Finally Cleaned the GTA-gamox5 10 yard target today.

[Brushy Bill]

Here are a few of the latest targets I have shot.
Finally cleaned one today.

197 - 10X


198 - 9X


199 - 16X


200 - 12X

[Kirk B]

Looks like the rest of us will be shooting for "best in class", lol.
Awesome shooting Bill!

[Brushy Bill]

Thanks Spook. I will be shooting several more
before the weekend. I will shoot one target on
saturday or sunday, and it will be the one I post
for score. Regardless of the outcome.

[Kirk B]

Bill, you inspired me to run through a practice match tonight. I shot another 169. Like I said before, not stellar but still better than the 155 I posted the first week so I'm happy about that.

The gun was all over the place from the bench the last couple days. I have about 1000 pellets through it so I decided to run a couple of dry patches down the barrel. The first came out real nasty looking. 500 of those shots were a tin of CPHP's that were pretty dirty. Tonight it's grouping better, so I'm sure that helped.

What hurts is I decided to shoot one more target before putting it away and don't you know it was a 10x, 10x, 9 & 8. The x's were dead center too. I need to learn to do that when it counts. 

[Brushy Bill]

Keep hanging in there man. If I was shooting
a springer, I would probably be lucky to shoot
a 169.

I am real happy for ya. Shooting a 169 is a lot harder
than a 155. A lot more so than you would think for 14 points.

When you shot that last target, there was something that
made you more relaxed and focused at the same time.

Try to recognize any little things that may have been different
when that happens. (not just the better shot, but what enabled
that shot)
I tend to think it may have been a smoother trigger pull & follow
through.

This is the one biggest draw back in shooting this type of
matches. We cannot see what you are doing while you are
shooting to help diagnose the little things.

Not to worry though, as you get more trigger time in.
It will become easier for your to feel the subtle differences
in your shooting form.

Mark made a good point the other day. He said he spent a lot of
time shooting in his back yard "sitting on a cooler".
I do the same thing in my house. My computer desk is situated
where I can see down the hallway where I keep my target trap/box.

I always have a rifle close at hand when working on the computer
and will pick it up and take 5-10 shots sitting in my chair.
I don't use any artificial rest, or rest my elbows on my knees or
anything, just sitting and shooting.

That may be a good way for you to reinforce your trigger control
and follow through without inducing the stress of controlling
all the standing muscles.

When you are practicing, you might try shooting one shot string/bull
sitting, and the next one standing. It cant hurt anything to give it
a try.

You will get there friend, just don't let a bad target, or a good one
for that matter, get you frustrated.

[Kirk B]

...I tend to think it may have been a smoother trigger pull & follow
through.

I definately have to work on my trigger pull. It's not that I jerk it, it's that it's painfully slow. I wander across the target 10 times before I get the shot off. It gets to the point that I can't hold steady anymore and have to stop. Unfortunately breaking the barrel again does not reset the trigger so when I resume, I have a hair trigger that always breaks before I want it to.

My follow through needs work as well. The biggest issue I have is that I don't have enough time in with this gun to know exactly when the trigger will break. When it does, it's always kind of a suprise and it breaks my concentration for that split second. My best results have been when I've been able to keep both eyes open and give the target my full attention. If I know when the gun is going to go off and I am unphased by it, I feel like I can almost "will" the shot into the target. That to me feels like good follow through. If I can work on being able to do that every shot, I think I'll see consistent improvement in my scores.

I know the only way to improve is to keep at it, so I will not get frustrated. I know too that every shooter goes through the same learning curve. Right now I'm all about patience and practice. Thanks for the encouragement Bill.

[gamo2hammerli]

Wow....that's outstanding target shooting.

[Brushy Bill]

Wow....that's outstanding target shooting.

Thanks, I shot smallbore and high power rifle for years.
Back then I lived about a 20 minute drive from our indoor
range. I practiced smallbore and or 10 meter pistol usually
three times a week. The club had either rimfire or center fire
pistol national match course matches along with a 30 round
3 position smallbore match every thursday evening.

Then, in addition to that, on the weekends from april until october
I would shoot either smallbore or high power rifle on both saturday
and sunday. It pretty much consumed all my free time.
Got away from it about 8 years ago due to a job relocation.

Have been shooting mostly air since then. But finding the GTA,
and the matches here it has re kindled the desire to stand up and
shoot. I have a set up here in the house I can comfortably
shoot up to 45 feet, and outside up to 50 yards.
Since I found this place, I have been taking advantage of
being able to shoot more often.

I have found myself spending more time here than the other forums
lately. This place reminds me more of the rifle and pistol club than a forum.
It is hard to describe, it is different from the other forums, but a good
kind of different.

Look forward to the weather warming up so I can shoot some
of the longer distance matches.

I have seen some really impressive shooting by the members here.
It's a pretty cool deal.
And it is nice to see guys like spook taking it up and giving a
good honest go at it. Just wish more would give it a try.

There is not one single member here that would not benefit from
participating in one or more of the matches.
I know there are many many "critter getter's" here.
But with the number of matches offered, they can find something
they would like. And the additional trigger time would give them
that much more confidence when they are in the field.

Sorry to ramble, I just love shooting and want to encourage
others as much as possible.

[timegoat]

There is not one single member here that would not benefit from participating in one or more of the matches.

Hear hear! My match shooting has helped my pest control / hunting immeasurably! The way I see it, if I'm going to kill one of nature's creatures I want it to be one shot, accurate, and quick. The better I am at hitting a 1" kill zone, the better for all involved. I do my critter control from my bench rest position in an upstairs window and the ranges are from 20-35yds. The 30yd bench match is great practice for that.

That's some great shooting Bill. Hit my 200/200 before I did! Whaaaa! Not fair! Guess I just gotta practice more and more and more. Awww shucks, what a chore.

I'm sitting on a 196/200 shot with my R7 (scope at 3x) for this round. I think my tired arms are happier with the much lighter rifle for now. Best I've hit with the Diana 34 the current match is a 192.

My indoor shooting is as convenient as Bill's. I paint watercolors on one side of my basement and while I'm waiting for an area of paint to dry, I can just pick up the rifle and take a handful of shots, then back to the painting. But I can't wait to get back outside too.

Sorry to ramble, I just love shooting and want to encourage others as much as possible.

Ditto!

- Mark