slingshootist's log

This looks great. Are you going to do a week by week?

 

Brilliant idea. I’m hoping to do thirty days of 20 x 8m shots at a 120mm target. I’ve no idea if weather and general commitments will make it possible but that’s the plan. I’m hoping to go from 60% average to 70%.

But not today. The target turned to papier-mâché, the bands were so cold and wet I had to aim high, and the wind was so bad my target moved six inches while aiming. Ten minutes and I was done.

Later today I did some free shooting without a catch box and got some hits at a distance I wouldn’t normally be confident to shoot. My portable catch is showing signs of wear so I’ll need to do some repairs.

 

That looks pretty comprehensive. Here’s the one I use.

but even this gets to be a fuss. Bulls, hits, grazes and missed. Sometimes you know you had a 20th shot but you just can’t find it. That’s when you’ve probably missed the target all together (but it sounds different) or you’ve hit a previous hit (a Robin Hood) so there’s no new hole to find. When my group improved I’d have hits on hits but it sounded like I’d missed the target.

 

The bull for me is when I cut the central spot. A hit is when I’m inside the large ring. A graze is when I’m next to the ring but not in it. A miss is when I don’t touch the large ring. So a bull is quite rare at the moment.

This is for fun though. That’s why when it was murders to shoot in a gale I just went home. Later I shot at unknown distances at non paper targets and it was fantastic but I love to improve too. The graph is just for fun. Some people would find it stifles them. I hope to see a progression but I also know that performance can nose dive as you consciously try to repeat what works and end up overthinking it.

When it comes together it is just so great. I had a couple this week where I just followed the steel ball fly as flat as can be straight to the target with a smack and I knew it was a hit before it landed.

 

I ŵasnt going to post before next weekend but I had a great morning. Better weather = better shooting. 70 odd percent.

But the best bit is not the improved accuracy but the grouping on the bottom left.
Consistency of form matters more than how i shoot. As long as I do exactly what i did last time i will hit exactly the same place. The challenge comes with all the other variables such as weather, light and age of bandset. Ill let you know how I get on next week.

 

Can’t wait to get to my range tomorrow. I’ve spent hours on my pouch grip and release with subsequent inconsistency but it may just be starting to come together. This is just a relatively close range target I scribbled at home. But the group was tiny. I also took out a small plastic bottle at 8 metres, once with a large stone and once with a small stone. Looking promising.

By the way you’ve got some nice frames there.

 

I have had the most disappointing week. I wasn’t expecting a smooth progression of improvement but everything has gone rubbish. Should have expected it as I’m messing around with almost every aspect of my technique.

Strange when I had a brief period of amazing shots.

 

Cheers. Snuck off to a little spot near the house which I only use occasionally as I lose most of my ammo. Hit after hit. Hope I can do it again.

 

The 80% baseline was a fluke at 8 metres. I’m now working from 10 metres. Have had some bad weather that brought the averages down. Messed about with technique (experimented). Watched some instructional videos. Changed from flat bands (which snapped) back to 1745 looped tubes. Bit of a pull and overpowered for the ammo I’m using. I’ve ordered 2040s which will hopefully keep my hands steadier (I have a tremor as it is).

Week three.
B:1 H:9 G:1 M:10 Acc:52%.
I’m okay with this even though things have got worse as I’m looking for predictability and at the moment I keep changing things.