about 50 of these for my first practice lesson on the shooting range. shooting with a 20 millimeter carbine is really cool ^^ almost no recoil and a very accurate gun! next week i'll do a revolver 20 millimeter and after that i can choose myself. it's nothing like archery what i did before this. less tense and more focus Bonus demopic Spoiler extra bonus pic, me shooting
Do you just do groupings? I do a lot of shooting with cadets (.22 rifle and 5.56mm). If you get chance try doing some rapid shoots. Not surew how quick the reload is on that, but when we shoot the magazine fed L98 (basically a SA80 that only has single shot) we'd do 5 rounds in 10 seconds. Or a snap shoot where you have 5 5 second exposures of the target at irregular intervals, and you have to fire 2 rounds in each exposure. Mixes it up a lot more andd makes it more interesting when you get your natural grouping tight. I'm not sure whether you've had any form of training (your kneeling position certainly looks like you know what your doing, just make sure your elbow bone isn't resting directly onto the bone in your leg, you should also try and sit on your back foot for maximum stability), so I don't want you to think I'm stating the obvious if you have but take a look at the 4 marksmanship principles: 1.The position and hold must be firm enough to support the the weapon 2. The weapon must point naturaly at the target without any undue physical effort. 3.Sight alignment and sight picture must be correct. 4.The shot must be released and followed through without undue disterbance to the position. 1 and 3 are pretty self explanatory, but something to note with 2 is; get into your natural position, aim at the target then close your eyes and take 2 deep breaths. Open your eyes again and if you have moved off from the target adjust your whole position (ie with your feet). Then do the same thing until your as close as possible to the target when you open your eyes. You don't want to be aiming a foot to the right of your natural position just using arms and back, it really strains muscles over long periods and you will start shaking. With number 4, don't snatch the trigger, take up first pressure, then slowly pull through until the round goes off. Now keep holding that trigger until the echo of your shot dies away (obviously not practical if your doing a rapid exposure), then release. That way you guarantee your not snatching, and moving the end of the rifle before the round has left the muzzle. OK shooting lesson over, apologies if you knew all this!
wow didn't expect tips! and actually i very much appreciate them i had my second lesson Tuesday with a high pressured airgun (slightly smaller bullets than with the gun but not really much difference otherwise). there was some explanation to how you must sit and such but what you just gave is likely gonna be a lot more help ^^ also i'm very much a noob still, so the only thing i got (slightly) correct is my stance, gonna try to see if my weapon aims naturally at the target next time that should help! only thing i have problems with is firing a bit faster, still straining my eyes on the target aligning the sight with the target, i was on archery for 4 years where it was important to take your time and concentrate, here though you need to act faster it seems. no problem with that really just needs more practice i guess. lastly we don't have the option to switch targets sadly, it's fixed 10 or 25 meters. I'd wish they let us try the L98, all we got are the post WO2 carbine stuff, bolt action everything. unless you buy your own gun ofcourse, but that's a lot of hassle in the dutch and i would need a year on this club to even legitimately have a chance to get a licence.
BTW that was meant to be make sure your elbow bone isn't resting directly on your knee bone, bone to bone isn't good. Either stick your elbow slightly over the front of your kneecap or just behind, whichever is more comfortable. Speed comes with practice, the .22 rifle we use is this: <a class="postlink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No.8_rifle" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No.8_rifle</a> It's been in service for over 70 years (now only used in cadet forces) It weighs a fucking ton, is bolt action, and not magazine fed so you have to reload after every shot. But with some practice you can get to the stage of doing 10 rounds rapid in 25 seconds. The aiming is something I struggle with as well, just make sure the one you focus on is the front sight blade. The rear sight aperture and target should be blurry, so long as the blade is in the same place in the rear sight every time (smack in the middle) and your aiming at the same place on the target then your groupings should be good. Make sure once you take the first shot don't move position at all, don't adjust your grip, stance, feet, arms etc. Any movement is going to mean the target and sight is ever so slightly realigned, and it will affect your grouping. Once you proficient at 25m then you could look for outdoor ranges, the 5.56mm L98 A2 we use: <a class="postlink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SA80#L98A1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SA80#L98A1</a> We only use it on outdoor ranges, because generally the backstop on indoor ranges is not built to withstand 5.56mm shots, but there's no point moving to an outdoor range if you grouping size on a 25m range isn't tight. Saying at 25m your getting 50mm groupings, move to 100m outdoor and that's a 200mm grouping. Step back to 300m (which is the maximum we do with L98 because it only has iron-sights) and your looking at 600mm grouping (or 2 feet in old money), which is bigger than any target your likely to use. I make no claims to be an expert but these are the tips I have picked up after 8 years of shooting with cadets!
8 years of experience isn't nothing so glad to get experienced advice the gun we use has a mazine holding 5 rounds. so that helps a bit. and i was actually focussing on the target more than the front sight blade. gonna try to remember that! outdoor range isn't really an option yet but would love to try it when i get a bit more feeling, my grouping isn't bad the instructor said but i'm still shooting on 10m so that isn't all that much. next Tuesday is gonna be my final practise lesson, after that i can get a license to shoot without an instructor constantly looking over my neck (though i like the instant advice a lot now). may i ask how you are shooting with cadets? do they go to the same range or do you have a certain role in the military?
We can use any military ranges in the country that are certified for the weapon systems we use, and considering we use a .22 rifle indoors and 5.56 outdoors that's pretty much any MOD range. There's a lot of constriction involved though (certainly more so than private shooting clubs, as being a military organization we have to follow MOD rules), having the qualified people to be able to run it, you have to book in advance etc. In the last few months or so I've completed 2 RCO (Range Conducting Officer) courses that allow me to run just about any range from 25m indoor to 300m outdoor, NDA, LDA and FDA (thats no danger area, limited danger area and full danger area respectively) I won't go into the differences but it is basically to do with where people, animals or vehicles can incur onto the range from. With FDA ranges you generally post 2 or more sentries to watch out for incursions into the firing area. The squadron I am a member of staff at is lucky enough to have a 25m indoor range (it used to be a Territorial Army centre, but they left when we moved in), we also keep our own .22 rifles and ammunition. For outdoor ranges we go to RAF Sealand (the RAF side has closed down but the range is still in use) which is only about 30 minute drive away or RAF Cosford, which is about 90 minute drive, but that's more complicated as we have to arrange to go to an MOD armoury to pickup rifles and ammunition (as we don't keep our own L98's). Rifles and ammunition can't be carried in the same vehicle, and you have to go on a weekend course to learn how to carry it safely, bit of BS really but MOD rules. I'm lucky enough to go to one of the biggest and best Air Cadet squadrons in the country with some 150 cadets and around 20 members of staff. All in all on our squadron we have 7 RCO's qualified to run the indoor range, you must have at least 2 RCO's present to run the range within the safety rules. Only 4 of us are qualified to run outdoor barrack ranges (25m), and only 2 of us (including myself) are qualified to run long outdoor ranges (anything over 25m)
sounds very cool! and seems like you guys were also very lucky with your range ^^ maybe if i go to England for holiday i could drop by the range and give it a shot or is that against safety protocols?
Pretty fun little RTS game (likened to the works of Bullfrog) where you have to build and manage your own prison. It's in Alpha atm but I spent 4 hours on it last night and the time flew.
Getting ready for winter because this year is going to be a bad one! Two pairs of waterproof gloves (first for general use and second are for cycling) Silk gloves to wear as a liner glove for warmth Waterproof socks: And of course a comedy Christmas jumper