Measuring my progress as a shooter…

[Patrick1]

Recently, I have felt my accuracy has improved. On a 1/4 inch bullseye, with sorted pellets by weight, I had 25 of 30 inside the bullseye at 25 yards off of a bench with just a bipod and no other stabilizer. The other five were within 1/8 inch of the bullseye.(.22 Maverick Compact -500 mm barrel).
I have no idea if this is good bad or what.
Looking for comments, not approval. I practice weekly at local TWRA. Indoor range, so no wind.

 

[JaceSpace1369]

Recently, I have felt my accuracy has improved. On a 1/4 inch bullseye, with sorted pellets by weight, I had 25 of 30 inside the bullseye at 25 yards off of a bench with just a bipod and no other stabilizer. The other five were within 1/8 inch of the bullseye.(.22 Maverick Compact -500 mm barrel).
I have no idea if this is good bad or what.
Looking for comments, not approval. I practice weekly at local TWRA. Indoor range, so no wind.

This is good! What was your accuracy like before?

 

[Patrick1]

Thanks for the input! Maybe half that on the 1/4 inch bullseye. Usually, wasn’t sorted pellets though. And I’d get a fair number of flyers too.
I really don’t know what’s good or not, but thanks for the comment!!!!

 

[maxtrouble]

Recently, I have felt my accuracy has improved. On a 1/4 inch bullseye, with sorted pellets by weight, I had 25 of 30 inside the bullseye at 25 yards off of a bench with just a bipod and no other stabilizer. The other five were within 1/8 inch of the bullseye.(.22 Maverick Compact -500 mm barrel).
I have no idea if this is good bad or what.
Looking for comments, not approval. I practice weekly at local TWRA. Indoor range, so no wind.

Life and accuracy would be a lot easier without wind! Wind adds spice (and excuses ) to shooting. Get out there and try and hit a bullseye in 12 to 15 MPH wind and then talk about scores!

Kids and their INDOOR shootin' ranges these days.

 

[Scotay42]

That is not bad. Depending on the ammo used, results can vary. I have a Katran that will lay down under 1/4 in at 25yds with crossmans, but other guns i run them thru do not shoot them.as well.main thing is concentrate on breathing and teigger technique. Practice on those 2 and steadiness will improve your grouping.

 

[Treefrog]

Good stuff.

One of the best things about shooting is that we can always get better at it. The more things you measure and control, the more you will improve. Better understanding make for better consistency.

Back in the day, I would bolt my co2 airguns to a bench to find what the groups would look like when I wasn't as involved. That was when I realized just how much better I needed to be. (The quantified personal suck.) That gave me goal to ahem... Shoot for.

Cheers,

J~

 

[GeneT]

Measure your averages, not just your successes. To really track your performance you need to look at *everything* (almost*) - no ignoring shots because you called them off, or you felt "down" that day - catalog it all. Your true level is best represented by the average of your last X* matches / groups / whatever. Everybody shoots like crap once in a while, and everyone shoots a good group now and again. It doesn't really matter what your groups are - poor or excellent - you're trying to track your personal progress, so "better" is the metric...

GsT

* If you're shooting competition, look at your last 6-8 matches. If you're shooting "record" groups at home, look at your last 10 sessions. You can ignore or exclude the results from practice sessions where you are actively trying something new. Try to differentiate between when you're experimenting to see if something yields improvement, versus when you're "testing" to see how well you do. Don't ignore anything that happens during "testing".

 

[Rizz01]

Be sure you are happy with your gun in every way. Eliminate those things that could distract you. Get the gun totally dialed in and dialed in for your ammo. If the ammo doesn't "jive" with the barrel try new stuff. Above all, (unless you already have one) get a "bench rest" for your gun. Consistency is necessary for a baseline with regard to performance.
Good luck!

 

[c_m_shooter]

The only way to accurately track progress is against a known standard. I shoot bows also and it is indoor season now. That means weekly 300 rounds on the "blue face" target for the state series, along with occasional tests on the World Archery 40cm 10 ring target. I have a log of scores for 4 years now along with what setups they were shot with. The competition organizations have state and national records for us to compare against when preparing for the big shoots.

There must be an official 25 yard benchrest NRA target for you shoot to log your progress.

 

[JimD]

I think you are shooting well. I suggest you try the 30 yard challenge target. You can get the pdf and print out the target. 10 ring is 1/8th inch but you just need to touch it. The huge thread is in the shooting challenges portion of this site. Another member, Ed, keeps everybody's best score in a spreadsheet he shares every once in a while.

