Some good tips here from Paul Harrell…
I haven’t ever been in combat of course but in almost any stressful situation, you are going to see a drop off compared a leisurely pace. What makes the biathlon so difficult is not just the skiing and not just the shooting, it is trying to shoot after you cross-country ski when your heart rate is way up.
The targets are 50 meters/164 feet in American away and are either 115mm/4.5″ standing or 45mm/1.77″ when shooting prone. On my best day in perfect weather conditions those are not easy shots. In the winter after you are racing on cross country skis and your heart is pounding? Yeah, I am not hitting any of the targets, mostly because I died of a heart attack on the track.
The point being that in a stress situation where your heart is racing and you are hopped up on adrenaline, it isn’t like shooting from a casual pose on the range with your feet set and the ideal grip. As the saying goes, train like you fight and these are pretty good recommendations.
MomUnit had me try Biathalon back in the day (about 13-14 years old) Cross country on it's own is s stone bitch. Another thing that people don't realize is that the rifle itself is a heavy bastard of a peashooter. Anshutz rifles run about 9 to 10 pound, or more depending on the harness (usually backpack style) which unless you're used to it? They also, for a basic rig these days run 5-6 grand… I Tried it -once-… then I died.
I did some cross country as a kid when it was a hot new thing in the states and it is a mother for sure. Everything in the snow is harder. That path in the woods that you stroll in the summer? Put down 8-10 inches of snow and you can barely walk it, and snowshoeing is a monstrous hard activity. No wonder ice people like us are hardy folk.
back in the 1970's had a few army guys tried to talk me into it, couldn't see it myself.
i was a good skier and better shot, but didn't care enough. back in the day we where taught point shooting by the "older guys' in the unit. got good at it and it works well, back then the tire house was a stone bitch to do, 4-5 run thru before lunch, the after with ammo. one never thinks how heavy your weapon can be until you do that shit for the day. kind of hard to shoot well with sweat running in your eyes and your arms feel like lead. still do like cross country, easier for my older bones these days. bein a while for me though now. cold has a way of weeding out the weak, it the reason why I retired in the mountains away from others, safer too. not a lot of morons around.