𖦏 CAUSES to Miss — CAUSES to Learn

[JungleShooter]

CAUSES to Miss — CAUSES to Learn ​

What do you do when you miss?
I keep track of my kills at least. And that gives me the opportunity to keep track of my misses.

➔ A while ago I began noting down the CAUSES of my misses.

Here's my list.
Please comment, I'd welcome your suggestions!


The hardest cause to fix of course is BBC = bad body control — how I control my body when executing the shot (poor trigger finger control, breathing, canting the rifle, messed-up follow-through, etc.).


Right along, but a total different class, are the WEE = wind estimation errors. Very difficult to learn. Never perfect.


Some causes of misses are simply user errors of the equipment — they should be much easier to learn to avoid.
• cocked the gun but forgot to load a projectile first
• did not laze the shot with a range finder (many of my shots allow for the 3 seconds it takes to range)
• estimated the range wrong (for those lightening fast shots)
• dialed wrong (forgot to turn the elevation back the two revolutions, or just didn't read the numbers carefully)

• held-off wrong with the reticle (got mixed up with the hashlines, the Christmastree ornaments, the works)
• remembered a dope number wrong
• got low on air without realizing it (my fault)
• double-loaded projectile


Then we still get to battle with LUCK — the bad kind:
• The quarry moved at the last moment, or stopped moving if I was leading the shot.
• I hit an obstruction like a leave, twig, or a cable or the wire of a chain link fence.


Sometimes(!) we have faulty equipment:
• gun had lost zero without me noticing (bump, or whatever)
• projectiles were out of spec, or damaged
• range finder malfunctioned
• Now, after all those causes of missed shots, do we really still need the FLYER?
Maybe we do.*


Ergo: Without succumbing to an unhealty self-centeredness or falling into unduly attention-grabbing:
In the end, most of my missed shots are caused by... ME, I, and MYSELF!

Matthias



*Yes, we do need the category "flyer". Because, leaving out voodoo for now, some pellets still just do weird stuff.

 

[L.Leon]

I guess with all the variables involved, it’s a wonder to actually hit POA! Optimism goes a long way in practice. In theory?

 

[Asbestos]

I watched The Matrix 7844 times. What are these “misses” you speak of?

 

[Emu]

I have notice that in my case four reasons are the 95% of my misses:

1.- Bad estimation of distance ( make hit up or down)

2.- Canting when holding the rifle at shot ( make me hit right or left)

3.- Female wind (can take my pellet where ever she wants, no matter what I want and what I do to achieve it).

4.- Bad pulling of the trigger ( will make me hit everywhere but in target).

The other 5% is a defective projectile.

 

[JungleShooter]

Enrique,

you are so right, those female winds are treacherous!!

Thanks for your input.

Matthias

 

[Gerry52]

Matthias, I decided to solve that problem years ago by never missing! I think the last time I missed a shot was 2017.
Just don't miss & you won't have to take notes anymore, oh, and by the way, I have some beachfront property in Death Valley if you're interested!
One of the reasons I got & use my Tactacam is for diagnosing exactly what's going on when I'm shooting.

 

[Emu]

Matthias, I decided to solve that problem years ago by never missing! I think the last time I missed a shot was 2017.
Just don't miss & you won't have to take notes anymore, oh, and by the way, I have some beachfront property in Death Valley if you're interested!
One of the reasons I got & use my Tactacam is for diagnosing exactly what's going on when I'm shooting.

Wise decision.....

And you save money in pellets .....

 

[beerthief]

wind estimation errors= amazon and others sell pocket wind meters , you could take a reading , look at leaves near you then look at leaves near a target area . maybe get you a closer guestimate ? and learn the wind a bit more .

 

[cahil_2]

Concentrate on what you are doing right, not wrong.

 

[Emu]

wind estimation errors= amazon and others sell pocket wind meters , you could take a reading , look at leaves near you then look at leaves near a target area . maybe get you a closer guestimate ? and learn the wind a bit more .

Might help, ....... But wind, invisible for us, has waves that change one yard from the next yard, so measures change from the barrel to the target many times in the travel of the projectile.

Of course some compensation is successfully achieved by snipers to make very long distance shots, but BC and speed of their projectiles is quite different from those of an air rifle.

I know I may be wrong, but I need to keep some convincing excuses !!

 

[beerthief]

I use an inexpensive $14 amazon wind meter and it seems to work just fine for 100 yard bench rest practice , can't use in a competition but i learn what wind speed looks like .

 

[JungleShooter]

One of the reasons I got & use my Tactacam is for diagnosing exactly what's going on when I'm shooting.

Gerry,

YES, that's how I realized some of my more stupid shooting mistakes.

And I also recognized that the pellet with the best precision at 40y started spiraling beyond 50y. ➔ So, I switched to "the second best pellet" — which now kills them pesky pigeons at 50y and 60y with no curves and no mercy.

Matthias


PS:
Thanks for your offer to buy your beachfront property in Death Valley. But I already live in a desert in Peru — with a thousand mile long beach...!