As most of you have discovered, it sounds like it would be easy to take the levergun challenge, and it would be fun, but it only sounds that way.
It is not easy to dedicate the time and energy to shooting 1000 precision shots in a year. In fact, it is darn near impossible to fit in with a busy work schedule.
However, even a little of this kind of thing helps. Any reports from those who have tried it? Did it help or not? What say you?
September, time for a leverguns challenge update.
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KirkD
- Desktop Artiste
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Scott, you are certainly right about it being easier said than done. I did do some offhand shooting throughout the summer, but did not keep track (it was nowhere near 1,000 .... probably closer to 100). Most of my shooting was load development for a variety of old Winchesters. Nevertheless, the little bit of offhand shooting I have been doing does seem to be helping.
That confession having been stated, I will be doing several hundred rounds of offhand shooting with my 30-30 carbine over the next two months in preparation for hunting in November. I am doing some final load development and, if all goes well, will begin doing almost nothing but offhand shooting starting next week.
That confession having been stated, I will be doing several hundred rounds of offhand shooting with my 30-30 carbine over the next two months in preparation for hunting in November. I am doing some final load development and, if all goes well, will begin doing almost nothing but offhand shooting starting next week.
Well......I embraced the challenge at first but this summer has gone by so fast and I'm only around 700 rounds short. I have had some good, quality practice sessions with my .38-55 at various ranges though and am a better shooter for it. One of my goals was off hand practice and I have seen some improvement there. I also wanted to practice at 150 yards and beyond but that has been more difficult to do on a regular basis.
Dave
Dave
"We do not go to the verdant green woods and crystal clear waters to rough it...we go to smooth it. We get things rough enough at home! - George Washington Sears- a.k.a- NESSMUK
No shame here........part of the experiment was that it looked easy.....anyone could do it!
Well, that is simply not true. We may not shoot nearly as much as we think we do, and burning up rounds plinking is easier, but less productive.
I still encourage you to keep at this. There are some important benefits to it that you will not believe unless you see it for yourself.
Well, that is simply not true. We may not shoot nearly as much as we think we do, and burning up rounds plinking is easier, but less productive.
I still encourage you to keep at this. There are some important benefits to it that you will not believe unless you see it for yourself.
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AmBraCol
- Webservant
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- Location: The Center of God's Grace
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I don't recall the details of the challenge nor do I have access to a levergun, much less 1,000 rounds of ammo, down here. Still, this year I've made an effort to spend more range time with what I DO have. Since I picked up a little Crossman 1377 last year and managed to get it through TSA's idiocy and then customs on this end, it's been getting a work out occasionally. Not as often as I'd like, but am trying to get out to the club more often.
The first challenge was to get close to sighting it in. Had to grind down the rear sight leaf to bring point of impact closer to point of aim. Took off between 1/16 and 1/8" and that brought it fairly close at 10 meters. The horizontal adjustment leaves a lot to be desired too, but it's close. First time out last week I was getting some lousy patterns, nothing near a group. Mostly due to rusty skills and trying to one hand it. When I grabbed it with both paws and bore down a bit then I started getting recognizable groups.
Friday I packed up the van and headed to the range with my younger son. It started raining as soon as we got there and by the time we'd unloaded the van the bottom REALLY fell out and it poured. The range has a nice covered area and we were the only ones there so we set up to shoot under the roof, not a problem with a pellet gun, pellet trap and the wooded hillside area off to the right of the range as a backstop beyond the trap.
First three shots and I stopped to take a picture.
Now if I could shoot that consistently ALL the time I'd be in reasonably good shape. Three shots, 10 meters. It wouldn't win the olympics but it's a lot better than I was doing earlier in the week.
I then proceeded to shoot out the bullseye section with both the Crossman and a German made scoped carbine. The target looked kind of like one of those carnival star targets at the BB machinegun stand. I didn't think to snap a pic of it. Again, not match winning accuracy, but a good improvement over last week's efforts.
When the rain let up we set up a target at about 12 meters and I ran 10 rounds through the PPPPPP.
This little popper gets carried a LOT more than shot, but has always been problematical in the grouping area. In the past it's tended to throw shots high to the left. This time I managed to keep most of them centered. Perhaps part of the results were due to the subdued lighting from the overcast causing my front sight to not glint as much as on a sunny day. Again, this isn't much to write about, except that it showed me that practice with the pellet gun translates into better performance with the 38.
If we manage to conjure up some cast reloads, perhaps the little popper will do even better. I'll make sure and run any such over a rest to see exactly what they can do.
