When I first started shooting High Power Rifle, my Prone slow fire scores were on a par with my Offhand scores . . . both low.    At first, I thought it must be an accuracy problem with the the rifle . . . and some of it was.    No doubt . . . the rifle and load must be performing to provide X-ring or better elevation dispersion.
Without the advantage of the full width of the scoring rings, we drop points to elevation and get mentally discouraged.    However, an accurate rifle/load combination is merely the foundation for high scores at 600 yards and beyond.    The other components include fitness, both mental and physical, and appropriate tactics and strategy for differing wind conditions.    Most of this article will be oriented towards strategy, with just brief initial coverage of fitness and accuracy evaluation.

FITNESS:

If you've been a subscriber to Shooters News for a while, you probably remember some of my comments regarding fitness in my earlier articles.    I urge you to review the article I wrote entitled Mental and Physical Training for High Power Rifle Shooting.   Although I will not be reviewing the concepts presented in this article, I want to point out some "food for thought" with respect to physical fitness and how it can help you during your slow fire Prone stages.

As you know, we use a sling to assist with supporting the Prone position.    You also know that we are living creatures, with hearts beating.    The heart beat is transmitted from the sling arm to the sling.    The transmitted pulse beat travels from the sling to the rifle.    You can't stop it . . . actually you can, but that's not an acceptable alternative, (grin).    However, there are ways to minimise the the pulse beat effect.    The first way to minimise pulse beat effect is to experiment with different sling positions.

Everyone has a slightly different anatomical makeup.    Some folks have arteries closer to the skin surface than other folks, and artery routes differ somewhat from person to person.    The idea is to find the sling position that sufficiently supports the position with a minimum of transmitted pulse beat.    Try raising and lowering the sling and also try different tensions in the sling.    These experiments can be conducted easily at home . . . no firing is necessary.    Mount a scope on your rifle.    It doesn't have to be zeroed . . . and for that matter it doesn't have to be fastened to a base.    Most likely, you don't have a base on your "Over the Course" rifle.    As our Aussie buddies say, "No Worries, Mate" . . . just wrap the scope in a towel and use rubber bands to to fasten it to the rifle.    Remember, this experiment involves no live firing.    All we are doing is experimenting with various sling positions and sling tension to find the minimal pulse transmission.    You will need to find aomething to use for an aiming point.    I suggest using a smallbore rifle target or a pistol target.    Get into position, and evaluate the pulse transmission with your current sling position/tension.    The scope crosshair movement on the target will be up and down, corresponding to your heart beat.    For the sake of discussion, let's say that movement is from the top of the 10-ring to the bottom of the 10-ring.    Given an extremely accurate rifle don't expect anything better than 10-ring elevation from position.    It doesn't matter if it is a one-hole rifle, the up and down movement from pulse transmission degrades the accuracy you'll see on paper.    Now let's change the scenario.    During your experiment, you found that the 10-ring up/down movement could be minimised to an X-ring up/down movement.    Now you're making progress.    Those former two o'clock 9's due to pulse beat, will now have a chance of being 3 o'clock 10's.    Once you find a sling position/tension, describe that position/tension in your data book.    This will become your new sling position/tension.    Don't try to remember it from memory . . . on match day you have a lot on your mind and may easily forget to incorporate the new settings.

Up to this point, we have assumed that a shot typically is broken during a heartbeat.    What if I told you that I don't worry much about heartbeat transmission ?    Would you believe me ?    Do you think it is possible ?    Actually it is believable and possible.    What I just described, can be obtained by trying to break the shots between heart beat beats.    It takes dedication and practice to acquire this skill, but I can honestly tell you it is possible.   I don't always break a shot between heart beats, but I believe that over 70% of my Prone slow fire shots are broken between heart beats.    The first step in acquiring this skill is to lower your resting pulse beat.    Physical fitness is the key to a low resting pulse beat.    To illustrate, let's run through a couple of scenarios.

The first scenario involves a resting pulse beat of 80 heart beats per minute.    The second scenario involves a resting pulse beat of 60 heart beats per minute.
That's 20 beats less per minute, . . . that's 1 beat less less every 3 seconds, a 25% reduction from the original 80 beat per minute figure.    The fewer heart beats per minute, the more likely the shot break won't correspond with a heart beat.    I said I was going to be brief about my discussion on fitness . . . this is as brief as I know how to be relative to this subject.    Now let's move onto strategy related to Prone slow fire.    Let's move from discussion about the body to discussion about the mind.

Listen to a weather forecast the night before the match to learn what to expect the next day.    Will it be gusty, constant, or with very little wind ?    Watch the wind before you shoot.    If you are the "second shooter", you can do this while scoring for the "first shooter".    If you are the "first shooter", you can conduct this activity during the latter parts of the 300 yard rapid fire when shooting "over the course".    While moving back to the 600 yard line and setting up your gear on the ready line, pay attention to the wind patterns.    If you are shooting a Prone-only match instaed of "Over the Course", watch the wind patterns en route to the range and arrive at the range at least 30 minutes early to try and get a handle on developing wind patterns.    Why watch the wind before you shoot ?    As I said, the wind follows a pattern.    You want to identify the pattern for your time period of shooting.    For example, if the wind pattern is from the left side of the range, you want to avoid shooting  whenever the wind isn't coming from the left.    Another tactic I employ is to find out which targets the good shooters are on.    If they are on a nearby target, I may elect to look at their target periodically throughout the match for clues of wind shifts.    If good shooters on either side of me are predominantly "out" to the left side, this is a precautionary signal.    More about this later.

SELECTING YOUR FIRING POINT:

Look for a level area free of rocks and clumps of grass.    If I can't find something level, my second choice is to find an incline higher in the front than the rear.    I don't like to shoot with my body sloping downhill.    Avoid depressions.    Place your mat first.    I like to align my body as close as possible to the line of fire, therefore my mat will be angled just slightly towards one o'clock.    The close body alignment allows the bore center to more closely coincide with the spine, thus getting more of your body mass behind the rifle to better cope with the recoil.    Place your spotting scope as close as possible to your body, but not so close that you'll bump it.    You want to be able to use the spotting scope with a minimum of body movement, preferably head movement only.   I have my scope so close that head movement only is needed to spot shots and observe conditions.    Place your ammo box very near the rifle loading port;  the idea is to minimise hand/arm movement.    Have a towel covering your ammo if weather is sunny and hot.    The towel shades the ammo from the sun, keeping it cooler, plus the towel is handy for wiping sweat.    Set up your stop watch close to your ammo box . . . you don't want to have turn your head very much to see the stop watch.    VERIFY that you have applied your no-wind zero . . . too many times I've seen folk open a match with left-over windage.    VERIFY your elevation zero.    The idea is to eliminate the dumb mistakes.    There's nothing wrong with having a written checklist in your data book, sequenced in the order to coincide with set-up tasks.    Practice setting up your gear at home. make a quick set-up second nature !    During your practice set-up sessions, look for ways to handle each item just once, because movement costs time.   If it is very hot wait until just before the 3 minute Preparation period to suit up in sweat shirt and shooting jacket.    Keeping the body cool helps to keep the pulse beat down.   Don't hurry, because you you don't want to elevate your pulse ! The whole idea is to get the firing point set up as quickly as possible with minimal exertion.    This strategy gives you more time in your 3-minute Preparation period for pulse recovery, finding natural point of aim, and observing conditions.

THE 3-MINUTE PREPARATION PERIOD :

Find your natural point of aim, (NPA).    Natural point of aim is that "magic" body/rifle orientation that allows the rifle to be pointed directly at the target without muscle tension.    Once you find your NPA, don't shift your body, unless the NPA requires refinement.    Maintain NPA by keeping your left elbow in one spot . . . don't lift it from the mat.    If you get fatigued, (and you will until your body becomes conditioned to shooting), roll slightly to your left side to rest.    After you get more experience with Prone shooting, you can wait a minute or two into the 3-minute Preparation period so your body won't be "in position" as long.    When the Match Director notifies the shooters that their 3-minute Preparation period is over, verify once more that your elevation and windage zeros are correctly applied.    Remember to start your stop watch once the match begins !

THE SIGHTER PERIOD :

For matches with unlimited sighters, I'll observe the conditions and watch "good" shooters targets.    I like to go to school off the shot placement of others, especially if their targets contain errors in the same direction.    Use the following as an example.

