TargetTalk

Hi all

Overall, I think I have pretty good control on my position and equipment (Anschütz 2213 alu with HPS hook). Scoring between 587 and 593 every match this season. But somewhere something must be wrong.

In prone, my recoil always goes sideways to the left, between 9 and 11 o'clock (then goes back to centre). What´s the most common error in the position or equipment that causes this?
Buttplate position/setting OK, zeropoint OK, no canting, sling tight and secure...
The only different setting is my pistolgrip, it is turned outwards to the right (gives me an comfortable angle for the wrist. By the way, I'm right-handed). Could this effect the recoil?

Thankful for help where to start trobleshooting.

I'd suggest that the tendency to recoil to the left in this case, is probably due to either, a slight sideways pressure on the cheekpiece, or the buttplate. The HPS/Gemini buttplate is great [ i have used one for years]
, but there can be a tendency for the top curve to rest on the shoulder, instead of just " wrapping round ", in this condition the rifle can pivot around the pressure point, sometimes producing a sideways recoil.
I think you would need to be putting a great deal of pressure on the pistolgrip to get the same effect, and it would probably be quite inconsistent.

Hi
Every thing Bruce said i aggree with and i guess that is where your problem lies. However, considering your description of the pistol grip position i suggest you double check your finger position on the trigger.

Ensure that your finger has a rear pull in line with the barrel and it does not come off axis during the whole movement from start to finish.

Your pistol grip position although comfortable for you may be exerting some sideways pressure which is influencing the rifle during shot release.

Peepsight

Whenever I find myself tossing shots out to 9 o'clock, I check my right elbow. The usual scenario is that I reposition my right elbow too far fwd after reloading (I keep the rifle on my shoulder the entire string). Leaving the elbow too far fwd causes the right shoulder to rotate left and shots to go there as well.

Scooting my right elbow back so that is is behind the grip and relaxing my right shoulder brings shots right back to the x ring.

Thanks all for good answers/suggestions, now I have some things to experiment with this weeks training. Think I will start with removing the top curve of the HPS and see/feel what happens to the recoil. And double-check my finger position on the trigger.

The question from my part is- does it really matter for the rifle,(read- front sight) recoiling any where but 12 o'clock after the shot? as long as the shooter has a stable position and a consistent recoil ie drift from the centre of bull, (towards any clock from 9 to 3 clockwise) and provided he shoots the tens more often, is there any serious concern for it? apart from the 'good feel' of 12 oclock recoil, ive had a few training sessions with a different hold with similar angular recoil motions, but was surprised to have good scores compared to my usual standards.
any suggestions are welcome..........................regards

I have yet to have a good score if my recoil pules is bouncing far to the side.

I usually see the rifle settle low and right as my position degrades.

Mine is a very light hold with the trigger hand and that seems to help produce a recoil pulse in a vertical plane. (Learned from an article by German Salazar.)

Hosè R.

Just two reactions...

Goran-the trigger pull and grip suggested should be the most direct solution, one other thing to check is the fit of your jacket at the shoulder. If the jacket is bunched up and putting pressure on the rifle butt, it could be causing the recoil drifting.

Joydeepk- the concern with recoil is to be consistent. If your not sure why something is happening, it may not be consistent, and that can let you down at the worse of times.

Joe

isuguncoach wrote:Just two reactions...

Goran-the trigger pull and grip suggested should be the most direct solution, one other thing to check is the fit of your jacket at the shoulder. If the jacket is bunched up and putting pressure on the rifle butt, it could be causing the recoil drifting.

Joydeepk- the concern with recoil is to be consistent. If your not sure why something is happening, it may not be consistent, and that can let you down at the worse of times.

Joe

I think the point is that Goran described where the recoil went but didn't say that's where the poor shots ended up. If recoil is consistent and in the same direction I would suggest that's fine - but I'm no rifle shooter. I would be more concerned with diagnosing the errors leading to the poor shots and working to eradicate those errors.

Rob.

Ive heard many times about shooting sports being called a sport of "repeatation" ,but i doubt, the repeatation/consistence if followed with errors, what might be the results? I think it should be called a sport of "Perfect/Correct Repeatation" rather than simply any repeatation. now the question is what is correct or perfect in shooting?......theres again no thumb rule to this sport, though there are some basic techniques followed by almost every athlete. its a never ending quest !!
Am i talking sense???

Joy... I follow your thought....

As a coach of a trapshooting team, I see many shooters all score near the same with different styles.....

BUT

I can say "generally" that a shooter that deviates from what I think is the norm will have more "off days" than one that follows the traditional teachings. PLUS, if a shooter strives to set-up as coached, it is much easier to trouble-shoot problems when they do crop up because the coach is familiar with subtleties that can go wrong with his standards, and more easily fix it.

While everybody is built differently, I do believe there are "basics" that are key to all successful shooters, and I would say vertical recoil pulse in Prone and Kneeling is one of them to avoid the "where did that come from???" shots.

In trap, it's either a 1 (/) or a 0 (lost). Whereas in rifle, there are larger scales of performance measurement. (Finals might have a 10.9 then a 10.6)

Having said that, and narrowing down the discussion...if the rifle is bouncing around and in horizontal planes, I would say without looking at the scores, that that shooter has a set-up problem and will have more "off" shots than somebody that has his rifle recoil pulse in a vertical plane.

Nice!!!

Hosé R