Discipline - teach self not to "hover" - "dawdle" over targets

[jdanvers]

Guys . . . so I'm at the farm where I have permission to shoot yesterday and I missed on a pigeon that I shouldn't have missed on. I know why too - I tend to do the subjected. Drives me up the wall. Walking from that spot - I saw a starling about 35-40 yards out maybe 30 seconds later and took out my frustration on him - raised the gun, cross hairs on, pull the trigger - no muss, no hesitation - dropped it.

Is there a way / method of 'teaching' oneself to . . . I don't know - make a "video game" out of it? ( lol ) Cross hairs on - fire! I've missed shots in FT too -- same damned thing - spent more time with the cross hairs "hovering" over the kill zone hole ( to knock down the target for anyone not familiar with FT ) as opposed to just pulling the trigger. When I finally do pull the trigger - paint chip ~just~ at the edge of the hole and . . . a miss on the score sheet. {sigh}

One of the popular youtubers had a young shooter with him once - one of the SA guys I'm thinking - and man that kid was FAST - it was like he was playing a friggin' video game. I mean he was pulling the trigger within seemingly milliseconds of crossing it over birds. For real - I'm thinking in that part of the video the kid missed ONCE out of maybe a dozen shots. I'm 57 now . . . the passage of time is the only thing that seems to speed up for me now-a-days. ( lol ) Any tips or suggestions on speeding up my trigger pulls?

 

[ctshooter]

I had been doing some reading about 10m pistol and rifle and form and one of the key things is how long you can hold before you start to shake. What I had read was to take your shot within 8 seconds of raising the gun, or reset. When shooting offhand I try to stick to this rule and count it out in my brain - I can see that by the time I get to 8 I am not as steady as i first was. 

So yes, I totally agree with your experience. You can't rush the shot, but you also can't strike a pose forever. I think if you can get the shot off in the 3 - 6 seconds sweet spot it will tend to be more accurate.

 

[Cajun1024]

The longer you hold, the worse it get's! Especially when trying to hit that 3/8" KZ at 12 to 15 yds. Very important to keep your trigger pull consistant as well as your breathing. Break the trigger between heart beats. Keep crosshairs in a 3-9 or 12-6 position on the target Hard to do on a snap shot. FT is different. Have 5 minutes to get your four shots off which is plenty of time. Get everything ready to go when your butt hits that stool or you look thru the scope in the forced positions. PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE!!

 

[Deacon_Blues]

For 10 meter pistol the procedure I use, from resting-

1. Bring pistol up above the target and slowly move down on target taking up first stage slack. This helps one level the sights and identify that they are shooting at the correct target, not their neighbors.

2- Exhale as one comes on target. Hold no longer than it is comfortable to have your lungs empty and you feel relaxed. The 3 to 6 seconds is a good measure of this

3- release the second stage and trigger the shot.

I would think a similar procedure where you exhale and fire while your lungs are empty, but you still feel comfortable and relaxed, would also work for rifle. Your timing clock becomes internal, and regulated by the needs of your own body.

Best of luck!

 

[TMH]

P!sses me off how quickly my wife shoots, and gets the hits.

Guess that she just has more natural ability than I do. Or maybe she is just doing things right?

 

[dizzums]

i dunno im not a professional, i do what works for me and it comes with time and gets better with regular, but not too much, practice that turns me into a potato lol ... basically i walk the hairs as smooth as possible up to the spot i want and time it so the squeeze happens right there .. its 'not' held steady, that works on a bench, not in the field after something ... like i said though, for me anyway over-doing it gives me bad habits and ruins confidence .. i like to 'know' squirrly pants is going down pronto first shot ...

 

[Cajun1024]

Haven't seen a woman yet that couldn't shoot!!

 

[SDellinger]

I have a terrible tendency to hold on a target and not pull the trigger. I've had birds die of old age according to my friend Chuck( long brown box) while I am aiming and getting ready to shoot. My brain just doesn't tell my finger to pull the trigger. I am on a bird pretty quickly and have pulled the trigger and killed the bird quickly thinking I screwed up. I am going to practice pulling the trigger when I first encounter the target next time at the dairy.

