Tips on Pistol Shooting

[tirpassion]

Dear friends,

I had a long discussion with agn over telephone last week. It was a real pleasure .

In continuation to an earlier post,

But if you see at our level, by shooting only 9s, we can jolly well reach 360/400 or 540/600. So for us, 9 is a very good score provided we can keep all the 40 or 60 shots in the 9 ring. But can we? We can not because we are too much obsessed with that 10. This obsession of ten is a negative thought which poisons our mind and prevents it from functioning properly to shoot a TEN. Let us lighten the burden of our mind (self imposed mental barrier; see mental training posts of Guruji). What is wrong in a NINE?

I have suggested agn to go ahead with the method of elimination. Here, I presume that we all know how to shoot a TEN. But still we have problems with the bad shots, occasional SEVENS and regular EIGHTS which we are not being able to eradicate.
Let us start with the SEVENs. Do we shoot them? I do sometimes myself. What about you? If yes, let us work on a box drill of 'Elimination of SEVEN'.
First of all, cut out the '8' ring circle of a comp target an shoot on it, let us say 40 shots with a box drill. You will never see the 10's, 9's and the good 8's. But as soon as you shoot a 7 or a bad 8 (I imagine that you will not shoot 6's ), stop immediately and ask yourself the question, why I did it? If you find an answer, correct it immediately and continue. If you do not find an answer, the answer is YOU DID NOT GIVE 100%. So, apply 100% concentration (following every step of your SOA meticulously) an restart. In 2 to 3 sessions you must achieve 100% in 'elimination of 7' box drill. I insist on it to pass on to the next step of 'EIGHT' which should be our goal. Achieving 100% will give a big moral boost 'I know what is to be done to avoid bad shots like 7's and moreover, I know how to shoot a good shot. So there is nothing that can prevent me from shooting well'.
I suggest this exercise because some of us are prone to counting the scores set by set , which is completely useless. Counting the points is the job of the judges, our job stops after the pellet has landed on the target. So let us do our job well. Again a repetition

Guruji, what of you think about this method of elimination?

best regards
tirpassion

[tirpassion]

Dear jitu,
If you are still not able to 'Call' a shot, I would suggest you to adjust your new AP on a support. Please go to the range, and place a wood block or a support (I do not know what) on the table where you can rest your AP and shoot at a comp target. If the height of the support is not sufficient for you to shoot while standing, take a chair and sit down, in your shooting stance. Hold the AP as if you were in your stance (correct position of head is a must), the only difference is that the AP is on rest on a support. This will eliminate the movement to a great extent and allow you to adjust the AP to your satisfaction. Take your time to do it properly. This will help you to save time later on and not to take many sighter shots during a competition.
best regards
tirpassion

[airgun_novice]

Dear friends,

I had a long discussion with agn over telephone last week. It was a real pleasure . [SNIP]
best regards
tirpassion

The pleasure was all mine.

BTW, no pump or AP today - will pick up the same on Thu now; if not then Sat it will be. With Lakshyavedh a week away, my IHP N25 has conked off. Will order seal/adaptor and what the heck - even a spring and get going this week. Today scootered around the town(s) - Mumbai-Thane - scouting for scooter parts - got a few; the rest and the paint job can await end of Capt EZ. Very stressful, tiring and above all fatiguing. Really wonder how our bros in Delhi and Jaipur cope up with all this heat. I am sure that Yamraj must have given the "stork" or the "crane" an address in SIberia to drop me but that crane being Siberian Crane flew to warmer clime of Mumbai and dropped me off and sautered along to enjoy fresh "paaplet" (pomfret) and "bombil" (Bombay Duck or has it become MUMBAI duck now ? ) or whatever.

[jitu sati]

yo agn
the heat is funny here. but i guess 'adat ho gayi hai'.
tirpassion the ap is ok now and will start the elimination shooting as directed to eliminate 7 and then 8

[airgun_novice]

Dear tirpassion, Swami Vivekanand comes to rescue in summarizing your direction to us novices. I quote:

"Do not lower your goals to the level of your abilities. Instead, raise your abilities to the height of your goals."

