In the digital archives of Shooting Sports USA, we’ve found some great features that deserve a second look. A few years back, Shooting Sports USA published Sights, Wind and Mirage, an outstanding article that explains how to judge wind speed/direction and adjust your sights accordingly. Authored by highly respected shooter Ernest (Ernie) Vande Zande, this article is a definite “must-read” for all competitive rifle shooters — even those who shoot with a scope rather than irons. Vande Zande’s discussion of mirage alone makes the article well worth reading. Highly recommended.
Invaluable Insights from a World-Class Shooter
The article covers a wide variety of topics including Wind Reading, Mirage, Effects of Sight Canting, Quadrant Shooting, and Sight Adjustment Sequencing. Vande Zande offers many jewels of insight from his decades of experience shooting and coaching in top level tournaments. U.S. Shooting Team Leader at the 1996 Olympics, Vande Zande has set more than 200 records in National and International competition. He was the Smallbore Rifle Prone Champion at Camp Perry in 1980. An International Distinguished shooter, Ernie has been on nine Dewar teams and he was a member of the USAR Shooting Team from 1982. No matter what your discipline, if you are a competitive rifle shooter, you should CLICK HERE to read Sights, Wind, and Mirage.
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As part of the NRA Mentor Program, the NRA offers a helpful video about using sights. This covers all types of sighting systems — blade sights, aperture sights, V-notch sights, red dot sights, shotgun bead sights, and telescopic sights with reticles. For new shooters, this video can be helpful — it explains sight basics in very clear and comprehensible terms. And even for experienced shooters, this can provide some helpful tips on sight alignment, particularly when shooting pistols.
Additional information about using sights is contained in the NRA’s free Guide for New Shooters. This helpful 14-page digital publication provides the key firearms safety rules, explains range etiquette, and even has a section on gun cleaning. CLICK HERE to download Guide for New Shooters.
Training With Lasers — Trigger Control
Training with laser sights helps diagnose and improve trigger control errors by showcasing the importance of “surprise break” and follow-through. Working with gun-mounted lasers, which put a red or green dot right on the target, can quickly diagnose errors such as recoil anticipation, jerking the trigger, and breaking the wrist. This video shows how handgunners can use pistol-mounted lasers to correct bad habits and shoot more consistently.
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The display target is a copy, for spectators, of the larger, official target. The actual X-Ring is 10″ at 1000 yards. Amanda shot without a bipod, using only a sling to support the rifle, and aperture sights (no scope).
Congrats to Amanda Elsenboss for winning the 2019 NRA National Long Range Championships held this month at Camp Atterbury, Indiana. This completes her season of dominance, winning the Interservice, CMP, and NRA Long Range Championships. Amanda finished off her campaign with a win in the Mustin match and a shoot-off score of 100-9x. She also won the Leech Cup with a 200-15X, and 100-6X shoot-off score. Great job, Amanda!
Before his retirement from the U.S. Army, Emil Praslick III coached Amanda as a shooter with the U.S. Army Markmanship (USAMU) team. Emil was impressed with Amanda’s skill and dedication. Emil posted: “[Amanda is] by far the easiest shooter to coach I’ve ever worked with. A machine.”
Amanda expressed gratitude: “Thank you to everyone who supported me during the 2019 CMP Long Range Matches. Everyone’s support and encouragement helped me along the way, fan club included. Especially, a huge shout out to past and present AMU members for pointing me in the right direction. When the moment of confusion happened I always knew who I could count on to get me back on track. So, Thank you to everyone on and off the range who was cheering me along!”
Amanda Helps Train Young Competitors
When Amanda is not shooting matches or practicing with the USAMU, she helps train new shooters. Here SSG Amanda Elsenboss offers pointers to a Liberty University Service Rifle shooter at a CMP Small Arms Firing School (SAFS). Amanda Elsenboss hails from Woodbury, Connecticut and holds the military occupational specialty of small arms repairer. Elsenboss started shooting when she was 13, and soon became an avid rifle competitor. She now serves as a shooter/instructor on the USAMU Service Rifle Team.
