Need help with High Power

[antsi]

This is my second season of shooting high power on a fairly regular basis, this morning was my third match of this summer (maybe my 9th or 10th match overall).

I seem to have hit a plateau or a brick wall or something. I got my scores up to the 400 range - give or take a few - fairly quickly but I am not getting to the next level.

There is no particular area that I do much worse or much better than any of the others.

I seem to be able to string together four or five very good shots, and then come up with a really bad flyer or two, or go into a spell where my groups open up all of a sudden.

I guess consistency is the key I am looking for here.

Can anyone recommend a book or video or practice routine that can help me sharpen up all those 'little things' I need to do to get better?

 

[SRM]

Dry fire and practice.

There are no easy ways to buy points assuming your equipment is acceptable.

Every shot is an individual match. Don't worry about the shot that is gone, there is nothing you can do about it. Don't worry about the next shot, it doesn't matter. The only one that matters is in the rifle. Align the sights and fire a good shot.

HTH.....SRM

 

[duckfoot]

Got to second SRM. Treat every shot as the first one you got, and forget the last. Never accept less than your best shot. I've walked away from the line with rounds because of this belief, but I have never shot a match that I wasn't sure that I gave it my all.

.02 with salt

Duck

 

[Steve Smith]

JC121 wanted to post this:

From JC121:

walls?
I have hit a wall and some walls are tough to overcome but you can do it.
like sam said try it and practice and get alot of dryfiring in.
with out going into alot of stuff and bore everyone with those trying to squeze those last few points out lets try this.

look at what you want to improve the most and not just off hand.
lets say its either the prone rapid or sitting rapid.
how much time do you have when your done and did you panic shoot on any shot like two shots on one breath?
if you try a time management concept which means you are using your time more to your benifit and you can give yourself more time to get that better shot as thats the first thing that comes to mind when you say man it seems like I get 4 or 5 or 6 great shots and then it goes down hill from there.

have everything close and ready. be one of the first on the mat, build that npa right off the get go. never ever remove your left elbow(right hand shooters)from it position when you change mags as then after the mag change you have never lost your npa.
even on bad days after that you are close and I mean mid 90's would be a bad string.
figure whats best for you center hold , 6 o'clock or flat tire or what ever and use what is best FOR YOU at each distance or each target. me I use center now for off hand, 6 for sitting, 6 for 300 or center depending on conditions and center for any 600 target.
do you look your stock into your shoulder in exactly the same place evertime DO IT!
do you find your groups change after a mag change? do the above and that last one and you will cure it.
with decent zero's for example I can go to just about any range and with out sighters the center of the x is my center of my group that is because I do this and after awhile it gets more like a motor skill than a thought process.
ever shot I make sure I'am looking exactly threw the center of the rear sight and that goes for rapids also. if you do this every time the shot has no place to go except were the front post is.

the only reason to ever not get enough shots off is to have either ammo or rifle to not work. oh cross fires also.
if you are getting to lose points because of time you did not follow the simple basics of position building as if you did you have time to breath and get your shots off smooth and deliberate.

gotta go to work we can cover more if you have any more questions.
jon

 

[Steve Smith]

Now from me.

From me this time:

I think platueaus are common. Everyone talks about hitting a plateau now and again, its normal. I hit one where you are now, and once I went past it I went way past it almost immediately. One month I was barely breaking 400, and then all of a sudden 465-475 was normal. I'm stuck there for now because my offhand has dropped some but the rest of the course has gotten even better for me. In fact about a month ago I shot a 80 shot course and dropped a whopping 41 points in my standing (OUCH!) but then dropped only 7 more points in the last 60 shots of the match, and STILL wound up with a Master score (752). That was a huge wake up call for me, and I have been improving my standing ever since. If I can drop that little over 60 shots, I know I can get my Master card very quickly if I just get my standing straightened out, which I am.

Just keep working at at and shoot as many matches as you can. Just shoot shoot shoot. You'll get past it.

 

[antsi]

thanks, all, for the replies

Reflections on what you-all said:

The only possible equipment issues are --

Spotting Scope - mine is a cheapy, and sometimes it's hard to pick up those tiny little .223 bullet holes - especially when they are in the black. Match before last, I shot a beautifully tight group in prone slow that was mostly in the black, but wasn't centered on the X. I didn't make the sight adjustment I needed because I couldn't see the pattern. I'm reluctant to buy a "mid-grade" spotting scope and then have to upgrade again later, but spending $1000 on a truly good one right now is a painful thought.

&%$@# Right-Handed Mag Release - I shoot long guns lefty because my right eye is no good. I've been struggling with the right hand mag release because I don't want to make my service rifle into a match rifle with a non-service mag release. I need to work on making the mag change smoothly without moving my (right) elbow. Good thought, JC121/Steve.

- * -

I am hearing the "be patient, keep at it" message loud and clear, and the "don't fret over the bad shots" dictum. These are both keys I am aware of, but still struggling with.

- * -

So dry-fire practice with mag changes is an obvious one. What else should I be doing when I dry-fire? Just run through a "pretend match" maybe?

 

[Steve Smith]

This is from JC121 again.

this is jc121 and not steve sorry steve I'am to sick and lazy tonight to log on.

remember this saying as it was told to me and it has helped me out the most of anything I have ever heard on how to get better.

I asked a guy about my age (was alot younger back then) what was the big difference in my 410 score and his 492 score beside the score ,
we had the same equipment
we had the same rifle
we had the same ammo
what gives.

he said it very simply the only difference between his being great and me being ok was that I jon make alot more mistakes than he did.
sounds kinda funny does it not.
think about that for awhile.

lets just say the 10 ring is our goal as if its in the 10 we are going to find the x for a few of them also.
now lets say our 50 shot match goes like this and I will break it down:
87 on off hand with 3 tens, 3 nines, 2 eights, 2 sevens.
now that was 3 shots you did not make a mistake and 7 you made from a slight error to a large error. it was still a expert score so shoot for all in the black with none in the white next time.
the same goes for the rest of the match.
where I'am at right now is this.
lets say I shoot a 488 out of 500 and in that we have 2 eights and the rest nines.
I have moved my goal up to only wanting to shoot tens instead of just keeping them in the black.
now that was 8 nines and two eights for 12 shots out of 50 and thats a whopping like 25% or really just a touch over that.
you might say hey thats a killer score and its not bad but with my goal set why do I mentally let 25% of my shots go when I should not of.

you might think abou ta goal of not accepting anything out side of the 9 or do not pull the trigger.
if you do that and shoot as soon as its in the black the worst you would get would be a 450 and thats a expert score.

slow down and practice that off hand alot , its like when its in the black bust it and bust it now and the same goes with all of the others.

because I bet you know exactly which shots are the 6's or 7's or 8's and just force your self to say do not pull.
good luck