About 50 Meter 3-Position Rifle

50 Meter Smallbore 3-Position Rifle:

Smallbore shooter

Among the rifle shooting sports, smallbore three position is possibly one of the hardest and most intricate. The term "smallbore" confuses some people, but all it means is that the rifle is chambered in .22 long rifle. The basics of the sport are the same as 3-position air rifle (see the air rifle post). It is shot in three positions; prone, standing, and kneeling with pre-set times for each position. What seperates the two sports is that the smallbore rifle brings in even more adjustments, it is shot outside, it takes more time, and it is shot at the international level.

First, let me explain the rifle a little bit. I am hopefully going to make a post about the equipment used at some point, but until then, this will have to do. The rifles used aren't your granddad's old bolt action .22, they are highly precise target shooting tools. Each rifle is able to shoot a "one-hole" group (all the shots appear to be within the same hole), or close to, and are engineered to fit a shooter as closely as possible.

Average smallbore rifle

As you can see from the picture, the rifle doesn't look like an "ordinary" rifle that most people are accustomed to. Virtually every piece, from the buttplate to the front sight, is adjustable so that the shooter can "fit" the rifle to their position (more on that in the equipment section).

Unlike the air rifle discipline, the rifles for smallbore have very little restrictions on how one can set up their rifle. In order to compensate for the recoil, many shooters prefer a very heavy rifle (mine weighs around 15 pounds), this extra weight, while helping to solidify the shooter's position, is very taxing on the body especially in the standing position.

Also unlike air rifle, this sport is shot outdoors (most of the time). Being shot outdoors brings on a whole new slew of difficulties. The most prevalent being the wind. Most people don't think too much about the wind, but at 50 meters even a slight breeze can move the bullet an inch or more! The only way for shooters to compensate for this is to either wait for the wind to die back down, or take their chances (most smart shooters prefer the first choice :) ). Wind can be observed in a competition by watching wind flags posted at various distances on the range. These wind flags, while very helpful, do not always give the most accurate showing of the wind adding to the difficulty.

Wind flags (that's me at the bottom if you can see :) )

Another difficulty associated with outdoor shooting is weather/light. Because the place where the shooters actually shoot is covered, matches are sometimes shot in the rain. The rain doesn't always alter the trajectory of the bullet, but it does make aiming much harder. Also, heat can play a major role in the competition. When shooting in 100+ degree heat in thick shooting clothing, heat exhaustion and stroke are very real dangers, plus the heat waves coming off of the ground can distort your view of the sights making it harder to aim. Light is another difficulty. Many people don't realize it, but where the light comes from, how bright it is, and the color are all very important. I could go into a very in depth explanation of this, but i fear I would bore you to death. If you would like to know more let me know! All I am really going to say about it is that most shooters have to use a set of colored filters/ polarizers on their sights so that they can monitor the amount and type of light they see in order to get the best sight picture.

Now a little on the competition itself. The men and women compete differently (much like air rifle) the men shoot twice as many rounds than the women. A men's course is set up so that they shoot 40 shots in each position (prone, standing, and kneeling) resulting in a match that takes upward of 4 hours. The time, combined with heat/cold, the size of the rifles, the mental strain, and the strain of the positions makes smallbore one of the hardest of all rifle shooting sports. The target used looks about the same in the sights as an air rifle target. The ten ring is about half the diameter of a dime. Just like air rifle, their is a final shot for the top 8 shooters (in the same format when using the old rules).

Example of a 50 meter target with a dime to show size

The sport of 50 meter rifle is difficult, yes, but the difficulties make it a lot of fun. I know people who have shot this sport for 30+ years and they always are learning something new every time they go to the range. Learning how to read the wind is a lifetime pursuit just as much as fine tuning your position. This is a sport that you can enjoy for many years and is definitely a sport I recommend trying if you ever get the opportunity. Like all shooting sports, the shooters are probably the friendliest people you will ever meet. I can't tell you how many times a competitor next to me has offered me help or equipment that I needed even though we were competing against each other! If you ever find yourself at a range and see a competition shooter, go up and ask them any questions you have and they will most likely be very happy to answer you and help you get in to this wonderful sport.