Video Interview with SSG Amanda Elsenboss
This video, featuring SSG Amanda Elsenboss, was created by the USAMU to mark Women’s History Month. Amanda talks about her career in the military, and her love of competitive shooting. This is a great video, well worth watching. There are images from many shooting ranges around the nation.
SSG Amanda Elsenboss. CLICK Speaker Icon to Hear Sound!
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Our friend Anette Wachter (aka 30CalGal) is profiled this month on the NRA Family website. Annette talks about how she got into the shooting sports (though a challenge from her ex-husband), and how she has advanced along the way. She is now one of the top female Palma shooters in the nation. She also now competes regularly in Precision Rifle matches — tactical style competitions. She enjoys the challenge of PRS events, and she also competes in 3-Gun matches, with pistol, rifle, and shotgun.
Anette writes about the shooting sports for many publications. She also offers tips and gear reviews through her popular website, 30CalGal.com.
NRA: What type of shooting do you do, and what makes you like it so much?
Anette: Mostly long-range rifle disciplines. I don’t shoot High Power much anymore, but of course I am on the U.S. National Rifle Team and the Palma Team, so that occupies much of my time. My new love is Precision Rifle. This is the new hot and trendy shooting sport that is taking over the industry. It is like a sniper challenge. All unknown distances and usually the matches are out in the field. I also compete in 3-Gun, which is a ton of fun.
NRA: What advice do you have for new shooters who want to get into these sports?
Anette: If you want to get in to any discipline of competition I always suggest going to a local match to watch first. With the Internet you can find out your state competition information. Look for local organizations like the USPSA. See the type of equipment shooters are using and how the sport is run. Ask a lot of questions. Shooters are a very generous culture as well, in my experience. When I started out I was loaned almost everything to try it out.
NRA: From what you have seen, are there a lot more women getting involved in the shooting sports these days?
Anette: I started shooting and competing in 2006. I remember going to NRA Nationals at Camp Perry and, out of almost a thousand competitors, I was one of maybe 20 to 30 women. At local matches I would be one of two. In the past five or six years and especially in the last three, I have seen the numbers jump like crazy. Three years ago a few women in the 3-Gun market decided to put on the first Ladies 3-Gun ProAm in Georgia. We were wondering if anyone would show up. Over 200 women competed. Any of us that had extra guns and equipment were loaning them out. For many of the women it was their first match ever. It changed lives.
In this video Anette offers smart tips for shooting with bipod:
About the 30 Cal Gal Life is short. Go Shoot! — Anette Wachter
Along with being a talented competitive shooter, Anette has her own Gun Blog, 30CalGal.com, and she writes for several gun publications including GunUp Magazine, Shooting Sports USA, Sure Shots Magazine, and Wide Open Spaces. She also designs and crafts custom jewelry items, many of which utilize cartridge cases or other shooting-themed components. You can purchase Anette’s jewelry through her AW Collections webstore.
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Over the past year, this was one of the TOP TEN most-read Daily Bulletin articles. We are reprising it today for readers who may have missed it the first time around…
When shooting pistols do your shots normally land smack dab in the middle of the target? If not, you may have some technique problems that are causing your shots to move off center. Top Shot Champion Chris Cheng has produced a good video for the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) that helps handgunners diagnose accuracy issues. By shooting 3-shot groups and looking at the pattern and location of the shots, you can see what you’re doing wrong (or right). Here are some examples. Note, this process works best for shooters whose shots fall typically in one target zone. If your shots are all over the target, your form is inconsistent and problems will be harder to diagnose.
1. Low Left — Jerking Trigger: Here we see three (3) shots at the 7 O’clock position. This shows that the shooter is jerking the trigger, meaning that the shooter is pulling the trigger too quickly and therefore forcing the barrel to drop when breaking the shot. This is a very common problem, particularly with novices who are reacting to the noise/recoil of the pistol.