And that's something I find VERY helpful. First, take time to shoot a gun/load combination off a rest to see what it can do. Then work to duplicate as near as possible the results from field positions. KNOWING a gun's capable of certain performance pushes me to work at replicating that performance from less supported positions.
Last week I noticed that I was getting horrible groups, so I went back to shooting from a rest. Then I paid attention to my ammo and saw that two kinds of pellets had been tossed together. I segregated the pellets and found one style would NOT group and the other seemed to be magnetically attracted to nice, tight groups. The lousy shooters were relegated to "blasting" and the rest are used for more precise work.
Anyway, practice does a lot for one's ability. I look forward to future range sessions as I work at tightening those groups up.
The first challenge was to get close to sighting it in. Had to grind down the rear sight leaf to bring point of impact closer to point of aim. Took off between 1/16 and 1/8" and that brought it fairly close at 10 meters. The horizontal adjustment leaves a lot to be desired too, but it's close. First time out last week I was getting some lousy patterns, nothing near a group. Mostly due to rusty skills and trying to one hand it. When I grabbed it with both paws and bore down a bit then I started getting recognizable groups.
Friday I packed up the van and headed to the range with my younger son. It started raining as soon as we got there and by the time we'd unloaded the van the bottom REALLY fell out and it poured. The range has a nice covered area and we were the only ones there so we set up to shoot under the roof, not a problem with a pellet gun, pellet trap and the wooded hillside area off to the right of the range as a backstop beyond the trap.
First three shots and I stopped to take a picture.
Now if I could shoot that consistently ALL the time I'd be in reasonably good shape. Three shots, 10 meters. It wouldn't win the olympics but it's a lot better than I was doing earlier in the week.
I then proceeded to shoot out the bullseye section with both the Crossman and a German made scoped carbine. The target looked kind of like one of those carnival star targets at the BB machinegun stand. I didn't think to snap a pic of it. Again, not match winning accuracy, but a good improvement over last week's efforts.
When the rain let up we set up a target at about 12 meters and I ran 10 rounds through the PPPPPP.
This little popper gets carried a LOT more than shot, but has always been problematical in the grouping area. In the past it's tended to throw shots high to the left. This time I managed to keep most of them centered. Perhaps part of the results were due to the subdued lighting from the overcast causing my front sight to not glint as much as on a sunny day. Again, this isn't much to write about, except that it showed me that practice with the pellet gun translates into better performance with the 38.
If we manage to conjure up some cast reloads, perhaps the little popper will do even better. I'll make sure and run any such over a rest to see exactly what they can do.
And that's something I find VERY helpful. First, take time to shoot a gun/load combination off a rest to see what it can do. Then work to duplicate as near as possible the results from field positions. KNOWING a gun's capable of certain performance pushes me to work at replicating that performance from less supported positions.
Last week I noticed that I was getting horrible groups, so I went back to shooting from a rest. Then I paid attention to my ammo and saw that two kinds of pellets had been tossed together. I segregated the pellets and found one style would NOT group and the other seemed to be magnetically attracted to nice, tight groups. The lousy shooters were relegated to "blasting" and the rest are used for more precise work.
Anyway, practice does a lot for one's ability. I look forward to future range sessions as I work at tightening those groups up.
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centershot
- Levergunner 2.0
- Posts: 211
- Joined: Mon Sep 10, 2007 6:28 am
- Location: Wandering in the abyss of progressive liberal Nu Yorkistan
Scott,
Originally, I though "Hey! 1000 rds. is only one box of 357's a week for 20 weeks! Why, that's only 5 months! I can do that!" Welllllllllllll................. it didn't quite work out that way! Between the competition schedule, work, and that blasted "Honey-do" list, practice sessions didn't happen as often as I'd planned. Still, I put in 450 rds of serious practice so far and I have gone from hitting a 5" pie plate 4 times out of 10 to 9 times out of 10 from the standing position @ 50 yds. CLAR competition this summer and a background in high power and smallbore rifle helped too! I never thoght I would be able to shoot this tiny, lightweight .357 carbine this good! For now, I'm happy!
Originally, I though "Hey! 1000 rds. is only one box of 357's a week for 20 weeks! Why, that's only 5 months! I can do that!" Welllllllllllll................. it didn't quite work out that way! Between the competition schedule, work, and that blasted "Honey-do" list, practice sessions didn't happen as often as I'd planned. Still, I put in 450 rds of serious practice so far and I have gone from hitting a 5" pie plate 4 times out of 10 to 9 times out of 10 from the standing position @ 50 yds. CLAR competition this summer and a background in high power and smallbore rifle helped too! I never thoght I would be able to shoot this tiny, lightweight .357 carbine this good! For now, I'm happy!
