The 2013 Season
The Scores
| Date | Location | Standing | Sitting | Rapid Prone |
Slow Prone |
Aggregate | |
| April 14 | Bonfield | 98-1 | 96-1 | 89-0 | 195-3 | 478-5 | 95.6% |
| April 28 | Bonfield | 97-2 | 99-5 | 100-5 | 199-9 | 495-21 | 99.0% |
| May 11 | Bonfield | 197-11 | 199-8 | 200-7 | 200-13 | 796-39 | 99.5% |
| May 18 | Racine | 190-2 | 200-9 | 198-9 | 198-11 | 786-31 | 98.3% |
| May 25 | Lodi | 96-2 | 100-9 | 99-5 | 195-9 | 490-25 | 98.0% |
| May 26 | Lodi | 183-3 | 197-6 | 198-6 | 393-16 | 971-31 | 97.1% |
| June 1 | Milan | 196-7 | 200-9 | 197-4 | 199-7 | 792-27 | 99.0% |
| June 9 | Bonfield | 96-1 | 100-5 | 98-3 | 199-11 | 493-20 | 98.6% |
| June 16 | Racine | 191-4 | 198-8 | 198-4 | 190-4 | 777-20 | 97.1% |
| July 14 | Bonfield | 96-0 | 99-3 | 97-0 | 199-7 | 491-10 | 98.2% |
| July 20 | Van Meter | 96-1 | 99-3 | 100-3 | 98-6 | 393-13 | 98.3% |
| July 20 | Van Meter | 95-1 | 99-3 | 97-3 | 197-6 | 488-13 | 97.6% |
| July 21 | Van Meter | 191-4 | 200-11 | 193-4 | 196-4 | 780-23 | 97.5% |
| July 29 | Camp Perry | 92-2 | - | 99-2 | 94-0 | 285-4 | 95.0% |
| July 30 | Camp Perry | 98-3 | 99-1 | 99-3 | 192-6 | 488-13 | 97.6% |
| August 1 | Camp Perry | 98-2 | 100-5 | 97-3 | 188-3 | 483-13 | 96.6% |
| August 4 | Camp Perry | 94-1 | 100-4 | 100-8 | 195-6 | 489-19 | 97.8% |
| August 5 | Camp Perry | 95-3 | 99-2 | 99-4 | 197-12 | 490-21 | 98.0% |
| August 7 | Camp Perry | 194-7 | 199-10 | 198-8 | 196-9 | 787-34 | 98.4% |
| August 8 | Camp Perry | 192-6 | 198-4 | 195-5 | 196-6 | 781-21 | 97.6% |
| August 9 | Camp Perry | 187-6 | 193-7 | 194-3 | 196-3 | 770-19 | 96.3% |
| August 31 | Milan | 190-2 | 199-10 | 199-8 | 198-4 | 786-24 | 98.3% |
| September 8 | Bonfield | 98-3 | 99-5 | 98-4 | 198-7 | 493-19 | 98.6% |
| September 21 | Bonfield | 193-3 | 199-5 | 199-10 | 197-10 | 788-28 | 98.5% |
| September 22 | Bonfield | 196-7 | 200-12 | 195-10 | 198-9 | 789-38 | 98.6% |
| October 6 | Bonfield | 196-5 | 199-8 | 200-8 | 199-10 | 794-31 | 99.3% |
The Stories
I skipped smallbore this season as it seemed like it was becoming too much work for the enjoyment I was getting out of it. The offseason actually felt good and I really got away from working on my shooting. Even my reloading was left until the last minute before the season started.
Towards the beginning of spring I was able to find enough time and motivation for some standing dry-firing. The sessions weren't very long but I was able to feel my way back into some kind of position. I didn't really bother with the sling-supported positions but that seems to be the case every year.
April 14
The weather this spring has been pretty bad with cold temperatures and rain. This morning was pretty chilly but got warmer as the day went on. I felt very detached from my shooting and really didn't get into it as much as I could have.
It was pretty chilly for standing with overcast skies and a little breeze with temperatures in the 40's. Apart from the cold I felt reasonably comfortable. My hold and trigger control were only fair this morning. The hold could have been smaller and I was breaking the shots fairly clean without a lot of jerking. I tried to adjust my NPA whenever it felt off and so the hold seemed to work towards the center of the target. Shots were inside of call but I still felt like I wasn't in control of my performance.
My sitting zero was an estimate and so was the setting for my sling. First sighter was right on call in the X-ring but the second one was a lot further out in the 10 and off call. My position felt stiff as if I was forcing myself into sitting. A combination of not shooting sitting since October combined with unknown sling settings led to a large group. The whole thing was low and left with 4 nines in a crescent just off the 10-ring. If I was one click higher and one click right it would have been a clean. I also shot pretty fast and didn't have good breathing.
Rapid prone felt strained like sitting. I thought I had a pretty good sight setting but my first sighter was an 8 straight out on the left. I thought I was a revolution off with my windage but I wasn't. I made a correction of 8 clicks and my second sighter was a close 10 at four o'clock. Things seemed OK at that point. The front sight was easier to focus on earlier in the string as things got fuzzy later on. The final group wasn't too bad but it didn't have any 10's. I was low and to the right. My windage was off by almost the full amount I corrected after my first sighter.
I had a hard time getting in the middle in slow prone. I was using almost all of the 10-ring and that's usually not a good sign. My position felt strained as if I was trying to pull my head in a particular direction. It really wasn't comfortable and the string felt like it was taking forever. Still, I took my time and only dropped one point on the first half. X's were hard to come by as I was either too high or too low in the 10-ring.
| Offhand: | 98-1 |
| Sitting: | 96-1 |
| Rapid Prone: | 89-0 |
| Slow Prone: | 195-3 |
| Aggregate: | 478-5 |
April 28
We had light rain right before the match so the air had a chill to it with some haze and temperatures in the 50's. The most significant part was the heavy overcast which made things dark through the aperture. One thing I couldn't get over was how easy the performance came today. Not easy in a way that I was detached from my shooting. I was still focused on what I was doing and executing consciously. But easy in a way that I didn't feel like I had to struggle for the scores.
