Natural point of aim

[ford8nr]

So shooting my Saturday morning air gun league I've noticed after mounting my rifle, when I drop my head to the stock my sight aperture is at least already partially centered on the bull. So my thought is what happens if I don't aim and just pull the trigger. Here are the results. Rifle shoulder mounted, eyes closed, head lowered and trigger pulled when cheek touched the stock.



Circles represent what front aperture would show.

 

[Dr T]

Interesting game.

Another variation: keep the eyes open but remove the rear sight and just use the front aperture. After 500 rounds of this, remove the front aperture and see what happens in about another 500 rounds.

This is also an interesting game to play with a 22 with traditional sights. I think that I wore a 22 single shot out playing it when I was in my early teens back when we could go to the junk yard and shoot at things like aspirin bottles and tin cans. Plinking is a lot of fun.

 

[30Cal]

I would conclude that your NPA was off a little. Cool exercise.

 

[ford8nr]

Ya NPA was off a little right. Not bad though for unsupported ofhand, not aiming and eyes closed. Makes initial sight correction easy.
Was gonna try this on a league day but wasn't sure how it'd be perceived. Had to go practice when nobody was there.

 

[El_Cabra]

Now do it after spinning in circles 10 times. FOR SCIENCE!!!

 

[hps1]

Ya NPA was off a little right. Not bad though for unsupported ofhand, not aiming and eyes closed. Makes initial sight correction easy.
Was gonna try this on a league day but wasn't sure how it'd be perceived. Had to go practice when nobody was there.

Assuming right hand shooter, try moving your right foot forward just a tad. The suggestion to shoot without rear sight will also help achieve NPA and fit rifle stock (assuming adjustable stock).

Regards,
hm

 

[ford8nr]

hps, thanks for the tip, even though I don't need it. I shoot Master Class air gun and am a 4 position rimfire shooter. I posted this just for a fun observation and something others could try. There are various things we can do to improve our NPA, which wasn't my intent.

 

[hps1]

hps, thanks for the tip, even though I don't need it. I shoot Master Class air gun and am a 4 position rimfire shooter. I posted this just for a fun observation and something others could try. There are various things we can do to improve our NPA, which wasn't my intent.

Congratulations. I never shot air gun competition, but practicing with an air rifle really taught me the value of follow through! I doubt that I would ever have made High Master in high power had it not been for the air rifle. They (air rifles) can be very humbling.

Regards,
hps

 

[CryptKeeper5]

Congratulations. I never shot air gun competition, but practicing with an air rifle really taught me the value of follow through! I doubt that I would ever have made High Master in high power had it not been for the air rifle. They (air rifles) can be very humbling.

Regards,
hps

I've shot many times at the Texas state matches at Panola and Camp Swift. Stopped going shortly after Rick Crawford passed. Heard they moved down to south Texas around Beaumont. May very well have shot the same matches

 

[hps1]

I've shot many times at the Texas state matches at Panola and Camp Swift. Stopped going shortly after Rick Crawford passed. Heard they moved down to south Texas around Beaumont. May very well have shot the same matches

 

[hps1]

The last Texas State Highpower Matches I shot were in 1989 and IIRC probably 85 or 86 in Service Rifle, also shot a couple of 1000 yd matches, all were held @ Camp Bullis. I think they moved to Swift after that. Never shot either Swift or Panola. Not sure where they are shooting now, but the 1000 yard matches moved to George Tubb's stomping grounds up around Canadian when they shut Bullis down. Is Panola a 600 or 1000 yd range?

In 1983 I started a highpower program for Valley Gun Club; started shooting 200 yd. reduced then club acquired an old NG 500 yard range and extended/rejuvenated to 600 yd. in 88 or 89.

Regards,
hps

 

[caribou]

Kinda like those traditional Japanese Archers

 

[OneFreeTexan]

Shooting with your eyes closed........................??????

 

[CryptKeeper5]

The last Texas State Highpower Matches I shot were in 1989 and IIRC probably 85 or 86 in Service Rifle, also shot a couple of 1000 yd matches, all were held @ Camp Bullis. I think they moved to Swift after that. Never shot either Swift or Panola. Not sure where they are shooting now, but the 1000 yard matches moved to George Tubb's stomping grounds up around Canadian when they shut Bullis down. Is Panola a 600 or 1000 yd range?

In 1983 I started a highpower program for Valley Gun Club; started shooting 200 yd. reduced then club acquired an old NG 500 yard range and extended/rejuvenated to 600 yd. in 88 or 89.

Regards,
hps

Panola is 600yds but I heard they were literally turning it 90deg as you were shooting almost due west so late day at 600 was bad light. I think they were going to move it N/S. Apparently there was a big dust up in the TSRA as there's always been a kinda "war" between the north and south Texas shooters. Camp Swift was a great range and Col Trice was himself a HM shooter so really supported us shooting there. Apparently they're now now holding the matches down in some swamp near Beaumont. I'd much sooner put up with the fire ants at Panola than the skeeters down there!lol! The LT Dillon range east of Waco was a mess...literally...if it rained it was just a mud pit but was a nice 1k yd facility of not for that at one time. Most of my family still live in Texas so that's the reason I got down there as much as I could. I heard rumors that they were trying to shoot at Camp Bowie in Brownwood as they were building a new range but I have no idea if that panned out or not.

 

[hps1]

So shooting my Saturday morning air gun league I've noticed after mounting my rifle, when I drop my head to the stock my sight aperture is at least already partially centered on the bull. So my thought is what happens if I don't aim and just pull the trigger. Here are the results. Rifle shoulder mounted, eyes closed, head lowered and trigger pulled when cheek touched the stock.

View attachment 818907

Circles represent what front aperture would show.

Not sure I understand the exercise, but your shots prove your NPA is close, and that's a good thing.

Someone mentioned shooting without a rear sight. Amazing how small a group you can shoot without a rear sight. This exercise can help to adjust a stock to fit the shooter and aid in achieving NPA.

Shooting smallbore is next best thing to air rifle to teach importance of followthrough.
Shot indoor smallbore 3 position for a number of years and later outdoor prone 50 & 100 yd RF. Benefits of shooting smallbore is severely underestimated by most highpower shooters.

Regards,
hps

 

[ford8nr]

It was just an "I wonder if" exercise.
When shooting matches we shoot a 4 bull target, 3 scoring, 1 sighter, 5 shots each scorer. When shooting I mount the gun, take 2 breaths then set my cheek on the stock. Usually the sights were already close to center. So I started wondering how close if I just pull the trigger? In my exercise I closed my eyes before setting my cheek to avoid sight correction. This is similar to my routine in smallbore to help set position and adjust for NPA.