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In this issue:
Single handed and off hand shooting techniques
Re: Tenex EPS
FWB bolt torque settings
Re: FWB bolt torque settings
Rebuilding positions
Asociacion de Tiro Olimpico de Santiago
Collegiate rifle coach position
Fan fold targets
Canadian Smallbore Nationals
Vision and Shooting
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Can anyone provide me with information on training in off handed (weak hand) shooting, training techniques and fault analysis and correction?
Thank you
Stephen Manning
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Bill Henry wrote:
>
> Has anyone used/tested the new Eley Tenex yet?
Yes.....
I'll start with a quick history. I've tested at the Eley test range some
six times over the last six years, including twice in 1998 (runup to the
Commonwealth Games) and twice this year (January, pre-EPS, and last Thursday).
On last Thursday's visit, my wife and I also got a tour of the Eley
factory.....(before this sounds too sad, I should point out that she's a
competitive shooter as well)
First point to note; Eley makes different products, under different names,
for different countries. There are two production lines; "White bullet",
where the bullets are pre-formed and checked individually, and "Black
bullet", where the bullets are formed as they are passed into the
assembly machine, and aren't individually checked.
All Tenex comes from the "white bullet" line; the head of the bullet is
a silver / light grey colour. The "black bullet" line has graphite in
the mixture, and the bullet heads are, well, black.....
The big claim from Eley's EPS ("Enhanced Production System") is that
they've changed their production engineering. Revised steps include:
- most obviously, the new bullet shape. (cleaner holes in the paper :)
- checking the bullets with a new computer vision system (as opposed to
by eye) before insertion into the cartridge
- matching the cartridge case lengths exactly
- reducing the variation in the primer by 75% (whether that's a 4% down
to 1%, or a 1% down to 0.25% variation, they didn't say)
In 1998 (year of the "Tenex Gold") I was using Lapua MIDAS L, and was
getting 15mm edge-to-edge groups, firing with the barrel fixed in a
vice. Unfortunately, I couldn't get the same performance out of two
trips to the Eley factory. I stuck with Lapua for matches.
In January this year, Lynda and I tested at Eley, and the test setup
had changed; they now make a big thing of _all_ batches being available
for testing, as the more paranoid were convinced that "all the good
stuff was getting exported, and we weren't getting to see it". They've
also moved from barrel-clamping, to having aluminium bedding, so you
now test with a free-floating barrel.
Having worked some 17 or 18 batches of pre-EPS Tenex through our
barrels in January, it was obvious that Eley had sorted out their
quality; there were one or two batches that equalled my selected batch
of Lapua MIDAS L. So, this season, I started using Tenex again for
matches. (It was shooting an average over 4x10rd gps of 14.75mm
edge-to-edge)
Last Thursday, we went down to test the new Tenex EPS for the first
time, and I'm impressed. Not only was it still matching that 14mm
or so, there were far more in the 16/17mm range, and nothing that went
outrageously badly. That distribution curve of barrel+ammo works both
ways... you might find a 14mm group, but alternatively a 22mm group.
We managed to find one batch of ammo that averaged 12.6mm, over 4,
10-rd groups, for three out of our four barrels. To put it into
perspective, Raymond Debevec took a batch that ran at 12.6mm to the
Olympic Games......
As for statistics, they're running a "benchrest" tally, where the
best averages over four groups are recorded. So far, one guy has
1st and 2nd, with two of his rifles, with an average of about 11.5mm
edge to edge.
So, yes, I'm impressed with the new Tenex EPS under test conditions,
and I'm looking forward to taking it outdoors.....
Martin
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Greetings.
Anyone out there using the FWB2602 smallbore rifle, I would like to know what torque settings people have tried and what they use as a standard setting as the FWB manual does not mention the setting at all.
Regards,
Bob Mallet.
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If you have the alloy stock, FWB's recommendation is 7 - 8 Nm, we have
found the range 6-8 Nm effective.
Recent testing showed tightest groups with a setting of 7 Nm
Regards
Bill
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At 12:10 AM 8/7/01, you wrote:
>Some people have mentioned "rebuilding the position"
>when getting a new rifle or to eliminate faults.
>What are the different ways people use to rebuild and why?
>Regards,
>Gerald.
[Editor - I have rebuilt my positions at least twice in the past few years, largely
because I take such long breaks from shooting. Even if I didn't, I probably
would go through the exercise anyway just as a confirmation. Yes, my
positions have changed though some of that is due to new equipment (sling,
handstops, etc). Your body will change over time. It is obvious that you
would need to do this when you got a new rifle if for no other reason than
it likely has different reference markings than your original did but the
stock is likely a slightly different shape as well.