2. 9 O’Clock — Too Little Trigger Finger: If we see three (3) shots at the 9 O’clock position, what this can be indicative of too little trigger finger on the trigger. And therefore with every shot, the shots are getting pushed to the left. Try moving your trigger finger on to the pad of your index finger. Also try dry firing drills.
3. High Left — Anticipating Recoil: In this next example, we see three shots around the 11 O’clock position. What could be happening here is that the shooter is anticipating the recoil, and is actually lifting the gun up when he shoots. We recommend slowing down, working on your breathing, and, again, do dry-firing drills.
4. 3 O’Clock — Too Much Trigger Finger: Finally, if you see three (3) shots at the 3 O’clock position, this can indicate that there is too much trigger finger on the trigger. Therefore when the shot breaks the shooter is pulling each shot to the right. Note: Each of these descriptions is for a RIGHT-handed shooter. If you are a left-handed shooter you’ll want to reverse those descriptions.
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Deep Creek is a beautiful range, lined with tall timber on both sides.
Report by Jamey Williams
The second phase of the Northern Rockies Long Range Tournament was held at the Deep Creek Range outside Missoula, Montana last weekend. The F-Class portion was held two weekends before, under very different but also favorable conditions. The F-Class event was at the tail end of a very bad fire year, and the conditions were hot, dry, and at times, smoky. Nonetheless, great scores were fired, including a pending National Team Record by the Washington F-Open Team.
This past weekend was very different, with low temps, rain, and fog — a very dramatic shift in a very short time. The 1000-yard team matches on Friday took place under a light rain, and several cleans were fired — a prelude of thing to come. Saturday brought cold conditions and fresh snow on the surrounding mountains. While it was cold and cloudy, several shooters fired high scores with some only dropping only a handful of points or less over the Palma match and the 1000-yard match. This brought us into Sunday morning with a fog starting to settle over the range during the 800 yard stage of the last Palma match. As the day went on, the conditions gradually improved and with some outstanding shooting, a couple of pending NRA National Records were set.
This past weekend was time for the sling-shooters, the “hard-holders” who shoot prone with sling, coat, and glove. There were some very impressive performances — including two pending records, one by an All National Guard marksman SSG John Coggshall, and the other by Kerry Spurgin, who shot incredibly well, to break a long-standing Open Record.
Note: The upper left image shows SSG Coggshall at Deep Creek in 2010.
SSG John Coggshall of the Connecticut Army National Guard and member of the All National Guard Rifle Team fired an outstanding 1093-61X (out of a possible 1100 points), earning him the NRA Silver medallion. This score should earn him the Service Category National Record for the Long Range Regional Aggregate by one point and a bunch of Xs over the previous record set by SGT Eric Smith, USAR. SSG Coggshall previously held this record, which was set several years ago at the Deep Creek Range in Montana. Along with Palma rifle, Coggshall has a lot of experience shooting smallbore as well as service rifle. His Team Coach described him as a hard-holder who can hold half the X-Ring with his iron-sighted Palma rifle.
L to R: Todd Branin, Kerry Spurgin, SSG John Coggshall
Also having a fantastic weekend was U.S. Palma Team member, Kerry Spurgin of Hillsboro, Oregon. Spurgin (above center) was an All-American Rifle Team shooter for Murray State University in Kentucky, and brother to Patricia Spurgin, 1984 Olympic air rifle Gold medalist. Spurgin started out day three of the tournament with an strong score fired in mildly foggy conditions at the 800-yard line, a 149-14X. He continued to fire very well, and ended the individual matches with the Gold Medallion and a pending Open and Civilian record score of 1097-75X. With less than perfect conditions, Spurgin managed to only drop three (3) points all weekend, breaking a National Record that had stood for 17 years.
