Watched Rio Olympic 10m finals, humble pie.

[bryan123]

I watched a You Tube video of the 2016 Rio 10m airgun finals.  What a humbling experience to find that my best shots are their mediocre shots. 

What does it take to achieve that kind of accuracy?  Perfect vision, rock steadiness, concentration, biofeedback, telekinesis (lol) or a combination of all of these? 

Assuming their rifles are amazing and pellets first rate!

[ac12]

THAT is your life.  It is called dedication to a goal.
LOTS and LOTS and LOTS of training and practice.
DEEP pockets $$$$$, for the gear, training, travel, competition.

[ac12]

The NRA Master class is where you have to be.
Master.....................................95.00 and above
But in reality, you need to be a HIGH Master.
95 means you had 5x10 and 5x9.  Those five 9s will knock you out of competition.

Master.....................................95.00 and above
Expert....................................... 90.00 to 94.99
Sharpshooter .............................85.00 to 89.99
Marksman.................................... Below 85.00

Make a plan and work your way up the class scale.
Gud Luk.

[lefteyeshot]

Refresh my memory. Seem a young American woman won gold that year.

[bryan123]

Refresh my memory. Seem a young American woman won gold that year.

Ginny Thrasher.  She had just been crowned NCAA Champion too.  West Virginia Univ.  First gold medal to be awarded in Rio.  Other than that I know nothing about it.

[bryan123]

The NRA Master class is where you have to be.
Master.....................................95.00 and above
But in reality, you need to be a HIGH Master.
95 means you had 5x10 and 5x9.  Those five 9s will knock you out of competition.

Master.....................................95.00 and above
Expert....................................... 90.00 to 94.99
Sharpshooter .............................85.00 to 89.99
Marksman.................................... Below 85.00

Make a plan and work your way up the class scale.
Gud Luk.

Thanks.  So each shot has to cover a dot no bigger than a period at the end of a sentence at 33 feet.  I may have done that a dozen times total in the past 6 months...

[ac12]

The NRA Master class is where you have to be.
Master.....................................95.00 and above
But in reality, you need to be a HIGH Master.
95 means you had 5x10 and 5x9.  Those five 9s will knock you out of competition.

Master.....................................95.00 and above
Expert....................................... 90.00 to 94.99
Sharpshooter .............................85.00 to 89.99
Marksman.................................... Below 85.00

Make a plan and work your way up the class scale.
Gud Luk.

Thanks.  So each shot has to cover a dot no bigger than a period at the end of a sentence at 33 feet.  I may have done that a dozen times total in the past 6 months...

Consistently, for the entire match (60 shots) + finale (24 shots) = 84 shots.

And in the finale, it is even worse.  You have to CENTER the shot on the 10 "ring."  The finale is scored down to 0.1 points.  A 10.9 (perfectly centered) beats a 10.5.

[lefteyeshot]

Refresh my memory. Seem a young American woman won gold that year.

Ginny Thrasher.  She had just been crowned NCAA Champion too.  West Virginia Univ.  First gold medal to be awarded in Rio.  Other than that I know nothing about it.

A young high school girl from here in Savannah got a full ride to Georgia Souther University for air gun shooting.

[oledawg]

Love to watch those marches. Do you ever watch the archery matches, they are amazing too, better coverage and commentary in archery.

[bryan123]

The NRA Master class is where you have to be.
Master.....................................95.00 and above
But in reality, you need to be a HIGH Master.
95 means you had 5x10 and 5x9.  Those five 9s will knock you out of competition.

Master.....................................95.00 and above
Expert....................................... 90.00 to 94.99
Sharpshooter .............................85.00 to 89.99
Marksman.................................... Below 85.00

Make a plan and work your way up the class scale.
Gud Luk.

So my latest score of 174 out of 200 on the 10m Challenge match # 10 would make me Sharpshooter but I would have needed to shoot a 180 to be an expert and a 190 to be a master?

Thanks

[ac12]

The NRA Master class is where you have to be.
Master.....................................95.00 and above
But in reality, you need to be a HIGH Master.
95 means you had 5x10 and 5x9.  Those five 9s will knock you out of competition.