 

[Gerry52]

I'd THINK that's pretty good. Let me clarify why I say "think". Been shooting seriously for about 8 years & I only hunt. PCP's, no springers or the like. From day one I've zeroed my scopes/guns @ 50 yards so I've never shot at 25 yards. Used to use targets with a 1.75" bullseye, now I use pistol targets with a .75" bullseye for sight-in. It's obvious to me how much I've improved over time as the targets have become smaller & I've set my bar higher for acceptable accuracy. In my mind ANY improvements in how an individual shoots is a good thing. I'm fortunate in that my shooting compadres were way out of my league when we 1st met (Centercut, Revoman, Pesty3782 & now, Manabeknives). I'm so fortunate that their influence & expertise didn't make me feel inadequate but made me want to push the envelope of my abilities. I still might not be quite as good but I know if I keep up with what I'm doing it will improve even more with time. At least I don't embarrass myself (much) . Good on ya for not only improving but RECOGNIZING that in yourself. Keep it up.

 

[Motorhead]

1 MOA is a loose standard for what most would say is a very accurate air gun & especially in a controlled no wind environment. Some will do better than 1 moa and some can't even do it.
Rounding the actual diameter of 1 MOA it roughly equates to @ 1" inch at 100 yards, 1/2" inch at 50 yards. 1/4" at 25 yards and in doing 10 meter distances a tad more than 1/8" inch.
* These would be a center to center measurements

Just sharing if you need some kind of standard of measurement ???

 

[beerthief]

25 out of 30 inside a 1/4 inch , Hmmm let me think !!! good is not the word i would use . Excelent @ 25 yards and 25 inside the 1/4 inch dot , meaning edge to edge measurement is 1/4 inch in any direction measured ? NICE .

 

[Simplemann]

I have not shot a .22 Maverick Compact to be honest I don't know what that is??? But I know when I shoot at 25 yards if I keep a 5 shot group within .75" I am happy and if by chance .50" happens I'm really happy. You put 25 out of 30 in .25" I would think thats Olympic qualification status . Thats great shooting in my book. You are Blessed.

 

[Patrick1]

1 MOA is a loose standard for what most would say is a very accurate air gun & especially in a controlled no wind environment. Some will do better than 1 moa and some can't even do it.
Rounding the actual diameter of 1 MOA it roughly equates to @ 1" inch at 100 yards, 1/2" inch at 50 yards. 1/4" at 25 yards and in doing 10 meter distances a tad more than 1/8" inch.
* These would be a center to center measurements

Just sharing if you need some kind of standard of measurement ???

Perfect! Thanks!

 

[Patrick1]

The only way to accurately track progress is against a known standard. I shoot bows also and it is indoor season now. That means weekly 300 rounds on the "blue face" target for the state series, along with occasional tests on the World Archery 40cm 10 ring target. I have a log of scores for 4 years now along with what setups they were shot with. The competition organizations have state and national records for us to compare against when preparing for the big shoots.

There must be an official 25 yard benchrest NRA target for you shoot to log your progress.

That’s what I use. Or an airgun 25 yard target.

 

[Patrick1]

25 out of 30 inside a 1/4 inch , Hmmm let me think !!! good is not the word i would use . Excelent @ 25 yards and 25 inside the 1/4 inch dot , meaning edge to edge measurement is 1/4 inch in any direction measured ? NICE .

I’m not that good. I measure pellet hole centers that are inside the 1/4 inch circle(can be a little subjective with “tears” in th holes). If the center is outside it’s not “good”. However, 18 of the 25 were totally inside the 1/4 inch circle.
As I said at first, I’m just trying to figure out if that’s considered good. When I played more golf, I wanted to hit my 7 iron to land at 150 yards, my lob wedge 62 yards, etc. With lots of practice I got to where I could do it about 70% of the time. I didn’t get to play on any tour but found that process and approach satisfying.
I’m hoping that works for my shooting.

 

[daddypaddy]

better than me. i’m happy with 1” inch group at 75 yards with a gentle breeze and equally happy with 2.5” group at that same 75 yards on a windy day. wind is never only blowing in one speed and one direction but no wind is the most fun time to shoot!

 

[humbled.ag]

Try it standing, unsupported. I'll even let you do it at 10m. No cap(10m-220yds realy doesn't matter if you're aiming for the middle). Anyways, I shoot 50ft smallbore every winter, have been for about 8 years. My average is 275/300. A good match has me scoring high 280's, a bad match it's 250's. I do this to keep up my skills for FT. It may seem counter intuitive but our format is one card prone(i shoot seated ft style), one card kneeling and one card standing. Everything you need to stay in good shooting condition.

 

[c_m_shooter]

Try it standing, unsupported. I'll even let you do it at 10m. No cap(10m-220yds realy doesn't matter if you're aiming for the middle). Anyways, I shoot 50ft smallbore every winter, have been for about 8 years. My average is 275/300. A good match has me scoring high 280's, a bad match it's 250's. I do this to keep up my skills for FT. It may seem counter intuitive but our format is one card prone(i shoot seated ft style), one card kneeling and one card standing. Everything you need to stay in good shooting condition.

The better you get at offhand, the better all other positions will be. Bench rest practice, not so much.