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The 2012 Season

The Scores

Date	Location	Standing	Sitting	Rapid Prone	Slow Prone	Aggregate
April 15	Bonfield	97-2	99-4	100-2	200-11	496-19	99.2%
April 29	Bonfield	95-1	98-5	100-3	198-9	491-18	98.2%
May 5	Milan	194-6	198-10	195-5	195-6	782-27	97.8%
May 12	Bonfield	194-5	199-6	197-10	199-12	789-33	98.6%
May 20	Bonfield	92-1	99-5	98-3	196-12	485-21	97.0%
May 28	Lodi	184-2	195-2	199-9	395-22	973-35	97.3%
June 2	Milan	193-4	198-4	198-6	196-5	785-19	98.1%
June 3	Milan	96-3	100-7	95-0	197-9	488-19	97.6%
June 10	Bonfield	96-0	100-3	99-4	198-12	493-19	98.6%
June 17	Racine	190-3	200-10	191-1	200-13	781-27	97.6%
July 7	Lodi	186-1	198-7	195-4	194-7	773-19	96.6%
July 8	Lodi	96-1	98-3	99-4	197-7	490-15	98.0%
July 15	Bonfield	98-1	100-5	100-2	199-11	497-19	99.4%
July 21	Van Meter	95-4	-	99-5	98-4	292-13	97.3%
July 21	Van Meter	95-2	97-1	95-2	198-7	485-12	97.0%
July 22	Van Meter	191-3	198-7	196-7	195-8	780-25	97.5%
July 30	Camp Perry	94-0	-	98-2	95-3	287-5	95.7%
July 31	Camp Perry	86-1	100-4	98-2	196-6	480-13	96.0%
August 2	Camp Perry	92-1	100-4	99-2	196-8	487-15	97.4%
August 5	Camp Perry	93-1	97-2	97-3	197-10	484-16	96.8%
August 6	Camp Perry	91-0	100-5	98-4	197-8	486-17	97.2%
August 8	Camp Perry	193-4	200-11	199-10	196-8	788-33	98.5%
August 9	Camp Perry	186-3	200-18	194-6	199-10	779-37	97.4%
August 10	Camp Perry	193-3	199-8	200-11	199-7	791-29	98.9%
September 2	Milan	197-4	199-9	199-9	198-10	793-32	99.1%
September 9	Bonfield	90-2	99-5	97-2	199-8	485-17	97.0%
September 22	Bonfield	190-5	197-6	198-8	199-15	784-34	98.0%
September 23	Bonfield	196-4	200-10	200-10	197-10	793-34	99.1%
October 7	Bonfield	189-3	197-5	198-8	199-13	783-29	97.9%

The Stories

The only preparation I was able to do before the season started was a few sessions of standing. These went pretty well with a good hold and a better appreciation for the focus that I need to break good shots. I regret not even attempting any of the sling supported positions but I never seemed to have the time.

I would like to get a better rhythm of match shooting this year. In 2011 I felt that there were too many breaks between matches and I couldn't get on a good roll. Maybe this year's schedule will allow a better flow.

April 15

Over the years the weather has been marginal for the first match of the year. Today though the temperatures were quite mild and we stayed dry. There was heavy overcast though and a wind that would gust strong for a while, then calm down, and back to gusts again. What I came away with today was how easy the shooting seemed to be and how sloppy my performance was. Despite the decent score I still saw all kinds of little things that will have to be ironed out as the season ramps up.

• Since I didn't have any zeros I just kept the sight settings that came with the upper for standing. Normally I could get zeroed very quickly but because of today's wind it was much harder to get a good call. My elevation was bottomed out and I felt like the shots were going slightly higher than my call. I wasn't sure though because of the movement in the rifle. In the middle of the string my discipline broke down and I let the shot go as the front sight was darting off to the right. This netted an eight and taught me to keep fighting on each shot.

• My biggest concern with sitting was finding a good sling setting. I took a stab at it but it was my leg position that needed the work. I felt a little stretched out forward and lacking better control over the rifle. My guess at a zero was close but still a little too far right. It took extra effort to get a good sight picture with the lower light and my taller than necessary group showed it. One shot at the bottom of the group was just off the 10-ring.

• By 300 rapid I could extrapolate a zero from the previous two stages. My sling position still needed adjustment with my support arm a little lower than I prefer. I took my time firing the string and I tried to keep good pressure on the stock with my cheek. Oddly enough the sighting black looked like it was favoring towards the left side of the target frame. While the score was a clean the group was a bit wide and low.

• I'm not sure if I just got lucky in slow prone but each shot felt like it had some slop and I was making all kinds of mistakes. Sometimes I felt like I was straining my neck. Sometimes the front sight focus wasn't as sharp as I would have liked. Despite all this the string was smooth with a good rhythm. At first I was up towards the top of the 10-ring and after adjusting I was at the bottom. Mid-way through I found the middle and had 7 X's on the back half.

Offhand:	97-2
Sitting:	99-4
Rapid Prone:	100-2
Slow Prone:	200-11
Aggregate:	496-19

 

April 29

This was a chili morning as I walked out to the firing line. I had on two sweatshirts and I was still shivering. The sky was overcast and the lack of sunshine didn't help get me in a shooing mood.

• My initial concern with standing was the fact that my rear sight was bottomed out last week for this stage. If my shots were to start coming in high then I didn't have any room for adjustment. It turns out that wasn't problematic as my shots were mostly on call and I finished with my zero being one click up. The real problem was the cold, or rather the cold affecting my concentration. Since I hate being cold I just wanted to get through standing and I neglected my focus on when I should let the shot go. I know as soon as I begin to get sloppy with my decision making, the bad shots start. Sure enough I threw four 9's in a row beginning with shot number two. I just didn't have the desire to wait for the right shot opportunities.

• From the beginning of prep I was trying to find the right sitting position. I had worked on this stage during the week and it felt really good at home. Here though it seemed like I was leaning forward too much and I didn't have steady vertical support. Since I was muscling the gun vertically I also saw a little horizontal movement as well. There was no solid feel of the sights coming back to the target like there should be. I'll have to work on this stage some more to try and get that locked-in feeling again.

