TargetTalk

Hi all

As I am progressing in my shooting, I am finding my mind is always ticking over with ways that I can keep improving! I see the importance of dry firing as a training aid at home, but I am looking to add something else into the mix that isn't so bloody boring!!! (I will still dry fire)

If I had the money I would invest in a scatt, but lacking that I was wondering if shooting my air rifle in the prone position at ten metres at home (with jacket sling ect as with .22 shooting) would be of any real advantage to my small bore prone?? I know that some of the junior programs start their young shooters in prone with air rifle.

Any suggestions or thoughts on this would be of a great help to me.

Cheers Scott

Enjoy your shooting

I shot prone with an air rifle once and over 20 shots, not a since one broke the outside of the 9 ring. I decided I didn't need to try it again and it really made me wonder how people ever drop points in prone in 3p air matches.

I don't know how different your air and smallbore rifles are, but if you're like me and have a wood stock smallbore rifle and aluminum air rifle, it was a pain in the butt developing another prone position and settings for another rifle.

I guess the benefit over dry firing is the added feedback of a hole in a target. If that's something you feel you need, then go for it.

Dry firing shouldn't be boring if you're concentrating on perfecting something - like smooth trigger release, consistent NPA etc. If you need to see a result (such as a shot hole) then I would suggest you're approaching it wrong. I would also suggest you'll get more from dry firing training than you would from shooting prone air rifle.

Rob.

Contrary to Soupy 44's post I think that you will find prone with an air rifle challenging. In my experience excellent junior shooters do not clean the USA air rifle target more than 50% of the time. Mike Barron

Scott 75, the only way you may benefit from air rifle prone training is if the stocks of both were identical otherwise you may be training bad habits that could favour the air rifle not the .22. Stick at the dry training with the .22 it works for me!
Good luck!

Scott 75, furthermore to the training with air rifles, not sure if any of the top rifle gurus make like a system gun set up where you have the same stock for your training (air) rifle as you would with your competition rifle (22). I will do this myself one day when i have time.

In specific terms, i'd say you'd probably end up chasing other problems with another discipline. Although many people suffer common issues across disciplines, you end up working on something specific to each one.

If possible, find a coach if you can. The problem with a shooter suggesting to themselves what they think they should do is that it might not be the best thing to do, or the most rewarding (in both performance and enjoyment terms) and might not actually be structured well. (But the majority do it)

It sounds like you have good motivation and a desire to find improvement, which is an excellent start and resource that can't be given to a shooter, so i would suggest seeking out someone who can perhaps offer an assessment and you can make a decision on perhaps the directions offered after a good old discussion.

I think it's important to do this at an early stage, rather than to experiment with every idea as it comes to you, as a lack of progress or negative results can be demotivating after a while. The whole point of doing it (for most) is overall it's an enjoyable thing to do :)