[Leica] Re: Precision shooting

[lrzeitlin at optonline.net (Lawrence Zeitlin)]

On Aug 9, 2007, at 10:20 AM, Don wrote:

>> This is an interesting question.  I find firearms much like learning
>> to play
>> golf. With proper eye hand coordination you are trying to put a small
>> object
>> into a small hole.  Through my dad I have increased my gun ownership
>> substantially.  Currently I am putting more copper downrange than
>> frames
>> through my M8.  It is much harder than one would think to keep things
>> in one
>> centimeter at 25 meters with an ignition based device.  Really, it is
>> just a
>> skill to control your breathing, eye focusing, finger, hand grip, and
>> not to
>> flinch when loud bangs accompanied by flame and kick.
>>


Interesting, and probably true point. So many sports are based on  
overcoming human variability and acting like a machine. Golf,  
bowling, shooting, darts, checkers, and focusing a Leica with a  
Noctilux.

But after you learn to eliminate your human tremors in shooting, you  
can astound your friends and win innumerable beers. I was taught to  
shoot in high-school by Col. Basil Middleton, coach of the 1936  
Olympic rifle team. He stressed all the basics, tight sling, breath  
holding, relaxation, etc. By the end of our training, every member of  
the group could shoot 99 or better on a NRA 22 target at the standard  
distance, then 50 ft. In the Army I won many bar bets by proving that  
I could shoot a bullet down the length of a cigarette at 50 ft.  
Amazing isn't it?

Not to an experienced shooter. It's a sucker bet. The diameter of a  
cigarette is about twice that of the 10 ring on a standard 22 target.  
Further you didn't have to get the bullet down the center. If it  
touched the paper, the cigarette would explode. Anyone who could get  
a reasonable score at a rifle range could do it.

To bring the topic back to Leicas, all the techniques for shooting a  
rifle can be used for hand holding exposures in available light  
photography. At one point, I could reliably hand hold exposures of  
1/15 sec without significant blur. (Many of you will claim 1/8 sec -  
but you have to be lucky.) But that was over a half century ago. I'd  
be gratified if I could hit the side of a barn today.

Larry Z