Quote:
Originally Posted by flatbutt
I am absolutely certain that I could not safely handle that weapon unless I were prone. Dang that looks to be a beast.
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These things are really relative pussycats to shoot. They are quite heavy, with NRA silhouette rifles restricted to about 12.5 pounds and long range rifles held to 15 pounds. All of that weight helps absorb the recoil. Remember, these are match rifles, meant to shoot long strings without beating up the shooter.
We use two predominant positions in matches. NRA silhouette and long range are shot prone, with cross sticks supporting the rifle (one set of targets, the chickens at 200 meters, are shot offhand).
Some of our local mid range (out to 600 yards) matches are shot seated with cross sticks. This position helps with recoil, being more comfortable in that regard than prone.
You will probably notice that these guys are committing one of the most grievous of shooting "errors" - they are resting the barrel, not the forearm, on the sticks. This is actually the preferred method with these rifles, believe it or not.
We rest them on what is known as the "harmonic dead spot" on the barrel, essentially the center of vibration, where it moves the least. This is found by hanging the rifle vertically by the action and rapping on the barrel with a soft mallet. The barrel will ring like a tuning fork everywhere but this dead spot, where it will simply "thunk". I mark this spot with a wrap of electrical tape, and then make sure the sticks are on this part of the barrel.