Let's say I'm on Target 15.    "Harry Hardholder" is on Target 14 and "Wanda Windwizard" is on Target 16.    Both Harry and Wanda are High Master shooters, capable of consistently shooting 198 or higher.    Let's say that the wind is coming from the left and this represents what I previously defined as the prevailing wind condition.    Wanda and Harry's first sighter shots print on the right side of the target.    What can I conclude from this ?    Should I conclude that I have a better grasp on how much windage to apply than both Wanda Windwizard and Harry Hardholder ?    Or, would it be wiser to conclude that I also might not have sufficient left windage applied ?    In my opinion, the odds favour the latter conclusion, with an exception I'll note in a moment.    I'll assume that I have a similar amount of left windage on my gun to what Harry and Wanda started with.    However I'll hedge my bet and not make a full correction off their target appearance . . . usually a half correction is what I'll apply, unless I see a noticeable wind change that would have caused them to be so far off centre . . . then I'll make a full correction.    The next question is . . . should I always pay attention to Harry and Wanda during the sighting period ? Maybe . . . if Harry and Wanda are shooting on their "home" range, and I'm a visitor, the answer usually is Yes . . . I'll pay attention to their opening shot placement.    After all, Harry and Wanda have more experience on their range than I do;  I want to take advantage of their experience.    However if the roles are reversed with me being on my "Home" range, and Harry and Wanda being visitors, I'll usually not watch their opening shot placement.    So, it depends on who has the home turf advantage.

For matches with 2 sighters, such as the 600 yards slow fire, sometimes I'll purposely wait almost a full minute before I shoot my first sighter.     Remember what I said about looking at the shot placement on other targets ?    I wait because there are others who might be looking at my opening sighter for clues.
I'll let them wait and get anxious.    Other times I don't wait.    For example, on days where a fishtail is predominant, I might elect to shoot both sighters in opposing wind conditions using no-wind zero.    Some folks call this bracketing the wind.    Bracketing the wind gives you an idea of how much it is worth on each side.    Wind, frequently due to range layout, is worth more from one direction than the opposite direction.    I'm most likely to bracket the wind during sighters when I have a good idea that I'll need to shoot in opposing wind conditions.

SHOOTING THE MATCH :

My shooting sequence is as follows.    Load and check mirage, ( learn how to load your rifle without looking ), adjust sights while checking mirage, shoot, unload, and start the sequence again.    Did you notice that I never mentioned the use of a data book ?    The time spent writing in a data book is better spent shooting and watching conditions.    Try to get your scorer to mark your data book for you or simply fill it in after shooting.    By having your scope set up close to your body, you minimise neck strain, you maintain position, and you don't waste time with body movement to and from the scope.    Do not move the body . . . remember . . . you want to maintain your natural point of aim.    Minimise the amount of time from when you glance in the scope before the shot to when you glance in the scope after the shot.    This gives you a better chance of predicting the wind conditions during the shot.    When glancing into the scope, take a quick peek at the targets either side having good shooters.    You did remember to note their target numbers . . . right ?

STRATEGIES :

Let's say I shot my sighters, and have things centred up, (inside 10 or X).    I'll load and check mirage;   if the mirage appears the same as it did immediately after my previous shot, I want to shoot the next shot as quickly as possible to take advantage of being centered in a known condition.    Before I go any further, let me add that it is very important to always know the amount of windage on the gun.   I'll quickly shoot, glance at mirage and/or windflags, then unload/reload.    Assuming conditions stay the same I repeat the process.    While conditions are stable, I like to get as many shots down range as possible.
The name of the game at 600 yards and beyond is to expose yourself to as few wind changes as possible.