Things were working well in standing despite the cooler temperatures and heavy overcast. My position felt stable with my support arm finding a good spot to take the weight of the rifle. I tried to confirm my NPA for each shot and break the shots cleanly. Trigger control was good and I don't remember many shots that had a lot of movement after I decided to fire. On one shot the sights actually almost stopped moving for a few seconds and I stood and stared at the sight picture. My mind was trying to decide whether to shoot and I had an internal debate to weigh the risks of deciding to shoot and potentially disturbing the sights. The whole string was mostly inside of call and felt relaxed. After a 10 and X for sighters I was sitting on the left side of the 10-ring and then moved further left as I fired for an eight for the first record shot. Things settled down after that and I didn't drop any more points until the last shot.
I worked on sitting a little bit this week to try to regain some semblance of a sturdy position. Things felt alright except for the low light. The darkness and humidity in the air kept the target from being as distinct as I would have liked it. A decent position kept the group very narrow but the lack of light and target definition let it get very tall.
I knew that the rapid prone debacle from the last match was an anomaly. I just had to get back to the basics of shooting a good group. The fact that I had something close to a zero also helped. In typical fashion I shot really fast and didn't breathe for most of the string. After years of telling myself to breathe I have yet to do this consistently. The sights just seem to be so close to the target and my mental clock makes it seem like I'm running out of time. Despite all this, today's group was a good one.
Slow prone was much more comfortable than last time. I didn't feel like I was straining to look through the rear sight. The overcast was a little lighter at this point so the front sight was focusable. I was still playing with my zero as I had to drop a couple of clicks from where I started and I used more of the 10-ring than I would have liked.
| Offhand: | 97-2 |
| Sitting: | 99-5 |
| Rapid Prone: | 100-5 |
| Slow Prone: | 199-9 |
| Aggregate: | 495-21 |
May 11
It was a chilly and overcast morning as I set up my computer, printer, and the rest of my stuff to take registrations and hand out squadding. While a coat may not have been needed, a heavy sweatshirt certainly was. I missed shooting last week because I thought the match was going to be rained out so I was eager to get going today. My expectation was for a good score provided the conditions cooperated.
While my confidence was high in offhand and I was expecting a 195-196, there was still a voice in the back of my head telling me that it would be difficult to shoot that kind of score. Still, I stepped up to the line, found a good place for my feet and concentrated on the two things that have been the foundation for my standing this year: a natural support arm position that keeps my wobble relatively small and slow, and an NPA that is confirmed for each shot. My elbow on my lower torso/hip was good and the rifle's movement was lazy and controllable. I was very aware of holding too long and would start over whenever I felt like I spent too long on the target. NPA was checked continuously and really helped to get the sights to the middle quickly. On some shots the sights would be in the black so fast that I hadn't taken up the first stage of the trigger yet. Just about each shot was inside of call just a little bit. The ones that I called inside nines wound up on the outside of the 10-ring. Trigger control was good as well with most shots breaking clean and not a lot of movement from the decision point to shot break. X's seemed easy to come by but this was not due to conscious effort as my calls always had things just out in the 10-ring.
The position for sitting actually felt alright. I'm starting to shake the rust off and arrange myself and the rifle like I know I can. The butt of the rifle is high in my shoulder and feels secure. It was overcast and a bit dark so I had a tough time seeing. On one shot on the first string my vision got fuzzy as I fired so I had no idea where that one was going. For the second string I turned my face slightly to the right and that put more cheek pressure on the stock. This made the rifle feel steadier although the group was still larger than the X-ring. But I think that was due more to the low light rather than the position.
My rapid prone efforts went into focusing on the front sight. On the first string the targets got a bit dark and that made it difficult getting contrast between the target and the post. A couple of times I had to pause and pull my focus back to the front sight before firing the shot. The targets were brighter on the second string and I had much better elevation but still had to make that effort at focusing.
I spent a lot of time in prep for slow prone trying to position my scope so I could see through it without moving my head. In the end I never really found a good position for it. What I did have was a neck position that put some strain on my head as I was on the stock. My head seemed extended over the comb of the stock instead of resting on it. But this has been normal for the AR as the sight line is so high up I have to open my mouth during shooting to increase the distance from my skull to my jaw. The bigger problem today was getting good front sight focus. I had to really struggle to keep the top edge focused, dark, and clear. The score is a bit deceptive as it makes it seem like the stage was a piece of cake even though I had to work on almost every shot.
| Offhand: | 197-11 |
| Sitting: | 199-8 |
| Rapid Prone: | 200-7 |
| Slow Prone: | 200-13 |
| Aggregate: | 796-39 |
May 18
Our spring continues to have temperatures lower than normal. While the day started with some overcast the sun broke through but didn't really warm the air until the match was over. The breeze was in our faces for most of the day but so was the sun. The range faces east so the morning's stages had a lot of brightness which made the target difficult to see.
For standing it really wasn't the sun that was in my face but a very bright sky. I tried pulling the brim of my hat down as low as possible but there was no way to mask all that brightness. As a result the sight picture looked darker by comparison. My shots were mostly outside of call and I had a hard time knowing where to position the front sight. Once I started shooting 9's it was a struggle to stay in the 10-ring. Each shot seemed to require more and more effort to execute.
I feel I have gotten back to my good sitting position. But this just brings up another problem, shooting too fast. The sights come back to the target so fast and I don't want to waste the opportunity, that I am firing the shot without doing any breathing. I'm also in a such a rush to fire when the sights come back that I sometimes yank the trigger. The groups were well centered but they were a bit larger than what I wanted. I need to use the good position to my advantage by giving me extra time to use for a controlled trigger squeeze instead of being purely opportunistic with the shots.
300 rapid felt pretty good. Both sighters were X's and the butt was high in my shoulder allowing me to get good cheek pressure on the stock. With the wind in our faces I only needed one click of right windage for both strings. On the first string everything felt fine as I had good front sight focus and the gun kept coming back to the target. The group was very narrow but tall and low with two nines out the bottom. Since things felt good I decided to come up a click for the second string. As I was shooting it, the rifle started to rotate on me because the magazine was pushing against the side of my arm. To compensate I had to put more rightward cheek pressure on the stock. This group was even narrower than the first (about half the X-ring in width) but still tall with a high 10 and a low 10.