Up next: 50 Meter Smallbore Prone

10 Meter Air Rifle

Hello all! Today's entry will be about the wonderful sport of 10 Meter Air Rifle. This is the sport which got me into shooting and is the first shooting sport for many shooters. So, on to the main article.

10 Meter Air Rifle

US International shooter Jamie Gray

10 Meter Air Rifle can be separated into three main categories: Men's 60 Shot Air Rifle, Women's 40 Shot Air Rifle, and 3-Position Air Rifle. The latter is a discipline shot by juniors (18 and younger) and is the discipline shot by high-schools and clubs around the country. Men's and Women's Air Rifle are both shot at the Olympics and differentiated by the number of shots taken and the time allowed; Men receive 105 minutes to shoot 60 record shots and women receive 75 minutes to shoot 40 record shots. For those who know anything about the international circuit, you probably know that the rules were recently changed (there will be a blog post about this at some other time), but I will be focusing on the old rules because very few people (me included) fully understand the new rules.

Before I get into the specific disciplines, let me go ahead and give you a little bit more information on the distinction of "Air Rifle". The rifles shoot a .177 caliber flat nosed pellet by way of compressed air. The pellets are flat nosed in order to cut a perfect circle in the paper, making it easier to score. The targets used are either paper or electronic and are set 10 meters away from the shooter. Paper targets are far more common at the club and high school level and are a collection of 12 bullseyes (10 record bulls and 2 sighting bulls (used only to sight your rifle in)) because they are cheap and easy to get. Electronic targets are the standard for collegiate and international competitions. The target scores the shot by way of a laser or sound and can score each shot within a tenth of a millimeter. Each electronic target costs around $2500, rendering it almost impossible for most small clubs/high schools to own.

Flat nosed pellets

12 bull target

size of bull with a 5 shot group

The target itself is divided up into 10 scoring rings with the 10-ring being in the very center and only being .5mm in diameter (that is about the size of the head of a push pin)! The black part of the bull (what you actually aim at) is only about the size of a quarter. On paper targets, only one shot is shot per bull, but you can shoot an unlimited amount of shots in the sighter bulls (at least until you take your first record shot), electronic targets only have one bull where all of your shots are taken. Your final score for 3-postion and Men's 60 shot is out of a possible 600 points and Women's 40 shot is out of 400 points. On top of this, if your shot completely covers the 10 ring, you are awarded a center shot. Center shots count for nothing except for in a tie breaker (the person with the most center shots wins).

The first discipline I am going to talk about is the 3-Position discipline. This discipline is favored by high-schools and junior clubs around the nation because it offers a good combination of 3 position smallbore and 10 meter air rifle without the need for different ranges and multiple rifles. It also teaches the basics of shooting to young shooters and introduces them to all three positions. I am not going to get into the rules of 3 position, but if you are interested in some further reading, check out http://www.odcmp.com/3p/rules.pdf . Each match is shot in the same way as a 3-position smallbore match; each shooter is given 30 minutes to shoot 20 record shots (plus sighters) in prone, 40 minutes for 20 record shots (plus sighters) in standing, and 30 minutes for 20 record shots (plus sighters) in kneeling. In between each position, the shooters are given 5 minutes to switch over to the new position and adjust their rifles accordingly.

Before I go on to the next section, I wanted to talk about the distinctions of 3-position rifle. Shooters shoot in one of two different "classes". The first "class" is Sporter (shot by new shooters). In Sporter, the shooters are limited in the equipment they are allowed to use. For instance, they are not allowed to wear the extra clothing and their rifles are very basic with little to no adjustments. The second class is called Precision (shot by more experienced shooters). Precision shooters are allowed to wear all of the extra clothing and their rifles are extremely adjustable allowing them to fit the rifle exactly to their body. The extra clothing and the nicer rifle give the shooter a distinct advantage, allowing them to hold steadier and shoot higher scores. Other than the equipment, there is no other difference in shooting. This also only applies to 3-position matches, there are no classes in the Men's and Women's Air Rifle.

