Pit Service-The Good,The Bad & The Ugly

[chuckw2]

Just what do you do the make yourself more efficient in the pits? What is in your pit bag? Where do you keep your pasters, on your watch, on your right index finger nail, where? What are some of the tricks you use to make you fast?

If you are right-handed, what do you grab first and with which hand.

If you are working the target with two people, what is the best way to divide the responsibilities?

On most of the military reservations I shoot on- there is no berm or backstop behind the target where you can see the impact of the bullet. How do you guys tell when your target is ready to be scored?

Fatboy,ASA,Danny,JB, How do you guys do it right???


Chuck

 

[bully_eye]

At my home range here in Australia we use paid markers even just for practice days- however these paid marker are teenagers who have a corresponding attention span,not having a go at all teenagers nor am I saying they all have short attention spans). When I go and pull targets, I keep white and black patches lightly stuck on the bottom of the target frame and usually one black one on my thumb. We have a high earth mound behind the target so shots are 99% of the time easy to see. I pull the target with both arms and patch out the previous shot, locate the new shot, put the spotter in and up goes the target followed quickly by the marking wand. If the shots are all relatively central, I would say I can have the target pulled and returned well within 15 secs... in fact I try to do it as quick as I can and sometimes I'm too quick so if the scorer isn't paying 100% attention they sometimes miss me pulling the target completely.
I see it as a courtesy to the shooters I'm marking for to be as quick as possible and hope for the same in return. I sometimes fail to see the logic behind having paid markers when we can do a better job ourselves but I also realise that these markers may one day want to pick up a rifle and have a shoot- which we always encourage- so a few problems can be overlooked.

My pet hates for paid markers:
1) sitting down between EVERY shot
2) listening to ipods while marking
3) not watching for the fall of shot

 

[Travelor]

I am right handed. I put my right hand on the target frame leg and feel for the bullet hitting the target. This works the majority of the time. I put the pasters on my left hand, along the areal between the right index finger knuckle and the thumb so that I can grab them with my right hand and paste. I pull the spotter with my right hand and paste, then move the spotting disc then the scoring disc if needed. Works much quicker than I can write about it.

If we are using two people, one pastes and moves the spotter while the other moves the scoring disc. the duties vary depending on which side of the target the hit is on.

 

[rstreich]

It's been awhile since I pulled targets, but I shot on a military team for a few years so I had plenty of experience pulling targets. If it was a good shooter on the line, I'd average around 5-6 second pit service. Some of the things that worked for me were:

> Stand under the target with both hands on the frame and listen for the bullet to strike the target. I just used plugs in the pits--no muffs. The only time I stood back from the target was in 1000-yard matches where someone was shooting an inadequate load that went subsonic before it hit the target.

> If it's a two-rail counterweighted system like they have at Perry, don't let go of the strap. When you pull the target down, it should have enough speed that you need to brake with the strap when you pull it down. On the way up, brake with both hands on the frame.

> If it's a cantilever system, it's a little slower, but you should be able to mark, paste and score without ever stopping the target. The right pull will cause a gentle bounce as the target hits full down. You'll usually need to brake it before it gets to full up position, however. If the counterweight is too light,the target needs to be pushed up) or the wind is pushing it down, put more weight on it.

> Always exercise your target a bit before record fire starts so you know how it'll behave.

> If you have two people, puller scores, non-puller pastes and marks.

> If you're pulling alone, have a few of the pasters stuck to the back of your strap hand or on the target frame. Get one on the tip of your index finger of your non-strap hand and paste the hole with it as soon as you pull the marker. Mark the new hole and move the scoring marker, if necessary on the way up.

All of this is a lot tougher if you have a shooter who is all over the target, because the either the conditions are terrible or the shooter is. I think the key is to learn to listen for the shot, however.

robert

 

[Rtheurer]

I put a string of 22 pasters through my belt loop. I know what my last shot was so it is either white or black,, hopefully all in the black ; ) I keep,paster) one on my index finger while I hold on to the bottom of the frame, if there is no impact burm. You will feel the shot go through the target. Pull it down smartly, as it decends im looking at the spotter & reaching for it with my right hand. By the time the target is down I have the spotter out of the old hole. then I paste that hole while looking for the new hole. If you have a berm you can tell by the impact area if it is high or low ot left or right of the last shot. Stick the spotter in the new shot hole with the right hand & start lifting the frame with the left, at the same time my right hand is moving the value disk from the 10 to the X. I would consider fast pit service to be 7 to 10 seconds. That is if the Value disk needs not be moved. No more than 14 seconds if you have to move around. 10 seconds is alot of time when your laying on the rifle waiting to break the next shot.
I applaude your very good Question!!! Thank you for wanting to be better at a very important aspect of our sport!!!!