With no zero for 600 I took an educated guess for elevation. My first sighter was low and I only came up one click because I wanted to work into the middle from one side instead of going up and down. The second sighter was still low and I came up a couple more. The first record shot was a 9 out the bottom so I gave the elevation knob a couple more clicks and then got in the middle. My position was pretty decent and mostly comfortable. I did catch myself having a slightly tensed upper back. So I had to consciously relax that for each shot. The front sight looked good and I could stay in the X-ring. After that first nine I was in a rhythm until shot 18 when I got sloppy and dropped another one.
| Offhand: | 190-2 |
| Sitting: | 200-9 |
| Rapid Prone: | 198-9 |
| Slow Prone: | 198-11 |
| Aggregate: | 786-31 |
May 25
Team match this morning and it was chilly. We are almost into June and the weather feels like March.
It was hard to get properly situated for standing. My calls weren't too far off but I have always had low shots at this range because the targets are so elevated compared to the 200 yard firing line.
There wasn't anything that felt special about this sitting string. I put on one click of left because I was right of call in standing. I called my first sighter high in the X-ring and it wound up a mid-ring 10 at one o'clock. So I put on one more click of left, broke the second sighter, and called it good. That was an X on the left so I just left the sights where they were. During the string the rifle felt controllable but nothing really great. The lone 10 was about mid-ring at 7 o'clock.
Both of my sighters in rapid prone were called good but they were both nines up high. At that point I was just hoping I could hold 10-ring elevation. Most of the group was narrow but there was one shot that was way out in the 9-ring. If I had another click of left wind the group would have been centered better but the one 9 would still have been out.
A lot about highpower is dealing with conditions. Today in slow prone the condition that I was dealing with was my firing point. The firing line sloped forward and down so that my normal position had the rifle pointing just in front of the 600 yard line. To adjust, I tried to tighten my sling to bring the muzzle up and to lower the buttplate in my shoulder. While that adjusted the rifle, it put my neck and head in a very uncomfortable position. I had to force my eyes to look through the sights and I just wanted to get things over with. I was actually doing fairly well with not much wind adjustment to speak of when I shot 8's out the bottom on shots 8 & 9. Afterwards I had to roll and stretch my neck because it was so sore.
| Offhand: | 96-2 |
| Sitting: | 100-9 |
| Rapid Prone: | 99-5 |
| Slow Prone: | 195-9 |
| Aggregate: | 490-25 |
May 26
Despite the morning's cool temperatures at least the sky was clear. Today was a little warmer than yesterday with rain forecast for the afternoon. We almost got the whole match in but it started raining for the final relay.
Today's firing point at 600 was much better than yesterday's and I didn't have to strain my neck so much in the first slow prone match. The first shot for record came up a nine which really makes you think about how much harder you have to work. That was the only dropped point in the first half but later on I had a couple of nines and then got pushed out to an eight. This morning's elevation was two clicks higher than yesterday.
The second slow prone was easier to see for some reason. I had two nines early on and then cruised through the rest of it.
I'm not sure what I was doing with the windage knob for 300 rapid. The wind was coming out of the left slowly and I didn't think there was much correction but my first sighter was an eight straight out on the left side. I was probably off by a revolution but I went back to my zero and restarted things. Both groups were a little wide but not too tall so at least I could hold decent elevation.
Standing was a very frustrating time. There was a bit of a breeze but still manageable. Even if it was dead calm my hold was way too big. As I worked my way into the middle there was so much motion in the front sight that it was difficult to pick my shot decision point. When I did break it, it always seemed to break on the way out. 10's became 9's but it was the multitude of 8's that really got to me. I found it difficult to focus on the next shot when I dropped two points on each of the previous ones.
I was encouraged by yesterday's sitting but I knew that I still had to set things up properly. My position was fair but nothing great. The first string had two groups, one in the X-ring and another at one o'clock in the mid-10. Still, a clean is a clean. The second group was more of a cone from the X-ring spreading out to the right side with three nines across the 10 line. I couldn't believe that I dropped so many on one string.
| Slow Prone: | 195-9 |
| Slow Prone: | 198-7 |
| Rapid Prone: | 198-6 |
| Offhand: | 183-3 |
| Sitting: | 197-6 |
| Aggregate: | 971-31 |
June 1
Today was our state highpower championship. I had been practicing some standing this week because I felt that if I could get through that stage I was shooting well enough in the others to do fine. The sky was overcast and we actually had a little breeze in the morning where usually it is pretty calm. The biggest distraction though was all the gnats. Because of the wet spring lots of these things were flying around and they seemed to prefer the firing lines.
My hold in standing was pretty good at the start of the season but then kind of went away. This week's practice was an effort to try to get to a point where I had a good hold that I could repeat on each shot and to have a performance level (score) that I could expect. The hold was good and it was just individual mental mistakes that cost me. My first record shot was an X but on the second one I jerked the sights to the left as I broke it and got an 8. After that things progressed well with most shots being within call.
Sitting position felt OK. Not really great but not so bad that I was all over the 10-ring. After getting two sighters that were a little higher than call, I didn't want to click just from those because I felt my zero was good. My first group was high and a little to the right. After that I came down a click since I didn't want to press my luck. The second group was centered much better with 7 X's. Here is a picture of my target after shooting standing and sitting. Notice the paster in the 8-ring on the left.
My high groups continued with 300 rapid. My first sighter broke well but it was a mid-ring 9 at 12. Not wanting to over-correct, I came down a click and had my next sighter be level but at 3 o'clock. The first string felt fine and I held my breath for only the first half. The main group was still high in the 10-ring with only one X and two 9's mid-ring at 11. Even so, I didn't click down because I've done that before and gone out the bottom. I really concentrated on the front sight for the second string and made sure it looked good before I broke it. A really good looking and narrow group, high again, with one 9.
Most of the wind at 600 was going downrange. I was confident that if I could get good contrast between the front sight and the target I would do well. My windage stayed between two and four clicks right and I tried to shoot quickly. My elevation zero from last week was way off here as I shot a high 8 for my first sighter and had to work my way down to the middle. By the end I had come down by eight clicks from my zero at Lodi. I was clean until shot 18 or so when a gust threw me out to the left.
| Offhand: | 196-7 |
| Sitting: | 200-9 |
| Rapid Prone: | 197-4 |
| Slow Prone: | 199-7 |
| Aggregate: | 792-27 |
June 9
My allergies were letting know they were there today. It was also the first match of the year where I could just wear a t-shirt. Rain had been moving through the area but we stayed dry.