Sporter

Precision

Men's and Women's Air Rifle are the two disciplines shot internationally and at the Olympics. The only difference between the two are the number of shots and the time allowed. All of the shots are shot in the standing position and at the international level, it is not uncommon to see scores in the high 590's out of 600 points (actually it is nearly impossible to get into a final with a score lower than 596/600). At major competitions, all shooters shoot as individuals and the winner is determined by a combination of a 60 or 40 shot match plus a 10 shot final (yes, i know this has changed with the new rules, but I am not going to get into that now. If you are interested in the new rules, check them out http://www.issf-sports.org/theissf/rules/english_rulebook.ashx ). To enter into a final, a shooter must be one of the top 8 shooters in the competition. After the competition, the top 8 shooters take a short break and then go on to shoot 10 shots (you are given 75 seconds per shot and each shot taken one at a time). After the 10 shots have been fired, the winner is known and any ties result in a 1-shot shoot off until there are no more ties.

In college, the only rifle discipline shot is the 60-shot Men's Air Rifle. This is shot by both men and women with the same basic rules as international shooters. The only difference is that there is no final and the winner is a specific team of 4 shooters instead of a single person. I will delve deeper into college shooting in a later article, so stay tuned. 

I hope this proved helpful to anyone interested in shooting air rifle. I highly recommend starting your kids in air rifle instead of smallbore because it is much cheaper, easier to learn, and there are quite a few clubs and high schools that shoot this discipline. Stay tuned for next week's article: 50 Meter Three Position Rifle.

An Introduction Shooting Sports

Well it has been quite a while since I posted on this blog, and if it wasn't for some friendly encouragement, I don't think I would have been back in an even longer time.

Today, I would like to start a series about shooting sports (International Rifle to be specific). I do not know how long this series will be, but I am going to try my best to explain every facet of shooting sports to the best of my ability. This is a sport that means a lot to me, but is not a very popular sport in the US.

First, a little background about my involvement in the shooting sports. I started shooting competitively in 2010 with a local 4-H club, and during that year we won a bid to compete in the 4-H nationals in Texas. That trip, with the shooting, the hurricane, the homemade pizza's, and the great company, completely hooked me on shooting. Once I returned, I was able to make some contacts with a local high school with a rifle team where I trained and competed with one of the top high school teams in the nation. After training with them for a year, I decided that I wanted to continue and shoot in college. With help from my dad and the coach, I was able to get a spot on the Murray State University NCAA Division 1 Rifle Team (the 8th ranked team in the nation) where I am still shooting now (as a freshman).


An Introduction to the Shooting Sports:

Ok, to get started let me say that yes, shooting is a real sport and takes a lot of training and skill (just as much, if not more than sports like football, baseball, etc.) in order to perfect. I can not tell you how many times I have heard people bad-mouth shooting because it seems like such an easy activity that anyone can do. To those people, I like to tell them my favorite quote by 3-time US olympic medalist Matthew Emmons, "you show me your olympic gold medal, and I'll show you mine. My gold is just as shiny as yours." Of course, I have no olympic gold medal, but I do have quite a few other medals that still do the trick.

In the group of "Shooting Sports" there are three disciplines with different sub-disciplines:

• Shotgun
• Trap 
• Skeet
• Double Trap
• Pistol
• 10 Meter Air Pistol
• 25 Meter Rapid Fire 
• 50 Meter Free Pistol 
• Rifle
• 10 Meter Air Rifle
• 50 Meter Smallbore Prone
• 50 Meter Smallbore 3-Position

There are other sub-disciplines, but these are the most popular (and the only ones currently in the Olympics). On this blog, I will be focusing on the Rifle category because that is the only one I have experience in. 

 For those of you interested in shooting, let me warn you, shooting is a very difficult sport that can get pretty expensive and require a lot of time. Of course, the cost and time required are dependent on how much you want to get out of the sport, but once bitten by the shooting bug, it is hard to stop. However, shooting is probably one of the greatest sports in the world (in my opinion) and is a sport that someone of any age can (and do) play.

Shooting is difficult. This might not seem true just from reading, but shooting is an endurance sport. As you will see in various pictures, some of the positions require almost a contortionist like flexibility and many can get quite painful. For instance, in kneeling (see picture) there is a lot of pressure focused on your foot, ankle, knee, support hand (the one on the rifle), and elbow. Because of this setup, kneeling is considered the most painful position by most shooters. In a 50 Meter 3-Position match, you are shooting in this position for almost an hour. For most shooters, this results in a loss of feeling in the foot (the kneeling roll cuts off virtually all circulation to your foot) and the support hand (the sling cuts off circulation to your hand and arm in some cases). Usually shooters cannot even stand until 5 or so minutes of sitting/laying down. To make matters worse, kneeling is shot as the last position meaning that the shooter has already had to endure prone and standing position for 2+ hours!