Deep Creek Range
The Deep Creek Range in Missoula, MT is one of the nicest places to shoot in the Intermountain West region. The range is located in the mountains within a few minutes drive of Missoula, and there is camping on-site. When conditions are good at Deep Creek, records get broken. To learn more about shooting at Deep Creek, contact Jamey Williams at jameydan[at]gmail.com.
Here is an aerial view of the Deep Creek Range (Drone video by David Gosnell):
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Do you find that the crosshairs in your scope get blurry after a while, or that you experience eye strain during a match? This is normal, particularly as you get older. Focusing intensely on your target (through the scope or over iron sights) for an extended period of time can cause eye strain. Thankfully, there are things you can do to reduce eye fatigue. For one — breathe deeper to take in more oxygen. Secondly, give your eyes a break between shots, looking away from the scope or sights.
In our Forum there is an interesting thread about vision and eye fatigue. One Forum member observed: “I have noticed recently that if I linger on the target for too long the crosshairs begin to blur and the whole image gradually darkens as if a cloud passed over the sun. I do wear contacts and wonder if that’s the problem. Anyone else experienced this? — Tommy”
Forum members advised Tommy to relax and breath deep. Increase oxygen intake and also move the eyes off the target for a bit. Closing the eyes briefly between shots can also relieve eye strain. Tommy found this improved the situation.
Keith G. noted: “Make sure you are still breathing… [your condition] sounds similar to the symptoms of holding one’s breath.”
Phil H. explained: “Tom — Our eyes are tremendous oxygen hogs. What you are witnessing is caused by lack of oxygen. When this happens, get off the sights, stare at the grass (most people’s eyes find the color green relaxing), breath, then get back on the rifle. Working on your cardio can help immensely. Worked for me when I shot Palma. Those aperture sights were a bear! The better my cardio got the better and longer I could see. Same thing with scopes. Try it!”
Watercam concurred: “+1 on breathing. Take a long slow deep breath, exhale and break shot. Also make sure you take a moment to look at the horizon without looking through rifle or spotting scope once in a while to fight fatigue. Same thing happens when using iron sights.”
Arizona shooter Scott Harris offered this advice: “To some extent, [blurring vision] happens to anyone staring at something for a long time. I try to keep vision crisp by getting the shot off in a timely fashion or close the eyes briefly to refresh them. Also keep moisturized and protect against wind with wrap-around glasses”.
Breathing Better and Relaxing the Eyes Really Worked…
Tommy, the shooter with the eye problem, said his vision improved after he worked on his breathing and gave his eyes a rest between shots: “Thanks guys. These techniques shrunk my group just a bit and every little bit helps.”
Read more tips on reducing eye fatigue in our Forum Thread: That Vision Thing.
To avoid eye fatigue, take your eyes away from the scope between shots, and look at something nearby (or even close your eyes briefly). Also work on your breathing and don’t hold your breath too long — that robs your system of oxygen.
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Those of us over-50 types can use some help when shooting iron sights. As one gets older, your eyes lose the ability to rapidly adjust to different points of focus. In practice, when shooting a rifle, this means the target image may be sharp but the sights are blurry, or vice-versa. Or you may be able to see the target and front sight reasonably well, but the rear sight is a complete blur. (That is this Editor’s problem when shooting a rifle, such as a Swedish Mauser, with a notched blade rear sight.) Even if you are using a rear peep sight, you may see a blurry rear circle (or two circles if you have astigmatism). Placing a diopter sight (sighting disc) on your shooting glasses can help many people see open sights better, when shooting both handguns and rifles.
Merit Corp. in Schenectady, NY, offers an adjustable optical disc that attaches to shooting glasses with a rubber cup. Though primarily intended for pistol shooters, the Merit optical attachment can also be helpful when shooting rifles with open sights, such as military bolt actions. Priced at $65.00, the Merit device features a shutter-style, adjustable aperture iris.
