TargetTalk

i am a smallbore/air rifle shooter and lately (the past couple of months) i have found it extremely difficult for me to pull the trigger in both prone and kneeling. at the beginning of the year my coach lightened up my trigger, but after trying it for 3 weeks and having nothing but trouble and an immense drop in my scores, we decided to make the trigger heavier. it is still lighter than it originally was. personally, i think that it is something that is in my head. in prone and kneeling i have rock solid positions, but when i'm all aligned my finger won't pull. it's like i am too scared to take the shot. i have found myself having to consciously pull the trigger. i don't seem to have this problem in sb standing. the main reason i think that it is all in my head is because this only happens in air rifle when i get nervous. i still don't understand why it is so bad in sb though. i admit i am not as confident as i should be in prone, but i have always thought of myself as a good kneeling shooter. every shot including sighters is hard for me to take. does anyone have any suggestions or drills i could do to resolve this problem? thanks.

If you really believe it's between your ears and that your hold is rock solid, try a 8 1/2 x 11 piece of black paper. Set it to be "generally" centered at your NPA. Then try a 10 shot group using only your NPA to aim at the black paper. You may want to use less light than normal, and especially not on the black paper. This will prove your NPA and hold.

I tend to suspect your Trigger, then position, in that order. One other thing that is worth checking is your sling, if it's leather, look for stretching. I'm a big fan of synthetic slings, and don't want a leather one in my Smallbore / Air Rifle Range.


Roy McClain
Spalding County Shooting Sports
4H Project S.A.F.E. Coach / Volunteer
(678) 772-8185 cell / (770) 412-6604 home

"If your plan is for one year, plant rice.
If your plan is for ten years, plant trees.
If your plan is for one hundred years,
educate children." -- Confucius

Just a few notes from my experience:

Adjusting trigger weight is only one possible dimension. Other can be:

1) Check for the angle and spot you put the trigger finger on the trigger. It might vary with the increasing and decreasing match pressure, you grip tightens and loosens, altering the trigger finger position. Moving the trigger might help.

2) Check for the stock length - did you alter something recently? It might had have impact on the angle and force you put your hand on the pistol grip. Re-adjusting the length or moving the pistol grip (on newer rifles wit alu stock it it also possible) Check for the correct position of the trigger afterwards.

3) Some shooters love set or one stage triggers and hate two-stage triggers. Other love two-stage triggers and hate trigger that go off after you put the finger on them. Find out your category by experimenting. Did you alter something recently?

Shoot at a white sheet of paper first, if you feel comfortable, try it on target. It might take a week or two before you finally find out, so be patient.

Hope this helps.
Jaro

You may be taking too much responsibility for the shot. Performance anxiety causes the decision making mind to step in and take over your normal trigger operation. This is completely normal behavior that has helped the human race survive. The answer could be as simple as convincing your self that you do not care if there is a ten or not. Like lying to yourself, you know it is not really true but you must behave as if it were to prevent the conscious mind from interfering with the automatic action you have trained yourself to perform. Where trigger control is concerned, failure or success is not the responsibility of the rational decision making mind. The harder one tries to correctly release the trigger, the less likely one is to succeed. You have regained sub-couscous control when you notice that the rifle has fired as if you were only an impartial observer.
Bob Fleming

yea