Newbie saying hello.

Nessie · Post by **Nessie** » Thu Mar 21, 2013 6:16 am

Hello there, I'm returning to smallbore prone 25yds after a hiatus of erm... 30 years....

I'm shooting in West London now but I used to shoot at my Scottish school club (aged 13/14) but never took it too seriously. I've since found out that I was shooting an average of 6/7 and so am looking to take this game a bit more seriously and get a few possibles this time around.

I've started shooting the club's Anschutz Match 54 in an 1803 light beech stock (I think) and in four sessions have gotten my average down from 15 to 8. I have a suspicion that this is where the fun starts....

I'm regularly popping 5 and 6 tens in a row so I know that there are some good score out there waiting to be had. I just seem to always drop a bum shot due to a position problem/pain/etc etc so I've yet to shoot a trouble free card.

Current issues I'm having are.....:

Sling tension - still experimenting
Eye relief - scratching my specs to bits atm
New jacket size - still trying to get the buttons in the right places
Left hand pain - not sure how much pain is to be expected...
Right eye strain and a really annoying floater...
Trigger action - coming from a BSA Martini single stage hair trigger to a two stage trigger is causing a few early shots - I'll try changing the trigger settings tonight

All in all, I'm really enjoying getting back into this lark and can't wait to get my FAC so I can get a couple of rifles, one for 25yd and one for 50 and 100 benchrest.

Doubtless I'll be boring you all to tears soon with my requests for pointers on technique. My current club is great and everyone is friendly, but there is no serious coaching to speak of, so I'll take pointers from anywhere.

Ambition is to shoot a 5 by the end of April and hopefully my first possible in May....

David Levene · Post by **David Levene** » Thu Mar 21, 2013 6:56 am

Welcome to the forum Nessie.

Can I suggest that you amend your profile to include your location. This forum is truly international but the majority of members are based in the US.

I presume that you are talking about dropped points on the NSRA 25yd 10-bull target. That will mean little to most of the contributors here although good shooting technique is good shooting technique wherever you are.

I'm afraid that I know little about shooting rifle so cannot help you.

As an aside, have you also joined the Stirton Forum? It too is international but predominantly UK based so UK specific questions can more easily be answered there.

RobStubbs · Post by **RobStubbs** » Thu Mar 21, 2013 7:25 am

Hi and welcome from me too :)

In addition to Davids points, if you have specific questions around rifle shooting, you will probably get more responses if you post them directly in the rifle section.

Judging by your questions - it might be a good idea to get someone to take some photo's off you in position and post them up so folks can take a look.

Rob.

Nessie · Post by **Nessie** » Thu Mar 21, 2013 7:26 am

Thanks, profile updated as suggested. I am indeed talking about ten bull targets, I'll have a look at Stirton as you suggest.

Would the crowd on TargetTalk be a good source of info. for Benchrest? I'm trying to get my disabled sister into shooting, mainly as she lives next door to a range and needs a hobby.

Funnily enough Rob I was thinking of filming myself once I manage to settle on a good position. Will do as suggested and post up in the suggested section.

I'm not really after answers to my issues at this time, just letting you know where I am. I need to get my gear fitted to me better and get a solid position before starting to look at improving and bothering the forum with questions.

Thanks.

David Levene · Post by **David Levene** » Thu Mar 21, 2013 7:53 am

Nessie wrote:I'm trying to get my disabled sister into shooting, mainly as she lives next door to a range and needs a hobby.

Can I suggest that you contact Liz Woodall who runs the Disabled Shooting Project here in the UK; an extremely knowledgeable and helpful lady.

KennyB · Post by **KennyB** » Thu Mar 21, 2013 8:01 am

Hi Nessie,
I'm in West London too...
My first suggestion is to address the Left Hand pain - this can cause problems if not dealt with early. There should be no pain on the outside of the wrist.
The weight of the rifle should be over the wrist bones NOT across the palm.

If you're doing this:

you are going to have problems.

What you want to be doing is more like this:

I suffered from this when I restarted shooting. I think out school rifles were so much lighter that it wasn't an issue back then.

Which club are you shooting at?

Regards,
Ken.

Nessie · Post by **Nessie** » Thu Mar 21, 2013 11:28 am

Wrist bones it is from now on. Makes sense as it's my hand being squashed that causes the pain.

I'm still trying to settle into new gear etc, so I'm keen not to get into bad habits early on.

I'm shooting at Ealing 1st 1945 (Northfields Tube) nice little range, quite busy too.

I'll look up that disabled shooter ref.

Thanks both.