I took a trip out to York Riiflemen for an informal Service Rifle clinic. It was really perfect timing for me, as I’ve only shot 6 Service Rifle matches with my A2, and frankly, I haven’t spent a lot of time practicing with it.

It was a beautiful sunny and warm (50s) day with almost a foot of lingering snow on the range and lots of mud.

One of the coaches went over a some tips on off hand. Take your time, and remember to focus on trigger pull, be consistent, avoid target panic.

We had a 20 minute block of time to work on off hand, I took a few shots prone to get a 200 yard zero (+6 1/4.) I tried out a change to my off hand position, resting the mag in my palm. I got some good advice from the coaches and feel a bit better about off hand.

After off hand we did a couple of strings of rapid sitting, which was great, because I have neglected practicing this position. I have some things to work on there too. You’ll see some of them in this video.

I’m going to keep recording my shooting and watching it afterwards. It’s been enlightening to see what I’m really doing compared to what I think I’m doing.

I picked up a few things to work on.

1. Stop dancing around in off hand (still)
2. Remember to breath
3. Always stage the trigger even in off hand

Additionally I’ll try and step up the dry firing off hand in my shooting jacket, I’ve been getting a little lazy keeping my elbow on my side.

It was a great clinic and should give me a good base to build on for the season. I’ll be back in April for their Garand match.

The view from the pit during rapid sitting: