Shooting Corner

Check back for updates on drills, shooting tips, and scores and records to beat.

If you have any questions on shooting, drills, safety, etc. please feel free to email us at twinbiathletes@hotmail.com

Rifle Safety Rules

Always treat your gun as if it were loaded
Always point the barrel in a safe direction (either up in the air or down range.)
Don’t put your finger on the trigger until you are ready to shoot.
Always have the safety on unless ready to shoot
Always keep the bolt open when not shooting
Take your clip out immediately after shooting and open your bolt

Make sure gun and clips are completely unloaded before leaving the range.

Keep the gun on your back or on a rifle rack when not shooting.

Never play around with guns, only shoot down range at specified targets.

Drills & Skills

Trigger drills:
Have someone holding the rifle and aiming at the target, have someone else squeeze the trigger. Does the shot hit the middle of the target. Did the person squeezing the trigger move the barrel before the shot went off. Practice this until a perfect trigger squeeze is reached and it doesn’t move the barrel. This will show you how important your trigger squeeze is.
Position drills: Get in and out of position and try to get into the same position every time. Have some one time you. Can you find a way of getting your gun off your back that is faster than the way you do it now? Make sure your elbows and knees are hitting the same place on the mat every time.
One shot: Get into position and fire one shot, take the clip out and repeat. How fast and accurately can you get the first shot off. Can you do it quickly and still get into the same position. Are you moving around and fidgeting a lot before you take the first shot. Try and limit the amount of movement you do when getting into position.
Accuracy drills: Shoot 20 shots total-- 10 prone, 10 standing on scored targets. Have someone score your target and see if you can beat it the next time you are out shooting.
Fast Fire drills: Shoot 20 shots total– 5 prone, 5 prone, 5 standing, 5 standing while getting up and out of position and changing your target in-between. Have someone take your time. See if you can improve on the time all while hitting more targets
Breathing drills: Get into position and check your natural point of aim (ie. Close your eyes for a few seconds, when you open them are you on the target? If not adjust your position and close your eyes again. Repeat this until natural point of aim (NPA) is reached and try to get into that position every time you shoot) Then with your sights on the target start breathing in and out– where does your breathing move the sight picture? Up and down, down and up, left to right. Figure out where your breathing moves your barrel. Now try taking different length breathes– deep or shallow breathes. How much does each type of breath move your barrel.
Shoot at different sized targets: Try decreasing the size of your paper target. Try increasing the size of your paper target. What effect does it have on your group? Does the group get smaller of bigger the smaller the target? You can also try changing the size of your front apertures (front sight ring size) to see how it effects your group. Another thing to try would be to shoot at different shaped objects like a long rectangle– can you keep all shots on a certain part of the rectangle. Try some of these drills out and take notes on how it effects your shooting.

How to shoot in the wind

Shooting in the wind can be tricky, but if you break it down with the steps below you’ll be hitting targets in almost any wind.
The first thing you should do when you get to a range is spend 10-15 minutes observing the wind and it’s patterns on the range. A tool that can help you is the Kestrel Pocket Weather Meter. It has a wind gauge and can let you know how fast the wind in blowing. Is the wind generally constant, does it gust? What direction is the wind blowing, does it change directions or stay the same? Is one side of the range windier? Looking at the wind flags on the range or any state or country flags or banners will help you identify the direction and intensity of the wind. Also feeling the wind on your face is a good indication. Always remember, the wind at the end of your barrel is more important than the wind further down range so always be aware of the wind on your face and the closest wind flags before looking to further ones down range.
Wind flags: The wind flags at a biathlon range are usually the same and made out of the same material so they generally blow similar in the same amount of wind and intensity of wind. Wind flags can tell you whether to take 2-15 clicks.
Clicks: To take clicks with a biathlon rifle (Anschutz) you have to think backwards, the sights are in German. T is up and H is down, but the confusing part is L is Right and R is Left. So if you want to move left use turn R and if you want to move right then you move L. Trust me, after a while you won’t even have to think twice about it. As a rule of thumb a bullets width is equal to the amount of one click. It is about 8 clicks across the prone ring (but varies from gun to gun) and about 16-24 clicks across the entire target. You usually take clicks when the wind is blowing consistently, if it gusty you have to revert to shading to save time and to keep from loosing track of your clicks and having the wind change directions from where you took clicks. By using the Kestrel Pocket Weather Meter you can see how fast the wind is blowing and how many clicks you’ll need to take by the speed of the wind.
Shading: Shading can be a very useful tool when it comes to shooting in the wind. Shading is simple and just involves holding your sights off a little to one side of the target or the other (see example to the right). This does take practice. Try going to the range and after you have zeroed your rifle try holding your sights off to one side of the target. Have a coach or look yourself and see how far the bullet gets moved from the center. Make a mental note of how many clicks that would be and what the wind flags would look like, then try it in a different spot. Once you get good at shading if there is no wind you should be able to hold the sights off to one side of the target and get a perfect group. A fun drill would be to try and make a smiley face on your target.

