Do you or have you participated in Competitive Shooting?

Mark A Ouellette

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What competitive shooting have you done? There are many of us who were or are very serious competitors. How do the fundamentals of marksmanship and competition techniques enable your shooting of dangerous game rifles? Let’s discuss?
 
My competitive shooting started on my high school rifle team from 1972 to 1976. Way back then, many schools in Pennsylvania, upstate New York, Ohio and other states had rifle teams. Our mentors, sponsors, and coaches were members of Greatest Generation, veterans of World War II. Can you imagine a rifle team as a varsity sport in today’s world?

In the Marines I shot on the USMC Rifle Team for a summer and the next year became a Distinguished Marksman. I could have done more but when I became an officer, I had limited my participation in Competition in Arms. It turned out that most Commanding Officers do not want to be without an officer for four months of the year. Long after retiring from the Marines, I went to Camp Perry and finished off my path to Distinguished Pistol Shot and also made the Presidents Hundred. In recent years I competed in bullseye Precision Pistol.

I now enjoy shooting double rifles and large magazine rifles. I like working up loads that will regulate in my double rifles. I usually end those shooting sessions with a dozen or so rounds shot rapid fire with reloading “under pressure” at 20 yards. I keep it close to reduce any chance of my bullets going over a 12’ berm.
 
I was pretty serious in the shotgun games quite a number of years ago, shooting at the AA level in skeet and master class in sporting clays.
 
I shot Divison matches in the Marine Corps a few times. Rifle and pistol. I had the same problem as @Mark A Ouellette.I was pretty good but there's no way my bosses were gonna let me disappear for months on end to go shoot. There was too much work to be done.

I've done some local steel pistol matches. I also like to do Cowboy Action Shooting on occasion.

Most of the serious competition I've done was during annual requal for the 21 years I was in the Marine Corps. Believe it or not there can be quite a bit of money in the pot for high shooter. I won my fair share. More with the rifle than the pistol.
 
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100/200 yard benchrest as a young man. Didn’t have the budget or the time to get good at it. Very enjoyable, lots of old timers willing you to shoot that perfect group.
 
Smallbore (.22lr)prone for a number of years, @25 and 50m. Rimfire silhouette shoots and (rifle) simulated field shoot. Three and four position Rimfire at 75 and 50/100m (latter being a defunct regional event). Centrefire/Rimfire @100m for Prize Shoots. 200 metre prone annually at a deer silhouette. Once (or twice) shot a service rifle prone event at 150, 300 and 500 yards. Shot an introductory .22lr PRS event, more of a test run to sort out inevitable teething troubles but I was unable to attend when the series started off. Plus a few other bits and pieces, including reaction shoots that I derived from the Annual Weapons Qualification Shoots I had to do in the 80s and 90s whilst TF RNZE.
 
I started shooting at bulls eye targets in 1960 as an officer candidate in the Marine Corps. Later, with friends who had shot on collegiate rifle teams, I started real competition. I never qualified as less than Expert with either rifle or pistol in the Marine Corps and in Okinawa, in 1965, I was in charge of the battlion rifle team in the Far Eastern Division Matches.

I earned my first "leg" on distinguished there, but instead of going back to the states for further competition, we were all shipped to Vietnam, where I carried out my duties as part of the Marine Amphibious Force staff armed with my 1911 Colt automatic and an M1 Thompson submachine gun I acquired through unofficial channels.

When I was released from active duty in 1966, I became a member of the USMCR rifle team and continued with that until I left the reserves in 1971.

As a civilian, I was a member of the Tennessee State High Power Rifle Team which competed at Camp Perry and eventually became the 499th individual to earn the title of Distinguished Rifleman. I did not continue with pistol competition, but never failed to qualify as "Expert" in the Marine Corps.

I also became acquainted with trap and skeet competition in the Marine Corps and was for a while the Officer in Charge of the Camp Courtney skeet range in Okinawa. Later, back in Quantico, I practiced with two members of the US Olympic Team in International Skeet and Trap, and as a civilian competed in International Skeet events, which gave me gun mounting skills which were later valuable in the hunting field.

I also experimented with smallbore shooting, both indoor and outdoor. I obtained the NRA classifacation of "Master" in indoor and outdoor position and outdoor prone.