"All who wander are not lost."
J. R. R. Tolkien
J. R. R. Tolkien
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Andrew
- Advanced Levergunner
- Posts: 2043
- Joined: Thu Sep 06, 2007 5:30 pm
- Location: Southern Missouri
I got it done in a few trips to the range. It probably helped that I was shooting the 9422 and 1100 rounds cost $20. 
The dedicated practice made me a MUCH better shooter, not just offhand but all around.
I shot that gun so much that when I switched to the Remmington I was distgusted with it. I could not stand being able to feel the bolt spring back-and-forth with every shot. Funny thing is I had never noticed it until the challenge.
The dedicated practice made me a MUCH better shooter, not just offhand but all around.
I shot that gun so much that when I switched to the Remmington I was distgusted with it. I could not stand being able to feel the bolt spring back-and-forth with every shot. Funny thing is I had never noticed it until the challenge.
re: challenge
I'm still fairly new on this forum, but where is the "challenge" posted? Does someone have a URL?
- Stopper
- Stopper
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GANJIRO
"I returned to see under the sun that the swift do not have the race, nor the mighty ones the battle, nor do the wise also have the food, nor do the understanding ones also have the riches, nor do even those having knowledge have the favor, because time and unforeseen occurrence befall them all." - King Solomon- Ecclesiastes 9:11
Due to myself being a victim of unforeseen occurrences my range & field time has been nonexistent this year, very bad year 2007.
Due to myself being a victim of unforeseen occurrences my range & field time has been nonexistent this year, very bad year 2007.
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centershot
- Levergunner 2.0
- Posts: 211
- Joined: Mon Sep 10, 2007 6:28 am
- Location: Wandering in the abyss of progressive liberal Nu Yorkistan
Stopper,
The "challenge" was issued by Scott T, it was to shoot 1000 rounds this year from the same rifle, using the same load, at the same target, from the same position (shooting from the bench not included), at the same distance, to see how much your shooting would improve. No plinking allowed! 1000 rounds of serious shooting, concentrating on each shot to make it as good as you possibly can. As you may have surmised from some of the responses, this requires an immense amount of time AND energy! If you've shot in formal competition, you'll know what I'm speaking of. If not, take my word for it, the concentration required to do this properly is considerable. Shooting 50 shots this way in one session will take a LOT more time than the usual range session.
Ji,
Having lost both of my parents several years ago, I know the Hell you are going through. Please believe me when I say that it gets better with time! Sometimes it still gets to me, but I know that when my work here is done and I am called hone, I'll be with them again, and you will be too! I find a lot of comfort in these lines from one of my favorite hymns, i hope you will also:
"Be not afraid, I go before you always,
Come, follow me, and I will give you rest"
Peace to you, Ganjiro!
The "challenge" was issued by Scott T, it was to shoot 1000 rounds this year from the same rifle, using the same load, at the same target, from the same position (shooting from the bench not included), at the same distance, to see how much your shooting would improve. No plinking allowed! 1000 rounds of serious shooting, concentrating on each shot to make it as good as you possibly can. As you may have surmised from some of the responses, this requires an immense amount of time AND energy! If you've shot in formal competition, you'll know what I'm speaking of. If not, take my word for it, the concentration required to do this properly is considerable. Shooting 50 shots this way in one session will take a LOT more time than the usual range session.
Ji,
Having lost both of my parents several years ago, I know the Hell you are going through. Please believe me when I say that it gets better with time! Sometimes it still gets to me, but I know that when my work here is done and I am called hone, I'll be with them again, and you will be too! I find a lot of comfort in these lines from one of my favorite hymns, i hope you will also:
"Be not afraid, I go before you always,
Come, follow me, and I will give you rest"
Peace to you, Ganjiro!
"All who wander are not lost."
J. R. R. Tolkien
J. R. R. Tolkien
I know I'm not gonna make it and I know whose fault it is. Mine! Screwed around and waited too long to get my new reloading bench built (moved in Jan.). Then it got hot, real hot. Lots of procrastination. No excuse, I shoot at home. So far, I've only fired 100rds but I 'should' be able to shoot another 100-200rds (max!) before deer season is upon us.
Maybe next year.
Maybe next year.
