slow fire practice

keithj · Post by **keithj** » Tue Feb 23, 2010 10:04 pm

shoot some slow fire practice tonight......didnt do well at all I normally score low 80's but tonight ............bad ........62 , 73 , 75 with the best target a 79........yuk...dont know what my problem was but i left the range very unsatisfied with tonights range session......well now ive cleaned my gun and haveing a beer ...and all i can smell is #9 i feel better but yuke what terrible scores......

bebloomster · Post by **bebloomster** » Wed Feb 24, 2010 1:50 am

Hey Keith... don't be beating your self up. At the end of our weekly league shoot we have a fun "poker" target. Hang it up backwards so you can't actually see the cards then take 5 shots... best poker hand wins. Tonight was the 3rd week in a row that I only had 4 cards... missed the whole paper with one of the shots. There I was with 3 Aces and a King and didn't even qualify as one of the rules is ya gotta have 5 cards !!!

Pete D. · Post by **Pete D.** » Wed Feb 24, 2010 5:26 am

Keith: It gets better as long as you stick with it. If it were easy, everyone would be a Master.
Pete

blue68f100 · Post by **blue68f100** » Wed Feb 24, 2010 9:06 am

Don't worry about it. There will be good days along with the not so good ones. Happens to me every time I go to the range.

The main thing is to have fun....

I had an old man at a boat dock say after I asked how he was doing, and he answered "I had very good time, I Got up this morning". Then I asked how may fish he caught and he said " Only a few but had a great time". He was 80+ yrs old and still enjoying the simple things in life.

MtStream · Post by **MtStream** » Wed Feb 24, 2010 10:11 am

blue68f100 wrote:Don't worry about it. There will be good days along with the not so good ones. ... He was xx yrs old and still enjoying the simple things in life.

These days we tend to forget this little rule of life.

Keith, if every target shot was perfect , we'd have no reason to practice and no need for competition. Keep your chin up. I have a stack of 10m air rifle targets, that when averaged out, show a pretty good and consistent shooter. There are some poor scores, but in the grand scheme of things, just dust in the wind.

Post by **Bullseye** » Wed Feb 24, 2010 4:31 pm

Feeling poorly about performance tends to be a self fulfilling prophesy. Feeling poorly tends to=poor performance. Keep a positive mental attitude and things will get better.

R,
Bullseye

perazzi · Post by **perazzi** » Wed Feb 24, 2010 6:47 pm

Bullseye wrote:Feeling poorly about performance tends to be a self fulfilling prophesy. Feeling poorly tends to=poor performance. Keep a positive mental attitude and things will get better.

R,
Bullseye

Well!! That explains it!! All this time I thought I was just shooting badly...

Now I just think positively... It could have been worse

lol

Ripsaw · Post by **Ripsaw** » Wed Feb 24, 2010 7:21 pm

You know Keith, We all have bad days. It'd be nice if we would do no worse than our best score the week before, and no lower. What Blue said, go to have a good time. A positive attitude, and have fun!!

Ripsaw

Nick · Post by **Nick** » Wed Feb 24, 2010 11:06 pm

I'm extremely green, so take this with a grain of salt, but I personally do best when I view the hole in the paper as an incidental side-effect of my technique, not as a goal itself--more like dry fire practice with delivery confirmation. Maybe this is the wrong approach, but I haven't actually scored any of my targets yet. I look at them, but not having exact numbers to get hung up on makes it easier for me to focus on doing the right things and making corrections without judging myself.

Post by **Bullseye** » Thu Feb 25, 2010 6:40 am

Good philosophy! A hole in, or near, the center of the target is just a result of performing every task completely prior to detonation. Once the hole's in the paper, it's history. Nothing can change it, but you can certainly affect the next one that hasn't left the barrel yet with negative thinking.

One way to keep positive attitude is to set goals of concentric circles. That is, to shoot for attainable milestones like: nothing outside the black. Once you achieve that goal, with consistency, shrink the rings by one. Of course, you will have a shot or two escape the targeted area along the way, but you can still remain positive with, "9/10 all in the black. I'm making good progress!"

Try calling your shots mentally each time. Concentrate on what you saw just before he sights jumped. When you can consistently call your shot and then peek thought the scope and find the hole in the target exactly where you envisioned it, you're most of the way there to achieving high performance. As your calling skills develop, you will learn the subtle nuances that cause a shot to vary off from the desired aiming point. Your skills will hone to a razor sharp edge and you'll forget about those score tallies.

This is not an overnight metamorphosis, it takes plenty of practice and a positive attitude. In marksmanship, frustration is the archenemy of success.

R,
Bullseye

bebloomster · Post by **bebloomster** » Thu Feb 25, 2010 4:41 pm

Snuck out for a little range time this morning.... actually there wasn't much sneaking to it as the wife knew all about it. Decided to try 50' indoors with iron sights instead of my usual red dot. Slow Fire was 78 and 81 with iron sights (7" barrel).... 87 and 88 with the UltraDot MatchDot. Timed and Rapid Fire was about 40% into the white using iron sights but all in the black using the red dot. Think I will stick with the red dot.