Davey Sprocket
Member Extraordinaire
Might light a few incense sticks and candle, see if that helps!That where sorting the head space first . comes into its own mate
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the Daily hi thread
Here's something to try 🙂
- Thread starter 1260engineer
- Start date
Matt@Nearfield
Super member
I do this more and more.. but don't actually even shoot the gun
. Often I just open the back doors, put the rifle and rest on the table and just look and aim over the fields. Super relaxing and after a few minutes the cross hairs become a lot more stable 
Davey Sprocket
Member Extraordinaire
This puts me in mind of when, years back, I was a bit of an X-Box gamer, especially racing games like PGR and Grid. It's corny to talk of being in the zone, but it's real. Without exception, the harder I tried the worse I got but, when I tuned out everything else, not so much breathing as sipping air, heart rate through the floor and visualising my line three corners ahead, oh look... 2, 3, 4 seconds off my PB.
Matt@Nearfield
Super member
So we can all see you are a superb shot. Always wonderd-
Do you just think oh, I've got 5 minutes spare.. neck a coffee, pop out to the garden and start slinging lead?
Or,
Do you take a much more considered approach. Make some time available, spend a while getting into the right frame of mind and relaxing and comfortable and take your time?
How do you go about it sir?
crissdee
Super member
But that's not really the point of the sport, is it? I always thought the whole point was to try and hold the gun in the right direction as still as possible, not to clamp it in a vice and not touch it. I mean, each to their own, you do you, it's a broad church, and everything, but using technology to beat human failings is missing the point. I'm sure Usain Bolt could do the 100 metres quicker on a 650 Suzuki, but he still wants to run it, because that's the sport.
Also, give Meg a hug from me! Lovely girl!
Flinty
Super member
We really do need to get away from the consept the all Bench Rest shooting is equipment-based with clamped guns and very little input from the shooter. There are several styles that use far less equipment the NSRA for instance which only allows a single front rest with a flat hard top not secured to the rifle by any means. The only other equipment allowed is a glove on your non-trigger hand, other than the front rest, the gun is held and controlled completly by the shooter, as @1260engineer said heart. breathing. blinking . muscle tension . trigger squeeze. is transferred to the rifle and when the target you are aiming at is 2mm diameter ring, and you are looking to hit that every shot the shooter needs to be in full control.
After much research I have just ordered some of these, got to be worth a try.
1260engineer
Member Extraordinaire
Sir
not for many years 
Mine comes from many years of drill .
Ive been shooting since 8 or 9 . milbrat . firearms first before i got a airgun . but even back then small
I could run across the fields or through the woods hit the deck and still hit a sixpence at 25yds .
then i got run with kit and then shoot 600yds and more.
In this world Ive spent many many years shooting springers.they hold they keys in my opinion. they perfect hold and trigger technique which helps control there unique recoil which helps accuracy.
I annoy @Boysey being able to shoot any of his rifles . hes a leftie . but i can shoot left or right handed . scope with either eye and trigger with any finger of both hands . standing . kneeling. sitting ft / bench or prone .
( Sounds like a hell of a lot of trumpet blowing i know ) . but it took years of practice and actually walking the path . hunting/ target /ft/ hft /running boar/ trick .
i love timing shots.now im able to just switch off head and bod and shoot at will .
i can be working on one of my lathes one minute then switch it off. walk out the door swich me off and shoot .
concentration levels i improve by shooting 10 BR20 targets in a row.
its good for me to
its the same when im testing. like im doing with the HW77 at the moment.
This afternoon . rifle in bits .did stuff . put it together . grab pellets ive never shot though a springer before. 4 shots to see what they did and away .
Sorry that was a bit long winded .simply its all down to practice and pushing my own limits and with that comes control .
1260engineer
Member Extraordinaire
Clamps /Vices
.. not a feckin chance on my watch . Palm rest up front. trigger finger and thumb . light against the shoulder . and very light on the cheek weld otherwise you will steer the rifle with your head .
bench . shooting off a bipod and should . you can also. if your right handed . left hand under the butt to support the rear.
minimal contact basically means you and your contact . rifle inputs kept as small and light as possible. this way the rifle is aloud to recoil in a straight line. think inside the rifle . everything moves in a straight line forwards and backward .ie recoil. if you hold the rifle tight to your should it will react and drive off it . allowing the rifle to slightly recoil keeps the motion linear to where its pointing . J.
And I will Criss little Meg loves cuddles
Thank you
1260engineer
Member Extraordinaire
1260engineer
Member Extraordinaire
Beetroot John
great for blood pressure and the head /brain function chop the stalks off give it a was and stick it in the blender add ice or water .
Good morning Bud.Beetroot John
chop the stalks off give it a was and stick it in the blender add ice or water .
I have a regular routine for breakfast and tea-time and it took some while to get used to it.
I blend to a smoothie, beetroot, carrots, red cabbage, peas, tomato plus whatever raw, veggie left-overs that need using up.
I make 2 litres of the stuff but it has to be finished in 2 days or else it starts to ferment and the taste becomes quite interesting
Mark Palmer
Member Extraordinaire
@1260engineer , you've got it all wrong buddy, it's down to the kit, nothing to do with the shooter!
(grabs coat and scarpers!!)
(grabs coat and scarpers!!)
1260engineer
Member Extraordinaire
Sound like we have the same mad streakGood morning Bud.
I have a regular routine for breakfast and tea-time and it took some while to get used to it.
I blend to a smoothie, beetroot, carrots, red cabbage, peas, tomato plus whatever raw, veggie left-overs that need using up.
