Tips on Pistol Shooting

[airgun_novice]

Dear Dev,

I did get it repaired (seals changed) and then followed it with the fps test. Some points were against conventional wisdom of testing -

1. It was open air on terrace - hence susceptible to wind
2. It was open air on terrace - hence susceptible to bright sunshine
3. It was hand held (not in vise) - though for fps it ought not matter
4. The target was almost 3' above the ground level - not the typical 140-145 cm

The groupings didn't vary that much. Truthfully, the question of "grouping" has popped up post-fps. Remember 3 well-placed hosts all landed in #10. At home since (using GSmith Amateur for practice) then groupings converge for every 10-shot set at a time and in the next set diverge ! Hence the first set in high 80s while the next (two) in low 80s. The fourth goes up again to finally average out at 85! This anomalous behavior has been replicated at 60 shot (two) sets I happened to slip in between too - average out at 85 i both the sets. Sight settings adjusted prior to practice match sessions for the GS-Amateurs. There is a difference in the way the paper tears as pressure drops from 160 to 110. The clean cut holes get gradually replaced by "tear-away" strips that linger on at the back.

So while on one hand I am happy that I have finally broken the "85" jinx - now "yeh dil maange more". Want to be 'consistent' at 90 average as the next progressive step. Hence decided to quench the Doubting Tee.

[Editing/ Adding this (Oct 25, 2011) after going through an article in Pyramid Air by Tom Gaylord. He alludes to *huge* difference in fps recorded when lighting changes. Think the article is the series on how he restores Diana 27. Now he quotes phenomenal leap from 250+ fps through 650+ fps or so simply by changing the position of his AR vis-a-vis his chrono ! Now considering, dynamic positioning of onlookers on the terrace, may be some fps recorded would have fluctuated due to that reason. Next time I shall do the fps testing under more "controlled" environs. Till then the 40-Fluctuation is anybody's guess. ]

[Editing this (Oct 29, 2011) - Recorded the fps today under more "controlled" environs at Savarkar Smarak Range. Similar chrono brought by fantumfan2003 was used and a high wattage bulb was held by me above it to enable the chrono to operate error-free under ambient conditions. The shooter (fantumfan2003) sat on a chair and no other movement was around. This time RWS R-10 (AP) pellets were used and the fps recorded - 495 (-4), 502 (+3), 498 (-1), 503 (+4), 499 giving mean of 499.4 (or 149.82 m/s) which brought it matching to the FWB suggested mps of 150 m/s. So ]

[jitu sati]

hey hvj
when r u coming back
jitu

[jitu sati]

hey dev
what is ur suggestion. should one buy a second hand pcp ap or wait to get a new one.
jitu

[dev]

Since you have been sticking to 10 m for a few years, its unlikely that you are going to stop without hitting the GVM and the Nationals soon. So go for a new baby and enjoy it for years, you will love picking up the new air pistol knowing that you share a goal. My only other advise would be to go for the electronic trigger on which ever pistol you choose. The non-electronic version is available on the Steyr Lp 10, the Morini 162 IE already has the electronic trigger. This a great help in dry firing practice.

Regards,
Dev

[NK007]

Msg on behalf of HVJ1,

He is out of station at the moment.. HVJ will be back on IFG from monday 31st onwards.

regards

NK007

[jitu sati]

hey hvj
are you back.
jitu

[airgun_novice]

He used blind shooting a lot. He achieved average score 9.8 without seeing target in 10 shots. I think by looking into practice of those great shooters we can find some answers on how to improve performance of Indian shooters today.

Dear Subal,
Could you please enhance a bit on blind shooting part - I could not draw up any proper inference or reference from google search. Interested in knowing what it is, how it's carried out and how to go about practicing it. Thanks a ton in advance.

Finally after some 'google tapasyaa', came across a "Blind Shooting" reference. Here the "shooting" is not done by (just) by the shooter himself ("paTTi baandh kar") as I had formed a misconception of, but by his trainer who also holds the shooter's shooting arm, can see the target and the foresight but not how it's aligned etc. He gets to feel the point of release of the shooter and subsequent movement of the shooting hand in follow through and then offer his insightful pointers. Thus the trainer of the shooter acts as if he's blind and is quite so for the important parts like SA etc. and oblivious to the shooter's action and reaction.

That is the "blind shooting" - and here was I, terribly worried about the fact that Mr. Pandu Kourov (excuse the lingo - the Baap of Arjun Pandov) was born in the White (Shevt) Land of Rishis (Russia)

[airgun_novice]

hey hvj
are you back.
jitu

with Jitu - "ma ma" as would say in the Puja.

The Sun sears the day; the Dark envelops the eve
The Hand quivers; the Pellet goes astray,
Show us O Guru - Thine true Followers few
Path to the Mark ('X') - do we humbly pray.

[dev]

Hmmm while the guru is away, lemme tell you one thing...Ap SHOOTING IS DAMN HARD, true fact. I had stopped practicing after the Delhi State and was trying to get my form back in ten days or so before the North Zone. Did not work; went back to the old score of 336 effortlessly . So boys and girls wait till we design the magic pellets that auto correct their flight path to the ten or else dry fire 200 times every day without fail. You veel improve even without blind shooting and all those exotic techniques.

Varm regards,

Dev

[fantumfan2003]

Dev

Could'nt agree more...and you really have to see to believe, the scores dwindled in a short span of time........

