M14 Forum

bigkicks · December 16th, 2011, 09:20 AM

best of luck to ya!

mescalito · December 16th, 2011, 10:24 AM

+1 to what MM and KYS said.
Good job Turtle. 25/30 is better than th blue ribbon sold to the highest bidder.

jameydan · December 18th, 2011, 07:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheTurtle

I'll definitely be doing more of this, but I doubt I'll be shooting any real NRA matches as I've heard there's SOME real ***holes in the sport. After being competitive in trap, I'm done with all the cutthroat crap. I shoot for fun. When shooting for fun, you always win. If a prize somehow heads your way, it's just a bonus.

Too bad that you have been burned by some people along the way. I encourage you to be open minded about NRA or CMP high power matches. I have shot matches in MT, UT, AZ, ID, and OH, and I think I can count the jerks I met on one hand. I deal WAY more difficult people Monday to Friday.

Up here (MT) we have a great bunch of people shooting in our matches, and it is a great way to enjoy ourselves, enhance our marksmanship and develop new shooters for the next generation. The after-match BBQ's and socializing are a great plus too.

NRA/CMP matches are also more likely to be run better than what you experienced. There are rules the match director is expected to adhere to (rulebooks) and the match program should be followed and it spells out the rules of the match.

I hope you give high power matches a try someday and it goes well.

Best,

JW

Bamban · December 18th, 2011, 08:01 PM

+1 on what JW just said.

I've shot in lots of places myself, but just like in any group, there are some individuals that just stick out. My experience in NRA/CMP matches these guys are rather the aberrations than the norm.

Give the high power matches a chance, you will enjoy yourself.

TheTurtle · December 18th, 2011, 08:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KYShooter

The beauty of competing is that NO event is "easy" when you are pushing yourself to do the best possible. The pursuit of that excellence, regardless of the competition format, makes a better rifleman out of you. Find what you did well and continue to practice how you did it until it becomes a habit executed without concious thought. For the items you did poorly in, objectively analyze it and try ways of doing it better.

When you perform, remember, and recount, what you did well. No reason to dwell on what you did poorly.

Glad to hear you went out and competed!!

I've only recently started weening myself from the bench in the last few months. Don't have very much of a background at all with rifle shooting so I'm getting a foundation set right now. I had learned to shoot prone with a sling the day before this match, and I personally thought I did well for shooting on my bare elbows on cold, rough cement. I've been taking out the M1A about every other week to go practice prone out to 600 yards on steel and I'm starting to get pretty consistent, although I'm sure someone who knows what they're doing can easily spot red flags.

I'm now working on sitting and getting better.

Might stir up a hornets nest here, but I really don't like shooting at paper. Something about spending 1$ a bullet to imitate a hole-punch at long range doesn't appeal to me. I only really shoot paper when I'm testing loads or sighting in. I prefer to just downsize steel targets the farther out I get. Makes it funner and keeps me interested.

KYShooter · December 19th, 2011, 05:10 AM

In my humble opinion, one shoots paper to "learn it" then shoots steel targets to "apply it". High Power competition is often misunderstood in people thinking that it is "training". It isn't. It is a competition designed to teach, and perfect, the basic fundamentals of marksmanship (sight alignment, position, trigger control, wind reading). Everything one learns in HP competition, has application in real-life shooting. The gear we use, like the coats, only help in tightening up our groups. The techniques you learn in HP shooting will only help you in any other rifle shooting applications you do - including hunting.

Like most others here, I started shooting when I was knee-high to a cricket. For all my young days, I dreamed of shooting the matches at Camp Perry. I considered it the "Mecca" of shooting. It wasn't until I was 40 when I finally decided to start competing (call it my mid-life crisis). Now, after 8 years of attendance, Camp Perry has yet to dissapoint me (though I've dissapointed myself many times).

As you can tell, I'm a BIG advocate of HP rifle shooting and would encourage anyone wanting to bring their rifle performance up a level, give the sport a try. Your only real competitor is yourself.