TargetTalk

I have this problem where even though my hold is good enough that the bull seems to stay in the same place in my front sight, there is still some motion visible. It's enough to take me out of the ten ring, sometimes even on the air rifle target. This problem hurts all my positions, but should be easiest to solve in prone.


So, how do I go about eliminating the last of the visible motion?

Also, on the few occasions I do eliminate almost all the motion, I become afraid to shoot for some reason, far more so than when there is a fair amount of motion. Any way to overcome that?

Thanks in advance.

In reference to the PRONE position, there are several types of movement. Small rhythmic movements before the shot are from respiration and heartbeat. You can train yourself to shoot between these, and it is easiest if the beats are further apart. This requires improvement in your cardiovascular system; start swimming, running, biking, or even a good walking program.

Small vibratory, or shaking, movements are usually position related. See if you notice the same movements when in position without equipment. Try making SMALL adjustments in your position or equipment to remove the movement.

Occasionally you will get movement on let off of the trigger. This can be poor trigger control (jerking) or improperly set up equipment. I had one shooter with a slight movement, and we had to adjust his sling in micro increments to eliminate the problem.

The chicken finger problem stems from not yet having developed a good trigger release. Your brain"knows" it gets tens by activating the trigger at a certain point in your moving hold. When the hold doesn't move, the brain reacts by not operating the trigger (after all it knows that you do move and no matter which way you move from the "perfect" hold it will result in less than a ten. You need to learn to let the shot fire itself, without your conscious input to the trigger. Try dry firing on a target, but change your shot routine by adding one step: when ready to fire switch your mind to a picture of either the "perfect sight picture" or the pellet going thru the ten dot, and wait for the trigger to go off by it5self. After you start doing this in live fire be sure to reward yourself when you get a good shot (10) and just ignore any others. Rewarding yourself ( mental, or better yet out loud atta boy) produces endorphins in the brain, leading to repeating what the brain finds pleasurable. This is why we NEVER dwell on bad shots, because the same endorphins can be produced, leading to more bad shots.

I'm only going to answer from the standpoint of using iron sights. Your leading arm and hand need to be completely passive and your npa has to be on the target. If those two things are accomplished and your position is sound the only movement you should ever see is pulse. That's my personal experience. I am not sure how many people have a good enough position to feel motionless with a 20-24 power scope. Although I don't shoot with a scope, Charlie Kemp told me a couple of years ago that the reason I should not go above 24X on a scope is that the movement would scare the hell out of me. That pretty much tells me that there is always some movement. Charlie came in third at Camp Perry.

the BIGGEST help for me was being told to relax. And i mean 100% relaxed you should be almost be able to fall asleep(George Stidworthy actually did once). when you are completely relaxed (focus on your left arm and hand at first. but the right shoulder is just as important.) check your NPA and make adjustments as necassary. once you get youre NPA set dry fire a few times. focusing on making a smooth clean trigger break (my trigger is just under 4 oz. with LOTS of over travel) once you have progressed to the level that you can dry fire without disturbing the sights move to live shots.

And on the subject of scopes. I shoot with a Weaver T-36. And my wobble area is perfectly acceptable. On a bad day the actual area of wobble is about half the X ring (nra) with the pulse bouncing just out the top of the X ring.
you way want to try some yoga. it really helped me.
matt

For the trigger Q, I used one winter just to practice trigger control.
If you pull or squeeze doesn't matter, you just have to learn your brain when to act, and when everything is/looks perfect, it should happen automaticly. (Like Duke Nuke'm said: 'What are you waiting for - Christmas?')

I put up a paper target, and shot about 100 shots every practice, where my only focus was to execute that trigger part perfect. I had no scope, just shooting at the target with full focus on the trigger. Yes, it was kind of boring, but I got rid of my problem. I think I used about 2500 shots or so in total, just practising this.

Today, it my shot breaks almost the same everytime. No hesitation, no fear. Of course I might have pulse and tension, but the shot breaks the same everytime.

Also, it helps to think positive in that trigger situation. Adding a positve thought (like 'Perfect...") to the last phase also helped me.