TargetTalk

I recently joined a bullseye pistol shooting club. I joined the pistol team and shot my first match last night. I'm not sure how it's done across the country, but we shot a 30 round course. 10 slow fire, 10 timed fire, and 10 rapid fire. i ended up shooting a 241. I'm still trying to get my timing down for the various strings. During the slow fire, I had six minutes left on the clock after my final shot. I think I might want to slow it down a tad. I did have a lot of fun though!

What did you score during slow fire? Most people take at most 6 or 7 minutes to shoot slow fire indoors or on a calm day outdoors. I would not worry so much about slowing it down unless you felt like you were rushing your individual shots. Considering that most people are holding the gun up for at most 20 seconds for each individual slow fire shot, it can take less than two minutes to shoot a slow fire target. Just bcause you have ten minutes don't feel like you should be holding the gun up longer. Studies indicate that our best hold will be between three and eight seconds of leveling the gun on the target. If you are holding it up longer chances are you are less likely to shoot a good shot. I like the ten minutes particularly with .45 as it gives me plenty of time to adjust the sights for timed and rapid fire when I am outdoors and/or run a boresnake through the gun. You don't want to get in the habit of using all your time in slow fire when you have no issues as it not only delays the other shooters but will make you toast if you have a problem with your gun and not much time left on the clock. The only place I have found that I really needed a clock is either when I am having a problem with a gun or if I am outdoors on a windy day and trying to shoot slow fire during the luls. I am glad that you had a good time. What you shot is called a "National Match Course" When you shoot a full 900 you will do two targets of slow fire followed by the slow fire, timed fire and rapid fire of the national match course and then two targets of timed fire and two targets of rapid fire for a total of 9 targets (900 points) If you shoot a full 2700 you will do the 900 point course of fire three times. once with your rimfire gun, then center fire and then .45. Isabel

ssauer2004,

A 241 is pretty darn good for your first National Match course.

Your scores will go up as you shoot more matches.

I like the mental challenge of bullseye, mostly the slow fire.

Welcome to the world of Bullseye! Hope you have lots of fun!

I had a lot of fun. I'm still working on my mechanics and timing. I didn'y realize how long 20 seconds actually is for the Timed portion. I need to slow down on that section.

ssauer2004 wrote:I had a lot of fun. I'm still working on my mechanics and timing. I didn'y realize how long 20 seconds actually is for the Timed portion. I need to slow down on that section.

Maybe but maybe not. A lot of shooters shoot timed fire by shooting it like their rapid fire. Initially I used most of my time in timed fire and shot better because of it then after about a year I noticed that my timed fire scores were going down but my rapid fire scores were going up relative to each other. Most shooters with similar problems said that in timed fire the tendency is to "think too much" and to try and make a shot too perfect. You are often better off if you are just keeping the trigger moving with a smooth pull while keeping the sights in the black. You will get more shots in the ten ring. With a heavier trigger on the .45 I tend to use more time in timed fire than with the .22 but the best technique is to keep the trigger moving as you align the sights. Isabel

What club are you shooting out of?

PRC. Do you shoot in R.I?

yes I shootout of Massasoit in Riverside. Its a good league and you usually have some good times chatting while waiting to shoot and after you shoot.

I shot there a while back. I've had a lot of fun shooting in the OSPL. I've shot 241, 227, 243, and 250. They've used my score once so far. I think I'm only a couple of mistakes away from being in the high 250's low 260's. That's what I'm shooting for this year.

My scores are 265,263,269,275,269. I have only made my team once as well. We have three 280 shooters and a 290 shooter so it is hard to place. should be a 270 shooter but have been going shooting with a lot on the mind lately.

I would recommend that you read Isabels post again. She is giving you very valuable advice about how you should shoot the timed fire strings. 20 seconds is far to much time to shoot five shots. Use the time to practice for the rapid fire portion of the cource ad you will end up with more points over the national match course Good Shooting Bill Horton