front bag/rest placement..

[Ray Newman]

LeadPot-- yup, I agree.

Back when I could 'see' the target & the front sight, the Hadley & the merritt were a God-send.

It always amazed me how that infinitely adjustable aperture on the Merriit Eye Disc & the variable diameter holes on the Hadley Eye Cup brought the target & the sight into sharper focus.

As I said, lately I’ve been spotting a few silhouette matches . Its been a real eye opener to me how changing light will raise or lower the hits on the animal, esp. @ the turkey & ram lines. I think the turkey line is probably the most critical as there just isn’t that much there to draw a bead on.

[powderburner]

yes Ray it is interesting .one of my ranges faces n-s and in the mirning I get light on the hadley the other range is nw-se and when you shoot that in the evening the sights grow real wide on one side very different conditions and certainly different sight settings..........Dean

[Omaha Poke]

Ray and Dean, you guys have opened up a whole different can of worms with the changing light and spotting. This is worth a whole 'nother post .

On another site there is a post about spotting, who likes to do it and who doesn't and why. I personally like to spot. I feel that one can learn an awful lot by watching others shoot, their technique, bullet flight during different conditions, etc.

Here in the Pacific NW we have conditions most days when it is very difficult to spot for someone who is trying to get on paper or sil. The ground is seldom dry enough to kick up dust. As a matter of fact it is usually so wet that it is like trying to pick out the impact on a polka-dot mattress One thing that is fun though is frequently being able to watch the slow moving lead bullet during it's flight to the target. I think this is due to the low angle of light and a predominately dark background. When the light is right, I have been able to watch the bullet from a couple of hundred yds out all the way to impact. This makes you appreciate the trajectory of the bullet's path. I like spotting. Watching the flags, grass, mirage, light and other possible influences on the next shot really add to the fun of the sport. Randy

[Kelley O. Roos]

Omaha,

Spotting is an art, the shooter has to do his part and have good quality ammo or the best spotter in the world won't help. It's the combination of the two, shooter/spotter.

Kelley O.

[powderburner]

yessir spotting is an art and the more of it you do I think the better shooter you becomeas well....Dean

[Omaha Poke]

Kelley, I agree, spotting is an art, and science. Both art and science are learnable subjects, and I am in the process, which I am sure will be a continuing process for years to come, of learning to spot to the best of my ability. By the same token, I am trying to apply the same learning process to becoming a better BPCR shooter . I know that you don't like to spot, I have read your posts stating that. I am curious, why don't you like to spot Randy

[Omaha Poke]

Kelley, forgot Good luck and good shooting in Arizona Wish I were going to be there. Things just haven't worked out for me this year. Have fun Randy

[Lead Pot]

Talking about barrel harmonics brought back a memory from back when I was very active with bench rest shooting.
There was a fellow I shot with quite a bit and he had a brass ring, he called a doughnut, it was I would guess an inch wide and maybe ¾” thick. I asked him if he uses that for more weight? And he said no, it’s to dampen barrel harmonics on this light 1- ¼” barrel.
He told me to try it. I fired 5 rounds, and he moved that collar 3” and I fired 5 rounds again. To my amazement the group did open.
That convinced me that there is something to barrel harmonics.
I guess maybe the cross sticks in a way do the same thing.
Kurt

[IronSight]

Leadpot,
Can see it now, some World Class shooter will show up at a match with a brass donut around his barrel, win the match and before you know it, Buffalo Arms will be sellin 'em!

[Lead Pot]

Brass doughnuts,I like the Dixie creams better
Kurt

[Kelley O. Roos]

Omaha Poke,

Answer to your question on spotting, 1-I don't like making mistakes that costs others. 2-I'm mentaly talking to myself and arguing with myself over what I'm seeing or not seeing, it's sometimes the indecisions which can cost my shooter. 3- The stress. The difference now is, I will make the shooter hold up, while I see whats going on. 4-I just don't feel I'm really that good, even though I strive to be better. Shooting partners need to consistantly talk to each other and tell each other what they are seeing and that maybe is a the key to not missing changes, two guys working as one.

When a shooter is sighting in, the spotter needs to see what will happen to the bullet under a couple of different conditions, and that takes a lot of practice, then you have figure out what will happen to the bullet for those conditions. When going for score and a change comes you'll know what to tell the shooter to do. It take alot of disipline to accomplish that. Another thing don't chase shoots, find the groups center and adjust to that center, sometime that'll take three shoots min.

Example, when the shooter is sighting in and its an 8 O'Clock mirage then all of a sudden it goes to a boil, you know a change is coming, stop the shooter,then the mirage is 4 O'Clock, believe it or not that's going to be a small value change of say 1 to 1 1/2 minutes left or right. So you know this and can tell the shooter what to do, even have the shooter shoot in that boil to see what happens, after all your sighting in. Full value change are from the 3 to 9 O'Clock spots. Head winds and tails winds are difficult because of figuring the values, thats when up's and downs occur. 1-2 O'Clock and 10-11 O'clock winds you need to form a mental picture of what that wind is doing to nose of the bullet and were it's pushing that bullet, try and do that when there are changes lsuch as that.

I just gave myself a head ache, so enough.

Kelley O.

[powderburner]

thats actually a good post kelly sorry about your headache but it was for a good cause....................Dean

[horsefly]

Good morning, Board;

I agree with Kelley O especially about feeling uneasy about making mistakes that cost someone else. The trouble is, you have to spot. Without a spotter, the shooter is a one legged man in a butt kicking contest.

At different times, I spot for several people. Each one likes a little different kind of information and that's what I try to give. Usually that's where did the last shot land, and (1) warning that conditions have changed OR (2) simple advice to "hold" when conditions are wrong or "shoot" when conditions are right. Obviously there are other things going on, too, but basically that's it.

When I spot for someone and I don't know what he wants, I get real specific and ask exactly what he wants before we ever get to the line. Avoids problems that way.

But in the end, remember, I always remember that I am giving advice. The shooter finds the target, lays the sights and yanks the crank. It's his score. Kind of...

Y'all be good.

horsefly

[Josh A.]

Ole Horsefly shouldn't feel too uneasy about his spotting. He got me 10 turkeys at Ft. Chadbourne last Sunday!

J