Posted by Ed Hall on October 01, 2001 at 19:36:16:
This is a very brief
impression of my use of the new Rika software (V3.50):
Overall, it seems
much faster.
I'm using the system as a stand alone unit and am not using it
for Biathlon training. However, I do use it in a sustained fire setting
(Bullseye Timed and Rapid Fire). I have not had any hardware modifications done.
The following responses are based on a few of their listed software
modifications.
Calibration during shooting - Useful if you want to rework
your zero during your firing. Especially good if you use sighters. There is no
option to allow placing an off-center group into the center to compare scores.
Synchronic statistic - This doesn't seem to be of any advantage to me. It
overlays all the shot traces, but then I just have a jumble. Perhaps this would
show if I had a tendency to wobble out to a particular area, say high right.
Otherwise I just get the jumble.
Measuring field enlargement - It does seem
to pick up the trace much easier. Perhaps less control box calibration will be
required when switching guns. Unfortunately this seems to give me trouble during
my sustained fire work by showing all kinds of tracing outside the target.
Recording starts immediately - This should have been good for my sustained
fire work.
More than one shot without taking gun off target - Also should be
good for my sustained training. Unfortunately, this and the previous item didn't
seem to give me any better workings. Perhaps because I've not modified my
controller.
Settings of last training session remembered - Great addition!
Displayed calibre option is great for my Bullseye stuff. Now I can see the
.22 holes on the 50 yard target.
Designing targets with less than 10 visible
rings possible - This still needs work. The target now is shown with less rings,
but its view on the screen seems to still be based on the 1 ring for some stats.
Therefore, you still can't enlarge it on some of the statistic screens.
Take
Care,
Ed Hall
Posted by Dick Poore on October 02, 2001 at 07:13:02:
Ed --
Thanks
for posting this information. I'm waiting for my RIKA from Pilkguns...should be
here soon.
I do have a few questions which may seem silly but my RIKA
experience is limited to playing with one at the USASNC last summer. What pistol
are you using for sustained fire training on the RIKA? Just trying to figure out
the mechanics..IE..If using a .22/45 in dry fire do you have to reset the
trigger between shots (seems counter productive)? If using an AP for BE TF/RF
training how do the differences in trigger weights affect your BE match
performance?
Thanks in advance.
Best Regards. Dick Poore
Posted by Ed Hall on October 02, 2001 at 15:41:31:
Hi Dick,
Sounds
good that you'll have one soon. Any questions that may arise can readily be
answered on this board. There are several TTers with Rika systems, and of course
most importantly, there's ready access to Warren.
I'm a Bullseye competitor
primarily, however I dabble in Free, Rapid and Air on occasion. For my Bullseye
sustained fire training I add a string to some part of the slide/bolt on my
various guns and tie the other end to a magazine. My normal stance for live fire
has my free hand in my pocket. For the training, I move my hand to my left chest
area by bending the elbow more, but leaving the upper arm pretty close to my
live fire stance. I put my hand with the magazine end of the string against my
chest allowing for a slight looseness in the string. As I "click" a round, I
wait for part of a second, to provide a follow through, and then give a yank on
the string to cycle the slide. For the Rika, I also have to move the sights off
target momentarily and then back on to get it to "catch" the next shot. I'm
going to have to do some more testing with the new software, since it is
supposed to be more capable in this area.
As for the guns, for my 1911s, I
tie the string to either a scope mount or the rear sight and cycle the slide.
For my Ruger Mark II, I tie a figure eight around the side gripping tabs of the
bolt. For my Haemmerli 208s, I thread the string through the rearmost roll pin.
I also have to remove the rear sight for this to work, so I mainly train with a
scope on this one. In all cases I find the string does fray after a few strings
of five rounds, so I keep retying it often.
I'm not sure if it's because of
the years or not, but each gun seems to feel correct even though they all have
different triggers. Even my 1911s which have different triggers, but the same
grips, all seem correct. Perhaps my subconscious has taken care of that element
for me. I do train for BE with the BE guns.
Take Care,Ed Hall
Posted by Dick Poore on October 02, 2001 at 20:39:36:
Ed --
Pretty
cleaver! I've got a couple of hundred feet of nylon parachute cord that can take
about 500 lbs pressure...send me your address and I'll mail you some....this
stuff won't fray. Though, it might be bit thick (1/4 inch)...you can always take
it apart and use 1 or 2 of the inner core strands only. Let me know and thanks
for the reply.
Dick
PS: Do you know Maj Steve Swartz and Lt David
Taylor...both are on the USAF BE Team? They also both shoot International.
Posted by Ed Hall on October 02, 2001 at 23:27:59:
Dick,
Thanks, but I
have a bunch of nylon lacing twine that I'm using. The sharp edges of the sights
and such would probably cut into the parachute cord as well, but it would take a
while to get all the way through. :-)
Yes, as a matter of fact, I do know
them. I retired from the AF and the team in 1998. I still try to hang around
with them when I get a chance. BTW (shameless plug here), you can check up on
the AF team at www.airforceshooting.org. You can read an AF news article about
Maj Swartz at http://www.af.mil/news/n20010919_1320.shtml too.
Take
Care,
Ed Hall
Posted by Ed Hall on October 04, 2001 at 15:26:10:
Darn, the link I gave
to Maj Steve Swartz's AF news article didn't work. Let's try again: Air Force
marksman eyes Olympic berth.
If the above still didn't work try copying this
URL: http://www.af.mil/news/Sep2001/n20010919_1320.shtml to your browser or try
the link below.
Take Care,Ed Hall
Sponsored by Pilkington Competition Equipment