10 meter air rifle match #8 and #9

Things have been hectic and cold.  Not conducive to shooting or the mental aspects of shooting.  Keeping the woodstove going and cars running is a process in and of itself when the high of the DAY is -2F.

I was able to bring a new shooter to match #8 (1/22/13) but found that effort took me completely off my game.  Forgot spotting scope and in general was distracted.  Or, that is my excuse.  I even practiced some and thought I learned a few things.  Those things being, split finger may fatique for 60 shots but yeilds better net results than a fist.  Or so the data shows.  Fist shooting will be put off to another time.  Next, work at pushing the left hip up to the left elbow and make more "positive contact" with hip to elbow.  Seems to help stability.  Third, a wider leg stance seems to reduce verticle wobble.  All those great learnings still netted a disaster.  My head simply was not there.

Match #9 (1/29/13) I went solo and focused on trying things again.  Things went better except I seem to have some tendency to quiver just as I release the shot.  Not sure if it is subconscious or my effort to make the sight picture that "tiny bit better".  Net result is some stupid 7 or worse one 6!  If I could get it so my bad shots are 8s, I would be happy.  It seemed when I really worked on NPA and taking good shots, I could feel the 10 when the "quiver" stayed away.  Practice I think is the word of the day. 91 was my best target of the year and it had one 7 and three 10x, rest were 9s

2012-13 Season score log

#1 501 (81 81 84 85 82 88)
#2 515 (87 88 89 83 85 83) 11 7s or lower, 15 10x. previous practice 1x (3.6)
#3 485 (82 82 80 77 86 78) 19 7s or lower, 7 10x. Daisy pellets, reduced barrel weight.(3.6)
#4 494 (88 74 87 88 76 81) 14 7s or lower, 11 10x. JSB SCHaK pellets. First Tuesday night.(3.6)
#5 522 (89 88 90 88 82 88) 7 7s nothing lower, 11 10x. Many high value 9s! H&N + SCHaK (3.2)
#6 492 (75 85 76 84 86 86) 14 7s or lower, 6 10x. SCHaK (3.8)
#7 520 (88 84 90 86 87 85) 8 7s, 12 10x. SCHaK (3.8)
#8 490 (75 85 76 84 86 84) not worth noting. SCHaK (3.8)  Guest shooter.
#9 516 (91 87 86 82 86 84) 11 7s, 13 10x. SCHaK (3.8)  Must stamp out 7s!

2011-12 Season score log

#1 515 (87 83 87 88 90 80)
#2 510 (85 89 85 86 82 83)
#3 532 (94 87 83 91 89 88) (season high, 94/100 tied best ever 10 shots)
#4 530 (87 90 90 93 89 81)
#5 524 (86 84 88 91 85 90)
#6 517 (88 85 88 87 90 79)
#7 524 (82 91 88 91 84 88)


Personal Top three 600 scores. Goal, 540.

539 (93 90 90 85 87 94). 11x 7 or lower, 22 10x. 11/??/08
532 (94 87 83 91 89 88) 3/??/12
530 (87 90 90 93 89 81) 3/??/12

Home or last post.

H&R Premier Small Frame Auto Ejecting 32 S&W

click on picture for full image

And now for something non Silhouette just because I find it to be interesting.  I may do other non silhouette posts because too much of one thing can get boring.

The gun pictured on the right is one of two handguns that remain from my my father's collection.  In 1992 he sold 8 of 10 handguns.  These things happen.  I suppose at the time he was ecstatic to get the $4,000 for the lot.  My favorite was his Colt New Service 8" barrel SN 58470.  It had what my Dad called a hair trigger and the blueing was a mile deep.  I never shot it but it was a piece of art in your hands.  It is long since gone to some collector along with the Lugers, Broomhandle Mausers and a Walther P-38.  But this little guy for some odd reason was kept for personal defense. I found it in his desk. 