Let's change the scenario.    Let's say that I shoot, glance in the spotting scope, and notice that the wind has changed direction and/or velocity.    Should I wait . . . or should I I adjust for it ?    If I've done my homework and know what the wind pattern is for that day, the question is easier to answer.    If I have identified the wind pattern as constant for the day, I'll wait.    Chances are the known wind and prevailing wind will return very soon, so the wait will most likely be worthwhile.    It would be a mistake to not wait.    After all, I might drop a point due to incorrectly estimating the change, and I also might get nabbed when the condition changes back to the prevailing condition.    So I will wait and gather information while waiting, for it may become useful information.    While I'm waiting I look at the targets of the good shooters on either side of myself.    Looking at their targets will give me an idea of how much that particular wind change is moving their shots.    For example, if I see a bunch of 9's at 3 o'clock, I hav a fairly good idea that it will take at least 1 to 1-1/2 minutes of left windage to center up.    Look at this way, if I wait and the known condition doesn't return, at some point I must resume shooting.    If I am forced to resume shooting in a different condition than the known, it's nice to have an idea of how much windage to apply.    Summarising . . . I am much more content learning from the mistakes of others than myself !

Another scenario.    As I'm getting ready to squeeze the trigger, I hear someone utter words of discontent . . . something like *^&%%$#@$^*) . . . get the picture ?    This should be considered a form of warning.    Do NOT shoot !    I'll glance at targets either side of mine.    Chances are very good that the words of discontent were a result of missed condition and lost points.    The moral is to let others warn you of changes.    On the flip side side I keep quiet when I get caught by wind changes.

All right, let's change the scenario quite a bit.    Instead of a constant wind condition, let's say that the wind is switching back and forth.    Should you try to shoot fast and stay with it ?    Maybe . . . maybe not.    If it is switching really fast and fishtailing, the answer is usually no.    In a fast fishtail I would prefer to shoot all my shots when the wind is coming from just one side.    I'll end up taking much more time to complete the match using this approach and consequently will be more tired, but I feel that patience is a virtue for dealing with the fast fishtail.   Having my timer running and within easy view helps calm fears about running out of time.    I'll judge how much time it took for 5 shots, and can quickly extrapolate if that pace is sufficient for the 20-shot match.
The strategy of dealing with the fast fishtail by shooting when the wind is blowing fom just one side makes releasing quick accurate shots a necessity.    If it takes too long to release a shot then chances are greater that the fishtail will flop while you are on the sights.    As you know, it can be disastrous to shoot the shot with right windage when the wind is coming from the left, a compounded error !    These tactics are acceptable for the fast fishtail condition.     But what if it isn't fishtailing at a fast rate ?

What if the fishtail flops every now and then, let's say every five minutes ?    Should you try the same strategy outlined above ?    In my opinion the harder the wind is blowing, the more likely you should stay with the strategy of shooting when the wind is from one side only, especially if you're not a good wind doper.
I say this because I know many shooters who are terrified to have 14 minutes of right windage on their gun, and see the wind switch to the other side.    They are terrified because they can't bring themselves to take off all that windage and apply it in the opposite direction, for this scenario, a 28 minute change.    So, if it is blowing hard and fishtailing, you might be more comfortable staying on "one side", thus shooting the entire match with either right windage or left windage solely.

Let's look at one more scenario .    The scenario is still a fishtail, but the wind isn't blowing very hard . . . just little wisps of wind . . . nor is the fishtail very frequent.    If a fishtail could ever be described as perfect, this is about as good as it gets.    In this situation, I'll sometimes just follow the condition.    Let's say it is only worth a wide 10, assuming the shot shot was taken with no-wind zero applied.    Most folks can determine wind direction.    For this situation I'll shoot with right windage applied when the wind is coming from the right and left windage applied when the wind is coming from the left.    For the scenario I described, the worst mistake I could make is to shoot a shot with right windage when the wind is coming from the left . . . this would cost me points.
However this is extremely unlikely to happen because the wind isn't changing at a quick rate, nor is it blowing hard.    When the wind isn't blowing hard mirage is easier to read.    Mirage has to boil before the wind can flip direction.    Avoid shooting during a boil.    Watch during the boil and return your sight setting to no-wind zero.    Soon the mirage will flow and you can apply windage in the direction the mirage is flowing from.    If you shoot fast enough during this scenario, and are a good holder, you could almost merely chase the spotter.    During this scenario I'm trying to really load up on X's.

