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Frustrated by my poor shooting!

Shooter13

Shooter13

Gold $$ Contributor
Last year a well known shooter offered me help, after the start of the this shooting season I'm going to make a call. At the end of last year and all this year I've shot poorly. I've had a friend video me, I've gone over my reloading procedures and not really found any real cause. I changed one barrel from 6PPC to a 30BR and installed a new 22PPC replacing a previous 22PPC. If I had hair I would have already pulled it out!
Anyone (or everyone) ever go through this? This starts my 6th year shooting competitively. If you did this did you find your answer?
Alright, let's cry together! :rolleyes: :(
 
Shooter13 said:
Last year a well known shooter offered me help, after the start of the this shooting season I'm going to make a call. At the end of last year and all this year I've shot poorly. I've had a friend video me, I've gone over my reloading procedures and not really found any real cause. I changed one barrel from 6PPC to a 30BR and installed a new 22PPC replacing a previous 22PPC. If I had hair I would have already pulled it out!
Anyone (or everyone) ever go through this? This starts my 6th year shooting competitively. If you did this did you find your answer?
Alright, let's cry together! :rolleyes: :(
Click to expand...
Everybody's "poorly" is different. Based on cartridges listed you'd be a SRBR guy?

Are you in the .1's, .2's, .3's......5's? How poorly?
 
Shooter13 said:
Last year a well known shooter offered me help, after the start of the this shooting season I'm going to make a call. At the end of last year and all this year I've shot poorly. I've had a friend video me, I've gone over my reloading procedures and not really found any real cause. I changed one barrel from 6PPC to a 30BR and installed a new 22PPC replacing a previous 22PPC. If I had hair I would have already pulled it out!
Anyone (or everyone) ever go through this? This starts my 6th year shooting competitively. If you did this did you find your answer?
Alright, let's cry together! :rolleyes: :(
Click to expand...
Buddy, I know of very few in BR that won much in their first year or so and really, by time, you should be there this season. I know you've worked hard and I've seen you shoot well. Now is your time to shine, baby! Worry less and shoot more. The rest will happen. There is no shame in a 2nd or 3rd in the crowd with which you shoot.
 
Do you know your exact chamber dimensions? How good are you at reading wind? Do you set wind flags out everytime you shoot? Are you sorting bullets? Do you use a custom bullet? The 22 PPC is one of the most difficult cartridges to shoot well. Why not 6PPC? Do you hold the rifle the same every time? Have you tried running your groups vs picking a wind condition? Confidence builds good scores!
 
Last edited:
Shooter13 said:
Last year a well known shooter offered me help, after the start of the this shooting season I'm going to make a call. At the end of last year and all this year I've shot poorly. I've had a friend video me, I've gone over my reloading procedures and not really found any real cause. I changed one barrel from 6PPC to a 30BR and installed a new 22PPC replacing a previous 22PPC. If I had hair I would have already pulled it out!
Anyone (or everyone) ever go through this? This starts my 6th year shooting competitively. If you did this did you find your answer?
Alright, let's cry together! :rolleyes: :(
Click to expand...
Having the same thing this year. All my equipment is top shelf. But this year I can't find the groove
What I did was have a very good shooter shoot my set up and load. He shot a .196 5x5 agg. I have a bug in my bench manors.
Good Luck finding your bug.
 
Assuming equipment and loads are not the issue, most competitors, including me (pistol), experience peaks and valleys if you compete long enough.

When you say you are shooting poorly, please define. Is there a pattern on target to the poor results? An experienced competitor should be able to diagnose the source of your "poor" results by observing you shoot and studying your targets.

With me, I reached Distinguished Expert (Pistol) but was not able to go to the next level, Master. Oh, I would occasionally shoot a Master Class score but not enough of them to receive the classification. This was despite very capable equipment, ammo, and lots of practice. I had just reached the limit of my personal physical and mental capability.

Competitive shooting not only requires the physical skills, but it also requires the mental skills. The best shooters I encountered had "ice" in their veins. Nothing rattled them. Dealing with match pressure is a key element in match success in my experience.

Once you convince yourself you are shooting poorly and become frustrated, the climb back can be more difficult. A process that helped me was I took a break from live fire for a while and instead used dry fire practice, reviewing the fundamentals (Army Pistol Marksmanship Manual) and concentrating on them during dry fire exercises.

Sometimes stepping away from competitive shooter can help to reset your mental attitude. Unless you are a professional shooter, you need to convince yourself that this is a hobby and the goal is to have fun and shoot against yourself. The more you pressure yourself, the worse you will shoot. If competitive shooting becomes a source of frustration and unhappiness, it might be time to reassess your purpose and perhaps return to just shooting for fun.
 
Last year was so bad, I wouldn't get out of the electric chair to do it again. I started off with all new equipment. 2 rifles, front rest, rear bag. I thought I was ready. All I did was spend the whole year sorting out problems and chasing a lightswitch for a tune window. In the end, I was using the wrong rear bag, and nothing I did made either gun shoot until I went back to my old one.

I finally had a stable enough platform to figure out my neck tension was all wrong. Despite fixing those things, this year started off bad. I decided to shitcan my whole tune, and went to the range and developed a whole new powder ladder at 300 yards. I found 3 nodes all better than the one I had been using, and all much faster. Next up is another neck tension test to put that to bed, and seating depth so I can nail that down. Then I get to start all over lol.
 
Just relax compete against yourself, have fun. I don’t shoot competitions, I used to compete in IBO tournaments never won anything but I enjoyed it, life is too short not to enjoy, it ain’t the end of the world.
I’m 70 years old and trying to learn to play a mandolin, never will be a mandolin player, but I can play a mandolin.
 
Shooter13 said:
Last year a well known shooter offered me help, after the start of the this shooting season I'm going to make a call. At the end of last year and all this year I've shot poorly. I've had a friend video me, I've gone over my reloading procedures and not really found any real cause. I changed one barrel from 6PPC to a 30BR and installed a new 22PPC replacing a previous 22PPC. If I had hair I would have already pulled it out!
Anyone (or everyone) ever go through this? This starts my 6th year shooting competitively. If you did this did you find your answer?
Alright, let's cry together! :rolleyes: :(
Click to expand...
When shooting from a bench, which I try to avoid, I have found that I suffer from a wandering zero, not my rifles, generally, so we all have our issues. Welcome to the club!

Danny
 
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