Shooting Funk!

Happens to all of us!

Control your breathing, emotions, and concentrate by freeing your mind. Getting upset or angry leads to not controlling your emotions.

Maybe a new gun purchase is the spark needed to get the fire burning again?

Absolutely happens to all of us at some point. I try to break it down into very small parts in my mind like setting up the targets, setting out the ammo, loading mags etc and making each one a small event. Take a cleaning kit with you. If your air rifles refuse to show accuracy, make a small event of pulling some patches. Shoot slowly. Check your screws. Do a few pushups even. I know I'm shooting a few mags tonight so I just went and cruised on my skateboard for a while to clear my mind. Try to enjoy the discomfort, even. If you are uncomfortable, there's a good chance you are growing! If you're disappointed with sub par performance, that's a good thing! It's important to go through difficult patches in life and in our hobbies, then disect each motion and find what it is that we can change or improve. We never learn anything if everything goes right all the time.

nomojo65 said:

Ok, I have been shooting airguns for 22yrs plus,
Short range competition (25m) for 10yrs.

Here’s my issue, problem, my Funk! It just has become not fun or exciting, almost work! My guns I currently own are not as accurate as I think they should be and I’m about done trying to tune them to become so.

My short range 20ftlb gun is the only gun that is consistently accurate, now this is fine but I’m trying to move my ranges out to 100yds. And if I can’t get these guns to be consistently accurate at 50yds. How can I practice and and work on my long range target shooting skill set when I can’t trust the gun?

I know this a trivial and self centered post but I just have to put it out there, maybe someone else out there has been through something similar?

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Pellets at 100 yards? I bet I can guess the pellet you're frustrated with.

The long range accurate pellet conundrum has been an irritation to me for about 5 years. Quite the rabbit hole. Sometimes I get angry and that motivates me to try new things or buy another barrel. Other times I just let it be and focus on sub20fpe field target (<55 yards), where, like you say, accuracy is not a frustration.

When using a "gun," pellets at 100 yards is a difficult endeavor. There are pellet launching contraptions that are capable of impressive accuracy at 100yards (when sprinkled with voo doo and black magic and other secretive things) but they're not the kind of thing you're going to hold when you shoot it, nor are they an actual gun that you can take to shoot pests or a high power field target match or any of the other long range endeavors many of us are interested in.

For some perspective, In the guns that have come through my hands, the better of them average 10 shot groups in the 1.75-2" range at 100yards when firing pellets. That's not cherry picked groups or cherry picked conditions. Occasionally there will be an MOA 5 shot group, and rarer yet, a 10 shot moa group. Looking at EBR scores and shooting many many many EBR "cards" at 100yards, my results seem pretty typical, maybe even the top half of all EBR contestants. There are some truly awful scores shot at EBR in the weed-out/qualifying rounds. What I'm getting at is that, in my opinion, were at the realistic limit of what currently manufactured pellets can do at 100yards, when shot by a gun operated by a human (ie held and fired by a human). When better pellets are made, the goal posts of what's realistic might move too.

If you're averaging groups in that roughly 2" range @ 100yarda, you're getting about what most of us are getting.

KISS....ya, take your consistent rifle and shoot it at 100 yards, be happy that it is consistent.Or are you saying it is consistent at 50 yards?
Truth is you got to walk before you run, come to think about I think for many of us we were running first, and after picking ourselves up so many times we learned to walk first=50yard accurately,if you can not do that stop, forget about it and go fishing. All the above takes that cursed word PATIENCE. So what you are saying is FUNK patience!!

50y seems dooable on a calm day, 100+ id say generally its rural and id be hookin up a 17 sumpinother maybe even get a stamp, but that me ... hey, another idea is relax into something else fun that will make the 'big guns' feel even more accurate, like a 1911 co2 blowback replica, like a barra is a pretty neat one .. blow some steam off lol

Had two of my favorite guns out the other day and neither one grouping well at all.

Funk can be good!


And be reminded, you “Still Got It ”!


HANG IN THERE!

I think that's one of the reasons I love hunting/pesting. It's different every single time in one way or the other. During the off season when I go out to shoot targets I'm bored & jaded in about 15 minutes. Not exactly the same as your "disillusionment" but I understand. As said above, maybe it's time for a new, exciting gun!

U been airgun shootin 22 yrs ??? Hmmm.

What I've have done is switched to buyin powder guns and shooting them.

I think if you get a 20ft lb consistent at 50 yards ..that's awesome!
Wouldn't even try at 100 with paper targets ..it'll be a disappointment. Maybe spinners or gongs where you don't not have to be exact. The visible changes in accuracy is sucking the fun out.

Just give up temporarily on the endeavor and have some fun, no pressure plinking sessions. It’s supposed to be “fun”…

@KWK, man! I want to be Avenged…

I shoot my airguns most days. Sometimes one, sometimes several. I mainly shoot in my yard and am limited to 35 yards. Mostly I shoot 30 yard challenge targets because I can see how I am doing versus others and it fits into my yard. Each of my airguns cost less than $500 and I only have one scope much over $200. So I am not "leading the pack". But I've shot one 200 target - the goal. The gun that did this got a screw loose on the scope mount last week and the resulting targets were as low as a 179. I finally figured that out and shot a 197. Wednesday I got a new relatively inexpensive scope and I've been messing with it on my most accurate gun. I shot a 192 but also two targets in the 180s. I like the scope but it is not looking like it's going to be my favorite for targets. I'm concerned the pellets I'm shooting may need sorted, however. I'm not getting too many 9s instead of 10s - like I would with an aiming error. I'm getting occasional 7s and 8s. Like maybe a flawed pellet. So I'll probably order a pellet head size gauge and try sorting pellets for it.

