started shooting offhand. using a kind of cantalever hold with my left arm against my rib cage. boy am i rusty. in spite of this the groups are not that bad. better than i would expect seeing how the sight is waving all over the target. this is fatiguing. i never notice that when i was 22! now i am really convinced i have to get into the weight room again. while i am very aerobically fit my upper body strength has suffered. if i holdtoo long i have to lowewr the rifle, recover and breeeeeath and re aquire the target.
something i did notcie with rest shooting. i was using a rolled up piece of carpet runner on my desk as a rest. palm upturned and rifle on palm. i went out and bought a very heavy and solid shot filled bag like M48 has in his picture (in 48 shooters club post). same hold but my groups went to hell. too solid? well, i won't be using such a rest in FT anyway. my offhand groups are almost as good as the rested groups with this solid bag. this is interesting stuff and full of challenges.
15 feet. this is in my private office. i can practice several times a day if things get quiet. i would shoot in my back yard but i am afraid the neighbors would not like it much.
one thing i notice about offhand shooting is that trigger control is so important. the stiff trigger really rears its ugly head. breath control is also a very big issue. i do not notice a heart rate jump though like i did in biathon. we had to learn to let off between heart beats.
there are some trigger tuning things that can be done if i want to tackle it. if i get in trouble there the worse that will happen is i baggie up my basket case trigger and ship it off to someone who knows how to put it back together. don't think it will come to that though.
What exactly is it that you do to the trigger to make it lighter without replacing any parts? I've already had the trigger assembly completely apart on my M34 (on accident) but I managed to figure out how it goes back together so I'm comfortable with taking it back apart again. I really want to tune my trigger myself but im not sure what to do. I have the mechanical skill just not the knowledge of the RWS trigger.
scroll down to where he talks about the trigger tune. i can be done but is involvolved. it not only involves cutting of springs but stoneing if sear parts. i am not sure what tools are usee for "stoneing'.
That is exactly what I needed, I'm sure the term stoning refers to filing, or using sandpaper, or anything else of the sort to remove material. I'm going to use really light sand paper (maybe some 400-800 grit) to simply smooth the surface, and finish off with some metal polish. I'm not sure if I'm going to cut any coils off the springs but if I do it'l probably just be 1 turn off the sear spring. I'll probably tackle this little project today and report back my results.
that is exactly the offhand position i was using. i learned that position in biathlon. its a standard offhand hold. i find that i am more steady if i let my right elbow drop to near my side and relax my right arm. i practiced that tonight after work. i think that doing exersises that increase core strength will be important for that position. i know just the perfect exersise. its an isometric hold called a "plank" you do them from a push up position but on your elbows and forearms instead of with arms outstretched. try to hold that position for up to two minutes. do the same thing on your side. i think that helps stabilize the offhand position because i notice that the longer i hold the position the more i start to waver from the waist and lower back fatiguing.
i was trying the sitting position as well but my form is bad. i could use a coach to help me with proper position. i shoot better offhand than sitting for now but sitting should be more stable and i think it will be when i get it right. i notice that prone is used by some competitors. before i was in biathlon i did military "ski fire team" competition. same as biathlon but used M14s and used the prone position quite a bit. i have not done any practice with that position with my air rifle yet.
FWIW - it took me about four months to 'master' the sitting position. Key for me was to move my feet and legs around enough that I'm 'naturally' pointed at the target without any noticeable muscle tone being used. At that point, it became VERY stable. I'm sure that's true of all positions.