In this issue: Musings on IPSC and US Olympic shooting New shooting book Re: 2013 barrel length / barrel twist / calling the shot Physical vs mental shooting Re: 2013 barrel length Prone help ******************************************************************** [Editor - For those who don't know, IPSC is a more "realistic" use of handguns in pseudo combat situations and is commonly referred to as action pistol or combat pistol in the US.] As for IPSC, yes the Unlimited guns are monsters, but are they any worse than the Walther CPM-1 I got paid to shoot, or for that matter the average compound hunting bow (as opposed to an Injun's)? Or, getting a little closer to home, a FREE RIFLE. The big growth in IPSC is in stock guns, and I would not be surprised to see the Unlimited guns toned down a little like 10-round limit maybe. I am finding the IPSC people to be very friendly and nice, a good combination of very capable w/o the uptightness I've run into in the accuracy-only disciplines such as Olympic pistol(wow!!!!!), Olympic rifle, and even NRA smallbore and bullseye pistol. As you may know, IPSC follows the principles of D.V.C., which is accuracy, power and speed. I believe there is something previously undocumented going on here. A.A. Yer'yev talks about a very narrowly specialized skill being "delicate" or easily disrupted. Only through a broader base of training do you get an athlete that can cope with irregularities. I believe this gives an insight to the different personality types. "Delicate" types, those with tender egos, those afraid of the competition and therefore prone to actually hate their competitors on a visceral level, can't take failure well. They are easily hurt, and this is why they are so often looking for ways to hurt those who they feel hurt them back. These people will naturally gravitate towards skills that are very narrowly defined, a narrow little field in which they can be The Master. I would expect to find these types of people in shooting sports that only concentrate on accuracy...and I have, and also people who only care about speed-quickdraw types. And also people who only care about power-who can shoot the biggest wrist-buster of a gun. I'm sure we have all met some psychologically deficient types in these latter two groups as well. Being well-rounded is a sign of psychological health, and when you look at great achievers who are known for even quite narrowly defined accomplishments, you will find some wholesome physicality. Examples: Dr. Spock-Olympic gold medalist, rowing Dr. Albert Einstein-described by many as very physically powerful, walking, sailing,general sports,violin real ladies' man when younger Neils Bohr, Nobel Prize, Physics.-college soccer superstar Enrico Fermi,Nobel Prize, Physics-out hiked, outwalked, outswam jumped up higher dove down deeper and came up dryer than anyone else and let 'em know it too! This list could go on and on...this is just a theory I am working up...I don't think that defining one's worth based on accomplishment in a razor-narrow little field is healthy. And this explains why I had such an unpleasant time in Olympic pistol, because I was around people who did. And this may explain why I have encountered the exact opposite of what I expected to in IPSC. The sport is "broad based" and the narrow types just can't cut the mustard and stay away. ********************************************************************* Mike: I just remembered that I had not sent you a review of the "New Position Rifle Shooting" book. YOur last newsletter jogged my failing memory!! Anyway, here goes: The latest offering from those world class coaches, Bill Pullum and Frank Hanenkrat, is "The New Position Rifle Shooting", book that has just been released to the public. I must say that it is one of the best I have seen in many years. It rivals the offerings from England/Germany that have come out in the past few years. This is an updated version of their earlier book, "Position Rifle Shooting", that has been around for many years, and was the bible for many current rifle shooters. I do like this new one, and heartily endorse it for inclusion in your library. Subjects covered include: Creating a winners' attitude; Strategies to build a positive self-image; Understanding & eliminating shooters' fear of failure; Improving self-image to reduce stress & increase scores; Vision & sports vision enhancement for peak performance; Flow state in peak performance, how to attain it; and some of the usual areas regarding muzzle jump, wind & weather shooting, training and training plans, ways to improve positions & techniques, conditioning, coaching the individual and team, and detailed studies on positions. One thing that is interesting is the use of current USA Shooting Team members for subjects in their photos. They used Launi Meilli, Bob Foth and Deena Wigger for models. The book is available from TSEC (Target Sports Education Center), 1029 Peachtree Parkway N, #157, Peachtree City, GA 30269. Cost is only $19.95 with shipping and handling of $3.50. There is a discount for multiple orders, and you can contact TSEC for these rates. Enjoy!! ******************************************************************** Barrel length It has been long known that the maximum velocity for a 22lr occurs at about 17inches +, However, that would mean a reduction in sight radius. It was only a matter of time that after bloop tubes became popular, that someone would try a shortened barrel, (over the traditional 24 inch barrel). Rumor has it that Anschutz "stumbled" into the short barrel. The rumor is that they made a bunch of barrels, which were bad at one end. Then to save a lot of money they cut off the bad end, created a new model, which was originally going to sell at a reduced price. But, after testing the shortened barrel, they found that it was better, so they put it on their new action and the 2013 was born. The shorter barrel has a couple of advantages, first, and probably most important, is that the bullet spends less time in the barrel, meaning that there is less opportunity for the shooter to cause the bullet to be off of where he broke the shot. Second is the few feet per second gain in velocity. Personally I don't think that there is not enough velocity gain to make any difference in wind bucking ability. ****************** Barrel Twist The optimum twist for a barrel is dependent on many things, the predominant two are bullet weight, and velocity. It can generally be assumed, if the barrel is in good condition, that the other factors are a function of either weight or velocity and can be ignored. The 22LR has been around for a long time, and there has been a lot of experimenting over the years to come up with the twist rates we have