bsa1917hunter,
Sorry there was a bit of jabs directed toward you following my post. That was certainly not the intent of my post. It was rather letting the score shooters know that with a skilled driver that understands how to center up and understand shot dispersion, even 55's and 62's can do more that what many think.
I've been around long enough to understand that folks have different reasons for shooting. You clearly like to wring out your rifle and ammo off the bench. Good for you for finding what you want out of your shooting. I was there at one time and wanted nothing more than to shoot little bitty groups. After a long while of chasing that down, I decided that I wanted more...Thanks to some team shooters, I was sold on position shooting with a sling as my next challenge. And challenge it was/is because I have terrible eyes. As difficult as it's been, I am strangely fulfilled when I succeed because of the depth of the hole that I started in. I was discussing with a friend what motivated us to compete and why many folk don't want to (not a jab pointed at you for the record). One reason we felt more folks didn't compete in highpower was the fear of public humbling. Your scores are tabulated, and your successes and failures are distributed very publicly (especially now a days in the internet era). Believe it or not...I like that.
Funny story (at my expense). One year competing at Camp Perry in the Presidents Match, I shot a good score at 200 Standing and a good score at 300 Prone Rapid. Unbeknownst to me, the CMP was updating the scores on their site in real time, so my friends back home were well aware of where I was in the ranking (better than I even, because I only knew my score but not everyone else's). Each of the 1500 or so competitors were vying to be one of the top 100 shooters to be part of the Presidents 100 and I apparently was well in the running after two of the three stages. Well, after the first 5 shots at 600, I was still in the running until I cross fired. I put a round on someone else's target which scores a big fat ZERO. Needless to say, I didn't make the Presidents 100 that year....and I caught a lot of grief when I got home. So much for my private misery... But you know, I'm still good with putting my scores on the big stage out there because my wins (as small as they may be) are similarly public.
I don't shoot for groups a whole lot anymore. The group bug has left me and shooting groups is just a means to an end for me. The end is a load that scores well for 22 shots after 66 shots were fired previously. I'll screen with 5 shot groups, then I'll test the promising ones with a couple of 10 round groups then I'll shoot a 20 round group before I take it to full distance at a practice match to make a final determination.
For the record I do shoot 3 shot groups with my hunting rifles...with a twist. I keep a composite target in my travel pelican and that 3 shoot group needs to stack on top of the previous 3 shot groups because I value stability of zero over a bug hole shooting rifle that put's em in a slightly different place each time.
...and just for fun's sake, I'll see if I can dig up some groups to share with ya'll.
Last edited by ChrisF; 05/04/21.