Thank you very much for personal attention and guidance. Hope to get the AP fixed today.

[jitu sati]

hey tirpassion
i had that great feeling while shooting again when i tried the elimination drill. unfortunately the lights went off due to some power snag after 30 shots. but this is how the shoot went
first shot went into 8(though i was trying to eliminate the 7s) i took time to understand what went wrong. how was my hold, what was the sight picture and corrected it. concentrated on the SOA and to my delight next ten shots were in 9/10. then again hit a 8(mind u i was shooting in sets of four). took my time again and from the 12th shot to the thirtieth shot i could keep the shots inside the 9ring. was hoping to complete the 40 shots and see my overall % but power went off. but what was refreshing was when i made the effort i could keep it in the 9 ring.felt great.especially since the new ap seems to be slowly coming to terms with my hand and vice versa. thx. need to keep trying this even in the real match. could really improve my performance
jitu

[dev]

Have just had two days of box set practice. The first day managed twenty and then paternity duties called. Managed a sixty shot one yesterday. Feels nice to hear the snap on the correct squeeze. Being honest showed that I made two errors for every ten shots average, sometimes three. Found the hand moving as I squeezed the shot off, so fatique is showing. By the way I shot two shot and three shot cycles. I have a vague plan to move to a one shot cycle...does this make any sense? .

Regards,

Dev
p.s. just ordered two packs of kraut pellets, let's see how they shoot.
pps.Agn bhai the heat is actually horrible, throw in a power cut or two and you get the picture. Enjoy the bomdil for me.

[tirpassion]

Thanks agn bhai for your note. If I am of any help to you all, I will be grateful.

Dear Jitu,
that was very good work. I am very happy to know it. Have you cut out the 8 ring circle for the elimination of 7's exercise? I will call you up to have a verbal feedback at the same time. It will also be a pleasure to talk to you. last time agn and I spent about 40 minutes on telephone. It was a great pleasure .

Dear dev,
You can stick to the One shot if you can gather sufficient information from ONE shot (error, improvement, right analysis etc.). This is the ultimate. But to have a rhythm, there should be a few shots without interval from where you would be able to get better information and act accordingly. In the learning process, a few shots (Guruji suggested 3 shots cycle during practice to single out ONE error and rectify it with box drill) help a lot.

best regards
tirpassion

[tirpassion]

p.s. just ordered two packs of kraut pellets, let's see how they shoot.

Hi dev,
would you please enlighten me about this kraut pellets? I have not heard of them.

best regards
tirpassion

[jitu sati]

hey guys any recommendations for what pellets one should use with a Lp10. pl do also let me know how to obtain them. have tried to contact vishwajeet shinde but he is not responding. so pl help me out
tirpassion, it was great spking to u. cleared a few doubts. need to regularly prac. to be constantly at work to experience that exquisite feeling again and again. in the mean time no more i will try and will stick to i will do it
let me take one more shoot with the 8 ring cut and tell u the result
jitu

[dev]

They are now being sold by a famed gun oil manufacturer. The make is this: Kiehberg 1903 Wettkampf Gold Pellets - Made in Germany. I have never heard of them before and neither has goggle, shall do test when I get em.


Regards,

Dev

[tirpassion]

Friends,
I have personally used the JSB pellets and as claimed by many many shooters, found them to be excellent. They are comparable to the H&N Finale Match pellets at a lesser price, as I was told. You can get them in India from onlypellets.com

Personally, I have never used the TOP grade pellets like 'Finale Match' or RWS R10. The maximum I had gone to was the 'Match Kugeln' of H&N of 4.49mm diameter for my LP10 in the past and eight tins of JSB (7 euros per tin = Rs. 480) for my AP40.
I am of the opinion of not spending a lot of money on pellets before I have the capabilities of really understanding the difference between a TOP grade and a medium grade pellet. So, I use the medium grade RWS 'Club' pellets which cost me 3.4 Euros per box (about 235 Rs). They are excellent for me; light (0.45g) hence fast and accurate.