I continued competetive shooting until a vision problem with my right eye put an end to it. I now hunt with a rifle left handed, which I became adept enough with to the point that virtually every shot I have taken at a deer has been successful. This has been shooting from a blind, where shooting from a rest is possible.

In Africa, I killed every large animal I shot at. The difficulty I had was with the smallest animals, with which I sometimes overestimated the distance and shot over them. I never failed to down a large animal, with one exception: a Beisa oryx, which took a step farward just as I fired, causing me to hit him about a foot to the rear of where I was aiming. This was at a range of roughly 300 yards, and we eventually recovered the animal.

Now, at age 84, I am restricted to hunting from a ground blind and in recent years the opportunities have been scarce, but I have never failed to take advantage of those which did present themselves. I have now killed deer with 34 different rifle calibers and look forward to adding more to the list. The most recent addition to the list was the 7.62X39 cartridge, fired from my Ruger Mini-14. One shot was enough.

vietnam65.jpg
 
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I was a smallbore and big bore competitive rifle shooter in college. The thing that has been most helpful from that shooting for hunting is being able to call the shot. If you are concentrating enough to call the shot you will not flinch and you will know exactly what the shot placement was in support recovery.
 
I shot competitively as a youth and in the marines too. I think most the responses are missing the question as to “How do the fundamentals of marksmanship and competition techniques enable your shooting of dangerous game rifles?” For me it’s knowing the level and type of practice needed to be proficient. I have a routine very similar to what I did to compete. No different than I did, and still do, for different disciplines w a rifle, pistol or shotgun.

After I find the right load for my weapon (only now the proper bullet is more important than accuracy), I’m off the bench. I go to the ranch twice a week for several months before my hunt. I practice situations that may occur in the field. Off sticks, off hand, kneeling and some prone. I’ll shot at 100, 50 and 25 yards in succession. Then reverse it out to 200. Also rapid fire at short distance. And of course, slow and well priced shots. Given the price of ammo and recoil, my sessions are generally around a dozen rounds. It’s all about frequency and having a deliberate plan.
 
ISSF Standard Pistol, Centerfire and 9mm, during 45 years.

IPSC during 5 years.

Shot as many rifles and shotguns I could lay my hands on, but not in competition.

During those years, I contributed articles to gun and hunting magazines, which gave me the chance to try out most guns coming into our market.
 
I started shooting at bulls eye targets in 1960 as an officer candidate in the Marine Corps. Later, with friends who had shot on collegiate rifle teams, I started real competition. I never qualified as less than Expert with either rifle or pistol in the Marine Corps and in Okinawa, in 1965, I was in charge of the battlion rifle team in the Far Eastern Division Matches.

I earned my first "leg" on distinguished there, but instead of going back to the states for further competition, we were all shipped to Vietnam, where I carried out my duties as part of the Marine Amphibious Force staff armed with my 1911 Colt automatic and an M1 Thompson submachine gun I acquired through unofficial channels.

When I was released from active duty in 1966, I became a member of the USMCR rifle team and continued with that until I left the reserves in 1971.

As a civilian, I was a member of the Tennessee State High Power Rifle Team which competed at Camp Perry and eventually became the 499th individual to earn the title of Distinguished Rifleman. I did not continue with pistol competition, but never failed to qualify as "Expert" in the Marine Corps.

I also became acquainted with trap and skeet competition in the Marine Corps and was for a while the Officer in Charge of the Camp Courtney skeet range in Okinawa. Later, back in Quantico, I practiced with two members of the US Olympic Team in International Skeet and Trap, and as a civilian competed in International Skeet events, which gave me gun mounting skills which were later valuable in the hunting field.

I also experimented with smallbore shooting, both indoor and outdoor. I obtained the NRA classifacation of "Master" in indoor and outdoor position and outdoor prone.

I continued competetive shooting until a vision problem with my right eye put an end to it. I now hunt with a rifle left handed, which I became adept enough with to the point that virtually every shot I have taken at a deer has been successful. This has been shooting from a blind, where shooting from a rest is possible.

In Africa, I killed every large animal I shot at. The difficulty I had was with the smallest animals, with which I sometimes overestimated the distance and shot over them. I never failed to down a large animal, with one exception: a Beisa oryx, which took a step farward just as I fired, causing me to hit him about a foot to the rear of where I was aiming. This was at a range of roughly 300 yards, and we eventually recovered the animal.

