Whew, my arms are tired.

Jetmugg · Post by **Jetmugg** » Thu Mar 13, 2008 8:20 am

I finished setting up a basement range last night to shoot an air rifle for training in SB Silhhouette. After shooting 25 shots with my Anschutz LG250 and a scope, my left arm was getting pretty wobbly. That thing is HEAVY.

I guess it's time to get a little more serious about maintaining my physical fitness, lifting some weights, practicing with the air rifle, etc.

Any tips from successful shooters with respect to physical conditioning?

SteveM.

BlauBear · Post by **BlauBear** » Thu Mar 13, 2008 10:19 am

No successful shooters here - they're all out at the range practicing...

Jerry G · Post by **Jerry G** » Thu Mar 13, 2008 1:20 pm

You do have to be in shape. Go to some state match where they shoot 3 matches in one day and see how you stand up.

I let mine slip a bunch and my first 2 animals are good and my last 2 are bad. I joined a gym and it is starting to help.

kevinpagano · Post by **kevinpagano** » Thu Mar 13, 2008 1:50 pm

I am in great shape. if you like round. LOL I used to walk about 5 miles a day for my job. My shooting progress was good. Now I sit in a car or behind a computer most of my time. I breathe hard when I take a drink now.

Seriously I do think it makes a difference. I dont think you have to be in a runners condition but some sort of cardio would help I hope.

_Shorty · Post by **_Shorty** » Thu Mar 13, 2008 2:27 pm

Not enough bone being used in your stance? Seems to me the rifle shouldn't start feeling heavy if you're using bone to support it, since your muscles are taken out of the equation as much as possible.

ter · Post by **ter** » Thu Mar 13, 2008 2:45 pm

I'll second Shorty's statement. You should not have muscle fatigue with your elbow resting into your hip. You may have muscle strain (stretching) from a new position, but not fatigue. You might want to look at adjusting the buttplate to aid in bone support. Those leather jackets help a ton in support.

Bob259 · Post by **Bob259** » Thu Mar 13, 2008 3:19 pm

_Shorty wrote:Not enough bone being used in your stance? Seems to me the rifle shouldn't start feeling heavy if you're using bone to support it, since your muscles are taken out of the equation as much as possible.

Bone??? You mean there's bone in there...somewhere.

Kitty have you seen any bone? I know I haven't

Jetmugg · Post by **Jetmugg** » Thu Mar 13, 2008 5:59 pm

I know that my elbow "should" rest on my hip, but something about my body proportions doesn't allow this sort of thing. I've got the "Ways of the rifle" book, and have studied the correct position, but my body doesn't want my elbow to touch my hip. Instead, my left arm tends to stay tucked in against my side, but my elbow is a good 3 inches or so above my hip bone.

I'm not way out of shape (about 5'-9", 180 lbs), but I think I have a long torso in comparison to my leg length. Maybe I just need to get a set of longer arms.

SteveM.

Jetmugg · Post by **Jetmugg** » Thu Mar 13, 2008 6:00 pm

I think this rifle weighs in about 11 pounds also.

SteveM.

pistolero45 · Post by **pistolero45** » Thu Mar 13, 2008 6:30 pm

I think one of the biggest advantages to being in shape when it comes to match day, is being better able to deal with adverse weather, poor sleep the night before, and stress in general.

There is no limit to what one can do for exercise. Our dog gets walked year round, and during the the summer I ride a bike to work. In the winter I put on 2 1/2 lb ankle weights and walk stairs on my breaks. Some weight lifting, push ups and sit ups will help your back muscles.

Perhaps the best exercise is to spend several minutes everyday dry firing.

I like the idea of practicing with an air rifle that is heavier than what your match gun is.

ter · Post by **ter** » Thu Mar 13, 2008 7:36 pm

Jetmugg wrote:I know that my elbow "should" rest on my hip, but something about my body proportions doesn't allow this sort of thing. I've got the "Ways of the rifle" book, and have studied the correct position, but my body doesn't want my elbow to touch my hip. Instead, my left arm tends to stay tucked in against my side, but my elbow is a good 3 inches or so above my hip bone.

I'm not way out of shape (about 5'-9", 180 lbs), but I think I have a long torso in comparison to my leg length. Maybe I just need to get a set of longer arms.

SteveM.

I don't think anyones elbow actually rests on the hip. Your elbow should point into the hip. This is where the vest really helps, it kinda bridges the elbow to the hip.
I shoot a match air rifle with a full match jacket in a winter league. There is much more support with the jacket than the vest, but I try to copy the bone on bone "link" with the vest. I do have to use more muscle with the vest as compared to the jacket, but it does not make me sore. As in the "Ways of the Rifle" book, you have to search around to find a workable position that minimizes muscle strain.

_Shorty · Post by **_Shorty** » Thu Mar 13, 2008 9:54 pm

Whether or not your elbow actually makes it to your hip depends on several things, both of the body and of the rifle. I have no trouble getting mine on my hip with my practice air rifle. The stock's shape being the main reason. But with my rifle that I actually shoot matches with, well, my arm's not long enough to do the same thing. The fore-end of the stock is just not high enough to make it possible for me to do the same thing that I can with the air rifle. But everybody's different. Some have longer arms combined with a shorter torso, making it dead simple to rest their elbow on their hip. I think women tend to be lucky in that regard more often than men. We were just talking about this and biathlon rifles on rimfire central. Take a look at an Anschutz biathlon rifle, and the fore-end on that sucker is humongous. I'm sure it's a pleasure to shoot one of those off-hand.

jneihouse · Post by **jneihouse** » Fri Mar 14, 2008 6:43 am

You should not have muscle fatigue with your elbow resting into your hip

Bob, If you ever see my elbow resting on my hip, please call emergency medical services, cause either my arm or my hip will be completely dislocated.....Best I can manage is to tuck my elbow into the fluff that pads my ribs....

Kitty

ppkny · Post by **ppkny** » Fri Mar 14, 2008 6:57 am

Kitty, I shot your guns when I visited Fort Smith a couple of years ago and could barely reach the trigger becuase of how long the length of pull was on your guns because of your long arms. I'm not sure what you are resting your elbow on and maybe we should leave it at that.
ppkny

BlauBear · Post by **BlauBear** » Fri Mar 14, 2008 7:12 am

ppkny wrote:Kitty, I shot your guns when I visited Fort Smith a couple of years ago and could barely reach the trigger becuase of how long the length of pull was on your guns because of your long arms. I'm not sure what you are resting your elbow on and maybe we should leave it at that.
ppkny

It ain't purty...

Whew, my arms are tired.

Whew, my arms are tired.

Elbow on hip - hilarious.

Heavy rifle too.

Re: Elbow on hip - hilarious.

arms

Re: arms