Presidents 100, 2013

President's 100

I'm a very long shot for the P100. If I have a really good day, it's possible, but mostly I shoot it to prepare for the Individual and Team matches. Also, it's a match, and having fun shooting matches is the whole point.

The match is just three stages: 10 shots standing (offhand) at 200 yards in 10 minutes; 10 shots prone at 300 yards in 70 seconds (rapid prone); and 10 shots prone at 600 yards in 10 minutes (slow prone).

I shot on relay 6, which means I went to the pits first, shot 3rd after the pit change at 200 and 300, scored at 300 and 600, and then I could shoot and scoot at 600. 

Offhand: I tend to be either good or bad on this stage. If I get in a steady position, with a good natural point of aim (NPA) I can do really well. If something is off, it can be a challenge.  I was having a good string. I wasn't 100% solid, but I had a good NPA. I was hitting 9s and 10s, although I couldn't seem to find the X ring. The last shot of the string was solid, I broke the shot right in the middle, and it came up the elusive X...on the target next to mine. I had cross fired, earning myself a big fat 0 for that shot, and finished with an 83. Even if I didn't drop any more points, I was out of the 100.

Rapid Prone: The wind at 300 was blowing pretty good. I estimated 8mph out of 7:00, so I put on 1.75 minutes of left wind. That was not quite enough, and I lost points out to the right, finishing with a respectable, but not great, 95. 

Slow prone: There are two great challenges to shooting at 600 yards. The first is that the target is unforgiving. The X ring is just 6" ( 1 minutes of angle) across, so every little thing counts. Your position has to be solid, and consistent with a good NPA. You also have to keep a laser focus on the front sight, but still be seeing the target well. The other factor is wind. If you don't correct for it, or make the wrong correction, the wind can blow you completely off the target. I struggle a little bit with the first part, and the wind was tough. I estimated the predominant condition to be about 10mph, and variable. I put on 4.5 minutes right, and shot a 7 at 10 o'clock. I figured some of that was me, so I only put another minute right on the gun, and fired. The score keeper called out, "eight, dumb-ass." OK, the "dumb-ass" was implied, but you could hear it in his voice. I put another minute right on the gun, and the next shot came up a 10. From there, I did my best to read the wind, and chased the spotter a little bit.