This post is not a whining session. It is to explain some of the lessons I learned about the vast difference between range shooting and field shooting:
I am a fat 53-year old. Not as nimble, nor as quick, nor as flexible as I once was. The big gut was a major hinderance.
I shot rifle team in high school, rifle and pistol in college, and rifle and pistol in the National Guard. The last time I shot prone was 1988 in the Army. Until last October, it had been 19 years since I shot a rifle. Even so, my opinion of my own shooting skills was pretty high until the weekend.
Since last October all my shooting has been at a rigid government-run range where you have to shoot sitting at a bench, and the furthest target is 100 meters (110 yards). The booths are covered, protecting you from the sun.
Yesterday, I went out and met some other Hide members and shot pumkins, steel plates, and hay.....
When you sit at a bench on a range, the bench is clean and level, or nearly so.
When you lay in a newly cut field you are in a messy environment - when I dropped an allen wrench I could not find it; I got a sliver of hay or something in the chamber and had 2 tought-to-extract rounds; when I ran a brush throught the chamber and barrel, I pulled hay back from the muzzle through the barrel.
Also, the ground is not level, it can slope the wrong way and was rutted. The bipod was NOT long enough to clear all the newly cut vegetation. In a few cases the round went through hay on the way to the target.
At the range, all your rounds, accessories, and tools are at hand and not easily lost if dropped. In the field, all my gear was in my rucksack or in the rifle case, and not easily accessable. And when I dropped my allan wrench, it vanished. "Out of sight is out of mind" in this case.
My shooting 'mat' was a 2 layer blanket and the layers slid around. Just plain bad idea.
In the field you have to be organized and have your gear stowed in places where you know it is going to be. Also, what seems like a good idea at home can sometimes really stink in the field. You have to keep trying different stuff until everything works well for you.
At the range, the sun is not in your eye because of the 'roof' above the firing points. In the field, trying to sight in, and the sun was in my eye. I think that caused my irises to close and changed the eye's focus. I could not even see my shots on a paper target at 100 yards. My hat eventually fixed that. I need to find a replacement boonie hat. My ast one seems to have vanished in the move to Missouri.
When a scope is set up for shooting off a bench, it is too far to the rear for prone shooting. I ended up doing weird stuff to get the proper eye relief.
A non-skid shooting mat, and a decent sling are essential (and on my list of things to get ASAP). A long adjustable bipod to adapt to slopes and ruts is important. I may use my current bipod for range shooting and get another for the field.
I need to organize my stuff, and practice with it stowed, so that I remember where everything is.
And on... and on.
I had a great time. I learned that even though I can shoot 'kinda well' off a bench, it is absolutly nothing like shooting in the field. Even my Army live-fire shooting was done on groomed grass with everything perfect for the shooter. (I did get off a nice shot, kneeling, at a metal plate that was spinning from one strap, at about 266 yards!
)
The others at the pumpkin massacre were very helpful, and did their best to get my "poop in a pile". They were very patient.
I have realized that I need to find some country fields and hills to do my shooting on, to be able to train the way I will want to shoot. Shooting at a range is a far cry from shooting in the field.
For people even newer to this than I am, take heed. Get off the bench and into the brush.
PS - water-filled pumkins are very dynamic targets. If we are ever invaded by pumkins, I am ready.
I am a fat 53-year old. Not as nimble, nor as quick, nor as flexible as I once was. The big gut was a major hinderance.
I shot rifle team in high school, rifle and pistol in college, and rifle and pistol in the National Guard. The last time I shot prone was 1988 in the Army. Until last October, it had been 19 years since I shot a rifle. Even so, my opinion of my own shooting skills was pretty high until the weekend.
Since last October all my shooting has been at a rigid government-run range where you have to shoot sitting at a bench, and the furthest target is 100 meters (110 yards). The booths are covered, protecting you from the sun.
Yesterday, I went out and met some other Hide members and shot pumkins, steel plates, and hay.....
When you sit at a bench on a range, the bench is clean and level, or nearly so.
When you lay in a newly cut field you are in a messy environment - when I dropped an allen wrench I could not find it; I got a sliver of hay or something in the chamber and had 2 tought-to-extract rounds; when I ran a brush throught the chamber and barrel, I pulled hay back from the muzzle through the barrel.
Also, the ground is not level, it can slope the wrong way and was rutted. The bipod was NOT long enough to clear all the newly cut vegetation. In a few cases the round went through hay on the way to the target.
At the range, all your rounds, accessories, and tools are at hand and not easily lost if dropped. In the field, all my gear was in my rucksack or in the rifle case, and not easily accessable. And when I dropped my allan wrench, it vanished. "Out of sight is out of mind" in this case.
My shooting 'mat' was a 2 layer blanket and the layers slid around. Just plain bad idea.
In the field you have to be organized and have your gear stowed in places where you know it is going to be. Also, what seems like a good idea at home can sometimes really stink in the field. You have to keep trying different stuff until everything works well for you.
At the range, the sun is not in your eye because of the 'roof' above the firing points. In the field, trying to sight in, and the sun was in my eye. I think that caused my irises to close and changed the eye's focus. I could not even see my shots on a paper target at 100 yards. My hat eventually fixed that. I need to find a replacement boonie hat. My ast one seems to have vanished in the move to Missouri.
When a scope is set up for shooting off a bench, it is too far to the rear for prone shooting. I ended up doing weird stuff to get the proper eye relief.
A non-skid shooting mat, and a decent sling are essential (and on my list of things to get ASAP). A long adjustable bipod to adapt to slopes and ruts is important. I may use my current bipod for range shooting and get another for the field.
I need to organize my stuff, and practice with it stowed, so that I remember where everything is.
And on... and on.
I had a great time. I learned that even though I can shoot 'kinda well' off a bench, it is absolutly nothing like shooting in the field. Even my Army live-fire shooting was done on groomed grass with everything perfect for the shooter. (I did get off a nice shot, kneeling, at a metal plate that was spinning from one strap, at about 266 yards!
The others at the pumpkin massacre were very helpful, and did their best to get my "poop in a pile". They were very patient.
I have realized that I need to find some country fields and hills to do my shooting on, to be able to train the way I will want to shoot. Shooting at a range is a far cry from shooting in the field.
For people even newer to this than I am, take heed. Get off the bench and into the brush.
PS - water-filled pumkins are very dynamic targets. If we are ever invaded by pumkins, I am ready.
