TargetTalk

Hi,
I am 17 and am having trouble in my air rifle standing lately. I was hoping to qualify for the Junior Olympics this year and would need to raise my scores from around a 94 to hopefully about a 96. Now I know that this will now happen overnight but am still looking for help.

I am a left handed shooter and most of my shots that miss are to the left. I am not sure why this would be but I have thought that it may be that my boots have a pretty high heel in the back and therefore they are pushing me onto my toes causing the shots to go to the left. I will attach photos of me shooting and any tips to help me would be very much appreciated.


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Hello tendot,
first thing that came to mind seeing your position is that your upperbody is very straight, not leaning backwards slightly. This causes yuor elbow to be not positioned under the rifle but to the side of it. That always causes the rifle to fall to the outside of the shooter (your left)
My first advise: lean backwards slightly and place your supporting elbow directly under the rifle. The bone will support the weight of the rifle.
thats for now. I will look some more and see if I can find other things to correct.
Good luck,
Albert B (The Netherlands)

Howdy,
I have the exact same problem as you. I am also 17 and a left handed shooter hoping to raise his scores (96 to 98). one thing that i noticed was your trigger hand. Are you applying pressure to the pistol grip, or are you just letting your hand hang there? If you aren't applying any pressure, sometimes your shots can drift. Are your groups more horizontal or vertical? Also, if your shots are always going left, be sure to check your npa before you shoot.
Ryan

Hello Albert,
I believe that the picture was taken at a little bit of an angel and so it looks as though I am not leaning back much. I will try leaning back more to see if it helps though.

Silentfury,
I do not put a ton of pressure on the grip but there is some, but I think this may be part of the Problem because my shots almost always miss horzontally not vertically.
Thank you and i welcome any other suggestions.

Based on the way I was taught....

Your upper body (shoulder) is lining up to the target.
I was taught that your upper body should be open to the target, allowing the butt of the rifle to sit into the shoulder w/o cramming the rifle against the body. This may not be a natural position for you, based on the pix, but it may be something that you need to work towards, and get the body used to.

In summary, the feet and hip are lined up to the target, parallel to the line on the floor. The shoulder is open and lined up in your case to the right of the target. So your back is both leaning back and rotating.

If you can clearly see a grouping trend horizontally, you could decrease the weight on the front end of the rifle.

Is your grip tight based on how tight you squeeze it, or is it mandatory based on your length of pull? If the latter, you may want to try shortening the LOP a bit. Also, be sure to check your trigger alignment. A finger that starts to curl over the trigger or is pulling at an angle rather than straight back can cause you to pull the shot in that direction.

JMHO. It seems that the stress on your front foot would tend to make
your body drift to a more open position, or towards your left. Would a
more balanced foot position with both heels very slightly out be easier?

Today I shot and shortened my LOP and leaned back slightly more and this improved everything greatly!! I shot 2 target and one was a 96 and the other was a 97!! Thank you everyone for all your help and if anyone would like to they can still give me some ideas so I can possibly start shooting 100's in standing.

Thanks again,
TEN DOT

The thing is to repeat that 10 shot string 6 more times.

Yr wére already shooting better than I'll ever do!? But you wanted ideas, I can give you 1! Dunno wether it'll matter cause yr already shooting so well, but many standing shooters I've seen, rest the rifle on the back of the hand, not the inside. Isnt necessarily better, but might be worth to give it a try.
They other things already have been said.

What kind of glove are you using? Yana, the way you hold the rifle is purely based on preference and how it feels to you.

Just noticed something about your sights.
Are you within specs on sightline above the barrel axis?
"Distance from center of the front sight ring or top of post to center of bore"
The ISSF rules that I'm looking at specs 60mm max.
I "looks" like your sight might be higher.

The glove is a " Uncle Mikes" glove. It is normally a weight lifting glove but I like it because its flexible but still supportive. And as far as the sights go I am not sure if they are too high but I dont think they are because its the same setup as what the winner at the junior olympics had last year. But i could be wrong on that. I will have to check.

@Ten Dot
Always make sure YOU follow the rules.
If you copy someone else, you could be making the same rule violation he is making. Accidental or on purpose doesn't matter to the guys at equipment control, you don't pass.

It looks correct to me, since what i can see you have the older 700 version with a height of 40 mm maximum plus a 14 mm sight raiser. But either way, always make sure that you comply with the rules yourself.

BTW, if you are looking into measurements, you might want to take a look at the 220 mm rule (center barrel to bottom of buttplate) and the depth of the buttplate (20 mm)

Your feet are to far apart.

SIGP2101 wrote:Your feet are to far apart.

What makes you think that?

EJ wrote:

SIGP2101 wrote:Your feet are to far apart.

What makes you think that?

It seems like (partially obstructed view) your spread extends shoulder with.
Also you are using square stance when more natural is open stance. But it could be your personal preference. The fact that you want to improve from 96 to 98 tells me that you are doing so many things correct. Maybe it is only your stance. Test your natural point of aim by shooting some with both eyes closed.

[quote="WarWagon"]Is your grip tight based on how tight you squeeze it, or is it mandatory based on your length of pull? If the latter, you may want to try shortening the LOP a bit. Also, be sure to check your trigger alignment. A finger that starts to curl over the trigger or is pulling at an angle rather than straight back can cause you to pull the shot in that direction.[/quote]

Following the comment by WarWagon. Trigger position is probably the bulk of it. Less trigger finger will help. Look at the "circles on your finger" the center of the circles should be where your finger sits on the trigger, or just ahead of it.

I will say I like your position. Solid base, good stance, good alignment, no bend in your neck, trigger arm against your side in a comfortable position. With those basics all in check your 2-3 point gain should be easily attainable!

I noticed you have a large amount of cheek pressure... As long as this doesn't affect the way you "sit on the rifle" it's ok. The biggest thing is keeping your position consistent. In other words, as long as your looking down the barrel the same every time its not such a big deal. I found with my offhand that a lot of cheek pressure changed my "eye to sight" alignment.

Last thing I would check is your trigger hand thumb position... A strong thumb grip will pull the rifle. Try putting your thumb in line with the bolt, or in a vertical line with the stock.

Those minor tweaks in my offhand shooting brought me from a 97 to 99/100. Also strengthened my tens (10.1 to 10.6/ 10.7)

Just my "two-cents" worth... good luck! Sounds like your well on your way to the 100 we all long for!