Shot the CMP match at the club this morning. I’m disappointed to have scored lower than my last score of 395/500. I dropped to 
368/500. Part of the problem was, I was confused by range instructions, and ended up shooting the wrong target. I thought we had 15 minutes of shooting to get sighted in, but I was supposed to put on a few sighters and put 10 in the actual target. I put ten into the actual sighter target. But hey, at least I didn’t shoot someone else’s target. Fortunately, Burt, who runs these matches, let me score the sighter target, because he would have been correct for me to take a big fat zero for that part. Score was still pretty awful, because I wasn’t on at first. I’ve been wondering about whether the sling pulls my shots off. I don’t have an AR-15 with a free float barrel.
When I sling up, my shots pull left and high, it seems. I suppose I need to work on consistency with the sling in that case. Can any of my readers who are experienced high power shooters comment on sling use on an AR without a free floating barrel? The next problem have is constructing the sitting position. Doing the rapid fire string sitting, I shot a fan pattern from the 10 ring down and right toward the 5 ring. I have to get to the range and find a sitting position that works for me.
The only problem with that is how tight supplies are on ammo right now. I might have to switch to shooting the FAL soon, because I’m running out of small rifle primers, and with primers in such short supply, I don’t know how long it will take to get more.
I have plenty of large rifle primers to last me a while. I don’t know how much more of this hope and change I can handle. I’m pretty good on Varget for now, but loading up heavier .308 loads could change that real fast. I doubt Obama pushing that CIFTA treaty, which would ban reloading, is going to help things any either. People are going to stockpile. This is one nice thing about shooting air guns — it’s hard to regulate the components. No problem finding pellets and CO2.
Ah, High Power competition…soooo very many ways to disappoint myself, re. performance.
You’ve just got to climb that hill – what else is there to say, except practice, practice, practice, reload, reload, reload, practice, etc…
My match rifles are a bolt gun and a semi auto, but I don’t have an AR-type platform to give any primary source advice on the sling issue. Experience with the match rifles tells me that sling tension and angle would definitely have an effect on the POI, whether you have a free-floated bbl or not! (yes, free-float does mitigate, but not eliminate the effect) CONSISTENCY of position, sling tension, attachment angle, etc. will allow you to dial out some of the variation, but MAY require a sight adjustment just for the sitting stage, which you then have to remember to adjust out of again for prone…
I guess my best advice is to find a sitting position you can assume under the time stress of match conditions, and test it out with two different sling tensions – your best average performance becomes your “base” on which to build the CONSISTENCY of position that is the key to better scores in sitting. Good luck. Some days you’ll take the match, and some days the match takes you…
P.S. I’m struck by the way ALL shooters I know readily share their successes and not-so-much successes in their sport – unlike the golfers i know…
“No problem finding pellets and CO2.”
Wanna bet?
With the libtards in charge:
Pellets = lead = toxic
CO2 = Pollutant
It’s only a matter of time…
I’m not sure how much the sling tension will really pull the point of aim–some folks were shooting good scores way back when before the float tube was standard equipment. Consistency is the key. If you can get it figured out without a tube, you’ll be in that much better shape when you get a float tube. (Like shooting smallbore for practice–it takes a lot less sloppiness to drop a point than in high power)
As to the primers, I’ve got a bunch of WSR primers I’m not using. I’ll sell you a thousand or so for what I paid for them a couple years ago next time you’re down in VA. (I’ve got a bunch of 7.5s and CCIs, and those are what I’m using now.)
Regarding sling tension, pretty much what the others said. The key is consistency. If you bend the barrel the same amount with each shot the bullet should go to pretty much the same place. I can’t do that, so when shooting an M1 or 1903 I just don’t get slung in as tight as I would with my AR or smallbore rifle.
Thanks for the advice guys. And thanks for the offer of primers AughtSix. I’ll let you know next time I’m down that way, and maybe we can work something out.
Anon:
That’s funny, and so true. Of course, you could argue because the CO2 came out of the atmosphere rather than from the ground, the CO2 cartridges re carbon neutral…. though I’m not sure if that the EPA will see things quite so sensibly if they start regulating CO2 as a pollutant.