UPDATE:
Have been shooting at least two ends almost every weekend with both my Iron sighted CZ457 and another 457 I’d set up with a red dot…scores have pretty consistently been in the low-to-mid 80s.
Then last week I got a new toy - a Bergara B14r HMR with a carbon fiber barrel. I set it up with a trijicon RCR on a plate I made in the garage, and got out to play with it for the first time today.
WOW! It was a lesson for me in how much good gun fit can advantage my standing unsupported shooting! Proper LOP adjustment, a bit more vertical rise between recoil pad and cheek so I’m not “hunching” so much into the rifle. Trigger hand more naturally vertical by comparison to tilted on a sporter stock. A little bit more mass, but balanced over the mag well. Elevated cheek piece so I’ve got good cheek well but am a bit more upright. All this together made it so much easier to find natural point of aim and the wobbly circles I’d draw while holding were so much smaller.
Marry all this with the greatly superior trigger of the B14 over the CZ and it was a recipe for step-change higher-performance for me! I made the mistake of checking things out through the spotting scope after each magazine, and gave myself some serious performance anxiety after the second mag was done - on the last string of 5 I threw 4 of them into the 3 zone.
The result was still my highest-ever score, and I think I can do better if I just relax a bit more and stay out of my own head.
Amazed at how much gun fit matters, and have new appreciation for how biathletes set up their guns for their prone strings.
Will get out again tomorrow to try again and see if it’s just a flash in the pan or really that-much-improved. Might have to change out my hunting gun for a similar centerfire version…
Hope your all having a great summer,
Brobee