I wasn't being selective enough in standing this morning. Instead of discriminating which shot to let go, I was shooting one of the first 10's I was seeing. The problem was that by the time I decided to shoot the sight was already moving out.
When I got into sitting the targets were a little dark with the overcast but the sky behind the impact berm was very clear and blue. The bright sky made the targets a little difficult to see and I couldn't get the definition that I would have liked. The position felt good with the butt of the rifle high in my shoulder and my body extended towards my legs. Both sighters were X's and the group was decent but not great.
While I was expecting good things in rapid prone, I made a crucial mistake which would really cost me. For some reason I tried to get the buttstock up high in my shoulder like in sitting. This just caused the muzzle to drop and I was fighting that with my forward arm. Things weren't comfortable and I was trying to steer the rifle at the front which is something I try to avoid doing. The resulting group was elongated from upper left to lower right with two 9's out at five o'clock.
Slow prone felt good but I was trying to find my sweet spot for elevation. At first I started out too high and lost a nine early. Then I settled in and started to shoot X's. The front sight was in focus and I had good contrast between it and the target. I did notice that on some shots I was closing my eyes early. I mostly corrected this during the string but the point when the shot broke still wasn't as smooth and relaxed as I would have liked.
| Offhand: | 96-2 |
| Sitting: | 100-5 |
| Rapid Prone: | 98-3 |
| Slow Prone: | 199-11 |
| Aggregate: | 493-20 |
June 16
It had rained the night before and there was still a lot of moisture in the air and grass. This made for humid conditions but otherwise it was a very nice day to shoot. I probably should have brought more water with me as I wasn't feeling very good by the end of the day.
Even though the range faces east and there was a lot of light in my eyes, this wasn't that much of a problem in standing. The real trouble was that my NPA was locked to the right. This caused a bunch of shots to break in that direction. There were only a couple of shots to the left of center. I broke two 8's during the string that were both in the same place and five additional shots that were out. I tried shifting my NPA further left between shots but that didn't seem to help.
The target was a bit dark in sitting but that just seems typical for my sitting recently. The position wasn't too bad. As I was shooting the first string I kept breaking shots lower than I wanted. Despite being aware of this, I kept doing it. Not surprisingly the group was low with two shots out. I came up a click for my second string and concentrated on keeping the front sight well into the black. This was a well centered group that turned out to be a clean. Both strings were shot pretty fast as the sights returned back to the target quickly.
I wanted to avoid the mistake I made last week of getting the butt too high in my shoulder in rapid prone. I had three clicks of left wind on for the first sighter which I called an X at 3 o'clock. That's exactly where it ended up. I called the second one just off the X at 9 but that one was at the top of the X-ring. That told me to put on another click of left. As I was shooting the first string I was striving to not let the shot go until I had really good front sight focus. Distracting me from this was the fact that the rifle was dropping little by little and I didn't want to muscle it back into position. So I just followed the rifle down a little and kept focusing on the front sight and breaking clean shots. The first group was really good, one of the best I ever shot, but low. I adjusted and the same rifle-settling happened on the second string. The second group was also really good and I could have used another click up.
My slow prone scores have been pretty good recently so I was confident going into this stage. I had to adjust my elevation from the first sighter which was high. Mirage was difficult to see because of the late afternoon light so any wind changes went unnoticed. A shot would come up on the right, I would click over, fire again, and I would be on the right again. It just seemed like I was always behind and there was nothing on the range that would indicate that I needed so much wind on the gun.
| Offhand: | 191-4 |
| Sitting: | 198-8 |
| Rapid Prone: | 198-4 |
| Slow Prone: | 190-4 |
| Aggregate: | 777-20 |
July 14
I have mixed feelings about the month long break we have at the end of June and beginning of July. If I really wanted to I could find matches to shoot but I kind of like being able to focus on other things. On the other hand getting back to shooting today almost felt foreign. It was a warm day with a lot of humidity and not much breeze. I should have hydrated more but I almost forgot what its like to be on a rifle range.I've been trying to dry fire standing every day this past week and focus on my routine of getting my support elbow on my hip and confirm/adjust my NPA for each shot. On the range my hold was a bit inconsistent and would get better or worse depending on the shot. The really frustrating part was being off call and not knowing where the bullet was going. I started shooting 10's even though they were towards the outside of the ring and hadn't dropped any points in the first six shots. Shot 7 took a long time to set up and I had to start and stop my routine several times. In the end I think I just gave up on it and fired while the sights were moving. My call was in the white but it still made a 9. The eighth shot I called a close 9 but it wound up an 8 and I followed this up with a 9. Four points dropped in three shots and not a single X in the whole string.
It seems like every string of sitting looks dark through the sights. The position and hold didn't seem like too much of a problem but putting that front sight in the same place takes some effort. Both sighters were X's so I had a good zero and could get the job done in slow fire. The height of the rapid group was only slightly bigger than the X-ring but the right side of the group was out to the edge of the 10-ring with one shot a little further out.
I noticed a lot of brightness coming from the blue sky above the targets during prep for rapid prone so I lowered my cap so the brim was on top of the rear sight mechanism. This got rid of the glare but I had more of a problem with my elevation zero. A few matches ago my zero had been dropping and I should have been more resistant to changing it based on one group location. Today's sighters were a little low and I should have realized that they should have been high 10's for the string to be properly centered. Another problem with the string was that the rifle was dropping a little as I fired. This meant my head had to follow the rifle down and I had to get the front sight back to the target without pushing up with my support arm.