• I'm still not sure how to get my sling set for 300 rapid. I had my sling a little tighter than last week but not quite at the level where I can see a clean through the sights. My sighters were good for elevation with the rest of the group well centered but a little bigger than I would want. A single shot was on the line at 4 o'clock with a bunch of 10's really close to the x-ring.

• Certainly there was something left to be desired in slow prone. I was flirting with disaster as I saw the target come up with some wide 10's though the first nine that showed up was just off the line on the bottom. There wasn't that clear vision of the rifle rising in recoil and the gleam of brass spewing from the side. I was doing something during the shot break that was causing a large group. Upon completion I felt that my cheek pressure on the stock could have been more forceful.

Offhand:	95-1
Sitting:	98-5
Rapid Prone:	100-3
Slow Prone:	198-9
Aggregate:	491-18

 

May 5

The weather has finally improved to the point where it is comfortable to be outside. Some storms came through the area previously so the air was pretty humid but temperatures were mild and we had some sun.

• Things felt unstable in standing from the beginning. There was too much movement and I fired 9's on my first two shots. After that I settled in but my position still wasn't right. On shot 10 the sights moved to the left as I jerked the trigger and got an 8 for my efforts. The next shot was only a little better as I had a nine. By that point I was trying to analyze what the problem was and came to the conclusion that my supporting arm wasn't coming far enough across my torso when I mount the gun. I fixed this and had only one more nine.

• I'm working on trying to find that sitting position that I used to have that allowed me to shoot small groups. Things would be great if this was slow fire but I'm rushing some shots. The first string had morning haze and smoke from the rest of the line and made the target a little hard to see. I thought I put a couple out the top but I actually had a low group with one shot below the 10-ring. I came up for the second string and felt my position was better but I was having to bring the sights down to the target. Most of the group was centered and a good size but there were a few shots that were all over the place.

• My 300 position felt alright as I was trying to get a handle on the wind. The sight picture on the first string looked like I had the post on the right side of the black. The first group was shifted to the right and was narrow but quite tall with two 9's out high. The second string still felt good but was a very large group. There was no rhyme or reason for the shot locations and looked like it was fired with a shotgun.

• I extrapolated a 600 yard zero based on the other positions and my history of come-ups. Still, the first sighter was high in the black. I began my process of coming down and adjusting based on call and shot location but accurately calling shots in prone has always been difficult. Between adjusting elevation and trying to get the windage right I had five bad shots. Of course not executing properly didn't help either.

Offhand:	194-6
Sitting:	198-10
Rapid Prone:	195-5
Slow Prone:	195-6
Aggregate:	782-27

 

May 12

I had to run today's match but I wanted to shoot as well. It was pouring rain on the drive to the range but we stayed dry all day. My motivation level was pretty high and I feel like I'm in a rhythm shooting every weekend.

• After last week's problems with not bringing my support arm across my torso enough I wanted to make sure I did this properly. Movement was relatively small but there was still enough where I was breaking shots on the way out. This mean that I couldn't hit any X's early on. Including the sighters I fired eight 10's in a row. I started thinking about this too much and then shot two nines. At one point my trigger control came back and I shot four X's. I was able to keep my discipline and stop my shot process when I held too long. Calls were pretty good except for number 19 which I thought would still make the black but it got out farther for an eight.

• This was the first time that I actually felt good about my position in sitting. The sights came back to the vicinity of the target and I did a decent job of squeezing the trigger. The downside was that it was a little dark and when I tried to dress up the sights it was hard to make out exactly where to put the front sight on the target. In both strings the main group was a good size but there were remaining shots that were wide. The first string was a little low with one lower shot below the 10 ring. I came up a click for the second string and had a well centered group with side shots on the edges of the ten. This was my first clean string of the year.

• Holding the gun in rapid prone was fine but it was getting good focus on the front sight that was challenging. I had to blink between shots to clear my eyes and that took time. It took so much time that I went right to the end and fired my last shot as my target was dropping into the pits. I shot faster on the second string and most of the group was in the middle but I had two nines out at my usual 4 o'clock.

• Slow prone felt good as I got going with two X's right off the bat. Then my third shot was a nine straight out on the left. I got back into the middle but I knew it was going to be an imperfect string. There were a couple of times where I would stay in the x-ring for shot after shot. That felt good as it told me I was executing well but it also seemed a bit too easy and that sometimes leads to sloppy fundamentals.

Offhand:	194-5
Sitting:	199-6
Rapid Prone:	197-10
Slow Prone:	199-12
Aggregate:	789-33

 

May 20

My allergies really hit hard this morning. I spent a good part of the day sneezing and sniffling, like I had a cold. It was a shame I couldn't focus more on being out shooting as it was a nice sunny day.

• I really couldn't put my finger on what the problem was in standing. Had movement but it was a quick movement where the sights just seem to flash from one location to another. I tried to be deliberate and patient with my shot selection but it always felt like my mind was behind where the rifle was pointed and by the time I pulled the trigger I was pointed somewhere else.

• Sitting is getting better but my scores just don't show it. The position is improving and the rifle was coming back to the target after recoil. I was breaking plenty of good shots since I had a 50% x-count but there was this string of shots in a vertical line on the right side of the 10-ring with a nine at two. To limit the vertical movement I'm going to try to bring my left elbow more directly underneath the rifle.

• My group at 300 was actually not bad...if I start discounting the wild shots. Unfortunately these still count. Most of the shots formed a crescent around the left side of the x-ring. There was a nine just out at 11 and a really wide one straight out the right side. I just need to turn the good 8-shot groups into 10-shot ones.

• Even thought the day seemed to have gone downhill I was still confident that slow prone could save me. With both sighters and the first two shots being X's I thought I had things dialed in. After that though, the corner nines started. I would shoot a string of X's, then a 9, then back in the x-ring.

Offhand:	92-1
Sitting:	99-5
Rapid Prone:	98-3
Slow Prone:	196-12
Aggregate:	485-21

 

May 28

It was going to be a hot one today. But as it turns out the humidity kept low so, while warm, the air didn't feel as oppressive as it could have. As is typical for this NRA Regional, we ran backwards from 600 to 200.

