I participated in my second rimfire silhouette match today. I used my Contender with .22 LR Match barrel and 4x Weaver scope sight and my Ruger blued MKII with 10" barrel and factory sights. Ammunition used was late 1980s vintage Winchester HV 40 gr. copper-washed. I shot a 31 with the rifle and a 7 with the pistol. The former score was good enough, today, to get me "in the money" and I won back half my entry fees.
My big problem with the rifle was psychological. I was rushing the shots. EVERY miss was me rushing the shot. If I took control of myself, I got hits. I knew where to hold this time and it worked every time.
My big problem with the pistol is that I mostly could not see the targets. I wear bifocals (the "progressive" lens) and it seems that in the Creedmore position I was often looking through the reading portion of the lens. On top of that I have color deficient eye-sight which I've mentioned before. Lying down on the ground the targets (painted a dark red at this range) are against a dark green background and I can barely distinguish them from the background. Blurred up by looking through the wrong part of my glasses and you have nearly invisible targets. I still managed to get two turkeys though! However, when I did get the right vision the gun seemed to shoot where it should. This one is not drilled and tapped for a scope mount. I have an old pair of glasses (I think) that aren't bifocals that will do well for distant vision that should work. We'll see.
However, I had a great time. There's something about wacking steel from the off-hand position that is very satisfying.
I know you guys shoot a different handgun silhouette than we do (we shoot IMSSU, rimfire handgun at 25, 50, 75 and 100m). Your big bore rifle's the same as ours, and we get one or two Americans in the World Championships now and then.
ReplyDeleteWe shot the provincial match this weekend, and for my troubles I ended up on the team. And I hate pressure. Ah well.
My eyes were giving me serious hassles, basically the glasses were giving me the fishbowl effect. Had lasic, shooting is much better but I lost all low-light detail so I won't recommend it.
Get a merit (a peep that sticks on your glasses) so that you look through the same place in your glasses every time. That forces your head up in Creedmore.