Slow prone went better than I expected. My position felt decent but not as comfortable as I would have liked. I couldn't relax my head on the stock and my neck felt a little strained. Front sight focus wasn't too bad and whenever I couldn't see it properly I just started the shot routine over. I spent the first half just trying to get into a rhythm with shots over most of the 10-ring. There was one dropped point early on and only one X. The second half started to work better as I had 6 X's.
| Offhand: | 96-0 |
| Sitting: | 99-3 |
| Rapid Prone: | 97-0 |
| Slow Prone: | 199-7 |
| Aggregate: | 491-10 |
July 20
Temperatures weren't as high today as they have been in the past for this tournament. It was still warm though, with plenty of moisture in the air. This morning's team match would be 10 shots in each of the 4 stages.Even though the range faces east, trees kept the sun from being directly in my eyes. Indirectly there was a bright point of light in the rear aperture that I could only get rid of by pulling my hat brim down and tilting my head in a certain way. Otherwise that point of light would completely obscure my sight picture. So that's how I shot standing. The calls weren't great but I muddled through the string.
Sitting had the same light problem so I had the brim of my hat right on top of the rear sight. The group was decent enough but was centered at 4 o'clock.
There was nothing really out of the ordinary in rapid prone. Things felt good even thought the group was larger than it should have been.
Slow prone was working well and I seemed to be in the middle most of the time. Most of the shots were X's with only two 10's and two 9's.
| Offhand: | 96-1 |
| Sitting: | 99-3 |
| Rapid Prone: | 100-3 |
| Slow Prone: | 98-6 |
| Aggregate: | 393-13 |
July 20
The Leg matches that I shoot are getting few and far between. It is good to remember how to stand up for rapid fires and confirm the routine for doing so.My standing hold seemed pretty good, especially in prep. It was still good during the string but I couldn't seem to settle in the middle. Even when I did, I was putting extra motion in the rifle to pull the sights to the outside.
Standing and dropping down into sitting wasn't really a problem. I put my second magazine on my mat to index my body position and then remember to keep my legs extended. The position wasn't as stable as it could have been because I had to put muscle into the rifle and that made for bad trigger control. From the sights it looked like the rifle would wave around right when I squeezed the trigger.
After the first shot of rapid prone I started to feel the rifle settle lower as I fired. It wasn't very much but I could tell that my head was following the sights down. Whenever that slipping occurs I have to fight the urge to push up with my forward arm. The other problem I had was that about half-way through the string it became harder and harder to get good front sight focus.
Slow prone was working well except that I seemed to use more of the 10-ring than I wanted. I also wound up coming down a click since I was spending too much time above the middle.
| Offhand: | 95-1 |
| Sitting: | 99-3 |
| Rapid Prone: | 97-3 |
| Slow Prone: | 197-6 |
| Aggregate: | 488-13 |
July 21
Today would be cooler than yesterday but wetter. Some thunderstorms were moving through the area and we were rained on a couple of times. Despite this we were able to get through the match without any major delays.The overcast made seeing through the sights easier than yesterday. This would be fine if I could break clean shots. On my first shot for record I was trying to get into the middle, anticipated too much and got a 7 for my efforts. That already put me in a hole that I had to try to get out of. There were three more 9's in that half and I already felt like I worked hard for that. On the back half it got a little easier and only dropped three more but my calls weren't very good.
Sitting felt good with both sighters in the X-ring. The position was stable and I shot pretty fast because the sights were coming back to the target without a lot of effort on my part.
Rapid prone was a disaster. I had been messing around with my zero and I like to see my sighters be a little high because that means my group would be at the right elevation. Both sighters were close to each other right at the waterline. Once I started shooting the first string it was like someone turned my front sight into cloth. There was fuzz all around it and when I brought it into the target the sighting black would disappear. I struggled through this during the string and the target came up with shots low and high. There was even an 8 up high. The second string didn't have this problem and was very well centered with just one shot outside the 10-line.
The front sight problem re-occurred in slow prone. It was hard to see the post and each shot took longer than normal. I read the wind wrong as my first sighter was an 8 on the left. I corrected, then my second sighter was a 7 out the bottom. At that point I knew it was going to be a long string. I dropped an 8 out the bottom again on my third shot and then back into the 10-ring. There was nothing drastic for the rest of it but it is tough to have confidence when you are dropping shots that far out.
| Offhand: | 191-4 |
| Sitting: | 200-11 |
| Rapid Prone: | 193-4 |
| Slow Prone: | 196-4 |
| Aggregate: | 780-23 |
This is a pretty busy time of year for me. I drive back from Van Meter, run a Leg match and Regional, and then drive to Camp Perry. All of this while I'm making sure I have all my stuff packed for two weeks of shooting and staying in a hut. I don't know what this year's Nationals will hold. My scores started strong but have dropped off since June. I'll just have to try my best and trust my experience.
July 29
Some unusual cool weather for the President's rifle match. I wore my sweatshirt while scoring and on the assembly line and I wished I had another layer. The breeze kept things chilly as well. I was on target 146 on Viale which is probably the highest I have ever been on this range.In typical fashion for this match I stepped on my firing point for standing feeling nervous and pressured. I keep waiting for the day when I can shoot standing in this match with a mindset like in a local match. I put on a few clicks of left and started shooting. The very first shot did not break clean and just like that I had dropped two points. Each shot had a bad trigger break and bad calls. I can't remember shooting this many eights in one match.
My rapid prone zeros have been wandering a little recently so I took the best educated guess I could. The wind was coming straight out of the left and to me it seemed worth about 8 clicks. The wind call was good but I could use an extra click of elevation. The group was a little low with just one 9 slightly out at 8 o'clock.
Elevation at 600 was the real surprise here. Although being light on the wind didn't help matters either. With 16 clicks of left wind on my first shot was a 7 low and right. I corrected into the 10-ring but lost three more nines during the string. I kept coming up on elevation because I was shooting bottom 10's. There was never a time that I really got centered up and my flailing around kind of summed up my day.
| Offhand: | 92-2 |
| Rapid Prone: | 99-2 |
| Slow Prone: | 94-0 |
| Aggregate: | 285-4 |
July 30
Today we had great weather to shoot. Warmer than yesterday as well as calm for most of the day.I wasn't as nervous for standing this morning as I was in the President's. During the previous relay I was sitting in a leaning position and as soon as I got up to go to the line my back felt really stiff. When I got to my firing point I tried stretching it out. It only started to feel better late in my prep period. As I was shooting the muscles loosened, I got more comfortable, and could get more back bend. The shots were breaking well with little extra movement as I pulled the trigger. The first 5 shots went off in about 3 1/2 minutes as I adjusted my NPA and just shot like I knew I could.
