In this issue: Sighting procedures Sydney 2000 info Need help with boots and pellets Barrel weights ********************************************************** SIGHTING - Correct aiming is most difficult and yet most important of the basic fundamentals of shooting. · -The first step is the athlete looking straight forward through the rear sight. Eye is positioned at two to six inches from the rear sight aperture. This is the most important part of the sighting procedure as the rear sight, eye pupil and retina must always be in perfect alignment. The athlete will hear about the spot weld, a rifle stock and cheek meeting at the same point and not moving thereafter. The spot weld is the point at which the eye will clearly see through the rear sight. It is the spot which allows the athlete to repeatedly sight the rear sight without change. · - The second step is align the front sight in the rear sight aperture and adjust the rear sight iris. The rear sight iris controls the differences between the athlete eye, sighting system, and light variances. Because the athlete’s eye react automatically to light variations, the rear sight has an iris to correct refractive light and therewith achieve a harmonious ratio between the refractive values of the optic system and the distance of the eye from the rear sight. Any deviations from this causes defective and distorted vision during the sighting sequence and therewith, a reduction in the efficiencies of the eye. The sight iris also corrects the depth of field which gives clear focal length, however, the athlete must check the rules to determine if iris units are permitted. · - The third step is placing the aiming point or bull in the center circle of the front sight. Sighting or fixing your vision on the bull for more than four seconds will cause the eyes to fatigue. The athlete must avoid fixed vision, because it results in a loss of visual perception which will hinder performance. Fixing vision on the target will burn the image into the mind. This will result in a ghost image that, if strong enough, will prevent the athlete from seeing the target down range and the sighting picture observed by the athlete will be the ghost and not the target bull. This results in a missed target. · - The forth step is the perfect bull’s-eye sighting procedure. As previously mentioned (within chapters 1 and 2, The Mental Art of World Competitive Shooting), the perfect bull’s-eye is achieved through mental reduction of the point of impact for the bullet or pellet. This highly reduced point of impact is placed in the center of the printed bull found within the front sight and the non-dominant mental entity will fire a perfect bull’s-eye. · - Last thought on sighting. Under such situations where the shooter has over stressed and has tensions in the muscles, a condition of lactic acid build up is occurring. Lactic acid is caused by stress and tensions within the physical systems. It can be balanced with oxygen from the lungs and blood system. Upon oxygen rich blood passing through the muscle tissues, the lactic acid is synthesized into the beneficial glycogen. With the reduction of lactic acid in the tissues the shooter regains control of the physical systems and eye accommodation abilities. This was originally taught by Dr. L. Antal, M.D., Past UK National Shooting Coach. ************************************************************ At present, the Olympic Shooting Centre is pretty much up in the air. Very little private sector interest was received by the government, and it now looks as though the whole project is threatened by a released federal government document that includes Holsworthy in an Environmental Impact Study as a possible sight for SydneyÕs second airport. The proposed ranges (pistol, smallbore, air rifle, etc) are just at the end of the proposed new runway. What effect will this have? First of all, it is likely that the project will not start until much later than expected. This was confirmed in a letter received from the Prime MinisterÕs office, who anticipated considerable delays in the start of construction. To date, no work at all has commenced, and the range site remains the property of the Department of Defence. Secondly, if it is built at all, the Holsworthy Complex could end up being a temporary structure, built only for the Olympics and then dismantled. This is, however, a costly option for the New South Wales government. Another option is a relocation of the complex. There is a fullbore rifle range in SydneyÕs eastern suburbs (very close to the centre of Sydney) which consists of 110 targets, 70 of which extend to 800 metres. This complex is under threat of closure as it is classified as Ôsurplus defence propertyÕ. It does, however, have considerable available land, right by the ocean, which would make a perfect venue for the Olympic shooting. Nothing is known at this stage, except that all governments are reviewing their options. Technical information is hard to get hold of, but will be included in a report later. Nathan. ************************************************************* Husband is looking for "special shoes" that can be used during both competition and practice. Also does anyone have a special place to purchase pellets for air rifle (.177)? (looking for good pellets for cheapie prices) Thanx. M Selman for John Selman Meki Selman North Slope Borough Department of Public Safety [Ed. note - I find the Anschutz 133 to be good shoes. Many on the USST (and around the world) wear them also. Another plus is they are the cheapest of the shooting boots as well. Order from Champion's Choice. They are sized big so I'd get one size smaller than what they suggest (I had to go 2 sizes down.) The best pellets for starting out are RWS Meisterkugeln. They are cheaper and arguably as accurate as the premier pellets - you just need to inspect them better as they do have a few more defects. This is all our team shoots.] ************************************************************* I would have to agree with Tom as well. I teach my shooters to treat the rifle as a part of their upper body so the better balanced the rifle the easier it is to merge into the standing position. I find the muzzle heavy rifles tend to require a firm grip on the stock which is not at all necessary with a balanced rifle. With respect to the weight of the rifle, obviously the weight would create more inertia and provide that extra fraction of a second to release a shot. So, in my opinion, a heavy rifle is only beneficial if the balance is good. When I fit a rifle for myself I like to have the center of balance of the rifle at the point where my supporting hand comes in contact with the forestock. This way there is no need to grip the rifle at all. The trigger hand, therefore, only needs to be there to squeeze the trigger. Gary Piercey MUN Shooting Club Coach (http://www.cs.mun.ca/~mrt) ************************************************************* End of UIT Mailing List #12 Michael Ray - Systems Engineer Rose-Hulman Inst. of Tech. Rifle Coach The Olympic Shooting Page - http://www.geocities.com/Colosseum/1190/