As to how I do it, it is fairly methodical. You generally know what feels
right or pretty close to it anyway. I start with the butthook and handstop
with the cheekpiece removed. Adjust the hook for the greatest amount of
shoulder contact, then the hook height and length so that my eye is
comfortably behind the sight and finger is easily on trigger while
providing firm shoulder pressure. Then move the handstop to get the correct
target height and then sling so your arm doesn't work. Dryfire for a while
like this. Then add cheekpiece and adjust so your eye is still comfortably
behind the sight. Fire a few groups to zero rifle. Remove rear sight and
verify groups are still close to center and ideally pretty small. Adjust
cheekpice as needed to center group just above real target center. Put the
sight back on and away we go to the next position.]
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I appreciate their help with regard to the trainings, I Am member of
the Asociacion de Tiro Olimpico de Santiago (ASOTOSA), this association
contains marksmen in the several diciplinas about 100, we are members of the
of the National Federation Of Shooting in Dominican Republic , we in our
process of modernization have created a web site in internet and we want to
know if it is possible you that in our paginate [www.asotosa.homestead.com]
of Internet we could put a link to their Web site of internet which is very
interesting,
Receive an olympic greeting of our association and of the national
federation of olympic shot
Note:
Of the Dominican Republic republic this located in Central America in the
Caribean Island , and Santiago is the second city in importance of our
country
Regards
Edward Nouel
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Massachusetts Institute of Technology Department of Athletics, Physical
Education and Recreation invites applications for Head Coach Rifle- Part-time.
Head coaching responsibilities include all facets of the program, including
administration, budget management, scheduling of competitions, team travel,
weekly practice sessions, counseling of students, and scrupulous compliance
with NCAA and conference rules and regulations.
This position will be a nine-month appointment for the period beginning on
or about September 1, 2001 and ending on or about May 31, 2002.
Requirements include 1 to 3 years head coaching experience in Rifle at the
Club, high school, college or university level. A Massachusetts License to
Carry is required. Computer experience is preferred.
Send resume and cover letter to Bob Muti RE: Job #01-0856, MIT PO Box
391229, Cambridge, MA 02139-0013. Apply on line at:
http://web.mit.edu/personnel/www/resume.htm
MIT is an Equal Opportunity Employer.
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> Can anyone provide a source for fanfold targets of similar quality to
> Edelman for Gehmann style machines.
>
> Bill
> Brisbane
I have a quote for some from Wickliffe New Zealand but the quantities are
large.
Ten thousand run @NZ$180.00 per thousand.
Twenty five thousand run @ $110.00 per thousand
Fifty thousand run @ $86.00 per thousand
For smaller quantities Targetshooting New Zealand could
supply([email protected])
Regards,
Gerald.
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Dear UIT list,
I realize that this may be of interest to only a small number of list
participants. However I enjoy seeing the results of friends around the
world shooting even when I can't be there to shoot with them at least I
can cheer for them long-distance. So, for the interested you can view
the results of the ongoing Canadian Nationals on the Canadian Shooting
Sports Association's web site at:
http://www.cdnshootingsports.org/2001results.html
I realize that the prone results are not complete as I was unable to
read the individual results file from the diskette. The prone results
and today's air results should be available sometime this evening (after
the pig roast) if I can still type straight at that time :-)
The conditions for the matches have been very hot and muggy (open air
temps nearing 100degF). The air is being shot in a hockey arena where
it is hotter and stiller than outside.
Kind regards,
Mike
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I would like to weigh in on the discussion concerning optics, sighting and such.
I suspect Chet will disagree, but I consider this to be a purely physical problem. Those of us with less than perfect vision are required to have corrective lenses to participate in any shooting sport. After all, if you can't see it, you only have a random chance of hitting it.
Since I am very near sighted (6-7 diopters) I have worked with my Doctor, who is also a shooter, for over 20 years. During this period, we have come up with certain rules of thumb to allow me to compete effectively.
First, it is physically impossible for anyone to have objects at two or more distances in focus at the same time. The reason this is not obvious to the younger shooters is that they can, and do, rapidly change their focus back and forth between the target and the front sight, in order to keep them aligned. As our eyes age, this becomes harder and harder because the lens hardens with age and it requires much more effort on the part of the muscles to effect rapid focus changes. This additional effort also has the effect of causing the muscles to fatigue much faster. Since the older shooter no longer has the ability to focus from one point to another rapidly, they must make a decision as to where they want their eye to focus.
