Shot my first prone match UPDATE: recent match score

AdrianM

AdrianM

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I took my old Anshutz to the indoor range faithfully every sunday night for the last 5 weeks and have been really enjoying shooting 20m prone. I haven't been improving like I would have hoped. In fact I shot my best on the 2nd weekend and have been struggling to top that night. But I have made some equipment changes and have added a glove and a shooting jacket so I know that these changes will take time to get used to.

On sunday I shot my first match. We shot prone at 4 targets. We used #134 ISSF match targets as opposed to the sporting rifle targets I've been practicing on.

I came in tied for 9th out of 17 shooters. I shot a 92 (felt a lot of nerves and a little hyper starting out), 95, 96, and lastly a 93. So a total of 376. Not my best, but not bad for me and for my first match.

Oh, the 8th place shooter was a 17 year old girl who shot a 380 Haha. The winner shot a 396 I think. There were some real good shooters there. The top 4 or 5 were only seperated by half a dozen points.

I know I was moving around too much checking shots with the spotting scope. I won't make that mistake again. I also now feel the need for a stop watch to monitor time. I felt rushed when I had lots of time to finish and that's no good.

I think I'll start working on kneeling a little bit now.
 
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A clock is huge. Practice using a digital kitchen timer. Get one with big enough numbers that you can read it without moving in and out of your prone position. While practicing, try to use up all your time, don't rush, don't finish early. You will realize how much time you really have per shot. You'll find you even have time to put your head down, breathe deep, and get some good visualization going on.
 
Powderfinger61 said:
You didn't mention what type of ammo
Increase your expense and buy some good grade target ammo, u will see a big difference
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I have just been shooting cheap Winchester T-22 but my club just bought 10,000 rounds of Lapua Standard Plus that is available to club members, so I am going to start shooting that this week and stick with it from now on.

Xfire said:
A hand stop and sling will help alot.
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I'm shooting sporting rifle, so a hand stop and a sling are not allowed.
 
At 20 yards, there ain't much difference between the cheaper stuff and the real expensive stuff... at 50M on the other hand, you'll see quite the spread!

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If you want your score to improve, put a black dot on the wall and practice getting into position and holding the 10.
Shooting match is all about being able to contently repeat the exact same sequence of event. Doing some dry firing at home will help you build muscle memory, without the stress of knowing if you'll be shooting a 10 or an 8 :)
 
Try checking your orientation. When you are in the prone position bring the unloaded gun to your shoulder as if you're going to shoot. Line up on the target then close your eyes and intentionally sway the rifle gently from sided to side to make sure that you are no longer lined up on the target. Keeping your eyes closed allow your arm and gun to settle to where they naturally want to rest using the least muscle possible. Once you have stopped moving, open your eyes and see where you are aiming. Don't try and cheat by thinking that you need to correct slightly left or right before opening your eyes. Chances are you will not be on target. Adjust your body position slightly to correct your alignment. Repeat this process until your position naturally puts you on target. When i was training we used to get oriented and have someone turn the lights out in the range and shoot a 10 or 20 shot string on target to see how well we were positioned. Pretty cool to see some of the groupings you could shoot with ZERO visual input.

Shoot at a pace that is comftorable for you. I was never able to shoot well using up all of my time in a match. My coaches constantly gave me **** for my pace, but it was what worked for me. A lot of people listen to music before matches to relax and clam down and most of them recommend mellow music/classical. I am a rock and metal fan and a friend of mine didn't have anything to listen to before a shoot so I gave him some of my music. He shot his personal best that day and won his class. Listen/take advice from everyone and use what works for you.
 
Update:

After my first full season of target shooting, I shot a provincial match a couple weeks ago. It was with my faithful '76 Frank-anshutz sporting rifle. I shot a 591 with 20X. I can shoot a little better than this when I'm just practicing but this is an improvement over my first match.

I was in the top 10. I'm going to stick with it and next year I'm aiming for top 5.
 
FYI - you can buy Lapua ammo locally and might save yourself the mark up, there are lots of different types of lapua brand 22 ammo you could try out.
 
I don't think there is much mark up. The club buys 10,000 rounds at a time and I think $6 per 50 rounds is pretty fair price for Lapua SK Match.
 
i found once you have sighted your weapon in don`t look through the scope some people have a habit of chasing the group concentait same point of aim ans squeezing the trigger haveing a coach helps they can see what you maybe doing wrong when shootinf
 
Dsniper22 said:
Try checking your orientation. When you are in the prone position bring the unloaded gun to your shoulder as if you're going to shoot. Line up on the target then close your eyes and intentionally sway the rifle gently from sided to side to make sure that you are no longer lined up on the target. Keeping your eyes closed allow your arm and gun to settle to where they naturally want to rest using the least muscle possible. Once you have stopped moving, open your eyes and see where you are aiming. Don't try and cheat by thinking that you need to correct slightly left or right before opening your eyes. Chances are you will not be on target. Adjust your body position slightly to correct your alignment. Repeat this process until your position naturally puts you on target. When i was training we used to get oriented and have someone turn the lights out in the range and shoot a 10 or 20 shot string on target to see how well we were positioned. Pretty cool to see some of the groupings you could shoot with ZERO visual input.

Shoot at a pace that is comftorable for you. I was never able to shoot well using up all of my time in a match. My coaches constantly gave me **** for my pace, but it was what worked for me. A lot of people listen to music before matches to relax and clam down and most of them recommend mellow music/classical. I am a rock and metal fan and a friend of mine didn't have anything to listen to before a shoot so I gave him some of my music. He shot his personal best that day and won his class. Listen/take advice from everyone and use what works for you.
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That is a great tip, I will have to remember that the next time I am at the range too! I definitely agree with listening/taking advice and using what you are most comfortable with. Although, you still have to remember to keep wanting to learn even when you think you already "got it".
 
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