Merit explains: “The human eye, whether or not prescription glasses are required, cannot focus on both sights and the target at the same time. The eye will constantly shift focus from the sights to the target trying to ensure proper alignment. Unfortunately, as we age, the eye loses the flexibility which allows it to do this; thus, sights and target begin to grow fuzzy. There is a simple way to combat this by increasing your eyes’ depth of field (range of focus). If you look through an aperture or pinhole of the correct size, you will be able to see both sights clearly, and the target will be clearly defined as well.”
In addition to optical attachments for eyeglasses, Merit produces a variety of adjustable iris sight products for rifles, including the Variable Iris Aperature for AR15s. Visit MeritCorporation.com or call (518) 346-1420.
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Do you have “fuzzy sight syndrome”? Are you frustrated because you can no longer see both your iron sights and your target sharply? Here’s a product that can help. Lyman’s new EyePal is basically an adaptation of aperture or “peep” sights (sometimes called “diopter sights”). The EyePal works by restricting the viewable image to a small-diameter circle. This improves depth-of-field dramatically, which in turn keeps everything in focus, both sights AND Target. This principle has been used for some time with the Merit adjustable optical disc that attaches to shooting glasses with a rubber cup. The EyePal does much the same thing — for a lot less money.
Simply apply the EyePal to any eyewear and you should see an immediate improvement in focus (both near and far). Lyman explains: “The EyePal provides a small image where everything is in focus. This is particularly useful to shooters who have limited near vision but have good far vision. The EyePal enables you to simultaneously see the target, and iron sights — all in focus.”
How Do EyePals Work?
The EyePal is a modern adaptation of the century-old peep sight, which some folks call a pin-hole sight (remember those pin-hole camera experiments back in school?). The EyePal enables you to simultaneously see the target, your front and rear sights — all in focus.
EyePal stick-on apertures are made of a static cling material. This allows EyePals to be easily placed on safety eyewear and prescription glasses without marring the surface or leaving a residue when removed. EyePals are inexpensive (about $25.00 per set), easy to use, and long-lasting.
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The Trijicon Miniature Rifle Optic (MRO), a one-power “red dot” reflex sight, has been named the 2015 “Optic of the Year” by Guns & Ammo Magazine. The “Optic of the Year” is an annual award presented by the Guns & Ammo editorial staff based on performance, versatility, durability, and product value.
“We designed the new MRO to be as rugged and versatile as our renowned ACOG, while offering the features and benefits reflex optic owners desire,” said Chuck Wahr, Marketing VP for Trijicon. “We have been overwhelmed with the positive response from the industry. Being awarded “Optic of the Year” by Guns & Ammo is a great honor for Trijicon.” Users have praised the MRO. One purchaser wrote: “Great FOV, clear dot and glass. Light weight…love it.”
MRO Sells for under $450.00
The American-made MRO features a 2 MOA dot and 25mm objective lens for quick target acquisition. There are handy adjusters with half-MOA click values and 70 MOA total adjustment. Dot intensity is adjusted with a top-located brightness control. Street price for the Miniature Rifle Optic is $449.00 for the basic version, $515.00 with a low mount, and $535.00 for the elevated “co-witness” version.
With the co-witness elevated mount, the MRO allows “see-through” aiming with back-up iron sights.
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How good are the best High Power position shooters? Pretty amazing actually. Here are some targets from the 2015 NRA High Power Championship at Camp Perry. Shown above is a 100-10X (literally a perfect score) at 200 yards. This was shot sitting, rapid-fire by 11-time National High Power Champion Carl Bernosky. That’s impressive to say the least. As one Facebook fan noted: “Not bad for an old codger with a bad back….”
File photo of Carl Bernosky from previous competition.
The target below is a 100-0X, shot rapid-fire prone by an unknown sling shooter. That may not seem that impressive at first, but this was fired from THREE HUNDRED yards. It takes a mighty solid hold to produce a nice 10-shot cluster like that without dropping a point.
