Secrets of the Taco Hold?

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jmoore
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Re: Secrets of the Taco Hold?

Post by jmoore »

aggshooter wrote:I too watched many of the best local standing shooters. You obviously can't shoot all the styles, so I would watch and try and see what worked for me.

Do you shoot your M1 standing? Shooting a rifle standing with your off hand under the mag well is very similar to shooting taco. I shoot some 10 meter air rifle during the winter and the only real difference is the position of my left hand. In 10 meter, I support the gun just in front of the trigger guard with a closed fist, the rifle resting on knuckles. With pistol, the left hand is rotated slightly and the fist opened up so my thumb is under the pistol (and I pull my upper arm away from my ribs).

The cross training is great, last match I shot 37 in Unlimited Standing using IZH and taco hold.

Changing styles sometimes takes time to see improvement. Many years ago, I shot a Ruger standing. I watched Pennsylvania great Bill Zewe at the NRA nationals with a Ruger, he had an odd hold, but he hit 13 of 15 turkeys. I asked him about it, he gladly showed me his method. I adopted it, it took about 600 shots to get the hang of it, then my scores went from AA to Int.
I used to shoot an M1A(M14) at least 20 rounds standing every range trip for several years before getting back into IHMSA. Also quite a bit of standing AR shooting, but mostly with optics (not for competition but for hunting purposes as it's my primary deer rifle anymore.) Support hand just forward of the magazine with the M1A in my case, in a way that would be quite painful for a right handed shooter! (Op rod handle placement) With the M1 Garand, used to hold further back, but changed later on to approximate the M1A for consistency. So a variation of that M1A hold is how I approached Taco Hold at first. With very poor results.

Last match it seemed the scoped Anschutz liked having both arms out about horizontal with the support hand on the scope bell. (ETA: Changing hold, went from 2 to 4 rams, so...)

Some more details in the April Georgia Cherokee match results thread.

ETA:
Link below:
viewtopic.php?f=40&t=2827
MSLiechty
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Re: Secrets of the Taco Hold?

Post by MSLiechty »

do you need aperature sights to shoot taco? Im going to order a rib for .32 HR contender barrel and see Ken light offers a willaims peep sight

ML
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Re: Secrets of the Taco Hold?

Post by Hosspower »

I think the Ken Light rib is williams peep only. If I remember right when Bomar sights were no longer available he switched to a peep rear.

Eabco has taco sights with a notch rear, post front.

I started shooting taco with rear notch front post. Then switched to rear peep and front post. Just recently switched to peep on peep. I had a hard time keeping the top of the post centered vertically in the rear peep.

If you have the opportunity to try other shooters guns with different taco setups it might save you a little money and aggravation.

my preference is peep on peep.
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Re: Secrets of the Taco Hold?

Post by MSLiechty »

Hosspower wrote:I think the Ken Light rib is williams peep only. If I remember right when Bomar sights were no longer available he switched to a peep rear.

I started shooting taco with rear notch front post. Then switched to rear peep and front post. Just recently switched to peep on peep. I had a hard time keeping the top of the post centered vertically in the rear peep.

my preference is peep on peep.

Who offers a peep on peep?
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Hosspower
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Re: Secrets of the Taco Hold?

Post by Hosspower »

I already had Ken Light taco rails (peep on post) so I ordered clear front apertures from Steve Martens. Pulled the post and installed the aperture. He may offer complete peep on peep sight sets. Below is a link to his site. He has air gun sight sets listed.

http://daisysights.com/home.html
MSLiechty
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Re: Secrets of the Taco Hold?

Post by MSLiechty »

Thank You I contacted steve and have a sight headed my way


ML
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hockeyref
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Re: Secrets of the Taco Hold?

Post by hockeyref »

aggshooter wrote: Mon Apr 04, 2016 4:07 pm I too watched many of the best local standing shooters. You obviously can't shoot all the styles, so I would watch and try and see what worked for me.
..........

Changing styles sometimes takes time to see improvement. Many years ago, I shot a Ruger standing. I watched Pennsylvania great Bill Zewe at the NRA nationals with a Ruger, he had an odd hold, but he hit 13 of 15 turkeys. I asked him about it, he gladly showed me his method. I adopted it, it took about 600 shots to get the hang of it, then my scores went from AA to Int.
I can remember shooting shoulder to shoulder with Bill many times as well as watching him shoot. Can you expand on what he told you about shooting that Ruger?
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Re: Secrets of the Taco Hold?

Post by aggshooter »

For right handed shooters, and this is for old school shooting with both arms out, not taco hold.

Hold the barrel in your left hand just in front of the trigger guard. Curl your pinkie finger back and into (inside) the trigger guard, it will just about touch your trigger finger. Left arm straight out, thumb runs alongside the barrel and points toward target, left hand supports the gun. Right hand is only for sight picture and trigger control. Feet are shoulder width apart, left foot about 4 inches in front of the right foot, meaning your left shoulder is slightly ahead of the right shoulder as you face target. With practice, it becomes easy to develop a little "push/pull" with your left and right hands, and trigger will break nicely.

Great way to teach new shooters with conventional open sights. It may sound whacky, but amazingly comfortable. I'm not an innovator, I'm a copycat. And if you want to copy one of the very best, copy Bill Zewe.
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Re: Secrets of the Taco Hold?

Post by Hosspower »

Last fall I saw Bill Zewe's son shoot a 40x40 in small bore lever action at the regional match in Ridgway, PA. Matt Pavlik also shot a small bore 40x40 in the same match.
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Re: Secrets of the Taco Hold?

Post by aggshooter »

Hosspower wrote: Wed Nov 18, 2020 2:13 pm Last fall I saw Bill Zewe's son shoot a 40x40 in small bore lever action at the regional match in Ridgway, PA. Matt Pavlik also shot a small bore 40x40 in the same match.
"Bill Zewe's son"...just hearing that made me go from feeling old to feeling ancient....
Rich Hawkins
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"Go ahead and shoot. The bullet has to go somewhere."
George Hawkins 1917-2000
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