My sitting hold left something to be desired as the sights wobbled left to right. It seemed as bad during the string as it did in prep. The sight picture also started to get fuzzy half-way through. My group used up most of the 10-ring and was centered but I let one 9 get away.
My inconsistent elevation for rapid prone was more of a concern than the wind call. I went with one more click up than yesterday and 3 clicks of right. I shot the group trying to focus on the front sight and be methodical. That paid off as the group was pretty good but a bit high and to the right.
The wind had been picking up during the day. By the time I went to fire slow prone I put on 16 clicks and brought my elevation up to where it was yesterday. I probably tried to shoot too fast as I was only holding 10-ring elevation. This made me very susceptible to small wind changes. I had nothing out of the 9-ring but it seemed like I had plenty of shots out to either side.
| Offhand: | 98-3 |
| Sitting: | 99-1 |
| Rapid Prone: | 99-3 |
| Slow Prone: | 192-6 |
| Aggregate: | 488-13 |
August 1
After the individual matches it is time to shoot the team matches. Another cool day but sunny and pleasant.My standing hold looked good in prep and I just tried to break the shots clean. After 9's on shot one and three I just cruised through the string having confidence that this is how I should be able to shoot offhand.
Sitting had a good group but we had to put one more click of left on during the magazine change.
I had a hard time seeing the post during my rapid prone string. Most of the group was on the left side of the 10-ring but there were three 9's just off the line in the upper right corner.
Slow prone was where I had problems. I could not hold good elevation. This caused us to lose more points to wind than necessary. I finished the string feeling like I was losing the ability to judge the position of the front sight on the target.
| Offhand: | 98-2 |
| Sitting: | 100-5 |
| Rapid Prone: | 97-3 |
| Slow Prone: | 188-3 |
| Aggregate: | 483-13 |
August 4
We had a breeze blowing across the range this morning. It wasn't all that bad but more than you might expect for early in the morning. It calmed down when we started shooting but was still present for standing.With the wind in our faces we couldn't really get away from it. I would mount the gun and work my way into the middle but the movement in the front sight caused my trigger control to be less than optimal. I broke a few shots cleanly but most had movement after the decision to shoot.
To keep my glove from interfering with my sight picture I kept the hand guard more on my fingers than in my palm. This raised the rifle and allowed me to get the butt plate higher in my shoulder. Everything felt good but the group was low and that limited the x-count.
My sightseers in rapid prone were useless to judge my elevation because they were so spread out. Once I started shooting the group it felt fine and I tried to be conscious of my breathing and not rush the shots. The result was one of my better 300 rapid strings.
Slow prone really had me worried that I would not be able to hold elevation. Things started well as the wind was readable and I was keeping the shots in the middle. On shot 9 I dropped an eight straight out the bottom. Then back in the middle until the wind pushed us out late in the string. At least this gave me some confidence that I could still shoot 600.
| Offhand: | 94-1 |
| Sitting: | 100-4 |
| Rapid Prone: | 100-8 |
| Slow Prone: | 195-6 |
| Aggregate: | 489-19 |
August 5
This was the team match and I had an enjoyable day shooting.I had a strong start to standing with the first four shots going off fine although they took more effort than I expected. Then I dropped 5 points in the next four. Some because of bad trigger control and some because the sights stopped in the 9-ring and I decided to pull the trigger anyway.
Sitting did not feel as stable as yesterday but it was adequate. The group was shifted to the right and I lost one because I pushed one to the downwind side.
The wind in rapid prone was down range and only needed a click of correction. I could see the sights pretty well but the group was a little high and tall which caused one dropped point up top.
While I could get the front sight into focus in slow prone, it didn't seem that much better than normal. But I really couldn't argue with the results. My first six shots were X's and it seemed easy to stay in the middle. We lost a few to wind but nothing to elevation.
| Offhand: | 95-3 |
| Sitting: | 99-2 |
| Rapid Prone: | 99-4 |
| Slow Prone: | 197-12 |
| Aggregate: | 490-21 |
August 6
We had some rain in the forecast and the skies were cloudy. While we stayed pretty dry all day, the overcast sky kept things kind of dark through the sights.I was able to get a good NPA in standing so that when I brought the gun down to the target there was only a little effort to get it in the middle. Trigger control was good and the shots were breaking without a lot of extra movement. I had two 9's on the front half and the shots were going without too much effort. The second 10 were more difficult and I broke one shot towards two o'clock but it kept on going into the 8-ring.
The darkness gave me some elevation problems in sitting. Not huge groups but I let the sights move further into the black than normal. The first string was high, between the top of the X and the top of the 10. The second string was taller with one 9 out up high.
As I realized later, I had written the wrong no-wind zero for 300 rapid down in my data book. Whereas I should have been on my paint mark I actually wrote down "4L". That meant that I was 4 clicks left of wherever I wanted to be. My first sighter, with supposedly one right, was a liner 10 on the left. I cam right two and shot the second sighter just off the X at 2. The first string was centered with 6 X's. I shot the second string with the same windage but mirage was hard to see with the lack of sun. That one was way on the left and two shots over the line.
| Offhand: | 194-7 |
| Sitting: | 199-10 |
| Rapid Prone: | 198-8 |
August 7
Everyone was really waiting for the forecasted storm to arrive. The morning skies were dark but the rain didn't come until early afternoon. We had to clear the range so I went back to my hut. We came back and shot sitting and 600.I wasn't as comfortable in standing as I was yesterday. The early shots were breaking alright since I wanted to move along in case we were going to get wet. Then I stumbled as I was shooting without making sure I was in the 10-ring. Another 8 showed up as I seem to have one each time I shoot.
There was something amiss with my sitting position but I couldn't put my finger on it. There was just a bit more movement in the sights and it did not feel as tight. The first string was a clean but just barely. The second string was a large group with two 9's.
I am still worried about holding elevation in slow prone. Although I didn't have to touch my elevation knob I did have two 9's out the bottom. On shot 19 I broke it a little on the right side and got an 8 at 3 o'clock. I knew that only part of that was because of me. So I put on two clicks of left and got a 10 for my final shot.
| Offhand: | 192-6 |
| Sitting: | 198-4 |
| Slow Prone: | 196-9 |
August 8
The dark and overcast skies have become the theme at Camp Perry this year. We stayed dry today but the wind was pretty strong.My normal sitting zero is 16 clicks up. My first sighter was out the top and I had a hard time seeing the target so I came down a click and shot an X. The wind was moving me around in position and my first shot in the string was pushed out high and to the left. As I was breaking the rest of the shots I had a hard time judging where to put the front sight on the target. The target came up with six 9's, all out the top. I decided to come down a click for the second string and shot a big group with only one out the top.