To put these impressive performances in perspective, Lapua’s Kevin Thomas reports: “For those who aren’t familiar with these targets, the center X-Ring on both of these targets is 3 inches across. The 10-Ring is 7 inches across [including line], roughly the size of a small sandwich plate.”
Target Photos from Facebook by Aaron Perkins.
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This week, many of the world’s top marksmen have been competing at the National Long Range High Power Rifle Championships, held 29-31 July, 2015 at Camp Perry. The distances are great (1000 yards maximum) as are the challenges — the fickle winds blowing off Lake Erie can be unpredictable.
This year is extra special. The USA hosts the World Fullbore Long Range Championships next week at Camp Perry. The World Championships are held every four years, but any country may only host the event every 25 years. That means the next Fullbore Worlds in the USA could not take place before 2040. This year, teams from 11 countries will compete for national honors (and serious bragging rights). Many top international shooters have already arrived, and they are using the NRA Long Range High Power Championships as a “prelim” for the Fullbore Worlds next week.
Ace ISSF 300m shooter Reya Kempley shoots a hybrid rig with a Stolle Panda Action in an Anschütz smallbore-type metal stock.
Here’s the same rifle, as fitted with hand rest for position shooting. CLICK to Zoom:
British Palma Shooter David Luckman hung tough after suffering a dissappointing 8 (low right) on his first record shot. After serving up that 8 at 4 o’clock, David fought back, shooting all tens and Xs for the rest of his 10-shot string. (Orange stickers show record shots — the yellow dots mark sighters.) David doesn’t crack under pressure — he won the 2012 Long Range Championship at Camp Perry, and he is the reigning ICFRA World Long Range Fullbore (Palma) Rifle Champion.
Those targets are placed a long way off. Now imagine trying to shoot half-MOA with iron sights.
Past Long-Range Champion John Whidden shows good form. John runs a centerfire action in an Anschütz metal smallbore stock. He smithed this rig himself. John favors the ergonomics and adjustability of the Anschütz stock. He also really likes the small-diameter, rounded forearm on this design. “This stock suits me really well”, John told us.
This competitor has an Eliseo (Competition Machine) Tubegun in Patriotic Stars and Stripes Livery.
This U.S. Marine Corps shooter campaigned a classic “Battle Rifle” in the LR Championship, firing a semi-auto version of the M14. It looks like he named the rifle “Lucy”.
Photos from 2015 NRA Long Range High Power Rifle Championships courtesy NRABlog.com.
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In the digital archives of Shooting Sports USA, we’ve found some great features that deserve a second look. A few years back, Shooting Sports USA published Sights, Wind and Mirage, an outstanding article that explains how to judge wind speed/direction and adjust your sights accordingly. Authored by highly respected shooter Ernest (Ernie) Vande Zande, this article is a definite “must-read” for all competitive rifle shooters — even those who shoot with a scope rather than irons. Vande Zande’s discussion of mirage alone makes the article well worth reading. Highly recommended.
Merit Corp. in Schenectady, NY, offers an 
Merit explains: “The human eye, whether or not prescription glasses are required, cannot focus on both sights and the target at the same time. The eye will constantly shift focus from the sights to the target trying to ensure proper alignment. Unfortunately, as we age, the eye loses the flexibility which allows it to do this; thus, sights and target begin to grow fuzzy. There is a simple way to combat this by increasing your eyes’ depth of field (range of focus). If you look through an aperture or pinhole of the correct size, you will be able to see both sights clearly, and the target will be clearly defined as well.”
“We designed the new MRO to be as rugged and versatile as our renowned ACOG, while offering the features and benefits reflex optic owners desire,” said Chuck Wahr, Marketing VP for Trijicon. “We have been overwhelmed with the positive response from the industry. Being awarded “Optic of the Year” by Guns & Ammo is a great honor for Trijicon.” Users have praised the MRO. One purchaser wrote: “Great FOV, clear dot and glass. Light weight…love it.”