• I'm not sure if it was because I cleaned my rifle and used bore paste or I just didn't have a good sight picture, but my first sighter at 600 was a low 7. Not wanting to over do it I put on four clicks and got a low 9. The conditions were mild with a breeze going mostly downrange. My position felt good with a snug sling that was a little higher on my arm than in years past. It took me a few shots to get centered but of my last 14 shots, 13 were X's including a back half that was 100-9x. There's something very satisfying about breaking shots with that much consistency. The front sight looked good but the target would really gray out and look indistinct.

• The wind seemed to vary a bit more for the second slow prone. I was able to keep good elevation but would lose shots one the left and the right. On one shot the mirage looked fine as I turned away from the scope. After firing and getting back in the eyepiece the mirage was running in the opposite direction.

• More wind by the time we moved forward to 300. It was worth four clicks of left and both of my sighters were good. As I was firing these strings I was trying to figure out why I wasn't breathing between shots. It was because the sights were coming out of recoil and right back to the target. When they are pointed in the middle I don't want to waste a good sight picture by breathing so I let the shot go. This happens over and over again so I don't get a chance to breathe unless I force myself.

• It was windy enough for offhand that I was thinking about it too much instead of focusing on my strategy for shooting it. At this point I was warm and tired after shooting all day. The first shots had lots of wobble and I was breaking them at the wrong time. While I had some bad shots early on, after I settled in I was still shooting nine after nine.

• I'm grasping to find something to bring my sitting under control. Today I brought my left elbow towards the outside of my leg, on the bony part. This made my hold a little smaller but brought the rifle to a lower plane. Shooting like this felt alright but I had some uncalled shots including a 7 on the first string. That really surprised me since I never saw it and things really need to be out of control to shoot 7's in sitting. Both groups were smaller than they have been but still too tall to be acceptable.

Slow Prone:	199-14
Slow Prone:	196-8
Rapid Prone:	199-9
Offhand:	184-2
Sitting:	195-2
Aggregate:	973-35

 

June 2

A comfortable, warm day for our state championship.

• Standing was an example of working hard at shooting without a good score to show for it. I was concentrating and trying to be patient as the front sight worked its way into the middle. If I felt I held too long, or my hold opened up, or the rifle would sit in the wrong spot, I would stop and start over. Stopping will only get you so far. At some point I still needed to break the shot. As you can see in this picture, I was breaking lots of shots in the corner.

• I'm starting to finally improve my sitting but there is still more than one group on the target. The sight picture looked a little dark but things were stable enough for the sighters. When I shot the first sting however, the rifle was moving and I had to expend too much effort to bring things back to the target. My position felt better during the second string but it was trigger control that hurt me. My entire torso would move when the gun went off in anticipation of the shot.

• The sighters in rapid prone were higher than normal for some reason. I usually don't adjust elevation off of sighters but in this case I thought I should at least do something. I came down two clicks and still had a high group with one 9. I came down one more click and had a mostly centered group with a couple low 10's and a mid-ring 9 at six.

• For 600 I wasn't sure whether to use my elevation zero from Milan before or from Lodi last weekend. I hedged my bets, picked something in the middle, and promptly shot an eight. It took me a little while to get in the middle but I never stayed there for long. It wasn't until the back half when I could get better control over the shots and the only time I had back-to-back X's.

Offhand:	193-4
Sitting:	198-4
Rapid Prone:	198-6
Slow Prone:	196-5
Aggregate:	785-19

June 3

This was an even nicer day than yesterday. Mild temperatures and lots of sunshine.

• The rifle held pretty good in prep. It was stable and the movement was controlled. Still, as is the case at this range, because I am shooting downhill I was constantly trying to bring the sights down to the middle. As a result my sighters were both out the top. Things improved and I only had one nine in the first 7 shots. I stayed disciplined but as the string wore on it became more and more difficult to keep the rifle movement controlled. I had nines on my last three shots.

• For this sitting I tried to get my forearm as vertical as possible. This meant I brought my left hand back almost to the receiver. That moved my left elbow further down my leg which meant my body moved to a lower level. I counteracted this by putting the butt a bit higher in my shoulder which allowed more cheek pressure on the stock. The recoil was managed better, the sights were returning to the middle, and I didn't need to muscle the gun so much. A well centered group as well.

• I wasn't quite sure if yesterday's 300 was an anomaly or that my zero for this stage is shifting downward. To confirm either way I decided to use yesterday's elevation and see what happens. Even though I smoked my sight this morning there was a line of brightness at the top of the post. My sighters seemed within call but the group was way too low. I guess I should stop second guessing my zeros now.

• What I remember most about slow prone was having to bring my sight picture lower on the target. Sometimes I feel like if I click down I will put shots out the bottom, even if I'm at the top of the X-ring. So I bring the post from center of mass to something a little below. Not as low as a flat tire but something in between. This was working well and I didn't drop any points in the first 16 shots. But towards the end I got sloppy and had a corner 9 and even an 8.

Offhand:	96-3
Sitting:	100-7
Rapid Prone:	95-0
Slow Prone:	197-9
Aggregate:	488-19

 

June 10

It was supposed to be in the mid-90's today so brought plenty of water and tried to stay hydrated.

• I tried to be very conscious of my NPA in standing. Even so it took lots of effort to get the sights in the middle. It was disheartening to have my first shot be a nine as that made me feel like I'm already behind. The calls were good except for two that I though were sure X's. Both of these ended up as mid-ring 9's at three.

• I'm struggling to find a sitting position that allows my support arm to be as vertical as possible without having my body too far to the left of the rifle. I don't think I got that balance right today as my NPA seemed to be the right. I was having to pull the rifle back to the target on each shot and that led to the large group. Even though it was a clean the sights should be coming back to the target after recoil.

• My 300 yard zero is still shifting around as I'm trying to confirm what I saw last weekend. My sighters at 17 clicks were both nines out the top. The string was fired at 16 and I still didn't have anything below center. I liked the size of the group. About 6 clicks wide but only 4 clicks tall. That's the kind of elevation I need to hold.

• By the time I shot slow prone it had already been a long, hot day. I tried to concentrate on the front sight but it was difficult. I would get into strings of X's but then shoot a 9. A cloud passed overhead in the middle of the string and I came down a click because I was putting shots up high.

Offhand:	96-0
Sitting:	100-3
Rapid Prone:	99-4
Slow Prone:	198-12
Aggregate:	493-19

 

June 17

Although the morning started out overcast when I left the house it was a great day to shoot. The temperatures were warm with clear skies so I tried to stay hydrated and concentrate on what I was doing.

