N50 learning experience

[davelarson]

Yesterday I shot four cards in perfect conditions, no wind at all. Using my Rapid .20 and shooting off of stacked bags. Unfortunately I have to stack bags to reach my 50 yard targets as my range is all uphill.

This session showed me a bunch of little things I’m doing wrong. The stacked bags make it impossible to set up the same way for a shot. And I noticed almost indistinguishable movements as I squeezed the trigger, the movements are even more subtle than what your heartbeat produces!

And as I carefully paid attention to the actual trigger squeeze I was able to see that I’m not doing it exactly the same each time. And the tiny movements would move the pellet out of the 10 ring and I was blaming the wind or flyers lol! It’s mostly me and not the wind, I shot four cards, two with magazine loading and two with single loading. Conditions were dead calm and I fully expected to shoot a fantastic card lol!

I definitely did better single loading, and I was surprised and bummed out that I didn’t shoot better scores in such perfect conditions. Humbling to see how much I have to learn about this sport! Thanks for all the tips and excellent advice guys.

At least I got some X’s this time lol! Thanks for looking!

Scoring question, I shot #7 twice so I take the lowest scoring hole and subtract a point?

 

[Ghostranger169]

davelarson,

Very nice Rapid and nice shooting! Way to improvise with the extra shooting bag. I have a question for you: Do the Kokopellis and anglerfish hanging above help improve accuracy?

 

[tommyb]

Hey Dave

I like the look of that Rapid, very nice stock too.

A 245 is a very good score and you scored #7 bull correctly I believe. Honestly, you had to be doing a lot of things right vs. wrong to score that well. It is a looooooooong journey though in terms of acquiring technique, skills and consistency and enjoy the ride. As a comparison, I save all my N50 cards and have a fair few with my Anschutz .22 LRs that were less than 245. Anytime I shot 240+ with an air rifle outdoors, I’m pretty happy. 

Have a great Christmas with your family! 

Tom 

 

[thomasair]

Hi Dave, I think I may have mentioned this before. Shooting from inside to outside with large temp variations is going to produce a lot of crosshair movement on the target just due to mirage. If you had a way of holding your rifle absolutely still…you would see the crosshair dancing all over the bull. It’s very difficult to know which position is the real zero and which is the fake zero. This happens a lot to me in the summer if I shoot mid day. The effects of mirage will be greatly amplified in your indoor/outdoor situation. Good shooting despite those hurdles, though!

Mike 

 

[shambozzie]

OK Dave, you got my attention. I need to get some of those targets and see how the AZ tuned mk ll .20 shoot. Nice shooting.

 

[nomojo65]

Ya, shooting from inside to outside for a formal card is not ideal. I live in Mi. So temperature extremes in winter months is great.

I always joke that the mirage is so bad you don’t know which bull to aim at! But that is a great card nevertheless! Good job!

 

[davelarson]

Thanks guys! Yeah the mirage is terrible and I have to turn down the magnification and wait for a clear picture. I have a winter time window insert made out of blue board foam that helps with the mirage, it hilarious looking and I’ll be sure to post pictures when it’s set up, it does work, although you will laugh!

 

[tommyb]

Hi Dave, I think I may have mentioned this before. Shooting from inside to outside with large temp variations is going to produce a lot of crosshair movement on the target just due to mirage. If you had a way of holding your rifle absolutely still…you would see the crosshair dancing all over the bull. It’s very difficult to know which position is the real zero and which is the fake zero. This happens a lot to me in the summer if I shoot mid day. The effects of mirage will be greatly amplified in your indoor/outdoor situation. Good shooting despite those hurdles, though!

Mike

Mike, 

I did not know this. I have an enclosed 4-seasons room that faces the backyard and woods beyond my property line. I shoot out of my back window for target practice, plinking and squirrels.

Q. If the day is partly sunny/cloudy, can I still experience mirage? The room is heated so I know there are temperature variations with the outside air. same is true in summer when AC is on and NC outdoor heat fires up. I ask only because I am not noticing it. With the many trees in my yard and woods, I rarely notice the mirage. I’m probably getting some and not paying close attention. 

I think of mirage when it is real sunny at the outdoor range, and did not realize I could get this shooting from my window.