26 Action National Championships - Pistol .au

Equipment Controlat ISSF CompetitionsWeight of firearm: While there are not many pistols in usefor ISSF 10m (1500g) and 25m (1400g) events that are close tothe maximum weight, there are some. E.g. a 6” barrelled S&WModel 686 with an orthopaedic grip would be very close to themaximum allowed, as is my Morini CM22M pistol when set up inmy preferred configuration for Rapid Fire Pistol.Maximum Barrel length (25m events): While European pistolsmanufactured for ISSF use are unlikely to have any problem withbarrel length, be aware that some North and South Americanmanufacturers take a more ‘nominal’ approach.Spencer TweedieThe grip is not allowed to contact the arm beyond wrist joint:not that this is with the gun held in the shooter’s firing position –a potential trap here is that the same grip could be legal for oneshooter, but not for another shooter.At international competitions.The current ISSF Rules (2013, 2nd printing) changes the previouscompulsory Equipment Control (EC) to optional. This change wasintroduced to reduce the queues of shooters at EC at the start ofan ISSF competition. If you think the queue at EC could be bad atsome of our competitions, you should have seen the situation forthe rifle competitors at some ISSF Championships. I have beenat a competition in Europe where shooters queued for over fourhours to get their turn at EC.If you are shooting at an international competition (and AISLAustralia Cup events), under the new rules you can now opt toskip EC: you will still have to complete the EC paperwork, but youdo not HAVE to have your pistol and other equipment examinedand approved before competing. However, at an internationalcompetition the random EC checks at the completion of an eventare no longer merely a matter of trigger weight checks: therandom checks are complete! The pistol will have all the normalEC checks, as well as clothing and other equipment, togetherwith strip checks for any illegal strapping or taping.There are some downsides to the optional EC rule: You can expect the range personnel and jury to be eagleeyed during your set-up and preparation time, and theycan be expected to refer you to EC if they spot anything‘questionable’ – not a good thing as you about to startshooting A random EC check at the completion of a qualification roundwill be complete; for any item of firearm, clothing and otherequipment that does not ‘pass‘ the alternative is ‘fail’!I suggest that for any pistol shooter at an internationalcompetition to take the quick option of chancing a random ECat the completion of the qualification round is just too risky.At PA competitionsWhen PA adopted the ISSF 2013, 2nd printing rule changes, oneof the ‘Australian Conditions’ was retention of compulsory ECchecks before a competitor shoots. PA is not in the business4 Pistol AustraliaGrip: While any discussion on grip shape (10m and 25m)could take hours, in summary, when viewed along the line of thebarrel, any curvature that extends around the hand or fingers isnot allowed.Ammunition: ISSF 25m Rapid Fire Pistol specifies minimumprojectile weight (39 grains) and velocity (250m/sec). You arenot likely to get .22LR ‘target’ ammunition with projectile weightunder 39 grains, but velocity out of your pistol is anothermatter: ammunition that meets the minimum velocity in onepistol might, or might not, in another pistol.Bob Chalker supervising Service Pistol Equipment Control.For ISSF Center Fire, “Highpower or Magnum ammunition” is notallowed. The ISSF rules do not specify what the limit is, but whenshooters in adjoining bays flinch every time you fire a shot you arecreating a nuisance.of setting traps for shooters – one only has to spend a bit oftime at EC to see how many pistols and other equipment need‘modification’ to pass the EC checks – in effect, if only detectedat a post-competition random check any of these would lead toDSQ in the official results.All ISSF pistol events specify projectiles be made only of leador similar soft material (i.e. effectively, more lead); do not betempted to use jacketed ammunition in an ISSF event.Footwear: For ISSF pistol events, the shoes must be low-sided;i.e. only shoes that do not cover the ankle bone (below the medialand lateral malleolus) are permitted. At an international ISSFcompetition the flexibility of the shoes can be tested – PA doesnot have a shoe flexibility testing machine. Progressively morevenues are requiring closed footwear (i.e. no open toed shoes orsandals).Clothing: PA recognises that the ISSF Rules are written to covershooters who are part of their nation’s team: members will have ateam uniform and compliance with the ISSF clothing regulations iscomparatively easy. The majority of shooters at PA competitionsare ‘privateers’ and the PA standards are more relaxed thanthe 20-odd pages of ISSF regulations covering clothing andsponsorship signage. However: ‘Camo’ pattern clothing is not permitted, and Expect the competition officials to ask you to change any‘offensive’ clothing. A standard clause in many