• The range faces east so I had the morning sun in my eyes for standing. Even so, I still had what I thought was a decent sight picture. That's why it was so mysterious when none of my shots were on call. The hold wasn't great but still manageable. The gun would go off and I though it would be in the middle but the spotter came up either to the left or to the right. With all of my 200 yard pasters, you can see that I held good elevation.

• The 200 yard line at Racine is concrete so it's a hard, flat surface and I don't have to accommodate some weird firing point. My feet were a little more stretched forward than I have been recently. This let my body stay lower while keeping the rifle a bit higher. This also brought the rifle more into my face so I could put more pressure from my cheekbone into the stock. The first string felt decent but most shots were on the right side with some extra 10's up at mid-ring. The second string didn't feel as good and I expected a larger group but it turned out to have 7 X's.

• I was still trying to iron out my 300 yard elevation zero but with today's tail wind that was constantly changing direction, I had even more stuff to think about. I decided to start shooting at 15 clicks up and shot straight away for the first sighter. The shot was on the left side of the X-ring. By the time I was going to fire the second sighter, the mirage was running to the left so I put on two right. That spotter was a mid-ring 10 on the left. Not wanting to get caught out the left, I put on two more right and shot the string. The group was good but all on the right edge of the 10-ring with six points lost. Before the second string the mirage was still going to the left and I didn't want to take off all the wind I had so I took off two clicks and fired a decent group but still in about the same spot as the first one. I felt like I was always behind what the wind was doing.

• After the disastrous 300 I really wanted to redeem myself in slow prone. The mirage was quite readable because of all the sunshine with the prevailing condition moving to the left although it was only worth a few clicks. My position was good with a taught sling that put a fair amount of buttplate pressure into my shoulder. My first sighter was a nine up top so I had to come down and then got an X for the second one. After that I just focused on the front sight during the shot process and kept an eye on the mirage in the scope. For about the first five record shots I was building on the left side of the X-ring. I figured that was OK as I didn't think the wind would pick up much but I didn't want to get burned if it let up or reversed. Late in the string the mirage did stop but I could see that and took my wind off. Even when it started going in the other direction, it was easy to read and remain in the middle.

Offhand:	190-3
Sitting:	200-10
Rapid Prone:	191-1
Slow Prone:	200-13
Aggregate:	781-27

July 7

Warm but not too bad. I felt a little disconnected from the shooting and didn't have the level of concentration that I should have.

• I knew that standing was going to be rough from the very beginning. The hold wasn't good and I was struggling to get the sights to the target. A lot of effort expended for not much of a result. Afterwards I realized that I allowed my body to face the target too much.

• With X's for my sighters I thought I had my aiming point dialed in in sitting. There was a little wobble in the first string but I had a good trigger squeeze so things seemed alright. When the target came up there was nothing below center and two shots actually above the 10-ring. I really hate messing with my zero in July but I had no choice and came down a click for the second string. I cleaned that one but the group was still high. I'm not sure how much of that is an actual zero change and how much is the fact that these targets are so much higher than the 200 yard firing line.

• My rapid prone sighters were a little high but I don't want to drop any more than I already have this season. The first string had no shots below center while windage was a bit heavy and two shots got away. The second string was a larger group so any mistakes were magnified. I was high here too but I think that was due to pushing the post high.

• With the range facing west, the afternoon sun made the front of the targets less distinct. During slow prone I was worried it would be difficult to gauge where to put the top of the front sight. The post made the sighting black disappear on my first sighter and I pushed a 7 up high. After that I knew I had to be more careful but while focusing on the front sight was easy, judging how much sighting black I should see was a challenge. An even bigger challenge was the wind and I found myself shooting a shot on one side, correcting, and shooting a shot on the other side. Very frustrating to hold good elevation and be thrown side to side.

Offhand:	186-1
Sitting:	198-7
Rapid Prone:	195-4
Slow Prone:	194-7
Aggregate:	773-19

July 8

Team match and blue skies.

• My position was turned more to the right and the rifle crossed my body more in standing. This felt more like my dry-firing at home and gave me more stability. But I think there was a countering force from my body that put my NPA on the right side because my call was to the left of the shots. Still, I hadn't dropped any points until the sixth shot but things went downhill fast as it became harder and harder to settle in.

• My sitting postition wasn't great but it wasn't really bad either. Some decent sighters but a group on the right side. The group size was decent, for windage anyway. A little too tall but it still would have been a clean if centered.

• The fact that my 300 rapid group was somewhat centered saved me since the overall size was pretty big. A couple clicks off on the wind and there would have been lots more points lost.

• We actually got to pair fire at 600 which is rare outside of the Nationals. It was good to know our guns were married up and we both held elevation really well. Just about all the X's were on the front half as we had to do more stopping and starting later on.

Offhand:	96-1
Sitting:	98-3
Rapid Prone:	99-4
Slow Prone:	197-7
Aggregate:	490-15

 

July 15

Although it was pleasant enough in the early morning, it got hot and steamy pretty fast. The grass held in the moisture and there wasn't much of a breeze to bring any relief. I was drinking as much water as I could but by the end of the day I was pretty spent.

• I tried to concentrate on getting that standing position where the rifle comes across my body more. The challenge was keeping the buttplate from sliding towards the outside of my shoulder. I can see when this happens because the front sight will move across the target from the right to the left. In those cases I stopped and mounted the rifle again. A bit more back bend also helped to steady things but this was very inconsistant from shot to shot. Today's trigger control was not very good and there seemed to be a long delay between when I wanted to shoot and when I actually pulled the trigger. I lost one point on the first shot for record but then hit a streak of 10's even though they were breaking just above the x-ring. The last shot had another nine.

• My sighter in sitting were both X's which seems to foreshadow a large group and points dropped. The firing point gave a little more elevation to my feet which I didn't want. My support hand was a little more underneath the handguard rather than to the left side. This seemed to steady the sights more although there was still more movement than I would have liked. I still had to muscle the gun a bit back the middle for each shot.

