I agree with what Boats said...

There IS some natural talent involved... but a lot of what is often attributed to "lack of talent" is more "ingrained bad habits" than it is lack of talent.
And "talent" more often than not manifests itself in people who work very hard to train themselves to shoot, and they practice their butts off to get that "talent".

Dry fire.
Shoot.
Visualize.
Practice perfection.

"Perfect practice makes perfect"



Paul F.

Fitz you are right about pratice, It's essential and good pratice is most important of all.

Let me say I am not the best offhand shooter, only turning in respectable scores at most matches, I do like the game have done it a long time and am a student of offhand.  I probably should not give anybody advice at my level however just to illustrate what we are saying.

Going back to my pratice target last week.  Analizing it at home focus on the off shots.  39 in the black, nothing much to be learned from them it's the 2 outside scoring rings and 9 outside the black that give me a chance to study and improve.

First lets look at the Rifle, Ammunition and ambient conditons

A well put together match rifle with good trigger and scope sight, it's capable of 1 MOA. No excueses there. I was using pratice ammo. 3 bucks a box and the same brand and velocity as my match ammo.  The thing with cheap ammo is it groups great untill you get a flyer, and the cheap stuff always gets a flyer.  Normaly I call and spot each shot so ammunation flyers are obvious. Since I was working on a particular thing this session did not spot and call. Could be one of my off shots was due to the ammo but I don't think so.  Ambient conditions would give me perhaps 1 moa of bullet drift, This borne out by my targets later. I need to focus on what I did to shoot off shots not my equipment.

2 shots outside the scoring rings have the same problem, Was just not thinking abojt the shot when pulling he triggger. How you can hold a rifle and think about whats for dinner when you pull the trigger I don't know but thats what happens.  The solution to that problem for me is use a "trigger" to lock focus before each shot. In a match I settle, lift my head and look at the target with my left eye, focus mentaly, then drop down and execute the shot. Could not use that method this session because I was training something else, and that's the reason for the 2 way off shots. I don't let this happen in a match.  

The signifigant error, 9 shots within the scoring rings but outside the black were poor trigger pulls. Not jerky or anything like that but pulling to slow or being too tenative on the trigger.  That's my siginfigant error and has been the thing I have worked on for years.  Someone else may be different but in my case seeing a good sight picture and not being able to execute the shot is the problem.  

The only cure and perhaps thats the wrong word, I have found is to work fast, get some pratice shots off quick not giving myself a chance to hesitate.   Before a match thats how I warm up. In a match will do this with dry fire which works just about as good. If it's a real problem during a match and the rules allow will go to the sighter target and shotgun some off just to mimimize the hesiatation.

The other side and problem with that method is not to waste a shot by pulling too quick. This is very common in Silouette were a miss is only counted as a miss. It's real easy to let one go with the only consequence 1 target lost.  In Schetzen with paper targets you cannnot afford to let anything go.  It's as hard not to shoot as it is to pull the trigger.  You cannot afford to break a shot thats outside the black. 

The accepted wisdom on this is to get your shot off within the first few seconds. If the sights won't settle lift your head re-group and settle again. I let my self do that 3 times maixmum. If I can't settle on the target by then will put the rifle down and begin my mount and settle sequence all over again.  However the essential thing is not to let a shot go thats outside the intended scoring area.  It's the black for me but could well be the entire paper for a beginner, or the 23 ring for a top level shooter.  As skills improve you can narrow the impact area. It's key to have one and make sure you use it as your standard for breaking shots.

Boats

When I shot M14's at Quantico, we'd shoot 200 yards standing unsupported (no sling), 300 yards sitting and 600 yards prone.  My course average was 93.  I made my money at 600 - iron sights too.

That's why I'm asking these questions about off-hand - because I know many of the principles, but it's a matter of getting it all together and good practice/coaching/reading/mind-set.

When I go to the range I practice at 100 yards standing - although NO ONE else at the range practices (for hunting) that way.  I've always wondered.

Cat

David Tubb says Highpower is lost at 600 yards won at 200 offhand.  Reason is long range conditons can bite you, if everthing works right the target is not real hard to clean. But a Shift can make you lose major points.

Offhand if you are proficent it's possable to make gains on the competition. .30 cals hardly have any drift at that range and the rifles are pretty accurate, I suppose the .223's are too. The over the course 200 yard offhand target is not so hard either.

I only shot service rifle while in the Millitary and Reserve.  Never on an offical team always a pick up anybody can shoot team at unit level.  We had so-so M1's converted to .308 either accuate or dogs depending on the bedding mostly.  With my muzzleloader background offhand was the better leg. Rapid and Prone not so good. Tubb says most of his high power pratice is offhand and I think he is right.

Boats

I have always read, and taken to heart that "Highpower matches are won in standing, and lost in slow prone".

If you're a good solid standing shooter, and just "don't screw up" in slow prone, you'll come out on top.

Also, a general truism I have observed is that you'll generally get your new classification card when your standing scores average the bottom of the class you're in NOW. (in other words, when you're shooting expert scores in offhand, you're probably gonna be getting your Master card in the mail pretty soon).

When I was shooting highpower, I practiced 80% of my time in offhand, 20% "everything else".   
It served me pretty well... 

Paul F.

Paul, Boats -

Good comments.  It's going to be fun going through this thread listing the principles and building a routine.  Haven't shot competition for at least 15 years.  Building the prototype breechseater (for the .375H&H) and will start shooting that and the .375 win when I get the right mould/sizer issues in tow.   

It's cool to toss out a few questions and get ALL KINDS of good responses!

I use trees, my knees, cross sticks, etc.  I have shot a few deer offhand but darned rare.  I shot an elk offhand once too.  35 yds.  Practice really wasn't a big issue there.   

As for Tubbs and practice, I could swear I read an article of his on the web about how he very very rarely practices.  In fact, he does a lot of "practicing" in his head, but not with his hands.   

A lot of practice might be a good idea to a point, but it had best be good practice.  There is a tacky saying to the effect that "Practice does not make perfect.  Perfect practice may make perfect".  (I think its supposed to be a catchier jingle than that though).  Be that as it may, I find some quality practice (generally short bouts) and a lot of pre and post mental analyses sure helps.  Shooting the WSU winter league really helps with my confidence as well.  Confidence is 90%, at least for me.

Brent

     I believe I read in one of my books on shooting that Jack Writer used to schedule a certain amount of time for a practice session.  If he was shooting badly he would quit well before the session was over.  If he was shooting well he would shoot beyond the scheduled time.  He wanted the good shooting to become instinctive.  He did not want to ingrain the bad shooting.
     Lanny Bassham says to never think about a bad shoot. Get it out of your mind.  If you want to think about what you did on any particular shot think about the one that was perfect and what you did to get that shot.