CG:
Yeah, I determine where that one-shot group is going to go on paper.... Sometimes.. Sometimes I use empty / fired 12 guage shotgun shells, placed so that the head of the shell is the target. Pretty much hit that on the first shot -point proved, call it good, and move on with the hunting. Or I use my regulation-spec air rifle metallic silhouette ram, freshly painted, so I can see the splat marks after I topple it a few times from the 45 yard line.
I appreciate your comments regarding the fact that not all have the benefit of qualified professional instruction and coaching, so I reckon I'm ahead of the curve in that regard, as I not only had it in college, but throughout my tenure in law enforcement, as well.
I still hold a station record for most consecutive Distingusihed Expert qualification quarters in a row at 28, using an as-issued Beretta M-92F 9mm pistol to earn 28 DX marksmanship medals. I still have that little pile of 10K gold medallions in a keepsake box to remind me what the combination of paying attention in class, accepting instruction and constructive critisicism, and the application of discipline can do. In law enforcement, I also taught combat pistol shooting and advanced weapons training, so I've got a lot of background to lean on.
I apply the same focus on training to recreational air rifle shooting as I did in combat pistol shooting when I was 10-8.
Which is why I can do what I do. I practice, but I practice the proper technique.
My point, though, is that I am not naturally blessed with superior vision (corrective lenses since age 2) or hand-eye coordination (.242 high school batting average sort of says it all in that regard), yet I could still set a marksmanship record that has managed to go unchallenged for nearly 11 years, as far as I know.
Back then, peers would say, "I wish I could shoot like you do," and I would say, "No you don't, because if you did, you would."
Terse? Probably. But the thing that they didn't get is that I wasn't born with an M-92F pistol in my hands or the skill to use it. I had to learn it. I had to develop it. And once developed, I had to maintain it. That takes time and it does take effort. It takes the discipline to not let other things get in the way of practice time. It takes the discipline to establish a regimine and the discipline to stick to it.
Shooting is a degradeable skill. Yet it is something that just about anyone who really wants to be really good at it can manage to do IF they are willing to put in the effort.
And that is why I fall on the side of the fence that I fall on when the subject of pcp v. springer comes up (which I know is not the way you framed it in your post and I gather that you aren't one of those pcp or nothing types from your continued contribution to your thread).
For me, a springer IS very easy to shoot. I don't put a lot of thought into it or fret over hold. It's like driving my Porsche in that regard. I don't think about clutching and shifting the manual gearbox. I just get in the car and drive the thing. It is kind of the same deal with me and springers. I just pick it up and shoot it.
But I can do that because I have the luxury of being able to shoot it A LOT. I'll easily go through a tin of pellets in a single session at times.
And the practice that I put in with the springer applies to the offhand shooting that I might need to do in big game hunting, or the shooting that I do in military match comps or highpower silhouette. I use the same hold technique in silhouette that I use in springer shooting, for much the same reason, as springers don't have a lock on hold sensitivity.
Some would say that pcp is easier to shoot than a springer is. Because shooting a springer well is fairly easy for me as a result of the effort I put forth to make it so, I would be more inclined to say that pcp is more forgiving of sloppy technique, or even a near-total lack of it. That, in and of itself, doesn't make the pcp automatically better. In fact, because it is so forgiving, that forgivness works agaist me, because I am counting on my springer shooting to apply directly to other shooting disciplines that I engage in, which are equally unforgiving of poor technique and in which the proper technique is substantive similar.
The above is not meant to impune your shooting abiility, CG, as I know you're an experienced guy and very likely shoot as well as I do if not better, and you may not have to work as hard at it as I do.
I have to work very hard to maintain whatever skill level I've got. But I don't mind putting forth the effort and, frankly, enjoy it.
Great post, CG. It's been a fun thread to read. Thanks for getting the dialouge started!
-JP