A small story of pellets out of my experience.
The first match I shot with the JSB pellets, I scored 556. I returned to the 550+ scores after 3 long years. The second match with JSB pellets: 551. I started to think, unknowingly perhaps, that the pellet was doing all the good work for me. One fine day, I started a match, confident with the JSB pellets offcourse, willing to do a great score. The first 2 sets did not go well as I shot a number of 8's & one 7 (91 and 90 and I counted unconsciously) and I realised that the dream of good score was fading out when I shot one 9 and one 8 to start the 3rd set. I analyzed the situation and decided to switch to the RWS Club pellets which luckily I had in my bag (I bought them only for the training purpose out of economy). Why? I realised that I was depending on the JSB pellet and not on my work. To unfetter myself from this dependence, I decided to go for an alternative. Moreover, I was already in the match and could not take any sighter shots with the RWS. So, I forced myself to adapt to the situation and confided solely on my work which in turn, made me forget to think about the score . I clicked during the scoring shots for adjustment but did it with a lot of assurance. The last four sets gave me: 93, 95, 94 & 96. I finished the match with 559/600, the best till that date in May 2011.
From then on, I am sticking to the RWS Club because I am conscious that it is not a top grade pellet and hence will not render the extra service/comfort to me. I will always have to be my own master. This is totally my personal experience adapted to my character perhaps. I believe strongly that; Do not let too much comfort to set in, in your habits. If you are too comfortable, your senses will go to sleep.

BTW, I had to find out my match analysis diary of that day to give you the precise details. I shot 1 seven, 9 - Eight's, 20 Nines and 30 Tens in that match. I have never scored so many tens since that match although I have been able to go beyond the 560 mark by elimination of bad shots.
My intention to narrate the story to you is not to blow my own trumpet. In situations, we need to elevate our level of performance. But how? This was a way which I found out on that day. In the process, I discovered that I can only elevate my performance when challenged and this challenge has to be a self imposed one (in shooting sport there is none physically present to defy me) by adding on difficulties. I repeat that it is totally my personal experience adapted to my typical character and may not suit others. But what I am sure of is that 'We can achieve a certain level of score with the elimination of bad shots process but to excel we will have to elevate our level of performance'.

Having said all that, I would suggest you to stick to the 'Elimination process' for the time being because it works pretty well to achieve good scores.

best regards
tirpassion

[tirpassion]

Dear jitu,
LP10 performs well with the 4.49 mm diameter pellets (you will see that the test cards are shot with 4.49mm pellets also). Whatever you do, go for good quality soft pellets (less antimony & tin in the alloy) for the health of your barrel. Clean the barrel by shooting VFG felt pellets every 1000 shots. No oil inside the barrel unless you have decided not to use it for a long time. The barrel should be always dry for precision shooting.
best regards
tirpassion

[airgun_novice]

I got my AP back - all many-a-grateful-thanks to Dr. Shirsat. Today morning I went out to the range and started zeroing - first with Mastershot and then with gsmith. WIth MS, started getting a good grouping soon and so after the requisite clicks "pushed" the group into the #8 and then into #9 region. Switching to gsmith the group traversed but stayed tight with a couple of strays in to the #7. I was still very happy. Did *not* yet use the cards with rings cut-off as "zeroing - WIP". Plus I could do the shoot for only an hour before I had to rush back to Thane. I intend on using gsmith (AP) and Mastershot/ Dianashot (AR OS) for Lakshyavedh. Jitu bhai, Vishwajeet is in Delhi till tomorrow (sat). Should be in Mumbai on Sunday - but what time I dunno. He is definitely in Mumbai all of next week due to Lakshyavedh. Try calling him any day after 2230 (10:30PM). That's when I usually succeed in hearing his sweet & tired voice. .

PS: tirpassion, I enjoyed the walk through Paris the night before yesterday.

[jitu sati]

hey agn tell vishwajeet i have called him and sent him msgs for the pellets. but there has been no response.
dev do let me know how u find those pellets.
hey tirpassion
did the elimination drill again yesterday with the 8 ring cut. 40 shots one 7.so will try the elimination with 9 ring cut out next time.