Flustrated

[gunsandgunsmithing]

I've got this.

Famous words, commonly followed by some cursing. Lol!

 

[JMayo]

I've had times like that. My ying and yang just wasn't yining and yanging !
I like lots of flags. But sometime the bullet is just knuckleballing .....
I also shoot fast.
i have "the anxiety" my grandmother always said.

Flags twitching between orange and green...
i try to find a condition that effects the bullet in a pattern. Know that poa. Then shoot when that pattern comes. Sometimes it's only seconds that it shows up sometimes it's minutes.

 

[SBS]

One of the hardest things to do in competitive sports is to be consistent. Good and bad performances are the norm until a guy figures out what is causing the difference and can fix them or adapt to the problems at the time. The bad shots that I really hate are the ones I cannot account for. Pays to do some detective work to figure it out, make some notes like K22 says and read back over your notes before the next match. Talk to other shooters and see how they are dealing with the weird changes. And above all, try to shoot in the same conditions or close to them. When conditions are super bad and everyone's score is down, feel lucky to be in the mix. If several are shooting well in spite of the conditions, figure out what they are doing to adapt. Most will tell you. Try your best till the match is over; you might figure out an answer to some of the bad shots --what flags to watch, bag placement, mirage, etc.

 

[gunsandgunsmithing]

I've had times like that. My ying and yang just wasn't yining and yanging !
I like lots of flags. But sometime the bullet is just knuckleballing .....
I also shoot fast.
i have "the anxiety" my grandmother always said.

Flags twitching between orange and green...
i try to find a condition that effects the bullet in a pattern. Know that poa. Then shoot when that pattern comes. Sometimes it's only seconds that it shows up sometimes it's minutes.

A little off topic so I'll keep it short but flags "twitching" back and forth can be related to balance. Try making them a tad bit tail heavy. If you took them in the house and balanced them perfectly while indoors, they're actually not well balanced. There is a static and a dynamic balance. Static is inside and dynamic is like we shoot, in the wind. You do not give up sensitivity with my flags. Being off topic, I'll just say take my word for it and try it or give me a call and I'll explain why that is the case in detail. A little goes a long way here. No such thing as too sensitive but a poor balance can look like it. If they beat back and forth like windshield wipers, you should fix that.

 

[Ccrider]

I don’t care how good you are, sometimes it’s just not your day. With the number of great and highly competitive shooters, count on losing more than winning and learn something on the journey. I guarantee you the best shooters don’t throw their hands up because they are not on top or close to the top off the board. They continue to shoot their best and try to figure out how to deal with the situation when they find themselves in it again.

Stop all the crying. What’s the baby gone do? You are taking his job. Start strong, go strong, end strong.

 

[Webster]

I love shooting, I love the competition we have and the time we share together shooting and just talking about shooting. My problem is I'm not consistent, 2 weeks ago I won 2nd in the 100 and 200 and 2nd in the agg. This past weekend was a disaster, 7th out of 12 but that doesn't bother me nearly as much as shooting a 481! I'm almost sure not many take as much time prepping and getting ready to shoot, I go to the range and spend hours working on load development and bench manners but it doesn't seem to matter. I try to tune on days without much wind (Central Kentucky doesn't have days on no wind!) and to test me and my load go shoot on days with wind. With all of that said we have 10 minutes during each match to shoot, rarely am I not finished with at least 5 minutes to go, a lot of times I use less time than that.
This past weekend after doing poorly at 100 I didn't even set flags at 200, my mind was on the 3.5 hour trip home.
Your insight is welcome and if you are my competitor you are welcome because I shoot so poorly

It's been a while since I read Tony Boyers book. I believe he says slight adjustments in load can affect how well a bullet performs in the wind. I think he meant slight adjustments in powder weight. Sounds like he is saying a good load without wind may not shoot well in the wind and we tend to blame a bigger group in the wind only as a result of the wind. I think he is talking about slight bullet wobble making a bullet more sensitive to wind. I hope I worded this correctly. Tony's book is a gold mine of info.