What I find amazing is the date of manufacture.  Per my father's notes, he called It a "Harrington & Richardson Pocket Revolver 5 shot in 32 S&W".  His note card put an estimated date of mfg to be between 1920 and 1930.  I found a forum that discusses these guns and learned it is much older than that!

Based on the serial number, this gun was manufactured in 1898 in Worcester, Massachusetts.  The gun has not gone far from home during its 115 years and I suspect it has had little to no use. One advantage of being an obscure calibur is it won't be shot much.  Here is a post from Jim Hauff who collects H&Rs and was willing to share his considerable knowledge after collecting them for 16 years.

click on picture for full image

YOU HAVE an excellent example of a 1st Model PREMIER SMALL FRAME AUTO EJECTING 3rd Variation (1897-98). They rarely show up with that much color case on the trigger. Serial number fits within the known range for that mod. and var. Since it is pre 1905 production - H&R would not recommend the use of smokeless/Nitro powders in the earlier guns - their prohibition not mine. The BLUED finish is very scarcely found in these early examples and is worth a premium to collectors. Prefix code 'O' seems to have been used in 1898. Current RETAIL value, in my humble estimation for a piece in that condition would be in the range of $275 - $300 if presented to the right audience. NICE heritage piece.

also: it has the latch hold open device - the small button on the left side of the top strap, when pushed all the way in while lifting the two piece latch, then released will hold the latch and cylinder retainer upward while you remove the cylinder - DO NOT attempt to reinstall the cylinder without the latch and retainer hook upright or you will "engrave" a very fancy pattern all over the surface of the cylinder - I've got a couple that folks have so embellished.  (original post)

I just thought I would change things up a bit.  Should anyone have reloading dies I am casually thinking of loading up some fresh ammo.  Most likely it will sit in storage as it has for the past 60 years.  Maybe I will do the other handgun should there be interest. SAAMI link on exact case size.  Lyman mould would be a 311252 or 311227 should anyone be willing to loan a mould or cast some for me.

10 meter Air Rifle Match #7

This will be short as it is more for my training than any form of sharing useful information.

I had skimmed a little of Ways of the Rifle and Air-Rifle Shooting.  One nugget of info stuck which I tried to use.  I tend to get anxious or nervous when I start to shoot.  So, let me tell a short story on myself.

10+ years ago I went to my first "big" match.  By big I mean HUGE!  150+ silhouette shooters at the biggest event of the year, Winnsboro!  First shot, there I was with my mentor/spotter Fenton S.  I was trying to get the shot off and I was shaking  so much I could not get on the right bank let alone animal!  Fenton looked down at at my shorts which were shaking just as much as I was.  HA!  He said "What's the matter?  It's just like any other match."

I guess it is just the way I am wired.  I don't think I can change it.  Thus the reason I try to train all year.  My goal is to make breaking the shot feel like second nature or "subconscious".  My weakness, the more I try to execute that "perfect" shot, the "less likely" it is to happen.  If it is not habit or "routine", odds of success is low.

I had some of that last night.  My first shot was a deep 10.  I built my stance and did all the basics.  The next 5 shots were 9s.  Then I started to "try" to shoot well so as to not ruin the good run I had going.  I think you know what happened.  I was in and out of this mode for most of the match.  I look at the positive, I am getting better at "building" my standing position.  Now I need to reinforce the habit.

That said, here are the results.  I thought 12 10x was going to be tops this season.  How the heck did I shoot 15 10x on the second match of the year?  Goes to show just how big the mental aspect of this sport is for me.

