Aspects of air pistol technique?

[hwtyger]

Top should be 10 unless in match finals.
Men shoot 60 shots usually, woman 40.
whats a good score, really depends on the class you shoot in!
If yr a fine shot, and shoot quite regularly, than between 340-360(out of 400) is quite easily obtained.
Above that, is much harder. 360 is really a borderline for many.

[raistrick]

Top should be 10 unless in match finals.
Men shoot 60 shots usually, woman 40.
whats a good score, really depends on the class you shoot in!
If yr a fine shot, and shoot quite regularly, than between 340-360(out of 400) is quite easily obtained.
Above that, is much harder. 360 is really a borderline for many.

Thanks! Not doing too bad, shot 212/250 on Wednesday on my first try - that probably works out at 339 if I'd carried on.

Do all 60 have to be in the same sitting? How many shots per card?

Sorry for so many questions, I just want to be ready for any competitions and don't want to feel like the novice I am

[mikec4]

Do all 60 have to be in the same sitting? How many shots per card?

Sorry for so many questions, I just want to be ready for any competitions and don't want to feel like the novice I am

12 cards with 5 shots per card to be shot in 1 hr and 45 minutes is the format for many postal and head to head competitions.

Don't worry about feeling like a novice - most of us are sympathetic and will be happy to answer queries and give advice; usually on club nights rather than before or during a competition.

Try to find a local club and instructor or coach if possible.

Goodluck with your shooting.

Mike.

[dodgey66]

Hi again.
Where do you shoot?
Thats what we shoot at Box, but I think the number of cards depends on competition/league entered.
Cheers
Dave

[raistrick]

Hi again.
Where do you shoot?
Thats what we shoot at Box, but I think the number of cards depends on competition/league entered.
Cheers
Dave

Currently shoot in Portishead, but looking for other places to shoot at since I can only really shoot there once a week as it's a big club and has nights devoted to different disciplines.

[raistrick]

With a good sight picture the target will actually be slightly blurred or fuzzy. The front sight should be nice and clear.

Indeed focus on sights, not target.

Regarding the advice above, does anyone know what the competition rules are regarding the sights? I was practising at home and had trouble focusing on the front sight - possibly because it was quite dark, but it got me thinking. My FWB has black sights and I was wondering whether one was allowed to paint a coloured dot on the front sight in order to help the eye focus there instead of on the rear?

[Justin44]

i'm new to this to and had my first go at 10m pistol last night, reading this thread has been great its amazing how many of the same questions newbies have.

[Rutty]

Regarding the advice above, does anyone know what the competition rules are regarding the sights?

You can download the NSRA Rules and the ISSF Rules from the appropriate websites. It is a good policy to ensure that you are familiar with them, they are less complicated than they appear at first glance.

You may paint your sights Tartan if you wish, although I would not recommend it! If the light is poor then use a larger bulb or more fittings, there's no point in training in poor conditions. If you have ageing eyes and have a bit of trouble with definition then a yellow lens for your shooting glasses or yellow glasses will help restore contrast. You may also wish to think about widening the rearsight in order to ensure that he foresight is well separated from the edges.

ATB
Rutty

[raistrick]

Was mostly pondering (eyes 20:20 and shooting in suitable light), but I'm not sure why you would want both sights the same colour anyway if lining them up correctly is so crucial to a good shot

[Rutty]

Was mostly pondering (eyes 20:20 and shooting in suitable light), but I'm not sure why you would want both sights the same colour anyway if lining them up correctly is so crucial to a good shot

Because the brain responds to pattern better than colour.

But go ahead and try colouring your foresight anyway. You can then assess it and see if it leads to a sustained improvement in your performance. But I would improve the lighting first.

Rutty

[raistrick]

Because the brain responds to pattern better than colour.

Regardless of whether that's true, pattern and colour are two different things though aren't they? And, as this journal article finds, they can go hand in hand: http://gandalf.psych.umn.edu/groups/gellab/Wurm93.pdf

In fact studies just last year suggest that red helps motor responses (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21500913), so painting the foresight red should help, no? Or perhaps 2 fine red lines horizontally on the foresight and 2 vertically on the inner edges of the rear sight would allow the shooter to visualise the pattern of a box quickly?

[Rutty]

Yes, pattern and colour are different but perception of colour is more disparate. The problem adding lines, boxes or anything else is that you are now putting additional elements into the pattern and increasing the opportunity for distraction.

Try it if you wish and if it works and assess whether or not it improves your performance.

Rutty

[raistrick]

Yes, pattern and colour are different but perception of colour is more disparate. The problem adding lines, boxes or anything else is that you are now putting additional elements into the pattern and increasing the opportunity for distraction.

Try it if you wish and if it works and assess whether or not it improves your performance.

Rutty

What do you mean by colour being more disparate? Do you mean that people see the same colour differently? I would expect that the findings of psychological studies would show a general fast-response colour.

I would also argue that the box pattern is not another element, but a replacement of the traditional W pattern (if drawn well). I guess you'd need to play around and see whether the blurring of the rear sight means that the lines need to be thicker or whether the front sight is the area to investigate. I'll look into techniques for drawing fine lines... maybe I should invest in replacement front sights for my pistol first!

[mawibri]

Hope that helps

Adrian

As a relative novice I agree with empty your mind but would not exempt the target as I was told to look at the sights not the target. but emptying your mind and getting "in the zone" is the hardest but most satisfying part

[Bjacobs571]

you want to grip the grip with most pressure on the third finger.
1 Press the ball of your second finger against the ball of your thumb as if they were wrapped around a grip applying some force. Now move your trigger finger (first finger)

2 Now press your third finger against the ball of your thumb as if they were wrapped around a grip applying some force. Now move your trigger finger (first finger)

you will feel with the pressure on the third finger your trigger finger feels much freer and moves with more control. This is why you should do most of the gripping with your third finger with a little force on your second finger and your little finger is just along for the ride. Do not apply any force with your thumb as this will move the point of impact.

when you pick up your gun push it into your shooting hand. With the other hand try to pull any loose parts of your skin (palm and base of fingers) around the grips. This will use the natural springiness of your skin to help grip the gun without applying excess force

Try using the lowest power £1 reading glasses you can buy (+0.5) as this will bring the sights into focus without totally blurring the target. you can also put translucent tape over the lens on the eye you are not using. You want both eyes open as your brain will interpret this as it being brighter and will close down your pupils making focusing on the sights easier. If you shut the non shooting eye your brain thinks it is darker than it is and open the pupil on your shooting eye. If you have an old broken camera you can take the iris out of the lens and attach it to your shooting glasses as this improves your depth of vision and therefore your sight picture.

At a lot of ranges the lighting is brighter at the targets than at the firing point so the sights will be silhouetted against the target. This is why target shooters don't use coloured sights. Some shooters will blacken the sights even more with a yellow flame (match or normal lighter) as this improves the contrast against the target. shooting disciplines which are shot outdoors and not under cover benefit from coloured dots white outlines etc as your sights are not normally silhouetted against a white target.

Focus on the sights as they are more important. If the sights are alined you can move the gun up and down 10mm and the pellet will still hit the 10 ring if the sights are misaligned by 0.5mm you will probably miss the black altogether