I like success probably as much as anybody. But figuring out why my best gun was shooting relatively poorly was a success. Figuring out my new scope works OK but not great so far at targets is kind of a success. I like investigating things to find out what works and what does not. If I was to go for a whole week without a 190+ score I would be pretty frustrated. But fortunately that hasn't happened yet. I love to figure out a formula that gave me at least semi consistent 200s but I doubt I will get there.

I've shot at 100 yards a few times and 5 shot groups were 2-3 inches. That did not feel like a success but perhaps it wasn't too bad. I think on a really still day my best gun could get under 2 inches but I'd have to be pretty lucky to get it to an inch. I'll do it again but I'll shoot a lot more pellets at 30.

.177 pellet guns were not meant to shoot 100yd distance. Even 50 yds is tuff. At least for me it is. Move your target to 30m, then 35, then 40. Try shooting under different conditions like at night with some landscape lighting on the target. Talk about eye fatigue,whew. Really makes you concentrate on your eye position. Try changing things up. Set up some dingers with pasters stuck on them and reactive targets. Those little metal animals, chicken,pig,goat?

Nomojo, you are a fantastic marksman but like anything in life things are cyclical...give it time and try and find that fun spark again then delve in again seriously. I don't shoot competitively but played a professional sport and golf seriously and golf is a very humbling sport and I do get upset when I don't play well but have to take a step back and remember I am supposed to be "having fun"....

I remember driving home from Camp Perry after a service rifle match years ago with a friend in the car who also competed in service rifle. We both had a dissapointing weekend shooting.
You go hoping for the best, at least doing better than the previous match but didn’t. I was still a fairly new shooter and wasn’t beating myself up nearly as bad as my friend. Being we both worked a lot of hours and didn’t have time to practice nearly as much as “winners” need to practice at whatever they’re trying to win at.
I recently read an article about some junior shooters in either air rifle or 22LR that the winning shooters had $3K rifles. The new shooters with low $ rifles didn’t stand a chance to come close to even 3rd place.
I don’t know your rifle or its ability to be a winning gun, that’s what you need to learn and decide where to go from there.

I don’t compete anymore, I plink and shoot for groups or 9mm brass or shotgun shells out to 50 yards. I sometimes have dissapointing days doing that. But I never have a bad day small game hunting in the woods. Even if I don’t see any critters, I have my thermos of coffee and a snack and sometimes some shut eye. That there is a total winner in my book and never go home dejected.

Momar2 said:

Absolutely happens to all of us at some point. I try to break it down into very small parts in my mind like setting up the targets, setting out the ammo, loading mags etc and making each one a small event. Take a cleaning kit with you. If your air rifles refuse to show accuracy, make a small event of pulling some patches. Shoot slowly. Check your screws. Do a few pushups even. I know I'm shooting a few mags tonight so I just went and cruised on my skateboard for a while to clear my mind. Try to enjoy the discomfort, even. If you are uncomfortable, there's a good chance you are growing! If you're disappointed with sub par performance, that's a good thing! It's important to go through difficult patches in life and in our hobbies, then disect each motion and find what it is that we can change or improve. We never learn anything if everything goes right all the time.

Click to expand...

This man is the air gun mindstate guru as far as I’m concerned.

I truly understand... as I was drawn into the barrel development project for Daystate in 2018 after the 2017 EBR. Myself and a couple of others shot many thousands of rounds through a series of barrels, striving to shoot as perfectly as possible for hours on some days but always hundreds of rounds minimum. It was definitely work... then being under pressure to perform well with the products... definitely work.
Now I have mostly enjoyed plinking since my first ag in 1976 and then FT since 1991 so a break from comp is plinking w friends whenever possible. I would go to a friend's property about 50 miles away, once per week and we would plink for hours at all kinds of stuff... steel plates, spinners, bells, paintballs, cans... pretty much anything that seemed interesting and challenging and always the comradery and competitive spirit. Now I've met new friends that are only about 15 miles away that also have space and a creative bent and we do much the same but their range is limited to 100. We mostly shoot at 100 and the prize targets are paintballs or spray can nozzles. I also plink on my range several times a week with more serious testing interspersed. Mine goes out to 208 but I don't have a lot out... just a few plates and bells and spinners with paper nearby.
So for me, accuracy is an important thing but I really enjoy smacking difficult targets more than anything...
Also, I recently started doing the 30 yd challenge to compare some different ammo, barrels and rifles where wind can be more accurately assessed. It's been pretty fun and interesting and I've learned a lot.
Bob

It absolutely happens that we as shooters get caught in the void. The disciplines we find easy become too easy, while we hit a wall with the difficult ventures and they seem like unattainable goals. As others have mentioned, add, change, or randomize your kit, routine, etc. Buying a whole new setup is a personal guilty pleasure, though not necessarily a good option for everyone. Maybe subtle changes in health, posture, fitness, or eyesight are effecting results on target. Be honest with yourself in those regards. If you’re shooting open sights, offhand, throw a scope on the gun and shoot from a bench to evaluate the system. Maybe you regain confidence in the platform, or it helps identify what is wrong. Finding an inexperienced shooter and giving them access to better equipment- and teaching them how to use it- can be extremely gratifying. Finding a more experienced shooter and remembering how to learn and grow can be humbling. Plenty of avenues to getting out of a rut, you just need to find yours.

I shoot paper . 30 yard challenge targets mostly @ 30 yards . but also much smaller targets @ 16 yards , so instead of trying to shoot 100 yards with a 30 yard rifle i just make the targets smaller .\

ever see the movie Quigley down under ? the bucket shooting scene was great . SO someone figured that using a 2 '' size bucket @ 25 yards would be about the same thing . (yes i lost ) but amazing fun also .