2012-13 Season score log

#1 501 (81 81 84 85 82 88)
#2 515 (87 88 89 83 85 83) 11 7s or lower, 15 10x.  previous practice 1x (3.6)
#3 485 (82 82 80 77 86 78) 19 7s or lower,  7 10x. Daisy pellets, reduced barrel weight.(3.6)
#4 494 (88 74 87 88 76 81) 14 7s or lower, 11 10x. JSB SCHaK pellets. First Tuesday night.(3.6)
#5 522 (89 88 90 88 82 88)  7 7s nothing lower, 11 10x. Many high value 9s! H&N + SCHaK (3.2)
#6 492 (75 85 76 84 86 86)  14 7s or lower, 6 10x. SCHaK (3.8)
#7 520 (88 84 90 86 87 85)  8 7s, 12 10x.  SCHaK (3.8)

2011-12 Season score log

#1  515 (87 83 87 88 90 80)
#2  510  (85 89 85 86 82 83)
#3  532  (94 87 83 91 89 88)  (season high, 94/100 tied best ever 10 shots)
#4  530  (87 90 90 93 89 81)
#5  524  (86 84 88 91 85 90)  
#6  517  (88 85 88 87 90 79)
#7  524  (82 91 88 91 84 88)  

Personal Top three 600 scores.  Goal, 540.

539  (93 90 90 85 87 94).  11x 7 or lower, 22 10x.  11/??/08
532  (94 87 83 91 89 88)   3/??/12
530  (87 90 90 93 89 81)   3/??/12

Home or last post.

Good reading on scope testing

The topic of scope testing came up again.  I refereed them to my posts on the matter as I really do not have any new material.

BUT!  There was a wonderful website by a Canadian Fellow with some tips and tricks.  A Dan Theodore had done some extensive testing on various brands of scopes. His article was useful not just from the objective data about scopes but also for his methodology.  I have regretted more than once that I could not point people back to this wonderful article.

Recently I found this web based tool which is part of the Library of Congress.  I can only gather there is some desire to archive the somewhat perishable website information.  If you have an old URL or even just want to see what a URL "used to say", put it in their "way back machine" and select from a calendar when you want to see the website.  I put in my missing or "broken" link and viola, there was the old website with the wonderful scope testing article!

Here is the "way back tool".  Correct, this is not shooting related, just a handy tool.

Here is an excellent read regarding scope testing saved by the "way back tool".  I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

As info, here are some past blog entries re scopes:

Starter Scope
Entry level Scope
Canting a scope...why 
Shooting the box.....see scope repeatability HERE.

I am a little surprised.  I thought I had made an extensive post on how to "shoot a box" to test a scope's ability to return to zero aka repeatability.  I will keep on looking.  For now, you have to go to the last link and read about "scope repeatability" as I have not written my own version.  What I like about Dan's test is that ammo variability, wind and other issues are pretty much eliminated.  A quality 10m target air rifle will shoot one hole all day long.  His test truly measures the repeatability of a scope.  There are some great nuggets in his article.  I am glad I could find it.

10 meter Air Rifle Match History

For the first match of 2013, I seem to have a bunch of excuses.  All worthy.  In short, holidays, kids home from college, fighting 2F (-16c) in a 200 year old farm house, I have created many reasons to not practice.  But, here is the silver lining.

My Tuesday night 10m air rifle match resumed.  Two 10m rifles and two 10m pistols.  Good use of the range for a Tuesday night.  I went in without any practice.  About the only prep work I did was to ENSURE I had the 3.8mm front insert and replaced the 3.2mm.  A "too small" insert which I use for shooting the 10m silhouette animals. I also used the JSB SCHaK pellets.

My ability to build a stance and hold to execute quality shots was about a 6 out of 10.  Bad.  Lack of practice, muscle memory, myelin, who knows.  You won't do well at this game without practice.  PERIOD!  As Tom D. says, "Have a desire to do well.  If you don't put in the effort, your scores will reflect in...."  Simple and clear.

