WAG Day 2 & Funday

[Paula Marie Hamilton]

So John hit his PB on day one, and on the way back to the house he tells me he can go higher than 600, starts naming shots he flinched on, or pulled off early. Next day, Day 2 WAG, he is pumped to go shoot. Get there first slighter is 2 foot off the board, next a 4. Something is wrong. He gets it into 9-10 but sighters are over. Record, first shot a 5. After a couple shots we ask to pull the gun. Thankfully one of the student ast coaches for this great N. Ohio team we know looks at the gun, thinks it's a regulator problem. John is just gut wrenched. I mean the kid had tears welling up in his eyes. What do you do for a kid like this. I just hugged him.

That evening he took the gun completely apart and found one screw in the riser that would not hold when tighten. It didn't back off much, but a very slight back off. He replaced it and prayed. Then I did the most redneck thing I've ever done. I went to goodwill bought 10 hardback books for $1, a roll of duct tape, & a marker. In our rental house I taped the books to a wall, put a dot on the paper and benched his gun in 2 feather pillows. I'll be danged if it didn't hold sight. So John was able to shoot at the fun day 3. It did OK, but the damage had been done. He will pick up, and go again I'm sure.

He has improved over 10 pts since summer, and broke 600, and hasn't hit his ceiling yet. If he could get into a good college I think he could go pretty far. I'm sorry this happened, but WAG was a good experience for him, and 2 records were broken, so Team USA is still getting better, just like John.

 

[TAJ45]

"Screw wouldn't tighten - replaced it". . ? Pulled threads on screw? Almost stripped but not quite? I'm curious what a permanent fix would be to keep this particular gator from chewing his bunz again.
Good thinking on benching w pillows. I'm curious as to the reasoning. I think I have a clue but am all ears.

 

[Paula Marie Hamilton]

"Screw wouldn't tighten - replaced it". . ? Pulled threads on screw? Almost stripped but not quite? I'm curious what a permanent fix would be to keep this particular gator from chewing his bunz again.
Good thinking on benching w pillows. I'm curious as to the reasoning. I think I have a clue but am all ears.

Not really sure to tell the truth. The screw looked OK, he used a pipe cleaner to reach inside the threads, but said it came back clean, he has a case of replacement screws of every size you could think of, because he shoots so many guns. He matched sizes and put a new one in. That's all I know. I'm happy he knew how to tear everything apart and put it back, because I had flashbacks to The Millennium Falcon in Legos. He uses a engineering screw driver to prevent over torking, but you would need to talk to him. I'm just the mom here..

 

[ebb]

As much work as he puts into shooting and all the time and travel involved you guys need to get a gunsmith to look at the gun and make sure it is OK. To much at stake to have him wondering if it right when shooting big match. At this level the mental game is most important and if he is wondering about the gun he isn't following his shot sequence.

 

[TAJ45]

Ebb is so, so correct.

I've heard tell that once a shooter has the ability to group and call shots, then it is 60% mental and the rest is in his head........

That is one thing my coach always said, faith in equipment and loads are the bedrock of confidence.
If a shot seems to not be on call, you HAVE to know it wasn't the inanimate delivery system.

I never was more than a Good shot, never ever achieved "great" but I surely have been fortunate enough to have been exposed to good training.

 

[Paula Marie Hamilton]

We don't have any good ones around here. Shoot we still haven't been able to get his scope mounted on his Mosin Nagant because not just anyone can do it, and if the scratch their head and say "I'll give it a shot", just walk away. The 2 we have close didn't know how to drill the AR upper I have with the bracket. We do have to visit a friend in TN and they have a very good smith, I'll have him look at it. Funday, and 2 practice since we have been back no problems. He is getting his confidence back up.. He had a taste of the 600s and he liked it, now he wants more. Thanks guys.

 

[TAJ45]

How can you stay w the farm scores when you've seen gay Paree (Paris) scores.
A take off from WWI when our doughboys returned. "How can you keep'em on the farm after they've seen Paree."

 

[TAJ45]

PM coming...

 

[ebb]

I think the best smith is one that has worked on this rifle before, ask the other shooters that have the same or similar rifle. the smith in Tenn may be excellent but experience is the best teacher. My wife is a 4 time national champion archer, I spent 2 years teaching her not to freek out every time a vane got loose on one of her arrows. I taught her to make her own arrows and do little stuff on her bow, but she still drives 5 hours and has a friend that is mechanical engineer to tune her bow.

 

[Paula Marie Hamilton]

I think the best smith is one that has worked on this rifle before, ask the other shooters that have the same or similar rifle. the smith in Tenn may be excellent but experience is the best teacher. My wife is a 4 time national champion archer, I spent 2 years teaching her not to freek out every time a vane got loose on one of her arrows. I taught her to make her own arrows and do little stuff on her bow, but she still drives 5 hours and has a friend that is mechanical engineer to tune her bow.

Yeah the day he had to pullout of competition I took him out in the hall because he had those big crock tears forming up. Gave him a few minutes to get it together. To be honest I was prob more proud on Sunday when he went in not knowing if the gun would work and put up a decent score. There were some head issues like coming off to early, and not the best trigger control, but that was hard to walk in that range after the previous day. His final shot was a 10.9. He mouthed the phrase "finish strong", cause I'm always saying that.

After every one left the match we did have the CMP gunsmith go over his gun with the student aid/coach from Akron, neither could find the problem. Practice was short tonight, because it was 19 degrees here, and even with his little heater his fingers were going numb. The gun again worked fine. I like for him to try to practice even in difficult conditions because if you can drill a 96 in the barn at 25 degrees, an indoor heated range with well lit electric targets is a piece of cake. It take a good mental attitude to block out physical discomfort in less than ideal circumstances. Plus you can tell he wants it when he is willing to practice like this. Might be why his numbers keep going up. Want is a powerful tool.