Master.....................................95.00 and above
Expert....................................... 90.00 to 94.99
Sharpshooter .............................85.00 to 89.99
Marksman.................................... Below 85.00

Make a plan and work your way up the class scale.
Gud Luk.

So my latest score of 174 out of 200 on the 10m Challenge match # 10 would make me Sharpshooter but I would have needed to shoot a 180 to be an expert and a 190 to be a master?

Thanks

If you shoot a full 60 shot regulation match.

[bryan123]

The NRA Master class is where you have to be.
Master.....................................95.00 and above
But in reality, you need to be a HIGH Master.
95 means you had 5x10 and 5x9.  Those five 9s will knock you out of competition.

Master.....................................95.00 and above
Expert....................................... 90.00 to 94.99
Sharpshooter .............................85.00 to 89.99
Marksman.................................... Below 85.00

Make a plan and work your way up the class scale.
Gud Luk.

So my latest score of 174 out of 200 on the 10m Challenge match # 10 would make me Sharpshooter but I would have needed to shoot a 180 to be an expert and a 190 to be a master?

Thanks

If you shoot a full 60 shot regulation match.

So basically what I did, three times in a row...  A score of at least  510 out of a possible 600.  That sounds kinda difficult but I'll try it.  Thanks

[Kyler]

The NRA Master class is where you have to be.
Master.....................................95.00 and above
But in reality, you need to be a HIGH Master.
95 means you had 5x10 and 5x9.  Those five 9s will knock you out of competition.

Master.....................................95.00 and above
Expert....................................... 90.00 to 94.99
Sharpshooter .............................85.00 to 89.99
Marksman.................................... Below 85.00

Make a plan and work your way up the class scale.
Gud Luk.

So my latest score of 174 out of 200 on the 10m Challenge match # 10 would make me Sharpshooter but I would have needed to shoot a 180 to be an expert and a 190 to be a master?

Thanks

If you shoot a full 60 shot regulation match.

So basically what I did, three times in a row...  A score of at least  510 out of a possible 600.  That sounds kinda difficult but I'll try it.  Thanks

go hang out on TargetTalk for a while.  Those guys shoot 540 or better.

[KevinJBrown]

Day in, day out. Wear little flat pads on the bones in your joints for stability. 

[bryan123]

The NRA Master class is where you have to be.
Master.....................................95.00 and above
But in reality, you need to be a HIGH Master.
95 means you had 5x10 and 5x9.  Those five 9s will knock you out of competition.

Master.....................................95.00 and above
Expert....................................... 90.00 to 94.99
Sharpshooter .............................85.00 to 89.99
Marksman.................................... Below 85.00

Make a plan and work your way up the class scale.
Gud Luk.

So my latest score of 174 out of 200 on the 10m Challenge match # 10 would make me Sharpshooter but I would have needed to shoot a 180 to be an expert and a 190 to be a master?

Thanks

If you shoot a full 60 shot regulation match.

So basically what I did, three times in a row...  A score of at least  510 out of a possible 600.  That sounds kinda difficult but I'll try it.  Thanks

go hang out on TargetTalk for a while.  Those guys shoot 540 or better.

That's Sharpshooter expert territory.  Are they nice to newbies or would they laugh at my scores and my CMP853?  One way to find out. I'll register and post on their group and see what happens. Thanks for the suggestion.

[ac12]

The NRA Master class is where you have to be.
Master.....................................95.00 and above
But in reality, you need to be a HIGH Master.
95 means you had 5x10 and 5x9.  Those five 9s will knock you out of competition.

Master.....................................95.00 and above
Expert....................................... 90.00 to 94.99
Sharpshooter .............................85.00 to 89.99
Marksman.................................... Below 85.00

Make a plan and work your way up the class scale.
Gud Luk.

So my latest score of 174 out of 200 on the 10m Challenge match # 10 would make me Sharpshooter but I would have needed to shoot a 180 to be an expert and a 190 to be a master?

Thanks

If you shoot a full 60 shot regulation match.

So basically what I did, three times in a row...  A score of at least  510 out of a possible 600.  That sounds kinda difficult but I'll try it.  Thanks

go hang out on TargetTalk for a while.  Those guys shoot 540 or better.