Learnings:

• I am experimenting with resting rifle on my fist instead of my silhouette split finger.  It shows promise but I learned, it somehow changes the geometry of my trigger finger and I started to pull through the second stage and had 4 ADs, one lost me 6 points! Should NEVER happen!
• Fist support.  Works well and gives me a more stable sight picture and thus lets me focus on trigger execution.  BUT!  For some odd reason I wiggle on a horizontal plane when I do break the trigger yielding 8s or even a 7 when I had expected a perfect 10.
• Sometimes I find it best to forget about using the spotting scope and just focus on better shooting.  Looking at a bad shot to confirm is was a bad shot is only a distraction.  I improved when I just skipped spotting by the middle of the match.
• JSB vs H&N.  My hold was not good enough to discern lower accuracy as I was able to in match #5.  I write it here so as to not forget the issue.  Truth be told, when my indoor range was put away for the holidays, my 4 tins of vintage H&Ns which shot so well vanished.  Sigh.
• PRACTICE!

Results.  Given the number of ADs I had, and my need and ability to "re-learn" how to shoot or should I say, do more good things than bad things by the end of the match, I am at peace. More often than not my scores decline by end of the match due to energy and focus.  Tonight my last shot was a deep 10 (see picture) as it should have been.  Unclear about the impact of using the 3.8mm insert.  Too many other issues to focus on so the jury is out.  I stick with it until I can truly evaluate it when my hold and trigger finger is better.

2012-13 Season score log

#1 501 (81 81 84 85 82 88)
#2 515 (87 88 89 83 85 83) 11 7s or lower, 15 10x.  previous practice 1x (3.6)
#3 485 (82 82 80 77 86 78) 19 7s or lower,  7 10x. Daisy pellets, reduced barrel weight.(3.6)
#4 494 (88 74 87 88 76 81) 14 7s or lower, 11 10x. JSB SCHaK pellets. First Tuesday night.(3.6)
#5 522 (89 88 90 88 82 88)  7 7s nothing lower, 11 10x. Many high value 9s! H&N + SCHaK (3.2)
#6 492 (75 85 76 84 86 86)  14 7s or lower, 6 10x. SCHaK (3.8)

2011-12 Season score log

#1  515 (87 83 87 88 90 80)
#2  510  (85 89 85 86 82 83)
#3  532  (94 87 83 91 89 88)  (season high, 94/100 tied best ever 10 shots)
#4  530  (87 90 90 93 89 81)
#5  524  (86 84 88 91 85 90)  
#6  517  (88 85 88 87 90 79)
#7  524  (82 91 88 91 84 88)

2022-24 Season score log

#1  467    (74 78 81 70 85 79)  not pretty.  2 snowbirds.  3 10s. A place to start.

Personal Top three 600 scores.  Goal, 540.

539  (93 90 90 85 87 94).  11x 7 or lower, 22 10x.  11/??/08
532  (94 87 83 91 89 88)   3/??/12
530  (87 90 90 93 89 81)   3/??/12

Home or last post.
 

TPM January 1st, match #3 results

Happy new year.  The first post for 2013.  We had a lot of interest in this match program.  Sorry to be a few days late but the 2F outside and all the family home made shooting a bit of a challenge.  We have some folks from Texas and Kentucky joining us.  Welcome!  Hats off toe Niklas who continues to shoot well.  I will add that we have some youth too.  Elisabeth is 19 and Nicholas is 15.  Awesome!

It seems like folks are enjoying it and may want another chance.  Keep putting TPM in the subject line.  It helps me search for the submission among the other thousands of inbound mail.  Digging up the email is the biggest job.

Next match.  Please submit your next scores by Jan 20th.  I will try to have two matches per month.  You can submit a score for every gun you own as long as it is .177 cal.  If you have just one gun, you can shoot it scoped and shoot it iron sights for the over achievers out there. 

The newest edition of USAShooting Sports is out.  A touch of airgun related material.  I wonder if it is more of an ad for SCATT systems than really teaching us anything. See page 14.

Niklas is also treating us to another picture of his beautiful range.  I am so jealous.

What ranges in Finland look like, thanks Niklas!  Click on photo for larger image.