i have watched the flags at byers.....
i have watch the run and gun guys miss a significant change right at the 5th shot...oppppsss.
yes the plan is to have fun and learn......my question is it ok to think outside the box ???
Mike,
Then those run and gun guys are making the second fatal error that almost all 1000yd shooters go through. After trying to pick through conditions as rookies, they figure "hey if I just shoot faster I'll shoot smaller gropus and win". And they do shoot smaller groups and they do win... some.
But if they would simply slow down thier "run and gun" method and watch the wind and mirage ALL THROUGH THEIR RECORD STRING you can hold for smaller changes and and instead of shooting a decent 7" or 8" group fast... you now have a 5" or 6" group that took 10 seconds longer to shoot, by not letting that little pickup or let-off string your group out.
THAT right there is the essense of the top level shooters in this game IMO. It takes disipline to slow down a good tracking HG and pick your way through a semi-fast string. When I started doing that I starting agg'ing a lot better. But the last match at Butner my HG was tracking so good and my bench technique was smooth enough that I raced through the 10 shot string. Ended up the first one done shooting with an 11" group that bleed 3 or 4 shots out the left side. most other good shooters in that relay shot 8 to 9" I think it was. So what did getting done shooting first gain me? ...nothing.
I know a lot of guy believe run and gun is the only way go. I don't sign up to that theory. But slow shooting and picking at 1000yds has never worked yet for rookies or accomplished shooters. And a whole bunch of wind flags only complicate things in my book.
The last time I shot at Byers the guy on my bench that fired right before me had one of those digital wind meters in front of the bench... it ended up in the hortizontal position when the wind picked up during our record string in one of my relays. So what good was it? I won that relay with a 8" group and a low 90s score I think it was. My crosshairs were not on anything paper when I pulled the trigger for those 10 shots. The boys inside the scoring shed had to hold down the targets being measured becasue the wind was blowing them around inside the building. Byers is an honest range and 20' wind flags in your shooting lane isn't going to help you.
It's fine to think outside the box, but don't plug your ears and yell la la la la when you have decades worth of 1000yd experience telling you something on a message board to help you out. Joe Salt is probably the man here with the most seniority (spelling??). I know he already had 10yrs experience when I started attending matches at the PA 1000yd club in the early 80's. And I have fired with and next to almost everyone that has repsonded to your post. Nobody is giving you bum scoop. But your barking up the wrong tree. Thinking outside the box is what BR shooters should be doing.... but remove your earplugs when you walk away from the bench and you might hear some good advice.
This was all said with the best of intentions. So take it for what you will.
Donavan and Ray... hopefully see you out west sometime soon again.
Joe, hopefully see you this summer.
Steve
