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how good am I

Posted: Tue Feb 12, 2008 1:52 pm
by knifer
Hi guys!

I am newbie in target shooting, most likely will never be good enough to compete, but would like to know how good are my results and what might be my next goal. I need something for different skill levels for 50yds smallbore rifle.
Like "for 50yds and target #*** to consider participating/winning at *** competition on local/state/national level you should consistently average NNN points from NN shots"

Thank you.

Posted: Tue Feb 12, 2008 8:38 pm
by corning
Knifer, I would argue that one is always good enough to compete. You may take some lumps in your first match or two getting a classification, but once you have that in hand, you will be competing with those that are at a skill level comparable to yours (I refer to US NRA competition). Competing is always a pleasure, and you should not be intimidated to get involved.

John

Posted: Wed Feb 13, 2008 11:10 am
by knifer
We dont have to many competition events going on in my area. I dont think we have any gun range where prone position is possible...
Most of gun range clients around here are hunters testing their rifles, police practicing with gandguns and teenagers shooting Bin Laden targets...
corning wrote:Knifer, I would argue that one is always good enough to compete. You may take some lumps in your first match or two getting a classification, but once you have that in hand, you will be competing with those that are at a skill level comparable to yours (I refer to US NRA competition). Competing is always a pleasure, and you should not be intimidated to get involved.

John

Posted: Wed Feb 13, 2008 12:24 pm
by WRC
The NRA Qualifications courses are set up to give shooters particular scores to achieve, getting more challenging as the shooter progresses. Especially with no one to go "head to head" with, the qualifications course will give you a way to see how you are progressing. I'm sure there's one for outdoor prone. Check out the NRA website, training & qualification area.

Posted: Wed Feb 13, 2008 3:39 pm
by knifer
Thank you! Could not find anything like that for my area, but found good page on my topic with national records: http://www.nrahq.org/compete/natl_records.asp
Not very realistic for me to use them to set a goal, even "sub junior" results are quite far from mine...
WRC wrote:The NRA Qualifications courses are set up to give shooters particular scores to achieve, getting more challenging as the shooter progresses. Especially with no one to go "head to head" with, the qualifications course will give you a way to see how you are progressing. I'm sure there's one for outdoor prone. Check out the NRA website, training & qualification area.

Posted: Wed Feb 13, 2008 4:12 pm
by jackh
Where are you located Knifer? Perhaps someone near could help.

Get a rule book and read all the how to books you can find. Then find a way to train and do the best you can. The how good you are part will take care of itself...

how good am I

Posted: Thu Feb 14, 2008 5:37 am
by gn303
Hi Knifer,

Your question comes from the natural desire to compete, but it is the wrong one!
The real question is: how much fun do I have when shooting, how much effort am I prepared to do to improve and get more satisfaction from shooting? How can I get better?
The challenge is: how well can I control all actions to deliver a perfect shot? The perfect shot is made on the firing line; the target ring is only the confirmation of what happen on the firing line.
Keys to success? Self-observation, analysis, perseverance. Like in any sport.
Build-up your abilities, get advice from confirmed target shooters.
Success and have fun!

Posted: Thu Feb 14, 2008 6:36 am
by corning
knifer wrote:Thank you! Could not find anything like that for my area, but found good page on my topic with national records: http://www.nrahq.org/compete/natl_records.asp
Not very realistic for me to use them to set a goal, even "sub junior" results are quite far from mine...
WRC wrote:The NRA Qualifications courses are set up to give shooters particular scores to achieve, getting more challenging as the shooter progresses. Especially with no one to go "head to head" with, the qualifications course will give you a way to see how you are progressing. I'm sure there's one for outdoor prone. Check out the NRA website, training & qualification area.
Don't worry about the national records. Just get out and have some fun with shoulder to shoulder competition.

For an idea of events/matches near you, try the "coming events" section of Shooting Sports USA. It can be found on the NRA web pages:

http://www.nrapublications.org/sh.%20sp ... CE0802.pdf

Even if you don't want to shoot one, go watch a match, and talk to the competitors. That, in itself, will be a learning experience

John

Posted: Thu Feb 14, 2008 4:33 pm
by knifer
thank you!

Posted: Fri Feb 15, 2008 6:44 pm
by cdf
Just do it , you meet a lot of very nice an helpfull people . It can shave a lot of time of your learning curve , its a great support group , you find you arent alone !

Chris