 

[JMayo]

A little off topic so I'll keep it short but flags "twitching" back and forth can be related to balance. Try making them a tad bit tail heavy. If you took them in the house and balanced them perfectly while indoors, they're actually not well balanced. There is a static and a dynamic balance. Static is inside and dynamic is like we shoot, in the wind. You do not give up sensitivity with my flags. Being off topic, I'll just say take my word for it and try it or give me a call and I'll explain why that is the case in detail. A little goes a long way here. No such thing as too sensitive but a poor balance can look like it. If they beat back and forth like windshield wipers, you should fix that.

Twitching ... What a wide meaning word !
(Wink wink)
Wind quickly changing directions was my meaning.

 

[gunsandgunsmithing]

Twitching ... What a wide meaning word !
(Wink wink)
Wind quickly changing directions was my meaning.

Windshield wipers twitch faster than wind...hopefully. That hopefully describes what I was referring to more accurately. If not, again, just give me a call Johnny. Always enjoy talking with you anyway.--Mike

 

[jackieschmidt]

Don’t get down on yourself too much.

I have been doing this for close to 30 years. I am supposed to know how to play this game.

But I had a complete disaster at The Texas State Lv/Sporter in the Sporter 200 Sunday Morning.

We were shooting i a lot of wind, 15 to 20 mph winds. But It was consistent enough to read it.

I was in 2d going into Match 5. I was feeling really good, competing against the best in The Region.

When he said commence fire in Match 5, I waited quite a while for my quartering right to left to come around. With about 3 minutes left, it did, and I worked it and got four down that was not bad. The condition started switching, I had to stop. I tested the sighter at straight at me, I new where to hold. But then, all I could see was a hard orange, (right to left), and I was down to 10 seconds. I had no idea what to do. I put the crosshairs a full line to the right out of the moth ball and still misse the darn group by a full inch.

I felt like my dog just died. But, nothings wrong with the rifle, the tune, the bullets, the front rest, the rear bag, or anything except I just went stupid and screwed up.

It happens. Don’t get discouraged.
Here’s the targets.

 

[R.Morehouse]

You can get this over at Creedmoor Sports.

I love shooting, I love the competition we have and the time we share together shooting and just talking about shooting. My problem is I'm not consistent, 2 weeks ago I won 2nd in the 100 and 200 and 2nd in the agg. This past weekend was a disaster, 7th out of 12 but that doesn't bother me nearly as much as shooting a 481! I'm almost sure not many take as much time prepping and getting ready to shoot, I go to the range and spend hours working on load development and bench manners but it doesn't seem to matter. I try to tune on days without much wind (Central Kentucky doesn't have days on no wind!) and to test me and my load go shoot on days with wind. With all of that said we have 10 minutes during each match to shoot, rarely am I not finished with at least 5 minutes to go, a lot of times I use less time than that.
This past weekend after doing poorly at 100 I didn't even set flags at 200, my mind was on the 3.5 hour trip home.
Your insight is welcome and if you are my competitor you are welcome because I shoot so poorly

I have read this book many,MANY times and have things underlined and written in the margins.....I can't suggest it strongly enough..........

Regards
Rick

 

[Shooter13]

You can get this over at Creedmoor Sports.

I have read this book many,MANY times and have things underlined and written in the margins.....I can't suggest it strongly enough..........

Regards
Rick

Thanks!

 

[Shooter13]

Don’t get down on yourself too much.

I have been doing this for close to 30 years. I am supposed to know how to play this game.

But I had a complete disaster at The Texas State Lv/Sporter in the Sporter 200 Sunday Morning.

We were shooting i a lot of wind, 15 to 20 mph winds. But It was consistent enough to read it.

I was in 2d going into Match 5. I was feeling really good, competing against the best in The Region.

When he said commence fire in Match 5, I waited quite a while for my quartering right to left to come around. With about 3 minutes left, it did, and I worked it and got four down that was not bad. The condition started switching, I had to stop. I tested the sighter at straight at me, I new where to hold. But then, all I could see was a hard orange, (right to left), and I was down to 10 seconds. I had no idea what to do. I put the crosshairs a full line to the right out of the moth ball and still misse the darn group by a full inch.

I felt like my dog just died. But, nothings wrong with the rifle, the tune, the bullets, the front rest, the rear bag, or anything except I just went stupid and screwed up.

