TargetTalk

I've been struggling with increased movement on the target for more than two years. It's increased from less then half the x-ring to the full x-ring and more and it has taken much of the fun out of shooting. I really thought that it was just age and that I was headed over the hill. About two weeks ago at our school's indoor range I got into position with jacket, sling, rifle etc. and rested my forearm on a triangular rest that we use to introduce our beginners to the 30 degree forearm position. My sling was taut but there was very little foreward pressure from the sling on my upper arm. Eureka! The front sight was still and the bull stayed centered in the aperture. Apparently I've been leaning foreward into the rifle creating excess presssure on the back of the upper arm. So I've spent the last 4 or 5 practice sessions trying to bring the rifle to me. I've lengthened both the buttplate and the handstop so that when I put the rifle into my shoulder it lightly touches the shoulder and then tightens as I lower my right elbow. It has helped a lot. Front sight movement as decreased and is almost imperceptable and x-count has increased. I'm not sure I've reached an optimum position and if anybody has some other thoughts about this problem, I'd like to hear from you. Mike Barron

Hey Mike

Glad to hear that you finally found a good balance between them all.

It took me about a year to find out the eaxct and ultimatre position for my buttplate and handstop. That, combined with a proper sling tension, made the whole difference. Today, I will notice a change of my results at the slightest change in buttplate or handstop. All good = 595+. All bad = 585-.

The sling is the tricky part, since it moves with the jacket and your position. My own solution is to tighten the sling at different times during the match (say at 15, 30, 45 shots in prone, using the micro adjustment) That has worked just fine for me.