I make 2 litres of the stuff but it has to be finished in 2 days or else it starts to ferment and the taste becomes quite interesting
Suz gives me some right strange looks at times 
1260engineer
Member Extraordinaire
Boll locks@1260engineer , you've got it all wrong buddy, it's down to the kit, nothing to do with the shooter!
must rush out to buy XTI50 and big feck off scope . hat .gloves . undies . wash .weigh . sort . size pellets ...
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Feck that
im giving up
There is only one correct method to prepare your pellets for best results:Boll locks
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Feck that
Pellet Cleaning (tin of 500).
This is a well visited question but I think I have the ultimate solution on how to go about this arduous task.
Tip pellets onto ground and using pressure washer filled with caustic cleaner only, blast them on full power.
Collect what you can and put them in washing machine at the highest possible temperature and the longest wash.
Once you are satisfied that your pellets are reasonably clean put them in tumble dryer for the hottest cycle possible.
When the tumble dryer has finished its cycle you may decide that they are not dry enough.
Put them the microwave at the hottest setting, say for 30 minutes give or take a few minutes depending on the power of your microwave.
Now out to the garage.
Take each pellet in turn and firmly grip it in the largest mole grips you can find (other trade names are available).
Using a bench grinder with a very rough wheel remove any rough edges very carefully as you don’t want to damage these pellets after all the work you have put into this project so far.
When you are happy with your bench grinder work the next step is to use disc grinder with a soft pad fitted.
Refine your bench grinder work by smoothing out any remaining blemishes with the disc grinder set on high speed.
On some occasions you may find that there are still some areas that need further attention. Try using a ******* file to achieve perfection.
On rare occasions you may still have a rough area or two, wire wool should sort this out.
The last step is to polish the pellets. I find an aggressive metal polish is best, something like Solvo Autosol.
And finally:
Collect all the remaining lead and melt it so you have one piece.
When it is hand hot use a rolling pin to flatten it.
This you can then feed through a pasta maker set on medium spaghetti (for 177 and course for 22).
Buy a really expensive die press and using all the lead make about 10 really crap pellets.
Mark Palmer
Member Extraordinaire
You know it makes sense, you cant go around knocking of 250s in a gale with an antique, it's just not cricket old boy, I can highly recommend the Anschutz 9015 one with a nice big March perched on top, just to get startedBoll locks
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Feck that
Always shot from standing position, never tried to do anything about heart rate lol though for sure it's easier to shoot if your heart's not racing. Regards breathing, I breathe out or hold breath for a short time before squeezing the trigger. For the standing position it's always seemed being able to hold the gun steady and using similar hold/posture each time more important than heart beats. But for me it's never been about hitting within 2mm at 10 yards it's usually been about hitting something within around an inch at maybe 50yards immediately after carrying the heavy old springer around in 1 hand for maybe an hour or more.
Has/does anyone consider how height of scope above barrel affects holdover at different ranges and also affects how horizontal you've got to hold the gun? Obviously if you're using open sights just above the barrel if you aimed at something near point blank range you wouldn't really need to consider the height of the sights above the barrel but the higher the centre of the scope is above the barrel the more holdover at very close ranges, then there's a zero when the pellet rises to the same height as mid scope, holdunder when the pellet rises above that point, holdover again when the pellet falls below that point again. The height of the scope naturally changes the range of each zero point and the distance between those zero points. Any sight (open or scope) above the barrel will be adjusted to an aiming point below the line of the barrel because the pellet is only going to drop when it's left the barrel but the height of the sight above the barrel (and the pellet dropping faster over time so with increasing range) will affect all the holdunder, holdover characteristics and the ranges (and difference between ranges) those points occur. Imagine if the scope centre was ridiculously high above the barell, say10ft above the barrel, the scope is adjusted to aim down toward the barrel, then if our first zero was at a (very) long air rifle range, say 100 yds, the second zero might be 120yards because the pellet would be falling the extra 20yards in line with the scope aim but we might need to holdover before 100yds and shooting at 20yards might need to holdover by near 10ft. A very exaggerated example but you get the gist of the point, the difference between a 56mm scope height, a 32mm scope height and open sights wil still make a difference. So if you changed scope sizes on your rifle (thereby changing mid scope height) and you zeroed it at your usual zero range (which is usually the 2nd zero point on airgun), how much will that affect the point of the other zero?
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Mark Palmer
Member Extraordinaire
All joking aside, the key thing with any equipment based sports is consistency, assuming your gun and pellets are consistent, the rest of the variables are taken up by the shooter, you need to achieve consistent hold, gun contact, trigger technique, breathing, eye relief etc, this will only come with time on the gun. Gun fit can be a variable where you get along better with one gun over another, hence adjustable stocks being a thing, however, as @1260engineer has repeatedly proved, even poor gun fit can be overcome with everything else being right! I see (and read on here and elsewhere) too many people chase target scores by throwing money at equipment. A perfect example of this being an Anschutz 9015 Club that I acquired fairly cheaply as the owner didn't get decent scores with it, he claimed it was a shot gun! Using the supplied diopter sights , I scored a PB of 248 on BR25 targets, at 25 yards and in the range monthly 15 yard diopter BR comp, scored 3000 for the year....
Former Anschutz owner is , I believe , on his 3rd gun since and still hasn't improved much from mid 230s
My mantra is practice, practice and practice, then practice some more
Former Anschutz owner is , I believe , on his 3rd gun since and still hasn't improved much from mid 230s
My mantra is practice, practice and practice, then practice some more