As the sun rose my face began to warm from the cold morning of shooting across the mountain range at a distance ranging from 100 to ~450 yards with a new scope and gun setup. Thermals soon kicked in with a variable 20 mph wind making it difficult from a windage perspective, but if we held it carefully, and tight, and used solid shooting techniques, we should still be able to get a solid grouping over 400 yards to see how it performs and rough-in our scope.
I only had two sandbags with me for a quick shoot on this rough-in day, set up on the corner of the truck. The target ranged at 456 yards down range. I held steady on the target and fired, and it felt good. As an experienced shooter, I know this was a good solid shot, and follow through. I could see the shot to the upper right and high above the small target we had put on a large cardboard at range. The second shot was jerked with my finger and was a good shot, to the left. I settled into my third shot which was another solid shot to round out my three-shot group.
Upon reviewing the grouping of shots with a less experienced shooter I asked where the “center” was for the shots. The inexperienced shooter immediately stated that it would go between the three shots as shown in A below. The experienced shooter stated that the shot on the left is a flyer that the two on the right are the actual grouping and that adjustments are to be made based off of the actual grouping on the right. In this case, to hit the target the scope needs to be adjusted approximately 4″ to the left and 4″ down to hit center.
Hitting the mark, if you don’t have context and an expert to guide you, WILL lead to a loss of time and money. In this case additional shots, expensive ammo, and frustration. An experienced marksman can easily, with good techniques and interpretation, sight in a rifle and adjust for various ranges with minimal ammunition used compared to those that make assumptions or make mistakes at the range.
Sharpshooter Tip
Always have the right leaders in the right roles to avoid major mistakes, inefficiencies, and expense, and risks to the organization. This is especially true when performing digital transformation or attempting cultural change.