50' Indoor Scaled Targets -- Ughhh

[Olive]

Hi team -- I've been lurking for a while, and today was the first time I had a chance to shoot "scaled" indoor targets with other silhouette shooters... I was horrible.

Shameless plug to Chicken for the scope -- and I have it mounted on a Cooper JSR -- but I need to practice properly over the next 3 months as with MI weather -- indoors is all we have.

Please redirect to existing threads so I don't tie up the forum -- but I'd like to hear input on:

1) sight position - hold on, off and move in or what might be the proper method (I was at 20x and went down to 12x -- the "other" guys were at 30x! yikes;
2) Front hand position - palm up/in/fingers
3) Dry practice routines for the basement

Moving of bags and bench (now that the rifle/ammo are fixed) and standing for the first time was very, very humbling -- thank god there's time to practice before May.

Thanks for your time!

[jsimmons]

My scope goes from 4.5-14x. I'm practicing at 8.5X because that's the minimum power of the scope I plan on buying in the next month or so.

[Jerry G]

My scope goes from 18 to 40. I usualy shoot it around 30 to 36. As to hand position, doo what is solid and you feel comfrotable with. Keep your trigger finger elbow down a your side. It will be a long time before your hold becomes good enough to stay on the animal most of the time so learn to squeeze the trigger as you come into the animal, not going out. It's not easy but don't give up. Be sure to take up the slack in your trigger and dont jerk it when you think your on the animal.

[Jetmugg]

I use a fixed 15X scope (Weaver KT15), and it has plenty of magnification for me. (I'm an "A" class shooter). More magnification would not help at this stage.

One issue I have heard from other shooters with more magnification (like at 36X) is that the field of view is so narrow, that it is easy to shoot at the wrong animal during a match. Remember, a hit on an animal shot out of order is a miss. With the higher magnification, it's easier to shoot at the wrong animal.

As far as hand position, find something comfortable that works with your body type and rifle design. You need to find a good balance point on the rifle, and a position that you can repeat consistently. If you want to buy a good book on the topic, "Ways of the Rifle" has excellent instruction, although the book is expensive.

My "wiggle zone" is generally larger than any of the animals, so I just try to keep the oscillations centered in the animal, apply smooth trigger pressure, and let the shot go somewhere in the area of the animal that I would like to hit. (My best score so far has been 20 out of 40).

SteveM.