competitionentry conditions relate to suitable clothing and footwear.How to ‘pass’ EC at PA Competitions:Rule 1: make sure your equipment meets the regulations.Rule 2: in all other circumstances, refer to Rule 1.No! PA is not going to do strip searches for illegal taping orstrapping, but if you as a shooter have nominated for AISLselection you would be jeopardising the use of the scores forselection if you have any illegal taping or strapping.Trigger weight: Nobody ever lost a competition by having thetrigger weight set with a reasonable margin to ensure it willalways pass EC: but there are shooters who have ‘lost’ afterfailing a random check of trigger weight!Eyewear: PA specifically does not limit the width of occluders.Protocols at ECThe box: Not all boxes will be exactly the same. The ISSF rulesallow a manufacturing tolerance of 1.0/-0.0mm in the size of theEC boxes – do not bank on EC having a box with the 1.0mm, asa box made to -0.0mm tolerance is equally valid. A wise shooterensures that the firearms will pass (easily) with any legal box.Sight Radius (25m events): There have been many caseswhere the sight radius has been excessive on pistols specificallydesigned and marketed for ISSF 25m events. Sometimes this isdue to the front sight being incorrectly located in its slot, butsometimes it has been sloppy quality control by the manufacturer.Col Farquharson’s Centre Fire Pistol being inspected.It is astonishing how casual some (fortunately, few) shooterscan be when it comes to gun handling and gun direction whenuncasing and handling firearms at EC: Always double-check that the firearm is fully unloadedwhen uncasing, Always keep the barrel in a safe direction,Carl Tooth taking care of the paperwork. Keep the time that any firearm is uncased to areasonable minimum, Double-check that the firearm is fully unloadedwhen re-casing.Pistol Australia 5

Sighting and Trigger PressAllan Lozsan, Level 3 Pistol CoachJohn Harris on duty during Air Pistol Equipment Control.Often shooters find themselves with a perfect sight pictureand fire the shot only to scope it and find it is nowhere theythought it would be and they were certain they had all thesights aligned and in the “right spot” to shoot a ten. Whatgenerally happens is the mind say’s everything is ok so pressthe trigger NOW! To overcome this, one must combine triggerpress and sighting at the same time.Remember that the table with the EC testing gear is there forfirearms approval checks: It is NOT there for the shooters to place their gear whenuncasing/re-casing equipment. Bumping the EC table as an EC official is trying to conduct atrigger weight check will not win you any brownie points.Do not bother telling the EC personnel “but it passed last time”:a) they have heard it before, and b) they are only interested in ifit passes this time.Checking the pistol for overall dimensions.If there is a queue of shooters waiting to get through EC: Don’t hold things up. The EC personnel love a chat whenthings are quiet at EC; but not when there is a queue. Only get the guns needed now checked. Yes, it is convenientto have all your guns checked on your day of arrival, but ifthere is a big queue you could come back at a later timewhen things at EC have quietened down for the guns neededlater in the competition. Accept that a shooter who is about to go into preparationtime will ‘jump the queue’.AT LAST!WIRELESS ALL MATCHSELECTION BY HANDHELDUHF REMOTE CONTROLNO MORE MESSY EXTENSION CABLES If one or more of your pistols do not pass for trigger weightafter three attempts, move away to adjust the trigger thencome back. John Harris, Joan Harris (standing), Max Hogg, Cheryl Moore andBarry Duckett busy in Equipment Control.Microprocessor control with quartz accuracyand security coding provides reliability andfree range roaming.WA1500, Rapidfire, Centrefire StandardPistol, All Service Pistol, Short Barrel Pistol,Black Powder All by remote controlR & I ELECTRONICS SAEmail: randisa@optusnet.com.auCall Bob Burnard 08 8272 8231or Peter Thoday 08 8388 8859As the sights are aligned and all is ready for that perfect shot,the conscious mind takes over and makes the trigger finger moveand the time delay in all this happening causes the trigger pressto be a violent movement rather than a gentle consistent pressurebeing applied until the shot breaks.Let us look at setting up a precision shot. Raise the pistolabove the target and have the sights roughly aligned so thatyou are seeing the back of the hand, the sights, your shirtsleeve etc. Trigger “feel” is applied so that some pressure istaken up above the target. I would suggest we call this “PadPressure”. At this stage you are not really focusing on any oneparticular “thing”, but seeing everything in a “picture frame”and consciously “feeling trigger”.Lower the pistol so that it enters the target in a straight lineand slows down as it goes through the black and finds an areaunder the black that you would normally hold in. As the sights arecoming through the target, increase focus of attention onto thesights and this will