Many times I am asked, "why don't you just change the position?". The answer to this question is simple. The positions have been studied for over a hundred years, and the culmination to all that studying has led to these positions which give the most stable platform from which to shoot from. 

A hurdle even tougher to pass for some people is the mental side of shooting. What separates the best shooters from the rest is their ability to stay focused on a small black dot for multiple hours without rest. In theory, shooting is very easy, all you have to do is hit a dot. However, being able to do that 60+ times over multiple hours requires an immense amount of concentration and is extremely mentally draining. The whole deal with shooting is the ability to be consistent, to do the exact same thing the exact same way over and over and over again. 

I say all this to warn you about what you are thinking about getting in to, not to dissuade you from trying. Any sport you want to get in to has its difficulties and pains, shooting just presents them in a different form. I love shooting, and even after experiencing all of this I still get up every morning for 5AM practice because I want to continue competing and getting better. 

So far, all I have said are the bad things about shooting. Now, let me show you some of the benefits of shooting. First, shooting is safe. There are many rules in shooting dedicated specifically to safety and, believe it or not, shooting is the safest sport for you can compete in (look it up). For instance, in the 4-H which deals with a variety of kids only has only had 2 (i believe) documented injuries, neither of which were life threatening and were fixed on the range. Second, shooting is a great way to learn patience, decision making, and anger management. One of the things drilled into shooters heads is that they need to know when to take a shot and when not to. You only take the shot when it is a 10 (or try to), but this can take a long time and a number of holds. In order to battle through this, the shooter is forced to learn patience and decision making. Anger management comes from the necessity to remain calm throughout an entire match in order to keep their shots consistent. Finally, shooting is fun. It is extremely rewarding to put in a lot of effort and see that you shot a perfect 100/100 on a target. Also, because it is nearly impossible to shoot perfect scores all the time, there is always room for improvement, giving shooters a lifetime of enjoyment. This, of course, does not do the benefits of shooting justice, nor does it state all of them. I have been shooting for a while now and I still find new things to enjoy every day I am on the line.

I hope you enjoyed this and I urge you to do more research on shooting sports. If you are looking for an amazing sport to get into, there are few better. If you have any questions or comments, please ask them below. 

Up next will be a discussion of 10 Meter Air Rifle.

Rise of the Violas

Are you ok with never being noticed for how you perform? Do you have freakishly large hands? Do you work behind the scenes while still seen by everyone? Are you special? Do you read in a language that no one else knows? Are you the epitome of awesomeness?

If you answered yes to any of those questions (particularly the last one), you might just be a member of the elite group of orchestral players known as violists.

"Violists you say? I think you might have left out an "in" (violinists for all you non-spellers out there)." On the contrary! I speak of the wonderful instrument the viola, and there players, the violists. A viola, for those who don't know, is a wooden, stringed instrument tuned a fifth lower than the violin that is played on the shoulder. For those of you who still don't know, it is a big violin that sounds deeper. If you still have no idea what I am talking about, you are probably on the wrong page.

Before I get too far into this, let me explain something about violists. 99% of violists (maybe a little exaggerated) are wonderful people, but they tend to be a tad defensive of their instrument. What I mean to say is, if you happen to meet one and start bad-mouthing their viola, don't be too surprised when you wake up in the hospital with a minor concussion and splinters in your head. Ok, this is probably not what they would do, they would never want to damage their instrument...

Why does a viola burn longer than a violin? Because it is usually in its case.

What is the difference between a viola and an onion? No one cries when you cut up a viola.

How can you tell the viola is out of tune? The bow is moving.

Why is the viola solo like a bomb? By the time you hear it, it is too late to do anything about it.

While I briefly explained above what a viola is, I am going to delve a little deeper. As you can see from the picture below, the viola (in the back) is significantly large than the violin (around 4 inches longer). The reason for this is so that it can produce the lower tones signature to the viola. When I said the viola is tuned a fifth lower than the violin, I meant that instead of the strings G, D, A, E, the viola has the strings C, G, D, A. In other words, the viola replaced the violin's high E-string with the cello's low C-string. Other than the size and the strings, there is virtually no difference between the two instruments; they are even held the same way. Because of this, many violists are violinists as well.

