I'll put them to good use. Anybody shooting the senior olympics in Springfield, Ma?
I did a little reading about becoming a Distiguished shooter that's a great honor. Congrats on all of the hard work x's 2.

Another suggestion, make yourself an Excel spread sheet to plot your bullseye scores. You can even break them down by string to help analyze your slow, timed, and rapid fire shooting progress. This way you can target your practice time to optimize your performance in weaker areas.

R,
Bullseye

Well I shot a couple of Wed. nights now and did about my average. 262 and a 265. Last time out I had two alibis. Two jams in the timed stage. I didn't think my gun was even dirty. Oh well its clean now.
Bullseye, I borrowed a spreadsheet off line and will start using it. Good idea.
Thanks

Keep on shooting. Plotting your scores will help you track your progress.

R,
Bullseye