Aiming - please help

[Rajesh]

Airrifle- If one was to train on a target whose black is smaller than the regular , say by two or 3 rings. Will it be tougher to focuss/ will it tougher to stabilize etc. Or if one was to make the black ball bigger by colouring the three outer rings, what difference will it make.
pl pl let me know yr thoughts.

[TomN]

I do most of my training in the cellar of my home with a firing distance of approximately 8 meters. If I use 10 meter targets to train, the size of the aiming black appears larger than normal. If I substitute BB-gun targets, which have a nominal firing distance of 5 meters that I fire at from the 8 meter distance (for safety reasons) the bull appears smaller than normal. I can compensate for either situation by changing the front aperature of my rifle to give an appropriate area of white around the aiming black.

Any training is good, and the only real complaint I have is that when I fire during a regulation match the sight picture is different. I am aware of the difference, but I don't think it lowers my scores. Neither do I think that the change from my training range to a regulation range helps my scores more than they would be helped from training full-time on a 10 meter range. The most important thing is to actually have the "trigger time." Good luck.

[crosshairs]

I would not encourage changing how the actual target looks. If training a certain aspect of shooting, one should clearly differentiate between simulating actual competition shooting, and several other kinds of form(or technique) training.

As many shooters will say, you gotta treat the competition actual as though it was a practice session. If you changed the size of the target during practice, then it is without a doubt that during the actual match, you WILL be constantly reminded that it is not a practice anymore. Goes against the wise words floating around.

[donthc]

Airrifle- If one was to train on a target whose black is smaller than the regular , say by two or 3 rings. Will it be tougher to focuss/ will it tougher to stabilize etc. Or if one was to make the black ball bigger by colouring the three outer rings, what difference will it make.
pl pl let me know yr thoughts.

smaller by 2 rings. i tried to do that once. my advice to you is not to try it. true, that in theory, if you managed to shoot everything into the black(size reduced by 2 rings), you would get everything into the 9 ring, and shoot above 540.

however, in practice, the black will be too small for you to aim effectively, with it being smaller than the front sight. (at 10m, with a regular black, the appearance of the front sight should be of the same thickness as the black ring). it would make things too hard to aim. also, your aiming area will also need to change, as the relative position of the "black ring" has shift. for example, if you are aiming 6 o'clock, you would now be aiming at the blank space below, if you are to hit the "new black ring". it also creates a string of problem, that you will not be used to switching between the different aiming areas used in training and in competition. what's the point if you can't apply what you learnt from training into your competitions?

as for shooting a larger black, it will be easier i think, but the problem with aiming area will still applies. for a 6 o'clock hold, you will now be shooting something like "centerfire", not really a wise choice.

i think if you are trying to reduce the size of your grouping, it would be better to shoot a regular card, with the desired ring cut out.

[Guest]

He's talking about air RIFLE, not air pistol! How come you pistol shooters think everything is about you? :^) JOKE alert!

Go ahead & use a smaller bull to fit inside your aperture front sight, as if it were at 10m. Practice will do well for you, regardless of distance.