Speaking of chasing the spotter, when is it a good tactic ?    There are some ranges, Oak Ridge, Tennessee and Camp LeJeune in North Carolina, for example, where the wind flags often tell you conflicting information.    The flags on either side of the range can often blow towards the centre of the range.    More often than not, for this to happen, the range is lined by thick and tall vegetation on both sides.    If the sun isn't out, and there's no mirage, dust, smoke or tall grass to view as an indicator, what can you use ?    As much as I don't like to admit it I'll just chase the spotter.    Given good pit service, I'll shoot a 20-shot match in this situation in 6 to 7 minutes.    I won't have an outstanding score, but it is good enough to win.    I have a lot of trust in my hold and call and will make corrections accordingly.    As the string progresses I get a feel for the correct latitude of wind correction.    Let's say I'm humming along with anywhere from 1 to 3 minutes right windage.    Whenever I feel, (remember there's no visual indicators in this scenario), something quite different, I'll switch from shooting mode to target observing mode.    When I say feel I don't mean an emotional feeling.    Feel in this context would be feeling wind pressure increase on my neck or cheek.      As far as emotional feelings are concerned, experience has told me not to ignore them.

As an example let me tell you about shooting at the last day of U.S. Palma Team tryouts, Phase 2.    The wind was fishtailing faster than anything I had ever experienced.    Velocity was very variable.    As the string progressed, the wind appeared to be content to stay in a boil for increasingly longer periods of time.
I avoided shooting in the boil until very near the end of the string.    With five shots to go, I saw it go back to a boil, waited about 30 seconds, still a boil.    Up to this point I was happy to accept 9's . . . everyone on the relay was getting eaten alive by the quick changing conditions.    I thought to myself, what the heck, let's shoot in this boil.    I applied no-wind zero, quickly shot an X, pumped another one downrange quickly and got a 10.    I was shooting so fast that I didn't bother to refine the hold to a center X . . . as soon as I saw a sure-10 sight picture, I let her rip.    On the last shot of the match I had an emotional feeling that I had gone to the well too often . . . in other words pushed the envelope a tad too far.    I ignored this feeling and shot.    Upon glancing in the spotting scope I could see conditions very far down range running hard from the right.    I got a 7 at 9 o'clock !    Some others had misses.    The whole point of this story is:    shooting in a boil is a gamble . . . it's best not to roll the dice too many times . . . Mother Nature is the dealer and the house always has the advantage !

These are just a few scenarios . . . there are many more, but this is enough to get you started.

READING MIRAGE :

Learning how to watch mirage and gain informationfrom it can be a difficult task to learn.    I can teach you how to read mirage about as successfully as I can teach you how to ride a bicycle.    Ultimately you have to learn the delicate balance of riding a bike . . . reading mirage is the same.    However I can offer some tidbits to make the process easier to learn.    The more you do it, the easier it becomes to master.    So, practice as much as possible.    You don't have to be on a rifle range to observe mirage.    Look for it coming from hot roofs, (homes or automobiles).    Look for it on the highway.    try to find someplace around your home where you can observe mirage.    Set up some surveyors tape or a ribbon on a stick.    This poor mans' windflag will show you the direction of the wind.    Train your eye to see the mirage flowing with the wind.    When the mirage appears to boil straight up, that means there is no wind, or the wind is coming straight at you, or the wind is going straight away from you.    It takes a lot of practice.    It took me over two years to get the hang of it and I'm not really great at all.    When watching television you'll see mirage.    Nature shows featuring long range photography of animals are a great place to see mirage on the boob tube.    Try to identify the direction.    When flowing it has waves, the shorter distance from the peaks and valleys, the higher the wind velocity.
Above 15 miles per hour or so, it it appears to be almost a flat line.    Try to practice next to a good mirage reader.    Get this person to tell you verbally what they see.    Keep trying;   it takes time but you'll be rewarded for your patience and effort.    Not only will you be able to detect mirage direction but you'll be able to detect pick-ups and let-offs.    On days when I see pick-ups and let-offs I don't necessarily shoot for centre.    Foe example, if I'm centred and know that it is starting to pick up from the right, I would prefer for my group to build on the right side of the X-ring.    This allows an undetected pick-up to blow the shot into a centre-X or a left-10.    Had I been centering the group, the undetected pick-up would have blown the shot out to left side 9.    Many folk call this strategy being ahead of the wind.

Good luck with your Prone slow fire shooting.    I hope some of these tips, tactics and strategies help you.    Until we talk again, shoot 'em all in the middle !