While the tones that the viola produces are exceptionally beautiful, many people are unable to pick out the viola among the hoard of other musical instruments in an orchestra. In most cases, the viola provides the "backbone" or structure to musical pieces. Because of this, the viola gets lost in the beautiful melodies produced by the other stringed instruments and the power of the brass, percussion, and woodwind sections. Since they are not often heard, violists rarely receive the same kind of praise given to the other sections.

When you compare the blazing fast fingering patterns and the inconceivably large repertoire of violin sheet music to the relatively docile looking viola sheet music, you might decide that the viola is a much easier instrument to play. Coupled with the fact that most people can't hear you anyways, the viola section seems to be the best place to throw all of those violin players of lesser skill. The ludicrousness of this almost boggles my mind. Just because the viola sheet music looks more docile and easier, does not mean this the case. Instead of fast, challenging fingering, viola players have to combat awkward rests/timing, weird intonation, and a part that usually does not make sense with what everyone else is playing. 

Many people drawn to the viola because of its supposed simplicity are often immediately turned around when they meet every orchestra players arch nemesis, the alto clef. If you answered yes to the question "Do you read in a language that no one else knows?" you either need to see a doctor, or play the viola. The alto clef is only read by violists, and seems to stump most other players. Indicated by what looks like two backwards c's stacked on top of one another (𝄡), the alto clef presents, in my opinion, one of the best designs for a clef. Unlike the treble clef (𝄞) (which all viola players must be able to read as well), the alto clef marks the middle C in the center of the staff. This might not seem like such a big deal to most of you, but it makes a lot of sense (to me at least).  

Considered the most under-appreciated and most ridiculed of all of the orchestral instruments, the viola provides the backbone for orchestra and is a crucial piece of the orchestral machine. One thing that many viola haters do not know is that many of the great composers played the viola and considered it a very important instrument. Some of those violists include Mozart, Brahms, Bach, Beethoven, and Stamitz. Another important fact often left out is that the viola came first, making the violin a small viola, not a viola a large violin. Before you violinists crack another viola joke, please remember that violists are people too, and their instrument is larger and does more damage ;).

I hope at least some of this made sense to you. Even if only one person goes away knowing and appreciating the viola a little bit more, I will still consider this post completely worth it. I am not a music major and do not claim to know everything about the viola (all of my knowledge comes from my 6+ year playing experience), so if I have said something wrong, please let me know. 

First Post!!

Greetings and salutations!

Hooray for my first post! I have had a few blogs in the past, but they never lasted more than a few months. I believe, however, that this blog is different. Now that I am in college, I find that I have a lot more thoughts that would fit this kind of atmosphere.

As I said in the “About” section of this blog, most of these posts will consist mostly of me babbling about whatever topic I find interesting. My knowledge base is relatively wide, but not very deep so I welcome any input on all of my posts.

So... for those of you who don’t know me, or don’t know me well, here is a brief list of things about me that can help describe what might be posted in later entries:

1. I am an NCAA Division 1 Rifle Shooter for Murray State University
2. I am left handed
3. My favorite subject is Math/Science
4. I play three instruments (violin, viola, and guitar), of which the viola is the greatest
5. I am an Eagle Scout
6. 95% of all my friends are taller than me
7. I was homeschooled throughout high school
8. My taste in music is weird. I love country, barbershop, classical (mainly romantic period), and bluegrass.
9. Green is the best color in the world
10. I love to read books
11. ^ has inspired me to write a novel (in progress)
12. I love Spring
13. My beagle is 14 years old and a couch-potato
14. I am an anti-abortion pro-gun Christian conservative guy from Tennessee
15. I had bright orange hair as a child
16. Cooking makes me happy
17. I believe in quality over quantity
18. I hope to shoot in the Olympics some day
19. I read Manga
20. I enjoy having random knowledge
21. I love to make things

To borrow a line from one of the greatest shows ever (Frasier), “Whether our journey together lasts for years or just for one day, I can't tell you how excited I am to take this first step with you.”