Make sure you get in and out of postition the same way every time. Practice this until you can do it with your eyes closed.

Always squeeze the trigger smoothly and follow through on the target. This will guarantee a good shot. Don't jerk the trigger or move the sights directly after the shot, this might cause the barrel to move and you to miss the shot.

Always be conscious of the wind and weather conditions, they may change from the time you zero to the time you race and can effect where your shot goes. Also light conditions can effect where the bullet goes. Remember– Sun up, Clicks up. Sun down, Clicks down.

How to clean your gun

First buy the OTIS gun cleaning kit for your specific caliber rifle. www.otisgun.com. Follow instructions provided in the kit. This is what we do when cleaning our rifles– Find a nice flat surface like a table and place a cloth of mat on it– so as to lay out gun parts in order.
1. Place cleaning tools on table– patches, cleaning rod, Otis lubricant, brushes, picks, and rags for cleaning of debris
2. Take the bolt out (not necessary with the Otis kit– nice perk, but we always clean our bolt to make sure it is bolting smoothly especially after it rains or snows while training with it) place it on the table.
3. Next wipe outside of bolt down with rag then take the bolt apart placing each piece in order that you took it apart on the table (this makes it easier when putting the bolt back together. Clean off each piece and lubricate it with the Otis solvent. Make sure you use Otis picks and brushes to reach those small tiny spaces that collect dirt and debris. Next put the bolt back together and place it off to the side.
4. Clean out the chamber and places around where the bolt slides. Use picks and brushes to get those hard to reach places. Next lubricate it and make sure there is no excess lubrication that can freeze in cold weather (Otis Dry Lube works really well In the cold and doesn’t leave excess oil on gun parts).
5. Next clean the barrel, first run a lubricated patch through it. Always clean your barrel in the direction that the bullet goes. You may run two or three more lubricated patches through it depending on how dirty your gun barrel is (Otis patches can be used more than once). Next use the brush pulling it through the barrel in the direction the bullet goes (bore to muzzle). Brush it several times. Next use a dry patch several times to make sure there isn’t any excess oil in the barrel or any obstructions. This will also tell you if the barrel is clean. You might get a little bit on your patch even after you’ve significantly cleaned the gun. Now your gun should be ready to go. Try to clean your gun every couple of times you shoot if not more often depending on how much you shoot. A clean gun shoots better.

Something to shoot for:

Try this:
Shooting score record for the year:
Score: Prone: 97
Athlete: Tracy
Location: Soldier Hollow (6/08)
Fast fire record for the year:
Drill: 4x5 (Prone, Prone, Standing, Standing)

Score: 20/20 1:36
Athlete: Tracy
Location: Fort Kent (‘05)

Drill: 20x1shot (10 Prone, 10 Standing, one shot)

Score: 20/20 5:32

Athlete: Lanny

Location: Lake Placid ('08)
Standing on Prone record for the year:
Score: 18 for 20
Athlete: Ricco Gross (German National Team)
Location: Rupholding, Germany

Hunting Camp:

Tracy shot this nice 5x5 bull in the fall of 2004. She was hunting in southwest Colorado during the first rifle season and used a 270 caliber rifle. It had enough meat on it to last her family the entire year.

Above: Tracy and her Antelope 2007. Spotted with a Brunton Scope!

Right: Dad with grouse in Utah.

Tracy & Lanny Barnes

USA BIATHLETES