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Right on target
By Kate Roewe and Ben Brulotte
Assitant Editor and Staff Writer
The adrenaline is rushing through your body. It is your last shot,
and you have to make it count. Your heart is starting to beat
faster, but you know that you have to calm your nerves if
you want to be able to shoot straight. A slight movement of the gun
the width of a sheet of paper could ruin your entire shot.
Rifle shooting is a lot more complicated than many would
think. For the rifle team members at W.F. West, shooting competitively
is an obsession. To those who compete, rifle shooting is tedious
and demands complete control over one's body and emotions.
"I've never done anything as hard as this," said sophomore Walter Langford.
"A lot of people think rifle shooting is really weird, they
just don't realize what it is and how many people actually do it. It's
a sport, just like any other sport," said junior Shanda Duval.
W. F. West's varsity rifle team has seen some success this
year, with a 4-5 record. First year coach Ed Fisher said "most of
the students scores have been increasing." The varsity is composed of five individuals,
and there are ten shooters overall. The rifle team has been practicing
their techniques since late September. The team practices every
Tuesdays and Thursdays from 3:30 until 5:30 at the Centralia Rifle Range.
This year is a building one for the team. At the beginning of
the season, the team had no coach until Fisher came to a board
meeting and took the job. The team's strength as a whole is
"determination," said Fisher.
The Match-ups
One of the rituals that the team has developed is a game of
hacky-sack before each match. "The traditional game of hacky sack is
our warm ups. It stretches our muscles and it relaxes us," said
freshman Nick Filer.
A normal match consists of certain guidelines that must
be followed. The shooters have a prep time where they can get
into position and check their equipment. Than they have three minutes
to relax themselves. "No one touches the guns until then," said Langford.
The scoring that is used is based on a system of three
hundred points. Chris Lanning, among one of the best shooter on the
rifle team, averages a score of about 245.
As shooters get better, many advance into competitive
shooting. Two of W. F. West rifle team members have done just
that. Junior Shanda Duval and Langford both compete
competitively rather than shooting for the school. "My dad got
me into it because he though it would be cool," Devaul said.
"I didn't think I'd like shooting guns."
Duval is now shooting year round in Little
Rock Washington. She also goes to different
competitions around the United States, but mostly ones in
Washington and Oregon.
Langford, who averages a score of about
270, shoots for the Centralia rifle club. "I've pretty
much mastered the mechanical aspects, but I am
still working on the mental."
It takes more than a good shot
A shooter has to learn to be a master over
their body; they must slow their breathing, slow
their heart rate, and suspend all muscle movement.
If their heart rate speeds up, the gun will bob up
and down with each beat making it nearly impossible
to make a good shot. If the shooter breathes too hard,
the movement of their chest rising and falling can throw off their shot. "It's ninety-nine percent mental. You have to over ride your body's
movements," said Langford.
For most shooters, the main preparation that rifle shooters go through before
their matches is actually shooting the match mentally. "I just think about the things I have to
do at the match," Duval said. "I have lost matches because I was not mentally prepared."
In most cases, shooters have noticed that their participation in the sport has
improved their academic performance. "Focusing on homework through distractions is
easier," Langford said.
Lanning agreed. "I have learned to be able to read with noise," he said.
But this sport isn't all mental. "It takes some talent. It takes a little bit of
eye/hand coordination, a little bit of stability, breathing, and you have to know how to use a rifle,"
said Filer.
"The bullet doesn't just go through the target by itself. You have to make it,"
said Lanning.
The Tools of the Trade
Having the right equipment also has an effect on one's shooting. There are
several differences between the normal .22 and the ones that rifle shooters use in their meets.
The normal rifle weighs about five to six pounds. The type of rifle that the rifle team
uses weighs upwards of thirteen pounds. The heavier gun makes it more stable and
reduces the chance of the gun moving as the shooter breathes.
Another difference in the rifle
team's guns is the trigger pull. "Your regular
semiautomatic .22 has a trigger pull of 20 lbs., and mine has about three ounces,"
Chris Lanning said.
Serious competitors like Duval
and Langford buy most of their equipment. Prices for guns often top one thousand
dollars. Shooters also wear specialized clothes
while they are shooting. Leather pants and jacket are worn to keep their bodies stable.
Although shooting is a demanding
sport in both time and money, most rifle shooters would agree that the rewards are worth it
in the end.
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