It happens. Don’t get discouraged.
Here’s the targets.View attachment 1438746

Thanks Jackie, I've spent the day in the reloading room just kind of going over things and getting ready for the next match and going to the range on Thursday, I purchased the real deal targets and will act like it is a match. We'll see.

 

[Shooter13]

I don’t care how good you are, sometimes it’s just not your day. With the number of great and highly competitive shooters, count on losing more than winning and learn something on the journey. I guarantee you the best shooters don’t throw their hands up because they are not on top or close to the top off the board. They continue to shoot their best and try to figure out how to deal with the situation when they find themselves in it again.

Stop all the crying. What’s the baby gone do? You are taking his job. Start strong, go strong, end strong.

Didn't think I was "crying" at all and yes I know when it's not your day, I've had lots of those, guess best not to post to keep the community "alive", so far it has been a good discussion. Can you hand me a Kleenex?

 

[Shooter13]

I live about 30 min north of knoxville tn. We don't have any matches around close. Looking to shoot a match someday

You are not that far from Somerset, KY we shoot UBR there too. Check it out.

 

[TIMO]

Frankie is a good guy and he's not that guy who gets mad and packs his stuff and leaves. I bet you and I have the same person in mind from several years ago that would do that. Frankie is not like that. It was a frustrating day, for sure.

Frankie,
Don't get down on yourself from that one match. I know your capabilities and know that your equipment, ammo and attitude are Top Notch. I always try to focus on my biggest competitor (myself), and when I do that consistently my scores reflect it.

Tim

 

[Ccrider]

Can you hand me a Kleenex?

Hanky on the way.

 

[Eric Leonard]

One person had a decent score that day and I include myself in that statement. It wasn't me. Lol! It's the toughest range I've ever shot and there isn't a close 2nd. It has frustrated us all and Saturday was one of those days. It was pretty brutal and the scores reflect that. It wasn't just you Frankie. Challenge yourself to figure out what you can there and not try to beat that range on a tough day. You'll figure out something on days where others struggle and you'll have days like Saturday.

I haven’t made it there this year due to work scheduling,but I’ve shot a bunch of matches there,, the best thing you can do is forget it by the time you hit Hwy 10

 

[Murray Brook]

I've always felt that shooting is some what like playing pool. Some days no one can get you off the table and other days you have trouble making 3-4 balls in a row. Got to take the good with the bad , learn and move on.

 

[Dave M.]

If I'm reading this correctly you have an attitude problem. Yes, you have worked hard to get ready for your match, but when things don't go perfectly you just throw up your hands and mentally head for home, if not actually. Seen that too many times. Remember, it ain't over until it's over. Everybody there is dealing with the same adversity that you are. You have to keep trying, and sometimes learning, until you finish that last shot. Work on your attitude, determination and concentration and you will find improvement. But always enjoy the sport and competition with your friends and don't get yourself all worked up when things don't seem to want to work well. Learn from all of it, and learn to be patient, learn the wind patterns and make good decisions about when to shoot.

Agree. Attitude is everything. You can’t win every time out. My good friend is a pro golfer and he said what truly separates the pro golfer from the really good amateur scratch golfers is that you rarely, if ever, see a great pro golfer compound a poor shot by following it up with another poor shot. Same with shooting, each shot is independent of the last. If you are thinking about your last poor shot, you can’t possibly be thinking about the steps and process you have developed to allow to fire an “X” on your next shot.
Consider reading Lanny Bassham’s book “With Winning in Mind”. It truly changed the way I shoot. A HOF benchrest shooter once told me you can’t shoot angry, and you can’t shoot scared. Neither is conducive to optimum performance.
To me it sounds like the OP shoots great until he gets his first unexpected flier, then the plan goes out the window.
Dave

 

[Eric Leonard]

I’m still not very good either but I think what’s helped me a lot is just shooting 1 rifle, in 1 caliber with the same load and the same bullet,,
The way I figure it if I know the rifle and how it shoots that bullet and I have a worse day than usual there’s no use waisting bullets and barrel life trying to tune it when it’s already tuned.
I shot 6 ppc with a 68BT and 28.35 lt32 from March to Oct last year and I never had a day where I thought the tune got me beat