• I did something really wrong for my first sighter at 300 because I got a wide corner 9. I decided that it was a one-time thing, shot the second sighter, and got an X. During the string I was thinking about how it wasn't feeling very natural and how I wished the sights would come back to the target easier. The group was a little big and on the left side.

• By slow prone it had already been a long day. I was hitting plenty of X's even though I would be breaking shots with not much of a call. I tried to shoot good shots but it was hard to tell what was good or not. Front sight focus was decent but as the string wore on it was more difficult to concentrate and I could hear my pulse pounding in my ears. As a consequence I was shooting more 10's.

Offhand:	98-1
Sitting:	100-5
Rapid Prone:	100-2
Slow Prone:	199-11
Aggregate:	497-19

 

July 21

Two-man President's course team match this morning. It was warm but there was also a lot of moisture in the air.

• The third shot in standing was a nine but I followed that up with three X's in a row and then shot another nine. Still, I felt like I was breaking clean shots but then my final two were a nine and an eight.

• While most of the 300 rapid group looked alright there was one shots that seemed way out there at 11 o'clock. Not really on call but I have a hard time calling rapid prone anyway.

• I felt rushed for slow prone and probably didn't spend as much time preparing as I would have liked. That's no excuse for letting shots go that didn't look as good as they should. For the conditions it should have been a better score.

Offhand:	95-4
Rapid Prone:	99-5
Slow Prone:	98-4
Aggregate:	292-13

July 21

My first leg match of the year after the team match.

• Standing just required way too much effort to wind up with a good score. The size of the hold wasn't too huge but it was like I couldn't break the shot at the right time.

• I dropped into sitting and remembered to rack the charging handle back. The sights kept coming back to the target out of recoil. That meant I would break them quickly and so I fired the string pretty fast. The only problem is I was holding a bit high on the target and three shots leaked out.

• My rapid prone position was too low. This meant that my face was pushing more on the top of the buttstock than on the side. I had trouble situating the buttplate properly in my shoulder and it may have dropped lower without me realizing. My group was big with shots very high in the nine ring.

• I got the wind call right at 600 and just rolled through even though I was really tired. The two nines didn't really bother me too much as I just wanted to be done.

Offhand:	95-2
Sitting:	97-1
Rapid Prone:	95-2
Slow Prone:	198-7
Aggregate:	485-12

July 22

Today was forecast to be about 100º. Even if it got to that point it didn't feel like the oppressive heat that normally shows up at Van Meter.

• The rifle held really well in the preparation period. I wasn't so fortunate once the record shots began going down range. My first one broke right for an eight. The second one was a nine. I already felt way behind as I was three points in the hole. Things settled after that but my trigger control was sloppy. My finger would actuate the trigger but there was all kinds of movement in my body as the rifle fired.

• My sitting hold felt alright and I was giving the pistol grip a bit of counter-clockwise twist around the barrel. This put the buttstock in better contact with my face. The first string had a good group but I had a called shot high. I called one low on the second string and there it was just barely off the line at six.

• The two strings at 300 were about as different from each other as you can get. I tried to keep my eyes open during the first one and the sights would come back to the target. My focus was on the front sight and things felt natural. The second string was just an excercise in muscling the gun back to the target on each shot. The result was a tall group that had four shots high and to the left.

• I felt fairly confident at 600 as I knew I could perform well. The wind wasn't varying much and I started with four clicks and only moved up to five. It was difficult to judge the position of the front sight on the target and I had some elevation nines. The final shot broke a little strange as I felt like I wasn't relaxed when the gun went off. That was an eight.

Offhand:	191-3
Sitting:	198-7
Rapid Prone:	196-7
Slow Prone:	195-8
Aggregate:	780-25

 

I'm not entirely confident as I head to Camp Perry for the 15th time. I'm holding pretty well at 600 but the other stages have been so up and down that it's hard to expect a good score. I've been in similar situations in past years and sometimes still been able to perform well but I hate leaving my shooting up to chance. Over the course of two weeks there are bound to be good days and bad days but I want more of the former than the latter.

 

July 30

It was hard to go shoot this year's President's match without having last year's performance in the back of my head. It was a nice day to shoot with slightly cool temperatures in the morning and some scattered cloud cover. It warmed up during the day into the 80's but still comfortable.

 

• I was on the last relay to shoot standing and I had a hard time with my hold. During prep the sights couldn't keep steady and I had a hard time setting up my NPA. My calls weren't very good as I was moving too much of my body during the shot break. Shot 1 was a 10 on the right which made me feel like I got really lucky. Then I broke two nines in a row. I continued on but it felt more difficult than it should be. After I got half-way through I though to myself that I had already dropped two points in 5 shots and then promptly shot an 8. Two more nines were fired and then I was glad to be done.
• I usually need to put on more wind at Camp Perry than when I shoot locally. So for 300 the mirage looked like it was worth 4 clicks. My position felt pretty good even though I replaced my sling right before coming out here. When I started shooting I tried to concentrate on the front sight and not trying to muscle the gun from the support arm. My resulting group was pretty good in size but I was too heavy on the wind and everything was on the left side including a couple of just-out nines.

• My 600 scores have been pretty good this year so I was confident going into this stage. I watched the mirage as the other relays were shooting and saw a consistent condition from left to right of about 8-10 clicks. That would only last less than 10 minutes before it would slow down to a boil. I figured that I probably couldn't shoot through the whole predominant condition so I had to prepare for that boil. I set a timer so I knew how much time was left if I had to hold up. I went on with 8 clicks because I was afraid of getting burnt like at 300. My first shot was a nine at about 4 o'clock. I put two more left on the gun and had a low 8 for my second shot. Now I had to crank on elevation as well. The third shot was a low nine and I put on another click up. I then shot an X and after I fired my fifth shot I saw the mirage slow and I thought that shot would be out but it was a 10. By the time I was ready to shoot the sixth shot, the mirage was down to a boil. With five shots gone I had six and a half minutes left. I told myself that if my condition didn't come back that I would just make a best guess and shoot in whatever was there. The boil actually turned into a left-to-right condition and didn't seem to want to change back. So I put on four clicks of right and fired the shot and it came up in the 10-ring. I had to back that right wind off by the end of the string. At least my wind strategy was sound even though my elevation didn't do me any favors.