There was little more light for rapid prone but not much and it was still windy. The first group was tall with three shots out in the corners. The second string was like my sitting with shots out the top.
While the wind was blowing I found I had to take off windage during the course of the string. I tried to be extra careful to focus on the front sight. That wasn't the hard part though as the putting the front sight in the correct place on the target as the challenge. Early on I dropped an eight out the bottom and followed it with a 9. After that I cruised pretty well although I wasn't hitting many X's.
| Sitting: | 193-7 |
| Rapid Prone: | 195-3 |
| Slow Prone: | 196-6 |
August 9
The weather finally cleared for my last day at Camp Perry. At this point I am eager to get home especially after not shooting very well.My standing seems to get worse each day. I had my obligatory eight which seems to be a habit for me this week. In addition to that I broke a really bad shot and had a seven. I can tell I'm tired and done with this championship. What is odd is that my x-count seems to be pretty good for the score I fired.
My first string in rapid prone was shot methodically with a consistent process for each shot. It felt good. Despite this the group was shifted to the right with seven 10's all in a line at 4 o'clock, a nine just out, and another nine way out at mid-ring at five. The second string was still in the same area but now there were four 9's across the line. It looks like I have to shift my no-wind zero to the left as that group should have been in the middle.
I shot the same score in all three 600 yard matches. They weren't disasters but they weren't really good scores either. Today was just more mediocre shooting and it was really hard to shoot X's.
| Offhand: | 187-6 |
| Rapid Prone: | 194-3 |
| Slow Prone: | 196-3 |
| Aggregate: | 2338-74 |
August 31
This state championship is usually pretty stressful for me. It's a long drive, I have to run the weekend, and try to perform as best as I can. This year I had such a disappointing Camp Perry that I wasn't quite sure how I would do here. Once I start shooting though those thoughts tend to melt away and it is just me and the rifle. Things weren't helped when I arrived at the range and I realized I left my spotting scope and mat at home. Oh, well. I'll just have to mooch off someone else.
As I was getting ready for my prep period in standing I opened my glasses case and saw that one of the small screws had fallen out of the glasses frame. I tried putting it back but dropped it in the grass on my firing point. A few minutes of searching didn't produce the screw but did waste my prep time. I took a couple of minutes to dry-fire and then started shooting. The hold wasn't bad and my trigger control was acceptable but my decision-making ability was lacking. I would bring the sights into the black and let the shot go before I could dress it up and make sure I was in the 10-ring. What I would call as a low 10 would show up as a mid-ring 9 at 6 o'clock.
My sitting sighters were right where they should have been and I did not see any reason to move the sights. The first string felt good with the rifle easy to put back into position for each shot. The target came up with a group toward the lower side of the 10-ring and one lone shot just off the line at 5 o'clock. I came up a click and shot another decent group. This one was centered with four 10's just slightly out of the X-ring.
Using my 300 rapid Camp Perry zero my first sighter was at the top of the 9-ring. I came down two and shot a high 10. Since I tend to shoot lower during the string I didn't come down any farther. As I fired the first string my position was slipping and the rifle would drop lower and lower. In addition I had to take extra time focusing on the front sight. The target had two groups. One in the X-ring and another on the edge of the 10-ring at 4 o'clock. I tightened my sling for the second string and cleaned it although the group was still on the right side.
I started slow prone with the same elevation that I used for most of Camp Perry. That put the first sighter up top in the 7-ring. I didn't want to make a full correction because I haven't been holding X-ring elevation recently so I only came down a couple of clicks. The next sighter was an 8 at 12 o'clock. Now I came down a few more clicks and caught a high nine for my first record shot. I continued adjusting elevation until I was centered. Wind wasn't a problem and that was good because I was using most of the 10-ring and couldn't afford slipping to one side or another.
| Offhand: | 190-2 |
| Sitting: | 199-10 |
| Rapid Prone: | 199-8 |
| Slow Prone: | 198-4 |
| Aggregate: | 786-24 |
September 8
A very pleasant day to shoot. Overcast and not too hot.I didn't set out to do anything different in standing today other than trying to focus on the task at hand. I wanted to just concentrate on each shot and executing. My NPA seemed to be on the right side of the 10-ring as that's where the sights wanted to settle. I couldn't adjust it back to the left. The second shot was pulled into the middle from the right but I kept on pulling it out the other side for a nine. Shot six was also a nine that broke way too high. My hold could have been better but it was still tolerable and my trigger control was good. The shots broke without extra movement. Like the last match it was my decisions that weren't that good although not quite as bad. That was the difference between dropping two or dropping none.
The position in sitting felt very foreign. Like I am just learning to shoot this stage. I didn't have a lot of support for the rifle and I was constantly muscling the gun back to the target. The first shot of the string broke low since the sights were moving so much. Everything else was in but it was a very tall group.
Both rapid prone sighters were high which is where they should be. During shooting it was another exercise in trying to get front sight focus. Sometimes the focus would be there, other times it wasn't.
Pretty calm conditions in slow prone and all I had to do was break good shots. I would do well working the inside of the X-ring and then have outside 10's. Then in each half I had a 9 out to the right. I'm just not relaxed enough to cleanly break the shots.
| Offhand: | 98-3 |
| Sitting: | 99-5 |
| Rapid Prone: | 98-4 |
| Slow Prone: | 198-7 |
| Aggregate: | 493-19 |
September 21
We are getting towards the end of the outdoor shooting season and the weather can sometimes be ugly. But not today as is was very pleasant, sunny, and a great day to shoot.My mindset for standing was just to be methodical and wait for the shot that I wanted. My shots were on call but my calls were high 10's. I only had one shot outside the 10-ring that was low. All my other dropped points were high. The rifle just seemed to go off when I was up top. After the first half I seemed to settle down with one 9 but then had my 19th shot go when the sights were moving to the right for an eight.