There is only one correct choice, as a crystal clear front sight is absolutely necessary. The only possible exception is if focusing on the front sight causes the target to blur to the extent that it is not visible. The front sight is the fulcrum of the whole optical system. It is like the balance point of a balance board at the playground, with the target being on one end, the shooter's eye on the other and the front sight in the middle. In order to determine whether the sight picture has gone awry, the shooter must have a clear view of the front sight. The target needs only to be clear enough to accurately determine the center of the mass and the rear sight only needs to be clear enough to determine complete roundness of the aperture.
The professionals call the skill involved the capability for vernier alignment. It is number three on the levels of precision the eye can work, as follows: Basic, or level one, is focus on a fixed item at a fixed distance. This is tested by the simple Snellen chart and gives us the so-called average of 20/20 vision and the notation. This is pretty much determined by physiology, biology and geometry. A near-sighted person with healthy eyes has a geometry problem. The eyeball is simply too long to allow the lens to focus exactly on the retina and a far-sighted person has an eyeball that is too short to allow the lens to focus exactly on the retina. These are both corrected optically by the addition of lenses in front of the eye, whether they are contact lenses or eyeglasses.
The second and third levels of visual performance have to do with the ability of the eye-brain combination to discriminate alignment of multiple objects and perform other vision tasks.
Shooters who train for many years can develop very precise discrimination in the evaluation of what they are seeing. One of the most difficult optical tasks a person can perform is that of aligning a number of round objects and maintaining that alignment long enough to execute a shot. In order to accomplish this, the eye must have the physical capability to define very minute angles and motion across these angles and the brain must learn to quickly and accurately interpret the meaning of what the eye is reporting. The overall ability to do this is described as the level of discrimination possessed by the shooter.
The prescription for corrective lenses has three basic parts. The first is the power of the lens and this part determines the ability of the person to clearly focus on an object at a specific distance. This assistance brings the focus within a range that allows the muscles that control our internal lens to handle the changes we need to focus at various distances. As we age, we must add multiple lenses to accomplish this and do so by using bi-focal, or even tri-focal lenses.
The second and third part of the prescription work together. The second specification is the correction required by astigmatism. The astigmatism is caused by irregularities in the curves associated with the lens, cornea and retina of our eye. In order for the astigmatism correction to work correctly, it must be oriented at a certain angle to the eye. This axis is the third component of the optical prescription. Even if the second parameter is correctly ground into the lens, if the lens is rotated incorrectly then vision will suffer. This is the most probable cause of the oblong front aperture that many shooters experience. It also causes a post front sight to appear crooked or varying in thickness along the length of the post. Many shooters with less ability to discriminate may simply perceive the sights as being slightly out of focus. When this happens, it can usually be corrected by rotating the shooting lens (assuming it is round) in the holder until the aperture returns to the desired round configuration.
To demonstrate this, let me detail what my experience has been and what my eye doctor tells me is normal. He says that most people with my level of astigmatism (1.5 diopters) can tolerate a lens if the axis is set within 10-15 degrees. We have determined by repeated use of his instruments that I can accurately detect an axial change of approximately 2 and a half degrees. He attributes this heightened level of discrimination to the many years I have been aligning my sights and evaluating the results by shooting at the bull.
There are problems that uninformed prescribers can cause, making it necessary to educate the one who prescribes your shooting glasses. First, many prescribe lenses that correct vision to the standard 20/20 specification. Shooters should know that 20/20 is an average. 20/20 simply means that your threshold is that you can see a standard letter at 20 feet, as can the "average" person. Many people can have their eyes corrected to give better vision. My eyes are normally corrected to 20/15, which means I can see at 20 feet what the average person can see at 15 feet. Essentially on the Snellen chart, at a distance of 20 feet, I can correctly read one line smaller than the 20/20 line. On pretty regular occasions, I can see the second line below the 20/20 line, or 20/13. About 10 years ago, I could see the bottom line, or 20/10. Since shooting is highly visually oriented, better corrections mean better results.
The other consideration deals with the type of frames the lenses are mounted in. One of the factors in the success of a particular prescription is a measurement called the vertex distance. This is the distance from the eye to the lens. It is quite unlikely that the vertex distance will be the same for both normal eyeglasses and shooting glasses. As a result, a prescription that is crystal clear in your every day glasses will look blurry if it is used in a pair of Knobloch frames. Always take your shooting frames to the doctor when you have an examination for shooting lenses. While it is possible to calculate the difference, I learned to never mix the two purposes. If the upgrade is for shooting glasses, then we do the exam while I am wearing my shooting glasses. I actually have three separate sets of records; one for everyday glasses, one for the smallbore lens and one for the air rifle lens.