 

Offhand:	94-0
Rapid Prone:	98-2
Slow Prone:	95-3
Aggregate:	287-5

 

July 31

The walk from my hut to Viale was windy with a few drops of rain. Dark skies made me think that it would be a wet day but the weather turned out great with sunny skies and relatively calm winds.

 

• Because it was so calm when I shot standing I fired the first shot straight-away. It broke a little on the right side and came up an eight. I gave the windage knob a couple of clicks and got back in the 10-ring. The early shots broke quickly and I had a good pace going. A nine on my fifth shot and more 10's. The shots required more concentration and effort now. For my eight shot I was bringing the sights into the middle and anticipating breaking the trigger. I lost concentration for a moment and pushed forward with my right shoulder as I slapped the trigger with my finger. The sights dove to the lower-right as the gun went off. My hopes at making the scoring rings were dashed as I had an on-paper miss. The follow up was a 10 and a nine for the last shot but the miss really made me less concerned with the rest of the day.

• The target looked dark through the sights for sitting. So much so that I had a hard time distinguishing between the sighting black and front sight. I broke the shots as best as I could even though some of them felt like I jerked the rifle as I fired.

• I was a bit rushed for 300 because I spent too much time talking and not enough getting ready before my relay was called to the line. Prep seemed too short and I could have used more time to get my position set up properly. Front sight focus was hard to get clear. The group was certainly too big but also a bit low. Nothing above center and two out the bottom.

• My initial wind call at 600 was too heavy and I spend the first few shots taking some of it off. But I had already dropped three points there. After that I was staying on the downwind side of the 10-ring but I also had to come up on my elevation. The wind started to build up again towards the end of my string but I was keeping up with it. I fired the final shot and saw that the mirage had slowed considerably. The target came up with a nine straight out the side.

 

Offhand:	86-1
Sitting:	100-4
Rapid Prone:	98-2
Slow Prone:	196-6
Aggregate:	480-13

 

August 2

It was going to be warm for the 6-man team match today.

 

• Nothing seemed to be going right in standing today. There wasn't much wind so I should have had a good hold. My NPA was on right side of the target and any adjustments didn't seem to work. I would try to bring the sights in to the middle but they would drift into the nine ring and not go any further. When the rifle did point in the 10-ring, it would be so brief that I would pull the trigger but my body was doing all kinds of things as the gun fired.
• I was the fifth shooter to shoot sitting and everyone else so far had cleaned it. If I dropped any points I would hear about it from my teammates. During the string my hold was only fair so I tried to squeeze the shots and avoid yanking or pushing the rifle. That was only the background because my primary thoughts were of the fear that I would drop a point and have to get a ribbing.
• I had been a little low at 300 in the President's and N.T.I. so I brought my zero up a click. As I started shooting I was still low and my coach had me come up a click during the magazine change. That wasn't quite enough so I was favoring a bit higher for the rest of the shots. The one I lost was out the bottom.

• The wind at 600 was a challenge for us. It was running towards the right and worth about 7 clicks. But there was a cycle of let-offs that would almost come to a stop for the first pair and would reverse by the time I was shooting. We tried to stay in that right condition as much as we could but it seemed like the let-offs were getting more common. We stopped several times to wait for our condition to come back. I was pretty happy with how I held elevation as that seemed to be a problem the last couple of days.

 

Offhand:	92-1
Sitting:	100-4
Rapid Prone:	99-2
Slow Prone:	196-8
Aggregate:	487-15

 

August 5

Today's 2-man team match is usually a pretty relaxing day but a couple of things made it a bit more challenging. Something happened to my elbow that made it very sore and difficult to bend my arm inside my shooting jacket. We also had some weather move in. The range was cleared for a couple of hours because of storms and my gear was soaked. When we got back the wind was blowing pretty strong.

 

• Even though the wind was blowing I found that bringing the sights to the target in a controlled manner was possible. My sighters were 10's and I only had 9's for my second and sixth shots. In the middle of the string the wind seemed come more from our backs and then my wobble became more back and forth. This made if much more difficult to bring the sights to the target and predict when to shoot. I lost five points in the last three shots.
• This was another sitting where the hold wasn't great and I just tried to break good shots. After the string I looked through the scope and saw an eight out at 10 o'clock. I couldn't believe it because I never would have called that.
• It's difficult to say whether my 300 group would have been smaller with little or no wind. We had a 14 click correction and it still should have been a click or two more.
• We started slow prone with 25 clicks of left windage. By far more than anything we put on at home. I could see the front sight pretty well but the target looked really small. This may have been because I saw so much sky above the targets that the sighting black had the illusion of being smaller. I was able to keep really good elevation and we only got caught on a couple of wind changes.

 

Offhand:	93-1
Sitting:	97-2
Rapid Prone:	97-3
Slow Prone:	197-10
Aggregate:	484-16

 

August 6

A perfect shooting day for the 4-man team.

 

• My offhand has really tanked recently. I can't seem to get into the flow of shooting and I have to work really hard to just hit the black. The hold isn't necessarily bigger, but the sights just don't want to get to the target. The sights will stop periodically but they're pointed in the 7-ring or something like that. Today it took a lot of effort to get the sights into the middle and the shots were coming up outside of call. I had one 10 in the whole string.
• Sitting has been feeling better. The sights are coming back to the target after recoil and I don’t have to muscle them around. Breathing to adjust elevation and breaking clean shots without any other body movement is a bit easier.
• The wind was readable for 300 and we were centered but I pushed a couple out the top.
• I held good elevation in slow prone which gave us some leeway on the wind. My pulse gave me a 5 o'clock to 11 o'clock movement in the sights so I would break the shots on the up movement when we needed a left favor and the down movement when we needed some right.

 

Offhand:	91-0
Sitting:	100-5
Rapid Prone:	98-4
Slow Prone:	197-8
Aggregate:	486-17

 

August 7

First day of the Highpower championship. Relatively calm winds and sunny skies.