today. The 22LR target load is a 40g bullet at 1000-1100 fps. We, in the high power world use many twist rates for different loads. A 223 REM, which is the same diameter as the 22LR .224inches, may shoot anything from a 55 grain bullet to a 80 grain. If you shoot a 55g bullet in a barrel designed for the 80g you over spin and loose accuracy, and if you shoot a 80g bullet in a barrel designed for the 55g the bullet will under spin and loose accuracy. Therefore, you are better off matching a bullet to a barrel, then matching a barrel to a bullet. ******************** Calling The Shot I used to believe that calling the shot was always a bad thing and agreed totally with Chet Skinner statement. However, over the past few years I have found that calling the shot is a useful tool when coaching beginning young shooters. It seems that some young shooters need something to focus on, and "calling the shot" starts them to focus on the sight picture. If they are calling the shots, they have instant positive feed back because it is the "call" that is important, not where the bullet went, and they determine the call, so there is no bad "call". I have had young shooters, who, are lucky to get 2 of 10 shots scoring, to getting 9 or 10 shots scoring in one practice, after getting them to call the shot. What does it take to "call the shot"? In order to call the shot, you must watch the alignment at the time the shot goes off. If you are watching the alignment at the time the shot breaks you will have followed through, or you can't call the shot. To get them to watch sight alignment and to follow through, I use calling the shot as a tool. I still agree with Chet Skinner, that advanced shooters should be focusing on the perfect shot. Chuck Whipple ****************************************************************** >I think that every good shooter is a combination of both mental and physical >athlete. To say that a person is one or the other is ludicrous. > >[Editor - Agreed. Don't take things so literally.] > Have decided to reply to this response because many of the shooters do not understand the difference between physical and mental shooter. 1. Basically, a physical shooter is one that uses the old military mode of shooting. The athlete goes to the firing point and sets up a physical position and proceeds to fire the course. In this case the athlete does use the mental and physical to form the shooting position and fire the course. In this case the athlete used little or none of the mental abilities to refine the position or shooting sequences beyond the physical setup. The result is always very low scores and generally this shooter will fall into the "also competed" class of competitor. 2. The advanced athlete is one that after setting up the physical position and in preparing to fire the course will use the mental abilities for refining the position beyond establishment and use the advanced mental functions for accomplishing precision competitive shooting. So what is the difference of shooting physical and mental...? A physical shooter fails to utilize the advanced mental abilities and the mental shooter goes beyond the physical abilities and uses advance mental techniques for accomplishing superior performance and the Gold. >[Editor - the shooter doesn't pay attention to how long it takes. It just >happens to take a very short amount of time. This is a complex subject to >explain, and I try to keep my comments as brief as possible, which I'm >afraid has caused some ambiguity.] After many years of research, the psychologist have found that every human has an optimum period for the accomplishment of the firing sequences. This occurs with in the first second after set up and the start of the aiming period. Everything after that first second is a constant deterioration of position and firing abilities of the shooter. This deterioration sequence can only be stopped by breaking the circuit and starting sequence over again. Therefore, The optimum time is the first second after starting the point of lung balance, QZ~ arrival period and trigger pull period. If the athlete has not fired within or between the 3/4 of a second mark or upon reaching the full second mark after starting, an irreversible sequence of mass deterioration of position and firing sequences will start. It is this deterioration which will destroy the athletes final results of the firing of the one-shot match. For those who wish to learn more about the mental shooting procedures, they may find same in the book "The Mental Art of World Class Competitive Shooting." Chet Skinner, Coach meecin@tnproweb.com ****************************************************************** This is in response to the 2013 barrels. I personally have not had any experiance with them but I can relay what I have heard. The 2013 barrels seem to be very good or rather poor. I have also heard that they do not last very long. I know of a couple of cases where people have purchased a 2013 and within a year or possibly two years have had to replace the barrel. This does not seem very good to me. I have an 1813 that I have been shooting for three years (about 7000 rounds per year) and I bought it used, and judging by the stock it was well used. If I decide to buy a 2013 I am going to be readdy to buy a new barrel too. However the idea of the short barrel does apeal to me. I like the aspect that the powder burn is completed at the time the bullet is exiting the barrel. I feel that this will give higher accuracy. In fact i have an Anschut MS 54 with a short barrel with weights attached at the end of the barrel and it will consistantly shoot .75 inch groups at 100 yds, outdoors. Well talk it for what it is worth but that is what I have heard. Jeff [Editor - I noted that I incorrectly stated the length of the shorter barrels. The 2013 is 19+". The 2002 I shoot has the 16+" barrel.] ****************************************************************** I wanted to know just how tight the prone position should feel. At the camp I just attended, the coach (VERY good prone shooter) said it should be tight enough to be on the virge of pain and many accomplished prone shooters like L. Wigger have bruised shoulders after shooting a match. Does this seem reasonable? I tightened up my position yet am still inconsistent on getting the POI in the same spot in calm conditions. I used to shoot 97-98 avg in school 5 years ago, but haven't gotten above 94 avg since starting up again outdoors (while my standing has gone up ). Michael Ray ****************************************************************** End of UIT Mailing List #34 Michael Ray - Systems Engineer Rose-Hulman Inst. of Tech. Rifle Coach UIT Shooting Page - http://www.geocities.com/Colosseum/1190/index.htm