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Semisane said: (I don't care for stickies either - always thought they have a tendency to expand in number and clutter up a forum.)

See! I told you.

Good shooting TN. I'll be happy if I can match that next weekend. I haven't decided which gun to shoot yet.

Not bad TN. You're pretty close to bull with those other two.
A little tip I was taught years ago by my mentor when I shot indoor competition: You are never going to hold your rifle still. The trick is to practice and practice and get your muzzle is moving in circles around the target. You will notice that your circles will become smaller and smaller. And never, ever, ever jerk the trigger and try to catch the bull as your muzzle passes it. You will miss every time. Just squeeze the trigger.

Well, as I said before, I really only had one chance to do this, and only time to make 3 shots, so yesterday I gave it my best and screwed up shot 3. As I was adding pressure to the trigger, I added too much too soon and set it off before I was ready. The “bang” was accompanied by a disgusted “AAAARRRRRRRHHHHHH!” I knew I missed, and I missed huge. The first two shots were money, though my scope obviously is no longer sighted in for this load after moving it forward in the mounts. I think if my scope had been zeroed, that last shot may not have even been on paper.

Anyways, I might have a chance to do this again, but I wanted to post this since I don’t think I will. Up until two Saturdays ago, I hadn’t fired a rifle since January, and even then I was shooting bench (pathetic, I know, but I get bitten by the fishing bug and it’s hard to find time to shoot when that happens). I realized by doing this contest how important it is to keep your shooting muscles conditioned. I usually have had no trouble shooting offhand, but this time I was really having a hard time keeping that sucker steady. I also think that shooting with iron sights is better for offhand shooting. You can’t see how much your barrel is moving in relation to the target, so you aren’t as picky as to when to pull that trigger.

Thank you, Semi. This contest helped bring me back to the reality that only way you can remain a good shot is by practice, practice, practice. Being a good shot at the bench translates very little to real world, in-the-field shooting.

Yeah, I'm not disapointed with it at all. This is my first year shooting a flintlock and honestly haven't had a whole lot of practice with it. With a scoped inline, I can usally keep them all in the circle, but flintlocks are more fun

So I don't own a printer. Does it count if I just put a black target dot on a piece of paper? If not that's ok. If it does I'll try my hand at this afternoon if I get a chance.

bronko22000
Pm sent

That'll do just fine SuperKirby. I just made up a few targets with a felt tip marker and used the hole in a roll of masking tape to make the circle. It happened to be three inches exactly. But the size really does not matter.

While I was at the range today, I thought I would give this off hand shooting a try. I only shot 2 targets.



The measuring tape is actually set dead center of the bullet hole on one inch. It doesn't look like it because of the angle of the photo I guess.



Here's one from today using a rest.





Same distance, BIG difference.

Not bad Pluckit. All kill shots on a broadside deer.