actually slow the pistol’s movement throughthe black. When the sights are in “your” area, be sure you areready to fire the shot. This is the stage we may call “settling”.It may only take a second or two, but at this point you have achoice to continue the shot or cancel the shot. If something looksor feels wrong, then cancel the shot and start over. The settingup of the shot is most important for the learning of correct shotprocedure. If you decide that it may not “feel” ok, but you thendecide to “battle” through the problem, you will find that in thelong term, it will become detrimental to your outcome of a goodcontrolled shot as it becomes a “hit and miss” situation in settingup the shot.Sighting and TriggerPress DiagramAt this stage all focus should be upon the front sight and itsalignment. During this “intense” focus, the trigger is beingpressed whilst the sights are being aligned. This is the mostcritical part of any shot, that the sighting and trigger press isbeing combined. For a beginner shooter this may be very difficultto achieve, as the apparent “wobble” area on the target is ratherlarge. It is an instinct to wait until the pistol sights appear inthe correct area or “spot” to fire a good shot only to consciously“jerk” the trigger to misalign the sight resulting in a poorlyplaced shot.With practise, it will become a sub-conscious action. The initialoutcome may not be as desirable as you wish, but in the long term,you will be improving your skill to a level where you will be ableto have the sights within your area of hold and the trigger fingerbegins its action of pressing without any real conscious effort.This can be practiced with dry fire or live fire onto the back ofa target (blank card) or even just shots into the target butts.The most difficult aspect is to gain enough self confidence inyour ability to hold the sights aligned whilst pressing the trigger.Achieve this and you will be surprised at the results. Pistol Australia 7

Changes in postural alignmentwhen pistol shootingMark McKean PhD AEP, CSCSIn sport we typically aim to position the body so the athletecan achieve the best outcomes for both dynamic movement andcontrol or stability. Understanding the normal postural alignmentand the ideal range of motion about functioning joints helpsdevelop the athletes’ movements so they can make use of thisknowledge to perform at their best. Many sports require theathlete to achieve different or unusual postural positions that areoutside the normal alignment and function of the human body.Examples of this includes gymnasts needing to be more flexiblethrough the hips, swimmers might be more flexible throughthe shoulders, baseball pitchers having greater strength andflexibility through their throwing shoulder, rowers having powerthrough their legs when seated and rugby forwards needinggreater strength support through their neck.push your hips slightly forwards, the hip joint will not normallyhave a lot of range and you can ‘rest’ against joint and tissuestructures that limit the demand on muscles to hold this posture.In normal stance, if you rotate the feet slightly in placing tensionon the external muscles of the hip, this further reduces thisforward shift and can achieve a stiffer pelvic posture evenfurther. The normal locking backwards of the knees and pushingforwards of the hips allows a person to stand for periodsof time without using muscles to hold the posture. In pistolshooting small adjustments to this ‘rest’ posture can achievegreater stiffness and more control over this stance creating amore stable shooting base of support from the lower limbs andallowing less movement of the body’s centre of mass.a mostly upright posture to be maintained even though the spinehas now limited ability to move. However, it’s also very commonfor people to add pelvic rotation to this movement when the spineis shifted laterally, which can then influence stance, and weightdistribution may not be even between both feet.Alignment of the shooting arm also shows a variety of positionswith some shooters aligning the arm with both shoulders forminga straight line. Other shooters have up to 30 degrees anglebetween the arm and the line through the shoulders. There isgood argument to support both postures with full alignment frompistol through to rear shoulder providing greater weight behindthe shot and allow for a feeling of stiffness due to the shoulderbeing closer to limit of range of movement at the rear of theshoulder and also for rotation of the neck.Further the 20-30 degree angle of alignment more naturallymatches the alignment of the shoulder joint, which faces slightlyforwards and allows the shoulder blade to sit more ‘normally’on the rear of the upper rib cage. This also requires less neckrotation to align the head behind the line of site. The more lateralshift the shooter can achieve away from the target the morelikely it is that the spine of the neck will not be able to maintainits normal alignment. This may then result in either bendingtowards the target (forwards) or additional rotation.All