Rest position during slow fire?

by MC5C 5/29/2019, 8:18 am

I am brand new to Bullseye style shooting, and with no one around who does it, teaching myself... I was trying slow fire yesterday, and I didn't know what to do between shots. I can't hold the pistol out for more than 30 seconds or so without losing control, so I was resting the pistol on the bench. This bothered me because in my normal practice, the pistol is not on the bench unless it is unloaded and safed. That also caused me to change my grip, so each time I went for a shot I had a slightly different grip. What is the recommended way to address slow fire? Do you recover to a rest position?

Thanks, Brian

by Dr.Don 5/29/2019, 8:25 am

Recover to a rest position with the gun on the bench. Most (?) of us will try to maintain the same grip throughout the 10 shot string but relax pressure while at rest. But the 10 minutes is plenty of time to completely relax and regrip the gun once or twice if you get too tired.

The indoor range where I train requires finger off the trigger when I go to the rest position. Many diehard Masters will frown on this as the trigger finger position is part of the grip process. But it is required so I have learned to do it and it has become automatic now.

by DA/SA 5/29/2019, 8:26 am

I maintain my grip, with my finger off of the trigger, and just the muzzle and occasionally the bottom of the grip touching the bench depending on bench height.

by james r chapman 5/29/2019, 8:43 am

I’m old, weak and lazy, I use a rear rifle pad to rest my gunhand on

A Carleson i believe

by MC5C 5/29/2019, 8:44 am

Great, you guys do exactly what I was doing, so that is what I will practice. I also put finger outside of trigger guard, per our rules. Thanks!

by dronning 5/29/2019, 8:49 am

james r chapman wrote:I’m old, weak and lazy, I use a rear rifle pad to rest my gunhand on

A Carleson i believe

Saw a competitor doing this. Worked great but I kept leaving it at home in my shoot box when I went rifle shooting. It didn't work on some bench heights, so I made a block 4x6x8" out that pink foam insulation & wrapped it in duct tape. I use this block to rest my gun/wrist on between shots. Dimensions work with the different bench heights and I position it so the trigger guard rests on the block when I bring my arm/gun down.

It's cheap and light, but it does take up space even in my 4 gun shoot box.
- Dave

by adminbot1911 5/29/2019, 12:34 pm

I'd like to use a Carleson rifle rest, the world-class competitor next to me was using one last weekend.

I rest my hand and pistol on my Marvel pistol case. The magazine scrapes it up but I'm the last person to own it so I don't care much.

by john bickar 5/29/2019, 12:45 pm

Guitar foot rest.

by LenV 5/29/2019, 4:41 pm

I rest the barrel over the end of the bench. Actually on the bench but extending past. I solve the problem of marring the pistol by always using a larger towel for a shooting pad then normal. I drape the towel over the edge of the bench. Sometimes the bench's are narrow enough I can leave the towel rolled up on the end and rest the barrel on the roll. Douglas Adams could have probably explained it better. Very Happy

Len

by john bickar 5/29/2019, 6:44 pm

LenV wrote:I rest the barrel over the end of the bench. Actually on the bench but extending past. I solve the problem of marring the pistol by always using a larger towel for a shooting pad then normal. I drape the towel over the edge of the bench. Sometimes the bench's are narrow enough I can leave the towel rolled up on the end and rest the barrel on the roll. Douglas Adams could have probably explained it better.

Do you always shoot on point #42?

by mikemyers 5/29/2019, 9:02 pm

It's probably not the best way to do this, but if I take all that time to take just the ten shots, I find myself thinking about everything too much. I've learned to trust my subconscious control to control much of what I'm doing - My conscious mind just needs to get the dot where it belongs when the gun fires. I think I do better when I shoot more quickly, just resting my hand and the gun briefly between shots.

Maybe when I get better, I'll find all that "wasted" time to be useful. For now though, I shoot better when I don't do things so slowly.

by LenV 5/29/2019, 9:13 pm

john bickar wrote:
LenV wrote:I rest the barrel over the end of the bench. Actually on the bench but extending past. I solve the problem of marring the pistol by always using a larger towel for a shooting pad then normal. I drape the towel over the edge of the bench. Sometimes the bench's are narrow enough I can leave the towel rolled up on the end and rest the barrel on the roll. Douglas Adams could have probably explained it better.

Do you always shoot on point #42?

I gave that some deep thought but usually end up shooting on 1 or 13. I figure what will be was going to happen anyhow. Mike, I shoot sf in about three minutes because I can't concentrate longer then that.

Len

by Dcforman 5/29/2019, 9:23 pm

I screwed a short length of 2x4 vertically to a base of 1x4 about 8-9 inches long. Rest the trigger guard on the top of the 2x4. Works perfect. And basically free.

Dave

by john bickar 5/29/2019, 11:35 pm

Dr.Don wrote: The indoor range where I train requires finger off the trigger when I go to the rest position. Many diehard Masters will frown on this as the trigger finger position is part of the grip process. But it is required so I have learned to do it and it has become automatic now.

This is good advice. Given the requirements on many ranges, if I was starting fresh now, I would build my pre-shot process such that I:

1) would raise the gun to the top of the backstop only
2) keep my trigger finger outside of the trigger guard until the sights are within the target frame

I think this process can be learned, but it's tough for me to unlearn 30+ years of doing it not that way.

I'm not a super high raiser like some people (who point the gun at the North Star and lower into the target, not naming any names), but my process does have my finger on the trigger from the moment I pick the gun up off of the bench. Some ranges frown on that, for a number of reasons ranging from "good" to "overzealous".

(Many ranges that have "blue sky" visible from the firing line used to have a decent buffer zone behind the backstop, yet have been encroached upon by development, so what was a "safe direction" for an errant shot several decades ago, now could get the range shut down permanently.)

by Jack H 5/29/2019, 11:43 pm

Try 50 years of doing it that way.....

by farmboy 5/30/2019, 6:24 am

john bickar wrote:Guitar foot rest.

This works well because it is adjustable to various bench heights and the resting position remains relatively constant from venue to venue

by lyman1903 6/1/2019, 11:41 am

john bickar wrote:
LenV wrote:I rest the barrel over the end of the bench. Actually on the bench but extending past. I solve the problem of marring the pistol by always using a larger towel for a shooting pad then normal. I drape the towel over the edge of the bench. Sometimes the bench's are narrow enough I can leave the towel rolled up on the end and rest the barrel on the roll. Douglas Adams could have probably explained it better.

Do you always shoot on point #42?

by CO1Mtn 6/1/2019, 8:25 pm

I practice with a 4-lb freeweight in front of the mirror. I pretend it's a pistol and try to hold it as steady as I can. I perch a brass casing on the top and try not to let it fall.

by john bickar 6/1/2019, 10:56 pm

Jack H wrote:Try 50 years of doing it that way.....

I'll call you in 2038.

by john bickar 6/1/2019, 10:58 pm

farmboy wrote:
john bickar wrote:Guitar foot rest.
This works well because it is adjustable to various bench heights and the resting position remains relatively constant from venue to venue

I credit Skippy for that one; he credits someone else. I can't remember who.

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