There are many other problems with which a shooter must deal. This is especially true as our eyes change, over the years. Older shooters are less able to deal with wide changes in brightness. We have more difficulty seeing well in very bright light and also in dim light. For me, bright light often causes parts of the front sight to completely disappear, while other portions of the front sight remain in clear focus. Most often, I can correct this by opening the rear aperture to admit more light and then using the Polarizers to correct the contrast and alignment of the light beam coming through the sight. This sometimes works in low light conditions, although I find that inserting a colored filter is much more likely to correct this condition. Regardless, inserting any additional Polarizers/filter in the plane of the sight picture will require a larger rear aperture because it will reduce the light coming through the sights.
Another problem I have experienced is the ability of my rear sight to attract spiders. I would occasionally look through my sight and notice that there was part of a spider web or a piece of dust lodged in my field of view. I clearly remember the first time I noticed this. I was dry firing my M-14 service rifle in the basement and was bothered by what appeared to be a piece of lint in the rear sight. Try as I might, I could not blow out or otherwise dislodge it. After several frustrating minutes, I took the rifle outside into bright sunlight to get a better look. I immediately noticed that it was no longer there and assumed that it had finally fallen out. Imagine my disappointment when I returned and found that the lint had also returned. After several weeks, I realized that this was an illusion caused by not getting enough light through my rear sight. Since it was a service rifle, I didn't have the opportunity to conveniently change the aperture size. I replaced the sight with a larger aperture and the problem went away. I have experienced this problem many time since and now that I shoot a free rifle, only have to open the rear aperture to remove the spider webs.
Over the years, I have come up with a system and a procedure that allows me the most flexibility to deal with the sight system on my rifle and my aging eyes. I use the Knobloch system with the large lens holder. This gives me a larger lens to manipulate and also gives me much more eye protection than the small lens, which I consider inadequate protection. For shooting outdoors, I have a second lens on the non-aiming eye. Again this provides some protection from debris and also allows me to have binocular vision when looking down range to see wind flags. I mount the occluder on the rifle sight. I never shoot air rifle outdoors, so I have a second pair of glasses with the lens over the non-aiming eye replaced by the occluder. Another item worth mentioning is that the power of the air rifle lens is about a half diopter weaker than the free rifle lens because the air rifle front sight is significantly closer to my eye than the free rifle front sight.
The normal use of the eye's use over the day will fatigue it. I have noticed that my eyes tend to perform better during the early-mid afternoon period. I cannot see well enough to shoot accurately in the evening or the early morning with my normal prescription. To help me deal with this problem, I have a series of lenses that I carry with me that range from 6.0 to 7.5 diopters, in increments of .25 diopters, that I can quickly change to, if it is necessary.
So, how does all this go together to give me an accurate sight picture? Simply, as follows:
Before I get into position, I check to see that the glasses are clean and properly aligned. In position, I open the front and rear apertures all the way. If necessary, I then adjust the Knobloch lens to give a clear front sight. I then adjust the front aperture to the smallest size that will allow a clear circle of white between the bull and the front aperture. I then close down the rear sight aperture until the sight picture starts to darken, or spider webs appear, then open it slightly. At this point, if I still don't have a clear sight picture, I experiment with the Polarizers, filters and aperture on the rear sight until I get the best combination of optics possible. If this still doesn't work, then I am forced to work with a less than optimum representation of the sight picture and hoping for the best.
One more thing to keep in mind is that it is much easier to relax a muscle than to tense a muscle. When looking through the rear sight, it is easier to focus your eye on a point closer than the front sight and let the eye muscle relax until it focuses sharply on the front sight, than to focus on the target and then flex the muscle to bring focus back to the front sight. I always follow this process and rarely have trouble keeping the front sight in focus long enough to release a shot.
If anyone has questions, I will be glad to answer them to the best of my ability. Failing that, I will be glad to pass them along to my eye doctor for his input.
Lt. Stephen B. Flatt, USNR
U.S. Naval Reserve Rifle Team
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End of UIT Mailing List #24
Michael Ray - DBA & Systems Engineer
Rose-Hulman Inst. of Tech. Rifle Coach
UIT Shooting Page - http://www.geocities.com/Colosseum/1190/index.htm
