November 28th, 2021
Rio 2016 World Cup Photo Credit to Team USA and ISSF. Would you like position shooting? Here are some tips from Olympian Matt Emmons, one of the top 3P shooters in the world. Matt Emmons is a top competitor in smallbore rifles in the USA. Emmons has been a member of the U.S. National Team from 1997 to present the USA in various rifle events at the four Olympics Games (2004, 2008, 2012, and 2016). Multiple Olympic medals were won by Matt: Gold in 2004 in Men’s 50m Prone*, Silver in 2008 for Men’s50m Prone and Bronze in 2012 for Men’s50m 3X40. While his specialty is the Men’s 3-Position rifle (Men’s 50m Prone), Emmons’ World Championships and Olympic Gold are in the Men’s 50m prone. He shoots an Anschutz or Bleiker Bleiker.22LR rifle with Eley Tenex ammunition. Here are some shooting tips from Matt, courtesy Anschutz. Click image below to open a large PDF file. To download the poster-sized PDF, right-click the image and select “save as”. Click Photo to Load Large PDF File
Three sets of hardware for three positions
Matt often carries three complete sets of parts for his rifles to matches, including three cheekpieces and three buttplates. He also carries three Centra sights with adjustable eye irises. Shooting Sports USA was told by Matt that he carries three sets of rifle parts for each position. Because my final is so fast, I need three sets of everything to be able to quickly switch between positions. Matt carries his gear in a Anschutz sport bag. It’s similar to Ogio duffels, but lighter. I have worked with AHG/Anschutz many years. I love their bag because all my junk fits inside it. *Emmons won the gold medal in the prone position at the 2004 Summer Olympics while using a borrowed rifle. Emmons discovered that his rifle had been severely sabotaged at the United States Olympic Training Center locker room in April 2004. This was just before the Olympic Team Trials. The barrel and action of the rifle were perfectly tuned, but they were severely damaged by what appeared like a screwdriver. Emmons stated, “I unpacked the gun and I noticed something wasn’t right.” “Sure enough, someone had done something to it. It was shot and the shell couldn’t be extracted. I said, “Something’s not right here.” Emmons stated that it could not have been accidental: “Oh no! no!” Emmons said. “Somebody took a screwdriver, and went in.” Emmons won the gold medal in the prone posture event at the 2004 Summer Olympics. He used his former University of Alaska Fairbanks colleague, Amber Darland’s.22 rifle. Although he never discovered the identity of the saboteur, Emmons said that he would like to be able to shake hands with them and express gratitude.
Similar Posts: Tags: 3-position, Gold Medal, Kneeling position, Matt Emmons, Olympics, Smallbore
