Winter 2002 - National Rifle Association

If you belong to a small-bore club, you can dry fire on asmall-bore target with your match or target rifle. Again,full safety precautions must be observed. But why notdry fire at home? As long as you can set up a target infront of your rifle, you can dry fire. (Hint: use as long arange as practicable to avoid the problem of focusing onboth foresight and target.) You will need to make up asuitable aiming mark to correspond with your normalsight picture, but this should not be a problem.Dry firing allows you to rehearse your trigger technique.Try it whilst wearing ear defenders and in a darkenedroom. By removing the normal sensory stimulation, youbecome very aware of the sensation of releasing thetrigger. Also, by dry firing over an extended period inperhaps relatively comfortable conditions, you willbecome more aware of any shortcomings in the fit ofyour rifle and the sling. It also emphasises the need tomaintain concentration over a long period.Check out your equipmentOne advantage of shooting fullbore at Bisley is that thereis very little restriction on the clothing and otherequipment you use. If you want to be a serious shooter,perhaps taking up 300m ISSF shooting at some time, youneed to look carefully at your equipment. I see moreand more fullbore shooters using ISSF specificationshooting jackets. The winter period would be a goodtime to look into this possibility. You do need to knowthat the ISSF specification will change in 2005 to a thinnerjacket. Shooters are already buying new jackets to thenew specification and so there should be a lot of the older76GUNSMITHSFULL GUNSMITHING FACILITIES• Custom rifles for any discipline• Re-bare-barrellingelling• Restocestocking• Pillar bedding• Calibre converersions• Custom bolt handles• Trigrigger modificaications and regulagulations• Minor repairpairs to full restorestorationstions*Come and visit us at our showroomOpening hoursMonday to Friday 9.00am till 5.00pmOpen most Saturdays 9.00am till 5.00pm*Tel: 01788 579651 Fax: 01788 577104Units 4, 5 & 8, Hunters Lane, Rugby,Warwickshire CV21 1EAthicker jackets around second-hand soon, which will beacceptable for match or target rifle shooting. However,if you are really serious about a jacket, consider havinga bespoke jacket made. Firms such as Mouche, KurtThune, Sauer, as well as Andrew Tucker, will make youa jacket either in double canvas or with an outer leathershell for round about £300 - £400. Bisley has a residentMouche agent (Tenring Sports Services at the back ofthe Fultons annex). You can be measured for a Mouchejacket at Bisley and get it a few weeks later. At the sametime, think about a modern synthetic sling and a goodshooting glove or mitt for the support hand.Many of the jackets used regularly at Bisley weredesigned to provide some padding against the recoil ofthe rifle rather than to give support to the position. As aresult, if the rifle and sling are not fitted correctly, theycan be uncomfortable over the course of fire. As fullboreshooters are often more concerned with weatherprotection (plus some padding), they are not tooparticular about clothing fit. Take any opportunity totry out a modern shooting jacket, and to adjust your rifleand sling to make optimum use of it. You might besurprised by the results!The winter season is also the time to check out your rifle.The action, bolt and trigger should be cleaned, and thebedding carefully checked. If rebarrelling is thought tobe necessary, you should consider a new rifle or at leasta new barrelled action. This will then leave you with aspare which can be used for training when the actualpoint of impact of the bullet is not too important.What about physical fitness?I have already mentioned mental fitness (ie your abilityto concentrate fully on firing perfect shots every time),but physical fitness is also important. Judging by thenumber of cars driving round and round camp duringJuly, this might not be given the importance it deserves.Yes, you do need to carry a heavy rifle to the firing point,but so many of the journeys seem to have little to dowith shooting per se. The least painful way to keep fit isto walk more. Nevertheless, all shooters would benefitfrom some specific physical conditioning. If you do goto a gym, insist on a programme of general physicalconditioning to maintain muscle tone rather than poweror speed training.Where does this leave the recreational shooter?I fully accept that many shooters do so simply as arelaxing hobby, and have no aspiration to win anythingat all. Their reason for shooting is to enjoy it. If any ofyou feel that you are being pressurised into becomingserious shooters, then I apologise unreservedly. The factis that even the most laid back recreational shootersooner or later gets an urge to shoot better. Shooting isan insidious virus that gets into the system by pretendingto be only a relaxing hobby, but which soon starts totake over your life. Shooters are not alone in this - Iunderstand that golfers and fishermen are equallysusceptible to the more serious aspects of their sport. Ihope I can help some of you addicts to take control ofyour addiction; after all if you are going to take yoursport seriously then you may as well aspire to the top.