 

• I tried to go into offhand with a positive attitude and confidence. That confidence didn't last long as I started shooting. Dropped a nine on the first shot and it was taking a lot of work to get the shots to go in the middle. On several shots I took a lot of time because I was stopping and starting over again. The second half was much better for some reason. I was still working hard but at least the shots were in the 10-ring.
• My first sighter in sitting was a nine at 11 o'clock. That didn’t seem like a recipe for success. The target seemed a little dark and I sometimes have to fight a blurry sight picture for a second or two. The first string was in the upper left and only had three X's. That one felt pretty good but the second one didn't. That second one had 8 X's and was well centered.
• The wind at 300 wasn't too strong and I shot the first string with three clicks left. The group was all within the 10-ring and mostly between the X and 10 line at 1-2 o'clock. The mirage looked a little weaker right before the second string so I felt leaving the knob alone would be sufficient. I scoped the mirage during the mag change (which I usually don't do) and saw that the mirage had gotten quite a bit slower so I took off a click. The main group was on the left edge of the X-ring and I had one out at 5 o'clock.

 

Offhand:	193-4
Sitting:	200-11
Rapid Prone:	199-10

 

August 8

Second championship day.

 

• The nerves were quite active for standing this morning. I shot a couple of 10's and then back-to-back 8's. Shots were not on call and I just felt like I was wasting my time. I lack a controlled way to bring the sights into the target. I need to eliminate the randomness of each shot.

• I was starting to feel good about my sitting. My position was comfortable, stable, and the sights have been returning to the target without a lot of effort. Both sighters were X's on the bottom. I shot the first string and it felt good but not great. The shots broke well but I wasn't entirely confident I was putting the post in the same place every time. Before the target went down I scoped it and didn't see any nines and some X's. It came up with 10 X's, all in the left half of the ring. The first shot on the second string broke a little wild and I thought I blew it right there. This one didn’t feel as solid but still came up with 8 X's. You can see my data book page.

• My front sight was black for 600 but it was difficult to get the top edge really clear. It looked like there was some different color or shading at the top. I put it on the target but I had a hard time judging if it was in the right spot. I tried to shoot fast but was caught out a few times.

 

Offhand:	186-3
Sitting:	200-18
Slow Prone:	196-8

 

August 9

Third championship day and the rain showed up.

 

• My gear was already pretty wet when I went to the line for sitting. There wasn't any point in even plotting shots since my scope was difficult to see through. The first string went fine although there weren't many X's. During the second string I would bring my sights up to the target, stop, and fire. For one shot I didn't stop and fired as the sights passed the middle for a nine out the top. The only point I dropped in sitting in this year's championship

• The first rapid prone string felt good. The gun felt controlled, my sling was tight, and the sight picture was pretty good. Despite this the group was huge and I had three nines out at various places on the right. The second string felt about the same and the group was much improved. But all the shots were low with another three out at six.

• The conditions were pretty calm at 600 and I was looking for a clean. There were only a couple of clicks on the gun. My sight picture was decent but not as good as it has been before. I shot pretty fast but had to slow down on some shots when the front sight wasn't as clear as it should have been. I lost a low nine about shot 13.

 

 

Sitting:	199-8
Rapid Prone:	194-6
Slow Prone:	199-10

 

August 10

 

Fourth and final day of the championship. Rain was predicted all day but it came down in the morning and only a little more later. Pretty overcast for most of the day with some wind.

 

• Today I went to the line for standing and just let myself shoot good shots. I was fairly relaxed and my position was more consistant than earlier this week. I fired a nine for my first shot and my seventh shot. The first half felt alright and gave me some confidence. After another nine on shot 11, I started hitting more 10's that were inside of call. Shots 16 and 17 were both nines but on shot 18 I didn't bring the gun high enough and that was an eight out the bottom.

• I had three clicks of left on the gun for my first string at 300. It felt decent although I held my breath for most of the string. I tried to not let the shot go until I had good front sight focus. The target came up with 8 X's in a very good group. The second string was bigger and I had three liner 10's but it was a clean and that's all I cared about.

• There was heavy cloud cover for slow prone. So much so that I worried about being able to have a decent sighting black to aim towards. The wind was consistent but I didn't have mirage to watch for changes and the only flags I could see were downwind. 15 clicks worked fine for most of the string but I used most of the 10-ring. I lost a point early on shot four. Only one X on the first half but I got in the middle for the second half.

 

Offhand:	193-3
Rapid Prone:	200-11
Slow Prone:	199-7
Aggregate:	2358-99

 

September 1

The forecast called for rain all day. Even though it wasn't raining when I started shooting, it was very overcast which made my sight picture quite dark. The match was postponed for one day after everyone fired their 200 yard stages.

 

• Based on some work I did with excellent shooters at Camp Perry, I felt that having a more consistant approach to the target in offhand would help me make decisions better. This past week I worked on bringing the sights in from the bottom every time. I tried doing the same thing for today's standing. The biggest challenge was the fact that it was dark and that made it hard to properly discern the target from the post. As I started shooting I found the shots were mostly inside my calls but I was using every bit of the 10-ring between 4 and 8 o'clock. I had a 7 o'clock nine on my ninth shot and a 2 o'clock nine on shot 12. Things were progressing well until I had another low-left nine on 19.
• Despite the decent sitting postion that I had, the first group felt quite sloppy as I was shooting it. I had to pull the rifle back to the target after each shot and the darkness made me question whether I was pointing in the right place. That turned out to be a clean with 5. The second string was even sloppier. I wasn't cleanly breaking shots and there was too much movement.

 

Offhand:	197-4
Sitting:	199-9

 

September 2

We finished the match today. No rain but the skies were still pretty dark and there was a lot of humidity in the air.

 

• There was a little more light than yesterday but it was still hard to see through the sights for 300. My sighters were X's right on call and there was no wind to speak of. I have a hard time making myself breathe during the string. I know I should but when I get into a rhythm of shooting it is difficult to force myself to break stride just to take a breath. I usually find that I'm running out of air by shot 7 and have to take a break to breath at that point. The first string had the larger group but I thought the second string would be worse as the darkness made me unsure of whether the shots were going in the middle.
• As I was shooting slow prone in a very low wind condition I only felt like I needed a click or two left on. During the string my shots were staying just to the right of the X-ring so I had to put more left on the gun for a total of four. Shot 15 was a nine out the right and the final shot came up a nine as well. The x-count was decent but the post looked like it had a curve in it. The thing that I remember is that this felt very slow. Each shot took longer than normal and there wasn't much flow from shot to shot.