I am tempted to add.....Do it consistently or don't do it at all ..............

M.

Hmmm while the guru is away, lemme tell you one thing...Ap SHOOTING IS DAMN HARD, true fact. I had stopped practicing after the Delhi State and was trying to get my form back in ten days or so before the North Zone. Did not work; went back to the old score of 336 effortlessly . So boys and girls wait till we design the magic pellets that auto correct their flight path to the ten or else dry fire 200 times every day without fail. You veel improve even without blind shooting and all those exotic techniques.

Varm regards,

Dev

[airgun_novice]

Hmmm while the guru is away, lemme tell you one thing...Ap SHOOTING IS DAMN HARD, true fact. I had stopped practicing after the Delhi State and was trying to get my form back in ten days or so before the North Zone. Did not work; went back to the old score of 336 effortlessly . So boys and girls wait till we design the magic pellets that auto correct their flight path to the ten or else dry fire 200 times every day without fail. You veel improve even without blind shooting and all those exotic techniques.

Varm regards,

Dev

One Q now pops up =>

Dev/ all, how does one cope up or reconcile mentally the journey from 90% to 84% ? Agreed that the shooter may not have kept up daily but as in Dev's instance he did go back to the regimen for say 10 days prior to NZ and yet saw the slippage. The Gitopdesh - Think only of Karm not of Outcome - I know it's easier said than done. So how does one train to be "untainted" at all ? Similarly, consider another hypothetical case - Dev hits a medal at Delhi and now prepares those 10 days for the NZ - can he consciously push back that medal thought and yet start afresh his preparation for the NZ or will it weigh down every time he picks up the AP to practice ? In which case his focus has already started to diminish, correct ? Would that actually be a part of Mental Training ? Still, how to go about it ?

Another Q => How many dry firing instances can an AP (like FWB P34) handle during a practice session ? Any chances of its internals or externals going "off" if I, say, dry fire 40-100 shots daily ? P34 makes a real loud sound while dry firing and loud sound => loud bang of the hammer => more vibration inside = more chance of things going wrong at the right time.

[dev]

Hi Fantumfan,

I remeber and quote Mr.Miyagi of Karate Kid," Karate do do okay...Karate not do also okay...Karate do maybe, sooner or later get squish..." So I agree when you say do it completely or not at all. Another frequent thing we forget that it is an Olympic Sport and so you must prepare for it as such.

Dear Airgun Novice,

Since I have nothing better to do at work, let me bore you with a bhashan .

About the mental part, what I was trying to do in the match was construct each shot from scratch and not think of groups or score. I remember hitting a six and then following it up with a 10.5. So I knew that my mental state was fine. I knew that I was really tired, and half the time my concentration was broken by a particularly loud and really irritating U.P. team manager. I felt like shooting him a ten.

One has to learn to concentrate on the present and not what has happened in the past, as in all sports and in life in general. But I will go on record to say that if one works hard, the body reinforces, the mental image of success. For instance in the Delhi State my first ten shots hit a score of 86. I patted my self on the back saying just warming up and then shot a 94, this reinforced my belief. This resulted in another 94, after which I took a break. I knew that my come back after thirty shots is often a bit dicy as I have to start all over again with grip,stance, position etc. Shot an 89 and now I knew it was cool. So I went and complained to the referee about the noise makers etc. Maybe I should have concentrated on the next two series where I shot a 90 and an 88. I later realized that if I had taken all of the half an hour I had to shoot the last sequence I would prolly have shot another 90. I later analyzed how I hadn't examined the group shifting one ring more to the right and corrected it.

So one must be mentally and physically strong. I remember our previous Nagri head Mr. Raoul Ray telling me that Indian shooters suffer from two problems: 1) They don't know the technique 2) They are mentally weak. He drew a very clear example of what he meant to me. Since he has been a renowned shot in multi-shooting sports I respectfully agree. I am sure that even without any practice he can pick up an air pistol and shoot the MQS today.

I remember the fwb being quite a work horse, years ago. Bet it can still take thousands of dry fires without any hassles.

Apologies for doing so much chest thumping, I am desperately trying to bolster my self image.

Regards,

Dev

[jitu sati]

hey dev
u r absolutely right. i had a long lay off and came back. suddenly this local level competition cropped up. did just 2 days of prac and felt i would be ok. ended up with a bhayankar score of 324/400. but it was a good eye opener. have been at it since then. have certainly improved. will be taking a shoot today will let u know. by the way two offers for relatively new second hand aps have been made to me. one by topgun people and one locally by one shooter in jaipur. pardini k2s at 70grand and lp10e at 1lakh. any suggestions?
jitu

[dev]

Hi Jitu,

We can shoot that bhayanak score with our eyes closed nowadays . I don't know much about the Pardini but the Steyr LP 10 seems like a safe bet and the price seems okay, for an e. So I would go for the steyr lp 10 e anyday.

Regards,

Dev

[airgun_novice]

Hi Jitu,

We can shoot that bhayanak score with our eyes closed nowadays . I don't know much about the Pardini but the Steyr LP 10 seems like a safe bet and the price seems okay, for an e. So I would go for the steyr lp 10 e anyday.

Regards,

Dev

Jitu, If I may add - I think a new Pardini hovers around 65K or such. It's also parallel to Morini in price. Check with Vishwajeet. Not sure if he still has the new piece.