TargetTalk

Okay, so I'm working on the fundamental of building my position. When NPA is referred to, does it mean before your cheek touches the butt or after? I'm starting to be able to bring the rifle down after setting the butt plate and being pretty well lined up with the bull, close my eyes and check and I'm still well lined up(well, not EVERY time lol). Then I put my cheek against the butt and it all moves.
Another question on the same subject is pulling the rifle into the shoulder; that causes a shift also. I can let the rifle just settle & lay on my left hand/arm using (what feels like to me) no muscular effort. I'm aimed at the bull, but of course when I pull back into my right shoulder I move this NPA and again when my cheek makes contact.
BTW, I've been shooting for one week and I LOVE IT! My wife's taken to calling me "Oswald".

Glad you are enjoying shooting. It can give you a lifetime of pleasure.

NPA is a spot the size of your projectile (.177 or .22), and is when you are in firing position and ready to operate the trigger.

You need to have your head on the stock, and pressure on the rifle (butt and cheek) must be the same from shot to shot.

Be sure to keep your eyes and ears level from side to side, even if you have to cant the rifle to do so (but be sure the cant is the same from shot to shot).

Every day do "dry holding" exercises (just hold everything steady without aiming at a target) to develop a sense of how well you hold and how the position feels.

To move NPA move your rear foot SLIGHTLY. Right to go left, apart to go up, together to go down, left to go right.

Good luck, and have fun.

I second above.

Put another way, do you want your NPA to be aiming at the target when you settle into position, or when you take the shot? You're going to take the shot with your cheek on the stock I hope, so your NPA needs to be spot on for that.

As for pulling the rifle into your shoulder, the same applies. It does move where the rifle is pointing, but you want that NPA centered for your shot. Learning to repeat the same pressure for this is important, and can take time.

Though, if you already have the bull in your front aperture consistently after one week, you're doing quite well.

So you want to pull the butt plate into the shoulder, set cheek down, THEN "aim with your feet" ? And may I ask how you determine if you should make lateral height adjustments by changing the point where your left elbow rests on your body versus spreading or tightening the feet? Thanks.

NPA is the place the gun aims naturally when you get fully in position. The idea is that you learn to put you support arm in the exact same place each shot, you have the same exact pressure pulling the rifle into your shoulder each shot, and you apply the same exact amount of pressure with you cheek on the stock every shot.

If you do all of that the exact same way every time, then the gun will point in the exact same place every time. Then it is just a matter of adjusting that aim with you feet. It's just like learning to shoot groups and then adjusting your sights.

As for changing the height with your arm placement or feet. You should find the arm placement that works best. Air rifle target height is standardized so there shouldn't be much difference from range to range. I tend to think of the arm as course adjustment, and the feet as fine adjustment.

The idea is to build "muscle memory" by making as few changes as possible. Use the same arm and hand position for every shot, and change only your stance.

One other thing that will help is to always have the same amount of air in your lungs, and the only way to do that is to shoot during the "natural respiratory pause" (after you have exhaled).