Thank You Thank You Thank you!!!

Russ Theurer

 

[Asa_Yam]

Pasters lose some of thier adhesion when they are gobbed to something other than the backer strip or target. I like to keep all pasters but one on the roll for this reason. That one paster is for patching the hole currently in target. Once the target goes up, there's plenty of time to turn around and grab another paster. At the end of a string, you tear off the used backer, and throw it away. No mess or clutter to clean up later.

I will count off 22 pasters,for a 2 sighter, 20 shot match), just to simplify counting. however, this strip still remains attached to the roll of pasters.

If the pasters come in a box, leave 'em there. The box keeps the reel from unraveling, and helps keep dirt and moisture off the paster.

Re: momentum. I agree with using your weight to start and stop the carriage. Because I'm vertically challenged, a 6'+ length of doubled 5/8" line is part of my gear for the pits. You don't have to reach up as far, and you can stand against the wall if needed.

When it the pits, WATCH THE IMPACT AREA - NOT THE TARGET!!! This assumes you can see the impact area - there isn't one at Camp Perry, for example. The impact area is easier to see than staring up at the target. With a little practice, one can usually tell where on target the bullet will probably be, based just on the strike in the impact area.

With no pits, you listen and feel for the indications of the shot. A bullet coming directly overhead will be louder, since it's closer. And the vibration doesn't have to be from holding your hand on the carriage - vibrations will transmit down a taut pit rope as well.

NRA rules state that sub-10 second service,target fully down to fully up) is acceptable. 5 Seconds is fast. Anything over 15 seconds is unacceptable, and demands line and pit officer attention.

 

[jb1000br]

2 people: 1 watches bank and runs the spotter dics, 2nd person, tapes the old hole when the first guy moves the spotter.

i keep pieces of tape on top of my left hand.

That is how we do it at Williamsport. Always someone watching the bank..e.specially in the record string...lots of doubles...

JB

 

[chuckw2]

Guys, this is where I am having problems. Two of my favorite places to shoot 1000 yards are on military reservations, Ft. Benning in West Georgia and ADEC in Tullahoma just south of Nashville,TN. Both of those ranges, have no berm behind the target butts, the bullets just fall to the ground when they run out of steam. I can't hear worth a damn, so I can't hear the bullets going overhead. When I am holding on to the target frame or on a pull cord I miss the vibration of the bullet going through the target a lot of times. Pit service is such an important part of shooting well, I wish there was an easier answer. The most dreaded words I can hear are "Mark target 15! "

Chuck

 

[JohnJ]

well chuck i would rather hear the dreaded ...pull target 15 because i didn't feel the shot......

rather than hear...who the hell pulled target 15 to early :nono:


most of the time i watch for falling target pices...cuzzz if the backing has ben eaten away from shots your not going to feel the shots going through the paper

so from the shooters point....i would rather call for the target to be pulled rather than see it disappear in my sights as the shot broke cuzzzz someone pulled the target early

JohnJ

 

[sparker]

May I suggest making a game out of pit service. Compete with yourself or a buddy to provide the fastest and more importantly accurate pit sevice. I do this every time that I am in the pits. I do not have any extraneous conversations during pit duty. I concentrate on pulling and marking like I do preparing for the next shot cycle. Make pit service an integral part of your mental game. Providing excellent pit service yields self confidence on the line. It also gives the puller a favorable reputation as a shooter. Only good things can result from giving your best in the pits.

Sincerely,

Scott Parker

Bakersfield CA

 

[chuckw2]

Scott, I'm with you, it distracts the heck out of me when someone is trying to carry on a conservation with me when I am pulling targets.

Keep the ideas coming....

 

[sparker]

While in the pits, if one is dilligent about keeping a mental picture of the shots fired, one can give some very valuable feedback to the shooter. A good friend of mine, Bill Karch, is about 70 yrs old. Recently, he was trying to get his spacegun to group. I noticed that he would form two groups. One was at 4:30 on the 9-ring. The other was mostly centered. I also noticed that the shots fired quickly after the target was run up were mostly 10s and Xs. Shots fired more than 8 seconds after I ran the target up were fliers some 8s. I suspected optical fatigue.

After the string, I advised him to loosen his grip, adjust his NPA and adjust his sight up so that the shot would be centered just as the bull aproached dead center. I told him not to wait for it to be perfect. His next string was a 147-7X out of 150.