these compensatory postures affect the relaxed staterequired for pistol shooting.Further, remember training, exercise, stretching, strength training,fatigue, alcohol, etc., can all influence the way you stand and setup for shooting on any given day resulting in slight deviations toyour normal set up. Stretching aggressively for too long close to apractice session on the range or immediately before competitioncan alter the way your body feels and it will influence your set upposture on that day. Soreness from strength training can result inincreased stiffness, too much alcohol the night before or fatiguecan dull the sense and reduce feedback on posture and set up.Pistol shooting techniques vary slightly between coaches andshooters, but several key aspects are consistent and relate tounusual postural and functional demands. These include a stablestance, ‘locking’ of key joints and specific alignment measures ofthe trunk and arm.Stance develops the platform from which the shooter managesstability and control. Alignment of the lower limbs has someinteresting functions that allow the shooter to develop a stableplatform. The knee joint generally only moves in a forward andback direction and in normal stance can be locked back slightlyallowing the shooter’s body weight to be supported more by thejoint and bone structures rather than muscle tension and tone.This provides the shooter with a stiffer position that requires lessenergy to sustain.The pelvis and hip joints also have an interesting relationship.Normal hip extension is only about ten degrees meaning you canonly take the leg backward a small amount before you have torotate the pelvis to help gain further range. This means if you8 Pistol AustraliaAs you position each joint moving from the base of support orstance to the shooting arm, there are opportunities to lock downor keep loose a range of joints and structures. Typically peoplewill produce a combination of these postures so that the endresult looks as close as possible to what they or their coachconsiders ideal shooting posture. However this is often achievedwith less than ideal combinations and posture than we like. Forexample a shooter may be very flexible through the legs and hipsand this means he/she can shift his/her weight more laterallyand rotate his/her hips further forwards trying to achieve a semilocked down lower body posture from which to develop a goodupper body shooting posture.The greater the movement in the lower limbs, the greater theneed to correct this at some point through the upper bodyresulting in complications of shoulder and shooting arm posture.Both shooters and coaches should be sure to check totalpostural alignment from the bottom up before you go ahead andcorrect a posture of the arm or head. Chances are that therewill be something amiss not just where you’ve identified it inthe upper body or arm, but smaller changes of the lower limbmay be causing larger more obvious changes in the upper body.Take video or still pictures to assist with identifying how youset up for shooting and remember that each day there will beslight variations based on how you feel. A consistent patternof postural set up and control will assist you in gaining moreconsistent scores and being a better shooter. HAWKESBURY RIVER BULLET COMPANYBLACK HAWKESShows the variety of postures – differences in width of feet, shoulderlevel, trunk rotation, and trunk lean. Arm of first shooter on the left has isalmost directly in alignment with the shoulders while the angle of secondshooter’s arm is thirty degree angel to the shoulders.This base of support and alignment changes further in shootingwhen you consider the manner in which different shootersposition their upper body. The common practice of leaningaway from the shooting direction allows further ‘lock down’of moveable joints. The spine movement allows both forwardbending and rotational movement due to multiple vertebral jointsand spinal curves. Normally this provides the ability to repositionthe trunk to allow activities such as throwing, running, swimmingetc., that require good range of motion and ability to repositionthe trunk for a wide range of activities.However, when the shooter leans away from the shot andmaintains shoulder level, this places the spine into a more stiffposture and limits both rotation and bending. Due to the limitedlateral flexion range of most people, this sideways shift allowsThe signature originalOver 120 stylesfrom 25 Cal. - 50 Cal.Visit our new websitefor more information.E: sales@hrbc.com.auPh: 02 4930 7211COPPER HAWKESHigh Velocity PerformanceSILVER HAWKESNostalgic Western ActionSee Our Specials @ HRBC.com.auPistol Australia 9

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i.e. only shoes that do not cover the ankle bone (below the medial and lateral malleolus) are permitted. At an international ISSF competition the flexibility of the shoes can be tested – PA does not have a shoe flexibility testing machine. Progressively more venues are requiring closed footwear (i.e. no open toed shoes or sandals).