Now, at age 84, I am restricted to hunting from a ground blind and in recent years the opportunities have been scarce, but I have never failed to take advantage of those which did present themselves. I have now killed deer with 34 different rifle calibers and look forward to adding more to the list. The most recent addition to the list was the 7.62X39 cartridge, fired from my Ruger Mini-14. One shot was enough.

View attachment 518053


Where is the picture from??
 
I participate in our monthly big bore shoot, 6 rounds, meant to hone DG skills around accuracy and speed. 375 minimum, we get 500NE doubles occasionally. A nice social event with a braai afterwards.
 
I shot small bore as a kid. I qualified as an Expert for Uncle Sam with a rifle but didn't start shooting a pistol competitively till I was in my early 40(s.) I earned my Distinguished Pistol Badge as a Civilian in 1993. I competed in the National Pistol Matches for over 30 years. The fundamentals learned as a competitor serve me well when on a hunt. The only shot that counts is the one in the chamber. Placing one single well placed shot at a time was and is my goal / objective regardless of the circumstances at play.
 
That’s how I got into shooting and eventually hunting. Dad bought a .22 and signed me up with a junior rifle club. That was many moons ago.
 
Expert pistol and rifle for Uncle Sam

Excellence In Competition badge (bronze) for pistol.

Shot a couple of high-power rifle matches and got my marksman rating.

Some IPSC shot with combat rules vs. chasing the brass ring games.

I think that learning the square range fundamentals helped me to understand better how to train for my safari. Totally different standards for "minute of Impala/kudu/oryx, etc.," vs. bullseye shooting on a range.

I am proud that I took each of my trophies with a properly placed kill shot. Twice I a put a follow-up shot down range before the PH expected it. I trained for that prior to going. The understanding of the differences between square range training and application in the field is what drove me to put in the work learning to run the bolt so that I did things properly in RSA.
 
Get is as good a position as possible and include;

Bone support (as much as possible, the sticks are artificial bones..)
Muscular relaxation (really important not to fight the recoil of a dangerous game gun)
Natural point of aim

Then

Focus on the front sight, intensely!
Align in the rear sight up and down, left and right. (a red dot or scope makes these two steps much easier)
Properly aim the sight, dot, or crosshairs at the target.

Squeeze the trigger without disturbing the sight alignment and aiming point (sight picture)
Provide consistent follow through during recoil (consistent opposition to recoil)

In a Junior Shooting Program that I ran and coached at Quantico during 1984 to 1988, Gary Anderson, 2-time Olympic 300 Meter Gold Medalist would bring his kids. Gary would just sit back and do paperwork while I coached all the kids. I did get to converse with him quite a bit while the kids were changing targets and cleaning up the range. The most important thing I remember was his confirmation that in shooting one has to MASTER the fundamentals of marksmanship. The most basic (other than safety) of which I listed above.

Or one could to refer to Mark Sullivan's video of "Handling a Double Rifle". His catch line is:
"When in a fight, front sight"
 
Expert pistol and rifle for Uncle Sam

Excellence In Competition badge (bronze) for pistol.

Shot a couple of high-power rifle matches and got my marksman rating.

Some IPSC shot with combat rules vs. chasing the brass ring games.

I think that learning the square range fundamentals helped me to understand better how to train for my safari. Totally different standards for "minute of Impala/kudu/oryx, etc.," vs. bullseye shooting on a range.

I am proud that I took each of my trophies with a properly placed kill shot. Twice I a put a follow-up shot down range before the PH expected it. I trained for that prior to going. The understanding of the differences between square range training and application in the field is what drove me to put in the work learning to run the bolt so that I did things properly in RSA.
Qualification in the military (Seabees, Army) with rifle, mg, pistol. Scored Marksman and Expert with all. Always competition among the troops and some side pots. Shot 3 gun and sporting clays for several years after that. Taught me breath control, trigger control, estimating range, shot placement as well as speed. Really helps in the field.
 
I was pretty serious in the shotgun games quite a number of years ago, shooting at the AA level in skeet and master class in sporting clays.

Ditto on the Sporting Clays. Never with rifles.

Those skills do partially transfer to close in running game shots.
 

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