That's Sharpshooter expert territory.  Are they nice to newbies or would they laugh at my scores and my CMP853?  One way to find out. I'll register and post on their group and see what happens. Thanks for the suggestion.

We are nice guys there  :-)
Ask the 853 questions in the Youth forum, as the youth coaches who are familiar with the 853 hang out there.

[chico]

So basically what I did, three times in a row...  A score of at least  510 out of a possible 600.  That sounds kinda difficult but I'll try it.  Thanks

Bryan, i will be 62 in October. i started shooting 10M pistol just over 2 years, and became addicted. after (6) months of shooting, i entered the Camp Perry Open. i shot a dismal 478 or something like that. i was really dejected. i talked to a couple of my mentors - they gave me a couple books to read and were there to help when i needed it. i dedicated about 2 hours a day and 4-5 days a week to practice. i read (3) books and sent over 4000 rounds down range during that next year.

i participated in my second Camp Perry Open this past January and the first day shot my personal best  - a 502. i came back the next day and shot another personal best - a 518 . . . better score than some, not as good as others, but i was very, very pleased.

what i want to say, is, and as you are well aware, as you age your muscles don't always work the way they used to. your eyes don't always see what they used to. BUT, if your attitude . . . your focus . . . your desire . . . your goal . . .  is on shooting the very, very best you can, then go for it! seeing your enthusiasm for air pistol shooting over the past couple of months - GO FOR IT! shoot the very best that you can . . . you can do it - i know you can do it!

[bryan123]

So basically what I did, three times in a row...  A score of at least  510 out of a possible 600.  That sounds kinda difficult but I'll try it.  Thanks

Bryan, i will be 62 in October. i started shooting 10M pistol just over 2 years, and became addicted. after (6) months of shooting, i entered the Camp Perry Open. i shot a dismal 478 or something like that. i was really dejected. i talked to a couple of my mentors - they gave me a couple books to read and were there to help when i needed it. i dedicated about 2 hours a day and 4-5 days a week to practice. i read (3) books and sent over 4000 rounds down range during that next year.

i participated in my second Camp Perry Open this past January and the first day shot my personal best  - a 502. i came back the next day and shot another personal best - a 518 . . . better score than some, not as good as others, but i was very, very pleased.

what i want to say, is, and as you are well aware, as you age your muscles don't always work the way they used to. your eyes don't always see what they used to. BUT, if your attitude . . . your focus . . . your desire . . . your goal . . .  is on shooting the very, very best you can, then go for it! seeing your enthusiasm for air pistol shooting over the past couple of months - GO FOR IT! shoot the very best that you can . . . you can do it - i know you can do it!

Thank you!  For the win!  And thank you for being the one who convinced me to get the 853 in the first place!
My latest shooting,  174/200, 3x

[ac12]

Here is a trick that my AR coach taught me.
Ignore the ring numbers scores, and work in stages.

The idea is to keep ALL (or most) of the shots inside a specific ring.
So your score is +1 for inside the ring, and 0 for outside the ring.

Then when you can, keep all/most of the shots inside the ring.
Go to the next higher ring, and do the same.  +1 or 0.

In my case, stage 1 was to keep all the shots inside the 1 ring. 
- - Yeah, I was that bad.  I sometimes missed the target itself  :-(
Stage 2 was to keep all the shots inside the black. 
- - This was a major accomplishment for me.
Stage 3 and on was to gradually (ring by ring) keep all the shots inside the higher ring.  5, then 6, then 7, then 8, then 9.

The idea here is to consistently shoot a tighter and tighter group, rather than a group that looks like a shotgun pattern.  The tighter your group, the higher your score will be.  Because you will need a lot of 10s to make up for a 3.

[ac12]

BTW, I suggest the book "Air rifle Shooting"
http://www.pilkguns.com/store/Books-c23624399

I really wish I had that book, or the earlier book "Ways of the Rifle," when I started.
IMHO, short of a coach that is among the best books you can read.
And it is especially valuable for those of us that can't find a coach within a reasonable driving distance.