I am with AmBraCol
I have probably only fired about 200-300 rounds this year
out of my firearms. But my Crossman 760 and 1377 pellet guns have gotten a hell of a work out in my garage since I got back in Feb and boy does it make a difference when I do get a chance to go shooting. I have shot well inexcess of a thousand pellets threw them. + the kids like to shot them also 
I have probably only fired about 200-300 rounds this year
out of my firearms. But my Crossman 760 and 1377 pellet guns have gotten a hell of a work out in my garage since I got back in Feb and boy does it make a difference when I do get a chance to go shooting. I have shot well inexcess of a thousand pellets threw them. + the kids like to shot them also Jeremy
GySgt USMC Ret
To err is human, To forgive is devine, Neither of which is Marine Corps policy
Semper Fidelis
GySgt USMC Ret
To err is human, To forgive is devine, Neither of which is Marine Corps policy
Semper Fidelis
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Cimarron Red
- Levergunner 2.0
- Posts: 480
- Joined: Mon Sep 03, 2007 5:18 pm
- Location: Colorado
I have fired approximately 2400 full power BP loads at NRA BPCR silhouettes so far this year. This has been through participation in 20 approved matches (several of them 2-day shoots.) With record shots, sighters and practice the day before the shoot, I fire a minimum of 100 rounds, usually more. So my estimate is likely a bit conservative. Of course, this is with a single-shot rifle. At least 700 of these have been at the 200 meter off hand chicken as I practice on these more than the stick animals.
Also, with the lever gun (not counting SASS matches) I've shot about 700 off hand shots. This was in lever gun silhouette matches and two buffalo shoots as well as practice sessions shooting .22, 32-20, .45 Colt and .45-70 calibers. And I have a .22 adaptor for my Browning 1885 BPCR rifle, and with it I practice shooting .22's off hand at 50 yards. I shoot 100 rounds per session and have shot 6 practice sessions so far this year.
There are 7 more BPCR silhouette matches remaining in the year and two more buffalo shoots. So, I can't complain about not getting enough trigger time. Has all this cap snapping improved my shooting? No doubt. But when you reach a given skill level, improvement comes in the tiniest of increments at a cost of hours of dry and live fire practice -- not to mention more hours hovering over the casting pot and the loading bench. But there's nothing else I'd rather be doing. Believe me, I feel blessed to be able to do it.
Also, with the lever gun (not counting SASS matches) I've shot about 700 off hand shots. This was in lever gun silhouette matches and two buffalo shoots as well as practice sessions shooting .22, 32-20, .45 Colt and .45-70 calibers. And I have a .22 adaptor for my Browning 1885 BPCR rifle, and with it I practice shooting .22's off hand at 50 yards. I shoot 100 rounds per session and have shot 6 practice sessions so far this year.
There are 7 more BPCR silhouette matches remaining in the year and two more buffalo shoots. So, I can't complain about not getting enough trigger time. Has all this cap snapping improved my shooting? No doubt. But when you reach a given skill level, improvement comes in the tiniest of increments at a cost of hours of dry and live fire practice -- not to mention more hours hovering over the casting pot and the loading bench. But there's nothing else I'd rather be doing. Believe me, I feel blessed to be able to do it.
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BlaineCGarverakaTubbyTuba
- Levergunner 2.0
- Posts: 204
- Joined: Mon Sep 10, 2007 4:32 pm
- Location: Spanaway, WA
This has been a crazy summer. Hardly any offical practice. I do, however, get what I consider quality time with my weapons dryfiring the bad guys on tv and calling the shots....Kind of lame, but it's good for muscle buildup and trigger control. I do it a bit different, in kind of a Zen-type way. If I'm in the bubble, the sight really doesn't stop long enough to "hold a bead", it just comes up and happens.....I'm not in the bubble near enough to suit me and while hunting, I make every possible use of available supports while aiming, be it a tree or my position. Sitting with elbows on knees seems valuable for rifle and handgun both. Good on ya, Scott, I'm just lazy, I guess.
I need to look at my notes, but I believe I am coming up on 800rds right now. It has gotten better since I joined that range outside of LaCoste.
Here are the last three groups fired at 100yds over sticks.
Its getting better, here is a recent 200yd group
Probably nothing spectacular for folks who shoot bolt guns with scopes off a bench, but I think that the Challenge is really helping me. The most noticeable change is how long it takes me to deliver a good hit. That time has been reduced considerably.
Here are the last three groups fired at 100yds over sticks.
Its getting better, here is a recent 200yd group
Probably nothing spectacular for folks who shoot bolt guns with scopes off a bench, but I think that the Challenge is really helping me. The most noticeable change is how long it takes me to deliver a good hit. That time has been reduced considerably.