Total small bore silhouette begginer here. I went and watched a local club match this past weekend. Great bunch of people. They were very helpful in showing me everything they could before the match started. I almost felt like I was a new toy for everyone. One fine gentlman let me shoot his Anshutz rifle a couple of times even though I've never shot offhand before. Despite the earthquake in the scope I somehow managed to hit both targets I was aiming at so now I'm hooked.

I'll be starting out the first couple of matches with my old Marlin 781 bolt action I bought new in 1978. Still a decent shooter but it can be inconsistant at times. I'm working on a deal with a private party for a CZ 452 Silhouette, Sightron SII 6-24x40D, BLK rings and Timmey trigger all new in box never used. I hope to have that in the next month or so.

As a new off-hand shooter what are some of the "bad" habits to look out for?

The rifle I shot had the scope tilted to the right about 10 deg. What is the purpose?

Both eyes open. I noticed several shooters had some type of blinder on the scope or their shooting glasses. I've never been able to shoot with both eyes open. I've always found it difficult to keep my right eye focused with both eyes open but I've never tried a blinder. Does it really help to keep both eyes open or does it just depend on the shooter?

jbolt, Welcome to the addiction!!! You don't say where you are from but it sounds like a typical bunch of silhouette shooters, always looking for a new one to tease with a little touch of this fine addicition.
The scope cant is a matter of personal preference, I have usually seen it on those with neck/to stock issues either due to the wonderful good lord providing us with long necks, or to injuries, etc. Bad habits in offhand shooting...boy that is a loaded question, try to find a position that allows you to stand erect, feet shoulder width apart and as much bone to bone contact from the support hand to the ground. The rifle should (with some work for some shooters) just sit in the 'human vice' and the only muscle working is the trigger finger.
As for the eye question, most find there is less fatigue on the eyes to be able to shoot with both eyes open. Some have no problem achieving this without the assistance of blinders, some use "Scotch" tape on the lens of the non shooting eye. Again this is a matter of what works for you, I would recoommend trying different set ups and see what feels the most comfortable.
The choice of a CZ set up is a great starter rifle and will take you through most any class you want to compete in. But the old Marlin is still a great way to start and have fun, don't hesistate to try anything you can get a hold of , it will give you lots of ideas.

Anyway, I look forward to hearing more about your experiences as you enjoy this great sport.
Innocent Mary

Lots of good info for beginners here:

http://members.cox.net/riflesilhouette

Bob

The list of bad habits could go on forever. there are as many right ways as there are shooters. Never forget the basics. Good body position, good trigger control and good practice, meaning practice the right things, not the wrong ones. Good luck and remember that you won't start out being a master. Your scores may start out low but they will improve.

Get some of the of the more experienced shooters to watch you shoot and let you know if they see anything you should be or should not be doing. What to do is fairly consistent for all shooters what not to do varies greatly from one to another lol. As you progress you will start to fine tune little things to get improvement but till you shoot awhile at it you won't start figuring those things out.

The absolute worst habit in Silhouette is cross shooting at the wrong target and hitting it, 2nd worse is missing the correct one your aiming at!

Welcome to the sport it is very fun and challenging yet so seemingly easy it is stupid. Where are you from? From the sound of the cant on the scoped Annie you could have been shooting with someone I know.


Dee

Thanks for all the replies. Now I just need the weather to cooperate so I can get in some practice!

Jerry- could you explain good trigger control?

Jay

One of the best teachers of trigger control is to get a slow air pistol (ex Dasiy 747) and put a 3 or 4 power scope on it, shoot indoors at 10 meters or so and watch the trajectory of the pellet through the scope. It really shows the 'too much trigger finger', 'jerk', 'too little trigger finger', 'antipcation' and 'dropping the shot' motions well.
In short, you are looking for a slow steady squeeze on the trigger.

Mary

Innocent, I don't have an air pistol or an air rifle either. could you perform this same task with a .22 RF rifle or pistol but use .22 shorts or the aguila colibri rounds?

AD9, I have not tried with 22 shorts, I have observed while shooting an indoor series with AP. The speed is around 400fps, so it is actually slow enough to see the trajectory thorugh the socpe with good follow through...Oh yeah, it will force a good follow through also.

Mary

You can practice good trigger control with your rifle. Put an empty case in it and dry-fire. Practice and practice to squeeze the trigger so you don't disrupt your sight picture when the hammer falls. When you shoot for real you should be able to watch the bullet hit the target. Many of us have the bad habbit of slaping the trigger when we think the sight picture is right and quite often that pulls us off the target for a clean miss.

When you dry-fire be sure to rotate you shell case so the firing pin doesn't hit the same place every time you fire.

There are so many ways to stand and hold a rifle. Do what is comforatable for you. Be sure you have a stance that doesn't rotate your body and sights off the target when you relax after the shot.

Hope that helps. Practice and practice. My best progress was one winter when I shot in an indoor league twice a week. It hurt my handicap for the league but my outdoor scores took a big jump and that was my goal.

And remember to do your studies! "With Winning in Mind" by Lanny Basham, ISBN 1-885221-47-9 is required reading for this course. See syllabus for suggested reading. Oh - wait - wrong online classroom.

Thanks everyone I'll give these ideas a try.

I had a chance this morning to get in some practice. Just shooting paper at 50 yards. I was also working with my son, it was his first time shooting the .22 today. I was able to get in 12 rounds of 5 shots per target. The first 4 , 5 shot groups were terrible. all over the place. By the last 4 groups my (4 shot) groups were 1-3/4" to 2" which I was pretty pleased with. . I always had at least 1 shot per 5 that was 2-3" off. These were usually the 4th or 5th shot when I started getting tired. What is interesting is all my groups are right and low of center about 1". I haven't figured that one out. Most of my focus was on getting a feel for the trigger release. The trigger on my Marlin breaks at about 2-3/4 lbs which isn't too bad and I was able to shim out a lot of the creep which helped a lot. If I get the correct preload on the trigger the release is smooth. If I have too little preload I found myself missing the release and flinching. My biggest trouble today was with breathing. My torso is too tall to be able to plant my elbow on my hip so my arm is supported by my rib cage. I found myself trying to hold my breath too long to keep steady. All in all it was a great morning at the range with my boy.

Jay

Sometimes a picture helps...Here's what the "head upright, back bent, elbow on hip" stance looks like when you're 10 (now 11) years old and flexible.....If you're tall and thin you may be able to get more bone to bone by pushing the front hip out and bending your back...



Compare the above pic with this pic of the same youngster when she was just beginning to shoot offhand, only a few months earlier. You can see the progression in form very easily. In the above pic you can see she is much more relaxed and as a consequence much more stable.



Hope this helps. Welcome to the sport.

Kitty

Some people have a different point of impact going from bag to standing. I believe it is from not placing the bag about the same place you have your hand on the stock when you shoot offhand.

Shooting paper insted of steel is good practice. There is no doubt where your shots are going when you shoot paper. You can lie to yourself when you miss steel.