Bad Practise- Is there such a thing ??

Went out yesterday to stretch the legs on my DE 338 edge .

Early in the week I set out 2 steel gongs, one at 1300 yards and another at 1530 yards. Anyway the day came and we had a really gusty strong 5- 20 mph wind blowing. Not ideal !

Due to family demands I figured what the hell, I'll still try it.

1300

Loaded it all in exbal and came back with 38 ups. Due to the second half of the shot being a15 degree incline with a gusty following tail wind from 5 oclock I adjusted to 36 ups , expecting an up draft. I ended up firing around 16 shots at it, hitting it several times with around 9-10 shots missing the plate down the right hand side between the plate and the frame. Very close with most shots though ?

I then loaded the data for the 1530 and used 47.5 ups instead of the exbal 49. First shot with a cold bore, dead centre hit ! I got my grin back. Next three were just on the edges with 2 of the 3 clipping the right edge of the plate.

Nearing the end of the session I found myself watching the grass on the hill around the target and adjusting my ups constantly in the gusting conditions. More ups for calm conditions due to less updraft ?? Make sense. All good stuff for experience I guess ?

When checking the targets it occured to me that the wind at the target was accutually from 7'oclock not the 5 o'clock at the shooting mound.

I guess this leads me to my question. I figure there is no such thing as wasted practice ? I feel that in good conditons that I would have hit those gongs more times than not, and most misses could be attributed to the extreme wind conditions. Most misses were extremely close, so I take confidence in that. Do you think it is smart to practise in such wind ?

I figure the more I can learn the gun the better ? I think you should practise in all conditions, not just when its rosie ??

Your thoughts ?

Cheers

DUH

You did learn a lesson. The wind can be from a different direction at the target than at the firing point. You found that by watching the grass.

At a range I used to shoot at just outside of Ottawa, Ontario, the wind can be from 3 directions on the 100yd range, just because of the range layout and the berms.

They used to shoot BR at this range and Glen Newick wrote in his book that it was one of the most challenging ranges on the circuit.

Bad practice? Not at all, any lesson learned is education and you were educated.

Practice in all conditions? Absolutly. Not to be confused with continuing to practice when youre shooting poorly. Never sit there and practice shooting poorly. When youre shooting good, shoot alot. When youre shooting bad, go home.

Practice doesnt make perfect. Perfect practice makes perfect.

Wayne Van Zwoll said something to this effect ... Some shooters avoid shooting on windy days, smart shooters use these days to see how wind will effect bullet flight.

As long as you are learning, it seems to be good to shoot on windy days. When you stop learning or trying to learn perhaps it's time to stop and go home.

I agree with an earlier post. Not all practice is good, so yes there is a such thing as bad practice.

Perfect practice makes perfect.




Mike Alford

I specifically target extreame conditions to practice in. I know that in perfect conditions I'm pretty good to go. Wind light and gusty, strong and steady, light rain, extreame cold, and extreame heat are some of the conditions I try to get some time in.

I think it was a good experience to trial myself and rifle in these conditions.

My range has a very field like shot selection. Most long shots are over a large draw. Each time I have had a tail wind or head wind I have needed less elevation adjustments, around 2 moa ? The slope on both sides of the draw is around 15 degrees and the wind both times has been entered into exbal between 3-5 mph. Does this 2 moa variation make sense due to updraft. The 4 distances have been 760 yards, 1030, 1300 and 1530. 2 moa seemed the consistant diference.

when I shot the 760 with the wind from 3 oclock the exbal ups were spot on ?

Am I reading the situation right ??

Cheers all

DUH

It is hard to say for sure without seeing it but it sounds like your on the right track. The key of course is being able to read that condition and correct for it on the first shot.

Very true Shawn !

I am going to shoot it again in calm conditions for comparison. I need to find a 1000 yard shot over flat ground to check and confirm drops. With 2830 as the velocity on exbal, I have had only one shoot in 5 where exbal matched what I ended up dialing for ? All the other 4 times I deducted around 2 moa less with the head and tail wind scenario ?

Maybe if your not doing anything one afternoon Shawn, duck over here and shoot it for me. You could be home for dinner that night !

DUH

Perfect practice makes perfect.

Click to expand...

Best thing said so far.

The hardest skill to learn about shooting a bow, rifle or pistol, is not when to shot or how, but when not to shoot!!!

You have to learn to put it down and not push the shot. If you lose concentration, get tired; stop and put it down. Rest, relax or come back tomorrow.

The physical and mental functions are about developing muscle memory of the perfect shot. Hurried and or pushed shots will rarely be good and all it does is enhance BAD habits. Not what you want.

Focus on 1-2 skills at practice and learn when to quit for the day.

BH

Bounty,

I quess I was looking for some positives to practising in extreme conditions ? I felt like I was shooting well, so kept watching and learning. I certainly feel alot more confident about hitting the spot after last weekend at those extreme ranges. They were never shots that I would have attempted at a game animal with the wind the way it was. But if conditions get good, and I'm shooting them well in practise, the long shot will be on !

DUH

Down Under

Understood, and good practice. Just pointing out as long as you have a specific thing and stick with it and quit when it gets tiring etc, that is how to learn. Just do not fall in the trap of trigger pulling with no objective and when you learn bad habits.

BH