Practice, Need Advice

[smithpoint]

15 years old son, shooting small bore 3P. Wants to have more practice time. have two choices: 1. Air Rifle, practice at basement, but due to space limit, the longest distance will be around 25 FT, so the 10M target will need to be reduced to simulate the actual distance. 2. Scatt Home Training System, no space problem, and safer to practice at home even at school. Need advice to help me make the decision. Thanks.

[GaryN]

Why not both, each has its place.
The electronic trainers will tell him how good/bad his hold really is, vs what he thinks it is.
The live firing will validate it, and give him live shooting exercise.

[GT]

I am a huge fan of the SCATT. If used properly, it allows the shooter (and the coach) to see things that are impossible with live fire.

[RobStubbs]

I'd advise just stick with the scatt at home. He can use the same gun and setup to train with rather than using something totally different. The key part will be to keep him interested in the scatt and learning to use the information it provides. It is however brilliant as a tool to for example examine small equipment changes as to how they impact the stability (for example).

Rob.

[Soupy44]

I'd say go for the air rifle. The Scatt would be nice, but is only usable at home. An air rifle gives a good cheap way to get some extra rounds down range, and it allows him to shoot air rifle matches which are very popular with juniors.

Also, I feel air rifle is one of the best training tool for my smallbore standing. It helps you realize there isn't much difference between the two. I know a lot of juniors who fell into the trap of using the recoil to alter shot positions on the bull. In air, just center and squeeze.

As for the dangers of air at home, I'll be blunt. If you cannot trust your son to keep his finger off the trigger until he's on paper, then the danger goes far outside your home to when he shoots smallbore. Also at home, the 25ft is no biggie. He'll need a bigger aperture than when shooting at 10m, but the center is still the center.

[smithpoint]

Thank you everyone.

[RobStubbs]

I'll add to what I posted above because I agree with Soupy, in that air rifle is great training for standing 3p and of course for shooting AR of itself. What AR is not good at is for training prone or kneeling, which was where I was coming at. To train those you are better using scatt on the real gun and working on some training drills.

Rob.

[smithpoint]

My son's weak point is prone. He is not consistent. So I will go for a Scatt . Thanks.

[bugman551]

Do not forget about Rika. It is the only one I know of that will show your cant.

[RobStubbs]

Do not forget about Rika. It is the only one I know of that will show your cant.

Most shooters and coaches I know, use, and prefer scatt. If you do cant you can add one of a number of items to the gun, to ensure consistency.

Don't also forget detailed observation whilst your son shoots prone. Doing so and talking to him, you should be able to identify areas of inconsistency, even in his inner position.

Rob.