Yesterday was my first day back at shooting prone with my Anschutz 1907 since November. Mostly it's been the weather that has kept me away from it. I think there have only been a couple of good weekends since my last match and I've gotten lazy. In smalbore season I only get to really spend range time on Saturdays and Sundays and my work schedule is unpredictable, but typically if there is no match I get to the range between 9 and 10 a.m. and shoot until 2 or 3 p.m. I and my compadre's will shoot an A23-5 five bull target which will be 25 shots, change targets and do it again which translates into about 20 minutes of intense shooting followed by a 10-15 minute break followed by another 20 minutes of shooting, etc, etc. Though it may seem extreme, the matches usually begin at 9 and end around 3, so shorter practice sessions don't really prepare you for the extended intensity of a match. After yesterday's practice shooting only prone, I woke up this morning and I am sore. It's as if I went to the gym and Lou Ferigno was my trainer.
This morning I went outside in my front yard and shot our Match #2 and I quit after my mandatory 4 targets. I'm exhausetd. I'm paying the price for being lazy for nearly 3 months.
The good thing is that even after Annie stayed in the case for all that time I shot pretty well. Prone is deceptively difficult. You think it's easy because you can shoot such better scores prone, but that is precisely why it is difficult. Everybody shoots better scores in prone, so the 97's and 98's mean you are eating dust. It hurts to drop one pont on a 200 point target.
I'll be posting some prone position stuff very soon. I recommend you shoot with a sling. Military cotton web slings are just as good as expensive leather slings and here is a link for locating one.
http://www.midwayusa.com/eproductpage.exe/showproduct?saleitemid=966254