Shot my first match

[Kilroy08]

Today was my first bullseye match. I volunteered as a line officer in the morning for a club work credit and shot in the afternoon.

I figured I was an average marksman going into this. I was wrong. Stance, trigger squeeze, sigh picture, pretty much everything needs practice and improvement. On the bright side, I can only go up!

Next on the agenda, I loaded my ammo too hot. My .45 ACP was on par with commercial loads. Shooter fatigue set in quickly.

Due to a very important family engagement later in the day, I only shot an 1800 course of fire.

Rimfire wasn't terrible, but it wasn't great. I walked away with a 667. My Ruger Mk III 22/45 can use some trigger work.

Centerfire, three strings in I just wanted it to be over. My 1911 is in sore need of a smoother trigger.

My big problem was the front sight constantly going out of focus. The black blade kept blending in with the target. I'm thinking maybe paint the front sight?

Slapping a red dot on every thing is an easy fix that I don't want to do yet. I would prefer to master iron sights before I go any further.

The most agonizing part of it was that it's at the pistol club I'm applying for membership at. In spite of the reassurances, I still felt like I embarrassed myself. These things happen, I'll just make sure to be better prepared in December for the next match.

To Do:

Get rid of the Series 80 nonsense in my 1911. Done
Trigger job for 1911. Time to put my stoning and lapping skills to use
Trigger job for Mk III
Spotting scope. Done? The Pachmayr Case I bought off eBay came with one. I'll have to evaluate it upon arrival.
A real range case I can organize stuff in. Done
Brass net. I'm a bit of a miser when it comes to my brass.

 

[simon1]

I have no idea what would be best for you...I've only done police qualifying at 100 rounds a session and it was a go-no go.

But I always got in the top 5.

I'm interested in what competition people will have to say. My series 80 is fine for what I do, but I'm not shooting Bullseye with it.

That is way above my pay grade.

 

[eightysixCJ]

Congratulations on your first match and welcome to Bullseye shooting!

Getting involved and helping run matches is a great way to learn and help be more comfortable on the line. While RO'ing the match you can observe what the good and poor shooters are doing right and wrong. From my experience, bullseye shooters are very supportive of new shooters. I learned a lot while having a great time traveling to other ranges participating is matches.

I started shooting handgun matches with bullseye and have been shooting for about seven years. A couple of years back I reached Expert classification but still have a lot to learn. Some thoughts from my experience:

- Relax and have fun. Bullseye is mostly mental. For me, one off thought during the trigger squeeze will send the shot off the paper no matter how well I was shooting the string. Don't worry how you are doing compared to others on the line. Focus on each shot as you take it, imagine where the impact was before you check your scope, and reflect on your sight picture/your stance/breathing/trigger squeeze/etc for the good shots and the not so good shots.

- Consistency; your stance, position, grip, sight picture, and trigger squeeze need to be the same for each shot.

- Trigger squeeze is critical and dry fire practice (unloaded firearm, racking the slide, squeezing the trigger, repeat) to develop muscle memory in your trigger finger is just as important, if not more than range time. Great bullseye shooters spend more time dry fire than on the range with live ammo. If you can get away with it, sitting on the couch without aiming just focusing on trigger squeeze and the break. Also, dry fire practice at a dot or small target focusing on your sight picture during the trigger squeeze. Practicing without the recoil will allow you to focus on drawing the trigger smoothly in a straight line and not steering the gun off target as you squeeze.

- Grip needs to be consistent. Pressure is essentially on the front and rear of the grip, not the sides. The trigger finger needs to flex independently of the rest of your hand. Fit the gun in your hand, tighten your grip, and keep it the same for the entire string of 10-shots. Tightening or loosening your grip pressure during the shot will through it off. Loosening your grip between shots will cause you to reset everything each shot when consistency is the key. I try to set my grip, take a sight picture at the target, keep my arm stiff, lower my gun to the bench just bending my shoulder, raise the gun for the shot just bending/rotating from the shoulder, take the shot, repeat. I have a block of wood (2x4) I set on the bench to rest my gun on so my wrist angle does not change when I lower the gun.

- You want to load the lightest ammo that is accurate in your gun (to minimize recoil). If you have access to a Ransom Rest (a device that will hold your firearm and squeeze the trigger consistently) you can test loads to determine the most accurate load for the barrel. Otherwise bench rest the gun and test loads until you get the tightest groups. You can then adjust your springs so the firearm will cycle consistently. For my 1911 .45 3.8gr Clays/.451 200gr LSWC/14# spring works. Some shooters work up a load for the 50-yard line and a different load for 25-yards. I use the same and adjust my hold for the 50-yard.

- Are you holding/aiming at center (aiming at the center of the black bullseye) or holding at 6-o'clock (adjusting your sight so when your front sight is aiming just below the bullseye, so your sight picture looks like a lollipop)? When shooting iron sights a 6-o'clock hold helps as you will have the black on top of your sights and the white on either side of your front sight. For center hold, painting the front sight might not help unless you paint the rear sight also. Putting a scratch in the center of your front sight might help you focus on the front sight. A dot sight will help you focus on technique. In particular, dry fire with a dot will help you learn how your trigger squeeze affects your shot. I shot iron sights for a couple of years with my .22 before adding a dot and a couple more with my .45 before adding a dot.

- a 3600 is a long match, mentally and physically challenging. My club hosts mostly 900's and 1200's with a couple of 3600's a year.

- I found keeping a log book of my scores and notes of each match helped me early on to realize trends and my improvements.

- Lots of good info online. Bullseye.com and the Army and Marine Marksmanship Guides.

- Remember to relax and have fun. Nothing embarrassing for new shooters to score low. Ranges are looking for members who are safe, participate, looking to advance their skills, and help out. Sounds like you're off to a great start.

Good luck,

Tom

 

[jkingrph]

I cannot comment about bullseyes , but think like Tom said, it should be mostly mental. That is after you have the basics down well. I shot small bore rifle in college, just under 50 years ago and that was the thing, it is more mental than physical. Practice, practice and then practice some more. I guess I was lucky, dad had taught me to shoot fairly well, with a Marlin 39 with standard open sights. I had never used a receiver sight but when I tried out the instructor/team coach thought I had shot those match type rifles before. I started shooting in the high 300's on a 400 point range so did not have a lot of room for improvement and what little I achieved was difficult,

 

[BSAGuy]

Congrats on your first match. Sounds like a lot of fun......and also another hobby rabbit hole like DE shaving! Enjoy.