 

[ctshooter]

Here's something I have been working on in addition to the 8 second rule. When shooting offhand with a scope I find it is very easy to get way to focused on the reticle and making sure the reticle is lined up - sometimes this just leads to following the reticle around while it is shaking all over the target like a happy dog's tail. Never leads to a good shot.

What I've been trying to do recently is look through the center of the reticle to the target and try to get my mental focus through the reticle onto the target spot where I want the projectile to land. 

Maybe it's luck or just another practice that help you relax into the shot, but it has worked to get my offhand groups tighter.

 

[jdanvers]

This is all good stuff - appreciate it guys. Hopefully others will find what you guys are adding to this thread useful and helpful too.

 

[JimNM]

I use the pre-visualize method. Before I lay my head on the comb of the stock, before I get my eye into the "box" of the scope, I mentally picture what the right target solution will be. I try to figure the hold off and or the windage. When the mental picture and the sight picture are a match, I am already on the trigger. Total lock time is very short between "see" and "shoot".

 

[Ripper]

When I was in my mid teens I was a real good shot and rarely missed anything. But now I am pretty shakey.And sometimes I do like was already mentioned is put the crosshairs right below the target and then slowly move up to the bull’s-eye and then shoot. And then if I was shaking a little bit as long as I had a good Trigger,I would pull the instant the crosshairs were center of the bull’s-eye.But I usually inhale a fairly deep breath and then let most of it out before I shoot. That’s what works for me.

 

[Zebra13]

jdanvers,

I kinda did the same thing, but generally only on targets whilst shooting groups, and it stemmed from trying for the absolute perfect hold and sight picture, and being too cute with the trigger. One tiny imperfection and I'd be adjusting/readjusting my hold and nursing my trigger...all of this occurring in my natural respiratory pause...and pretty soon my eyes are crossed, I'm turning blue, and starting to go into convulsions. If I did shoot at that point, it was strictly luck if the shot landed in the group.

They say once you hit your respiratory pause, you have something like 5-7 seconds before your vision starts to degrade. As we're generally looking through a scope, trying to place a pellet on target, vision degradation is not conducive to accurate shooting.

Try this: From a rest, while breathing regularly, place the crosshairs on your target. Once they're on target, hit your natural respiratory pause, and as you fine tune your crosshairs/hold, count off seconds in your head and pull the trigger when you hit a certain number, let's say 3-5. Do this over and over. Eventually, you'll be able to fine tune your aim within just a few seconds and you'll get so in tune with your trigger that you'll be loading it when you start counting, and breaking off the shot right on your number. This routine will carry over to your field shooting as well. This is how I trained myself to shoot quicker. It's kinda similar in theory to a "clicker" that target archers use to trigger their shots, bit instead of a "click", you use a number in your count to trigger the shot.

This will work in the field, or shooting from field positions, but realize you're crosshairs are going to wobble. Then it becomes a matter, much like shooting an iron sighted handgun, in TRUSTING YOUR WOBBLE! You're never going to be able to hold your crosshairs dead-nuts steady...none of us are...so you gotta trust your wobble!

Hope this helps.

Justin

 

[lbc_PSI]

The most difficult thing to get your head around is realizing you can’t hold perfectly still. Unless you’re shooting off bags or tripod. Perfectly still ain’t happening. There will be “float”. Relax. Let the shot happen. If you consciously try to time the shot by forcing the trigger as the sight crosses the “X”, all you accomplish is a drive by shooting. Followed by “target panic”.

 

[GeneT]

I practice starting my trigger squeeze as soon as the crosshairs touch the target with the goal of increasing pressure and breaking the shot as they arrive where I want them to be. This is super-easy to practice on a "diminishing circles"* target. Start pulling when you hit the outer ring and try to break the shot right as the crosshairs arrive on the center. This practice and method works well for me. 

I think the problem comes from two things: first, we naturally want to get the sight picture perfect - "not yet, it's on the wrong side of its eye!" and we just need to get over it. Second, is that we practice "holding" in order to get better at controlling the rifle offhand and sometimes forget that that's an exercise, not the goal.

GsT