A new level of frustration

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ljnowell

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As we all know we are never truly happy with what we have. When I first started shooting bullseye I dreamed of shooting a 260 on the NMC. Then it was a 270. Then a 280, etc. I have nailed perfect 100s, they always make me smile.

This week was a first. I shot a 285-16x, which is quite respectable in my opinion. However my timed fire target was a first for me. It was a 9x target. Unfortunately it was a 99-9x. After I got over the initial surprise my first reaction was, you guessed it, disappointment that it wasn't a 100, lol.

Why can't we just be happy?
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Verrry nice. You're obviously doing a lot right. Focus on that, since that's how you shoot 10s. And attention on 9s eventually becomes self-fulfilling.

Awesome progress, man!
 
Many years ago, when I was new to the Hi-Power game, I was squaded with a much better and more experienced shooter and was trying to learn new skills. For whatever reason, I commented that I thought (?) my scores were ok (within my limited skillset) but I was whining that I couldn't seem to get a good x-count. He looked at me - paused - and said " I'll trade you every x I have for one more point." A profound statement indeed.

However, it doesn't take anything away from your dang fine looking target. And with one hand no less.....

Howard
 
MrBorland said:
Verrry nice. You're obviously doing a lot right. Focus on that, since that's how you shoot 10s. And attention on 9s eventually becomes self-fulfilling.



Awesome progress, man!
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Thanks! Positive outlook and confidence does wonders for scores. One of my leagues is a team league and our motto is "No stinkin' thinkin'!" Always be positive and know that every shot is a 10 until you make it something else.

Howard Roark said:
Because you are a Competitor, not a shooter. Shooters exclaim how many points they scored, Competitors lament the points that they did not get.
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You speak the truth. I know many that don't practice, go to a match and shoot it out. It doesn't matter the score, they just wanted to shoot. I'm happy for those guys, I'm just not wired that way. I'm out burning up 300-500 rounds per week in practice and then shooting a minimum of two matches per week. Competition is what drives me.

mikebsr said:
Nice shooting . I wish I had your ability.
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You can! More practice!

zb338 said:
Remember the good shots and forget the miss. That way

you get better instead of worse.



Zeke
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Shaking it off is one of the hardest things to do. Shooting a bad target and coming back to shoot a good one after it is a skill in itself. I'm still trying to master that. After all, bullseye is almost as much mental as it is ability.

Howard B said:
Many years ago, when I was new to the Hi-Power game, I was squaded with a much better and more experienced shooter and was trying to learn new skills. For whatever reason, I commented that I thought (?) my scores were ok (within my limited skillset) but I was whining that I couldn't seem to get a good x-count. He looked at me - paused - and said " I'll trade you every x I have for one more point." A profound statement indeed.



However, it doesn't take anything away from your dang fine looking target. And with one hand no less.....



Howard
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He is right! I have shot a 99-1x before and in the long run it wasn't worth any more than this target. Unless there is a tie, lol.

Bobson said:
Nice shooting, humblebrag. :rolleyes:



Hey, you earned it. ;)
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Thank you!!
 
Nice, but as posted, competitive people always anguish over the ones that got away.

Ah man, if I had just got that fifth one in the group, it ......... :mad:

:)
 
The first thing match winners and record setters learn is they are competing "with" everyone else but competing only "against" themselves. They pick the stuff to use and do; nobody else does.

It's best to figure out how to make the widest shots strike closer to center. Forget about your smallest test groups checking out your stuff. It's the biggest ones that cost you points and puts your name lower on the scoreboard.

At the 1971 Interservice Rifle Match at MCB Quantico, VA, I was shooting my 7.62 NATO chambered Garand in a 600 yard service rifle match with Lapua 185-gr. FMJRB bullets. Sighters were a 10 followed by an X. My first 12 shots were all Xes. Coming out of recoil on the 13th shot, my scorekeeper quietly said 'Oops." My target didn't come down. Then the USMC warrant officer shooting next to me said in context "I don't shoot well but my target came up with two spotters in it. One out barely in the 9 ring at 10 o'clock and another a bit off center in the X ring." He got scored the X. That's what the rules say happens. I looked through my spotting scope seeing his target as he spoke. Then my target came up with a miss scored.

I finished the match with a 190-15X placing way, way down on the score board. The match was won by an Army guy with a 200-11X score. My only joy was putting 13 Xes in a row down range. But not all of them were on my target. That haunted me for the rest of the match.
 
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Bart B. said:
It's best to figure out how to make the widest shots strike closer to center. Forget about your smallest test groups checking out your stuff. It's the biggest ones that cost you points and puts your name lower on the scoreboard.
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That makes good sense, but to how to eliminate fliers? As I see it is that there are countless ways to make a bad shot, and only a few to make a good one. Seems, then, that focusing on what I did right, rather than wrong, is the productive productive route. IOW, always do the right thing, and the fliers will take care of themselves. Or, as the saying goes, "you don't need to shoot perfect shots; just don't shoot any bad ones".


Bart B. said:
Then the USMC warrant officer shooting next to me said in context "I don't shoot well but my target came up with two spotters in it. One out barely in the 9 ring at 10 o'clock and another a bit off center in the X ring." He got scored the X. That's what the rules say happens. I looked through my spotting scope seeing his target as he spoke. Then my target came up with a miss scored.
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So, you simply shot the wrong target? Or you had a heck of a flier. :rolleyes:
 
It's my opinion that there are no such things as fliers.

Every bullet goes where all parts of the shooting system put it. Those parts include rifle, ammo, sight and that thing that aims the rifle; all of which have variables. When all those variables are at their limit in the same direction, any bullet fired will strike furthest from the intended point of bullet impact .

That miss was caused by the rifle unintentionally being aimed 16 MOA to the right of the intended point of impact in my opinion. I think it went where the system caused it to. Had the bullet been so unbalanced that it flew way off the muzzle axis towards the target, it would have also had much more drag (lower BC) and struck way low; still part of the system that had one very bad bullet.
 
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