Lincoln County Gun Club 200 - 500 yard gong match.

[Distant Thunder]

I'm working on that offhand thing!

I usually practice my offhand shooting with my .22 BPCR and with it I usually shoot pretty darn well at home and with no recoil. And it's not the recoil, it's the anticipation of the recoil, it's all a mental thing.

So now I've decided to back to offhand practice with a big bore rifle, my old C. Sharps 1874 .45-70. With the scope it's 13 pounds and is very similar in feel and the same in function as my .44-77 Shiloh. Now the hope is that shooting this rifle with a really, really light bullet, 457130 collar button, and that with recoil similar to my .22 that I will learn to not react to the recoil before it even happens because it won't happen.

I thought I'd have to fiddle around trying to find a workable load for this little pellet like projectile, but the first load easily keeps the shots in under an inch at 30 yards which is plenty good for practice. I should have no trouble hitting a 4 inch gong at 50 yards with this setup.

Now if I can just reprogram my brain to not jerk the rifle like a fool when I try to break a shot offhand. I do think this is my best chance to do that.