Post by 2nd Bat on Sept 8, 2014 18:36:17 GMT -5
There is a long standing quote that "practice makes perfect.". Actually its incorrect. If you're practicing something wrong, practice actually reinforces bad habits and improper technique. Physical skills are aboutmuscle memory and reflexive actions. Marksmanship is a true skill and there are many techniques and training methods that translate from real steel to airsoft while others do not. Knowing and applying this knowledge will help you perform "perfect practice" which makes perfect. Acquiring and learning how to establish a good site picture is important with both actual firearms and airsoft but due to the ballistic challenges of a round projectile and our exagerrated ballistic flight some techniques need to be followed more carefully with airsoft.
With a real rifle at great range and wind conditions the amount of drop a round will have and the effect of wind needs to be accounted for by adjusting your aimng point. The same holds true for airsoft but with hop up the normal drop of a bullet is quite different. calculating your drop for airsoft using hop up is much much trickier then an actual round. Normally a bullet will fall to the earth at the same speed as a bullet dropped straight from your hand from the same height.
One could argue therefore that if a BB has a muzzle velocity of 400 feet per second and it takes a second for a bb to fall from shoulder height (i am simply using that for an example) an airsoft rifle fired from the shoulder should strike the ground 400 feet away (on level ground) theoretically this is true but several conditions throw that off. The muzzle velocity for a .20 gram BB at 400 FPS will have a dramatically slower FPS reading 15 feet from the muzzle and much slower still at 30 feet. A .25 gram BB fired from exactly the same gun will have a lower muzzle velocity but will not lose inertia as quickly in fact the FPS at 30 feet will be greater then the .20 gram fired from the exact same gun. Hence the 25 gram will typically travel farther then the .20 gram.
With a real bullet the trajectory is consistent while a Bb with back spin will initially climb but at the end of its enertia will drop almost straight down. A bullet will produce a gradual curve toward the earth. When watching the flight of a Bb from your sights there is the illusion that the BB is going much much farther than it actually is. The brain translates as though it were watching a bullet in flight. Sometimes it appears that we are making continual hits on our target and they are striking and then falling to the targets feet. Often times at max range the BBs have simply run out of power and fall short.
To train therefore you need to practice on full sized silhouettes at varied ranges. These targets can be partially exposed (a portion of a body protruding from behind a tree) or ( a face and shoulder exposed over a stump. ). Using smaller scale targets of a human shape will cause your brain associations to create false assumptions about what your skills can do. A small scale silouette will appear as a human target farther away and your ability to hit it at 80 feet may tempt you to engage actual opponents who are 180 feet away and use those same instinctual trajectory adjustments causing you miss or engage a target too soon. (not enough elevation for your aiming point perhaps)
Train as close to ctual conditions as you can. Fire from cover or firing positions you're likely to use in game play. Create targets that are scale and place them in a manner that is likely for an actual opponent and at ranges you're likely to face. A 3/4 exposed human might be realistic in the early phases of an engagement when your location is unknown and they are moving to contact. Determine realistically at what ranges you can effectively take them out. Closer in expect to see less and less of your opponents body and for shorter and shorter durations. Train accordingly. Learn how much you need to lead a moving target. (far far more with airsoft then real steel). If you have a full auto weapon aim in front of a running opponent and let them run into your wall of fire. Practice this technique.
Train to win. Practice perfect as "Perfect practice makes perfect."
With a real rifle at great range and wind conditions the amount of drop a round will have and the effect of wind needs to be accounted for by adjusting your aimng point. The same holds true for airsoft but with hop up the normal drop of a bullet is quite different. calculating your drop for airsoft using hop up is much much trickier then an actual round. Normally a bullet will fall to the earth at the same speed as a bullet dropped straight from your hand from the same height.
One could argue therefore that if a BB has a muzzle velocity of 400 feet per second and it takes a second for a bb to fall from shoulder height (i am simply using that for an example) an airsoft rifle fired from the shoulder should strike the ground 400 feet away (on level ground) theoretically this is true but several conditions throw that off. The muzzle velocity for a .20 gram BB at 400 FPS will have a dramatically slower FPS reading 15 feet from the muzzle and much slower still at 30 feet. A .25 gram BB fired from exactly the same gun will have a lower muzzle velocity but will not lose inertia as quickly in fact the FPS at 30 feet will be greater then the .20 gram fired from the exact same gun. Hence the 25 gram will typically travel farther then the .20 gram.
With a real bullet the trajectory is consistent while a Bb with back spin will initially climb but at the end of its enertia will drop almost straight down. A bullet will produce a gradual curve toward the earth. When watching the flight of a Bb from your sights there is the illusion that the BB is going much much farther than it actually is. The brain translates as though it were watching a bullet in flight. Sometimes it appears that we are making continual hits on our target and they are striking and then falling to the targets feet. Often times at max range the BBs have simply run out of power and fall short.
To train therefore you need to practice on full sized silhouettes at varied ranges. These targets can be partially exposed (a portion of a body protruding from behind a tree) or ( a face and shoulder exposed over a stump. ). Using smaller scale targets of a human shape will cause your brain associations to create false assumptions about what your skills can do. A small scale silouette will appear as a human target farther away and your ability to hit it at 80 feet may tempt you to engage actual opponents who are 180 feet away and use those same instinctual trajectory adjustments causing you miss or engage a target too soon. (not enough elevation for your aiming point perhaps)
Train as close to ctual conditions as you can. Fire from cover or firing positions you're likely to use in game play. Create targets that are scale and place them in a manner that is likely for an actual opponent and at ranges you're likely to face. A 3/4 exposed human might be realistic in the early phases of an engagement when your location is unknown and they are moving to contact. Determine realistically at what ranges you can effectively take them out. Closer in expect to see less and less of your opponents body and for shorter and shorter durations. Train accordingly. Learn how much you need to lead a moving target. (far far more with airsoft then real steel). If you have a full auto weapon aim in front of a running opponent and let them run into your wall of fire. Practice this technique.
Train to win. Practice perfect as "Perfect practice makes perfect."