Bianchi Barricade Match Question

[benos]

BigDave pm'd me this, but I thought it might be a good one to post.

" At 10 and 15 yds at the Barricade, I do well (~109-113) for my current ability. I notice that my stance and index is very solid. Overall, I'm comfortable. However, when I go back to 25 and 35, I suddenly become very uncomfortable. I can't seem to get a stance that I feel is comfortable and that has a domino effect into my index and spcifically my grip (from the left/weak side especially). My scores are 20-30 points less there. Any advice as to feet position in relation to the barricade, distance from, anything?

Regards,

DP

Dave,

Glad you've found the beauty of practicing the Cup, especially the barricade. Your all-around shooting will do nothing but improve by practicing it.

The subtle shift the barricade imposes on your index makes it one of the most difficult courses of fire at the Cup, especially with a stock gun at the longer ranges. No stock gun shooter I know of looks forward to shooting the barricade match. Actually, they pretty much all hate it. Robbie dropped like 20 points in this years match, after never shooting worse than 10 down in practice. And he summarized it quite nicely with this quote: "I can shoot it 4 points down or 20 points down, and you know what, both runs "looked" exactly the same." [when I shot them] (Delivered with a disgusting head shake.)

If you're shooting for score, shoot as light as load as you can get away with.

Experiment with your foot position. Shooting from the left, try your left foot several inches in front of your right foot, and turn your right foot outward, approaching 45 degrees. You're doing everything possible to get your center of gravity far forward and as close to the edge of the barricade as possible. And maybe lean forward a tad more than usual.

Take an extra millisecond to really feel yourself get "set" behind the gun before you fire your first shot.

Your goal is to find a position that allows your sights to track as predictably as possible, even if they are not tracking straight up and down.

Once you locate the center of the target and plant your sights there - look right at the front sight for the ENTIRE string.

Really become sensitive to just "floating the gun out there and letting it bounce up and down."

Forget everything you know about your typical freestyle position, and what the gun looks and feels like when shooting from it.

Feel the gun very still in your hand, and look right at the front sight.

Let me know if any of this helps...

good luck,

be

[Trader]

I found the left side at 25 and 35 yards tougher than the right side also. On the left, I had to hold a bit to the right side of the target about 3 o' clock on the 8 ring . I discovered this after endless practice sessions. I presumed it was because I was always slightly off balance from leaning outward. I managed a score of 456 which I was very happy with especially compared to my first attempt at a match shooting stock.

I have found it very difficult to call my shots at the 25 and 35 yard barricade.