Two X's for sighters and I thought I was well centered for sitting. The first string, even though clean, was high, right, and only had two X's. That was pretty lucky as I was losing the target and it was like I was putting the post on just a white background. I came down a click and fired a group that had several shots on the 10-line with a nine slightly out.
I felt pretty good as I was shooting rapid prone. While the sight picture was hard to get perfect (again!) the position felt good. Overall group size was only fair but it seems like I can never shoot a good 10 shot group. I keep shooting good 7 or 8 shot groups with the remaining shots somewhere else.
I don't know what to think about slow prone. Early on I dropped a point on my second shot, was all over the 10-ring, and didn't shoot my first X until the sixth shot. Occasionally I would have to wait out some weird light condition or my inability to get a good sight picture where the front sight wasn't as sharp as I wanted. The second half was better with 7 X's but some shots still took a while to get off.
| Offhand: | 193-3 |
| Sitting: | 199-5 |
| Rapid Prone: | 199-10 |
| Slow Prone: | 197-10 |
| Aggregate: | 788-28 |
September 22
Today was even nicer than yesterday. Great weather and blue skies for the team match.Like yesterday I tried to be methodical in standing. Just taking each shot individually and going through mounting the gun, settling into my hold, confirming NPA, and waiting for my opportunity. The shots were mostly inside of call but calls were hard to get on some shots. My last dropped point was on shot 11 with the spotter just off the 10-ring.
To get a little better comfort for sitting I slid my right foot a little further outward. Instead of being underneath my mid-calf it was now about lower-calf. This made my lower body support more stable and also brought the gun up higher in a natural way. The resulting groups were both good and well centered.
The first rapid prone group had me really scratching my head. There didn't seem to be enough wind to actually push me out and I didn't think my sights were shaded towards the left. But the resulting group was on the left side with four shots out and another one way down on the 9-line at the bottom that was almost an eight. I'll attribute the low one to inadequate front sight focus but I just couldn't understand where the rest of the group came from. I hedged my bets and came right two clicks for the follow-up string. That seemed to go fine and was a 7x clean.
In slow prone I dropped a point on my very first shot. That soured my outlook as not only could I not clean the target but I had my back to the wall and couldn't really afford to drop more points. Despite dropping a nine out the bottom on shot 4, I fired lots of X's in the first half. I drifted outward after that but it wasn't surprising as getting front sight focus was a full time job.
| Offhand: | 196-7 |
| Sitting: | 200-12 |
| Rapid Prone: | 195-10 |
| Slow Prone: | 196-9 |
| Aggregate: | 789-38 |
October 6
It had rained overnight and there was plenty of moisture on the range. The cool temperatures reminded me that the season is over and autumn is here.I'm not sure if it was the season winding down or what but I felt quite relaxed and confident going into offhand. My mantra for standing recently has been to be methodical and working through the process for each shot. My calls were good and for most shots I knew where they were going provided I could see the front sight properly. On many shots my focus goes downrange and I see a clearer target than post. The other thing I noticed today is that my trigger control was really good. While I still perceived that delay between shot decision and the rifle firing, there was almost no extra movement caused during this period. The shots broke very clean. In the first half it took some time to get settled and I dropped points on shots 4, 6, and 8. After that I found my rhythm and didn't have anything bad until shot 18. On that one I let the sights drift upward and I fired too high for a shot at the top of the black.
I tried to build on my sitting position from last match with my right foot further outward under my left calf. After that I just kept telling myself to squeeze the trigger. The first group was good but kind of wide. The second one was a smaller group but a little high with a lone nine at one o'clock.
My rapid prone sighters were both high which is a good sign as that is where I want them. For the first string I had a good position as the sights kept coming right back to the target. The front sight was fair but not great with a brightly lit target. It took me a while to break some shots as I didn't want to let one go with a bad sight picture. The second string didn't feel as good as the first. I had to take even more time on some shots and then rushed the last couple to make sure I finished before the targets went down.
During slow prone the light was not consistent as clouds kept coming over the range and putting the targets (and firing point) into shadow and then sunlight. The most challenging was when the sunshine made the target really bright and the sighting black seemed to disappear. I started in the X-ring with two sighters and the first shot. On shot five I had one of my nines straight out to the right but couldn't figure out why. The rest of the string was uneventful but I felt like I was breaking many shots as X's at 11 o'clock.
| Offhand: | 196-5 |
| Sitting: | 199-8 |
| Rapid Prone: | 200-8 |
| Slow Prone: | 199-10 |
| Aggregate: | 794-31 |
What I really noticed about this year is where, during the season, I was doing my best shooting. I started off pretty well and shot some good scores all the way into June. Things trailed off a bit once I got into July and I had a lackluster Camp Perry. Once back home though my scores came back up and the performances, while not great, were pretty solid. Statistically, 2013 was my best year ever as far as aggregate scores go. Despite this I wish I could have performed better at the Nationals.
After the stumbles I had in standing last year it was good to get back to decent form. There were some days where I had trouble due to either conditions or my nerves but overall I could expect to perform well in this stage. While my hold varied from match to match, I had pretty good trigger control for the most part. My better scores came on days when I could be methodical and work through a set process such as getting my support arm in the best position, acquire my NPA, and stay disciplined as to when to fire each shot.
I felt like I struggled with sitting again this year. There were way too many 99's that caused me to drop points. This doesn't seem like much but if I drop 10 points in the aggregate then a couple of 99's are 20%. It was also the first time in six years that I did not shoot a single 200 at Camp Perry. Statistical group size was slightly larger than last year and has been increasing for the last four years.
There was some conflicting data regarding my rapid prone scores this year. While the average score was similar to the last three years, my overall group size has been trending downward for the last five years. What was causing me to lose points were groups that were misplaced around the 10-ring. This had to do with the times that I was struggling with front sight focus.
After such a great season last year in slow prone I feel like I came crashing back down in 2013. Statistically the drop off wasn't huge but it certainly felt that way. Even at the beginning of the season my scores were decent but then it seemed harder and harder to shoot 198's or better. The sight picture that seemed easy last year was now harder to get clear. It got worse when I shot at Camp Perry because it seemed like my zeros had completely changed. When scores drop off like that it's hard to keep the same level of expectations.