 

Rapid Prone:	199-9
Slow Prone:	198-10
Aggregate:	793-32

 

September 9

I didn't get much sleep last night but I don't think that was the reason for my poor shooting. I can't really tell what the problem was and it can get pretty frustrating when my performance goes up and down like it did from last weekend.

 

• I was still coming up to the target from underneath in standing but my hold was so big that it took more tries to get to the middle. Trigger control was also bad and several shots had extra movement in the sights as the gun went off. Maybe the worst part was being off call. I was calling decent shots and they seemed to be always outside. All of these problems compounded to give me three 8's as well as the 9's.
• Sitting should have been pretty straightforward but my normal zero put me below the 10-ring. I came up during my sighters since after standing I didn't know if I could trust my shooting any more. I shot the group with three clicks more elevation than my zero. The group wasn't great but it was at least mostly centered.
• I didn't have zero problems for rapid prone, I had seeing problems. The sights looked a little dark and it was hard to see that differentiation between the post and the target. I also have to learn to slow down and breathe as I think I am rushing shots.
• The lighting affected me in slow prone as well. There was occasional cloud cover which would sometimes make the targets dark and sometimes illuminate them. Despite this slowing me down I shot through it pretty well.

 

Offhand:	90-2
Sitting:	99-5
Rapid Prone:	97-2
Slow Prone:	199-8
Aggregate:	485-17

 

September 22

I spent most of the time before the match worrying that the poor weather forecast would keep shooters away and we would have a lousy turnout. Despite this though we had 30 shooters which I thought was a decent showing considering some probably felt we would be rained out.

 

• There was a little bit of wind in offhand. This really didn't affect each shot as much as it messed up my timing of shooting. I had to stop my process several times to wait out the gusts and this interuppted my rhythm. My hold was also sub-par which made my movement into the target less consistant. I started with three 9's in a row and finished with the same. In between were bad shots caused by too much movement even though my trigger control was pretty good.
• I cleaned my first sitting string but with only one X and a low group. The sight picture was a bit fuzzy and I started to lose definition on the target. The second string had a group on the left side of the X-ring, a nine just out on the left and an 8 way out on the left. I can't believe I shot an 8 in sitting since I didn't see anything that far out.
• At 300 I tried to be discliplined in my shot selection. Effort had to be expended to get the front sight in focus but I fought the urge to just get the rounds downrange. My only nine on the first string was just off the line at 4. The second string also had a nine but it was way out, close to the line.
• Several shots in slow prone didn't break perfect but it seemed like they would still be in the middle. I started with four X's, shot two 10's, and then back in the X-ring. The back half had one 10, one 9 straight out the right, and rest were X's.

 

Offhand:	190-5
Sitting:	197-6
Rapid Prone:	198-8
Slow Prone:	199-15
Aggregate:	784-34

September 23

While the temperatures were cool, especially in the morning, the wind was minimal and there was no threat of rain. There was lots of sunshine and that warmed things up by mid-day.

 

• Offhand seemed to work much better today than yesterday. The hold was a bit better but then it should have been since there was almost no wind. I kept disclipined and stopped my shot process if I felt I held too long or that I had to deviate too much from my set approach. I dropped three points in the first 7 shots but then got into a flow that I was comfortable with.
• I can't believe I shot two cleans in sitting considering what I was looking at. I held my breath for much of each string and I had the same sight picture problems as yesterday.
• My first 300 rapid group was pretty big with several shots on the line but at least it was centered. For the second group I was able to focus better and had 7 X's although they were on the line.
• Slow prone wasn't as solid feeling as normal. It wasn't so much position as my sight picture. At this time of year the sun is different and the shadows appear longer. While the target wasn't in shadow there wasn't the easy front sight focus that I get during the summer. While I could get in the X-ring for several shots, something sloppy was happening and I had three 9's.

 

Offhand:	196-4
Sitting:	200-10
Rapid Prone:	200-10
Slow Prone:	197-10
Aggregate:	793-34

 

October 7

I hate shooting in the cold and that's what today brought.

 

• Not too windy in offhand but I kept coming up below call. So many 9's were just off the line low. My mind really wasn't into it so I didn't spend as much time one each shot as I should have. I just wanted to put my coat on.
• Another dark sight picture in sitting. The sights kept coming back in the vicinity of the target but everything was quite blurry. For the second string the target was lit a lot better and it was easier to see the contrast between the sight and target.
• My first string in rapid prone had my magazine up against my left arm. This caused a twisting of the rifle counter clockwise. The group was decent though with one shot just out at six. Second string had another shot just off the line but at nine.
• Slow prone felt decent and I was comfortable enough although it has felt better before. The targets would alternate between cloud-shadowed and bright. My sight picture was mediocre. Etc, etc. Lots of reasons why this should have been worse but I got through it with only one bad shot out the top.

 

Offhand:	189-3
Sitting:	197-5
Rapid Prone:	198-8
Slow Prone:	199-13
Aggregate:	783-29

 

End of season reflections

 

 

Overall I consider 2012 a pretty good year for my shooting but a lot of this opinion is based on the Nationals. I was captain and firing member of the high civilian team in the NTT (we were even third out of all teams) and the Rumbold trophy winning team. In the NRA championship I was finally able to win a fired trophy and shot a new personal best of 2358. Offsetting this was the miss I shot in standing in the N.T.I.

 

• I felt better about this year's offhand than I have in recent memory even though the numbers don't show it. Statically last year was pretty good but this year I had more confidence about the kind of standing score that I could shoot. My hold hasn't been great but the key has really been my discipline in deciding which shots to take. When I take my time, remain patient, and stay disciplined on shot selection, I can shoot good standing scores.

• If sitting was a let down last year, it actually got a little worse this year. By the numbers my average sitting score dropped from 99.3% to 99.1% but the consistancy seemed worse. Group size would vary more than I wanted

• My rapid prone numbers were down a little bit from the last few years. Not huge but a gradual drop off. Statistical consistancy was actually pretty good but the group size (my main rapid-fire performance indicator) shifted over time.

• Slow prone was where I was most pleased this year. My average for the last five years has been about 97.7%. This year it was 98.5%. This is a huge jump. Statistics aside, I had so much confidence in this stage this season. When I came to the line I was confident that I could break good shots and deliver a good score. During strings I would try to see how far I could get and remain clean.