TargetTalk

Hi,
The club I shoot at has a sloping range,downhill,its a 50m outdoor range.. When I dry fire at home (scatt) my target is pretty much level with the barrel of my rifle, I find when I dry fire like this my position feels really comfortable etc. But when I live fire at the range I need to move forward on my elbow to get "down" to the target, this throws my comfortable position out. Has anyone experienced this before, if so how do I compensate?

D.

Denton wrote:Hi,
The club I shoot at has a sloping range,downhill,its a 50m outdoor range.. When I dry fire at home (scatt) my target is pretty much level with the barrel of my rifle, I find when I dry fire like this my position feels really comfortable etc. But when I live fire at the range I need to move forward on my elbow to get "down" to the target, this throws my comfortable position out. Has anyone experienced this before, if so how do I compensate?

D.

Apart from getting the club to level out the range (probably unlikely), the only other suggestion is make yourself a small ramp to shoot off. You could equally raise the target, but again probably not easy.

Rob.

This is why ISSF rules give the target height "when measured from the level of the floor of the firing point", not from ground level at the targets.

Denton,

Ranges in the US can be highly variable, some are pool table flat and level and others, as you note, are less so.

The quick fix is to lower your butt plate just a hair, 1/8" to 1/4" is likely all you will need. Be sure to lower the cheek piece about the same amount.

Now, while you are waiting for the shooting club to regrade the range to level it out : ) you can also consider building yourself a custom target frame. (Assuming this is allowed.) I went out to my home range with a transit level and measured the height of the ground at the 50 yard target line WRT the firing line and built a target frame to suit ISSF standards. A modest amount of effort but way nicer than the club frames.

'Dude

Also Denton ... 50m/yd smallbore range target heights are about 1/2 of say a 10 m target height in standing.

---> Roughly 27" (from firing point height) and can vary about +/- 18".

The was an article in one of the older CMP "On The Mark" magazines which detailed the target heights at both Benning and the OTC and showed you how to calculate the correct target height for practicing for those ranges at various training distances.

You can go here and search thru the past issues....
http://www.odcmp.com/OTM.htm

Can you raise the target frame putting the bull at the correct height?

The normal target height (ISSF) is 0.75 m, but there is a tolerance from +/- 0.5 m. So the targets height can go from min. 0.25 m to max. 1.25 m, always measured from the level of the floor of the firing point.

In Germany we have often ranges shooting prone from tables (Pritschen). This is not so perfect, particularly for tall shooters with long legs. If you then go to a range shooting prone from the ground, you have always to adjust your shooting position. Some of you know the prone shooting position of russian shooter Sergej Martinov. He has no problem with prone shooting from small tables.


Best wishes from Germany

Frank

Hi,

Thanks for all the replies. I think I'm stuck with the sloping range,the club would simply not be able to afford it..
I cannot raise the target holders either,the beffle would then be in the way..
I might try adjusting my buttplate/cheekpiece, its not ideal as I do not like to make adjustments often. I suppose I could look for a more suitable range too..

D.

Small changes to the butt plate height are preferable to larger changes of your position. Reading other posts that's how Eric Uptagraft copes with different range heights. If you write down your settings and mark them, you'll soon build up a list of settings for the ranges you shoot on and can just dial them in each time.

Rob.