My daughter (Shannon/10 yrs old) attended an Appleseed a few months ago with her personal goal of earning her distinguished patch (above 240 score with a scope).
She managed a 238.....best she could muster at that event.
Since then she earned her Appleseed Distinguished patch and has managed decent (Master) prone/seated scores and earned her overall Expert classification across the course.
After one particular match....I thought "I need to check her stock length in positions again". I noticed the stock seemed to be loose in her shoulder.
We staged our gear in the garage and had her put all her gear on, and grab her rimfire sporter rifle (10/22).
She was using a Blackhawk Axiom stock, with an adjustable buttstock for length. It was all the way in/closed at position zero.
I extended it one notch, and had her sling up and get in seated and prone. She said "WOW.....much better, but it could be a bit longer". We went out to position 2 on the stock. "This is PERFECT".
*Rifle remains in her shoulder when she removes her trigger hand*
I find the above to be an excellent "check" for prone
IF ONLY Daddy had recognized this ....she would have likely earned her Appleseed Distinguished patch! She eventually did earn that patch at a subsequent event.
We then grabbed her service rifle (AR)....and adjusted that one position out for seated and prone. Same response "This is PERFECT"!
Point I am making here.....is twofold. For youths especially.....and even adults, as your body changes (for youths....maybe they grow a bit.....for adults, maybe a weight gain, or loss).....we need to be conscious of this and ADJUST!
The other point, and likely more accurate, is
AS A SHOOTER GETS MORE TIME ON THE RIFLE AND EXPERIENCE, steady hold factors will improve.
What may have worked for a 210-230 Rifleman score.....may actually be holding one back from a better score.
As the position gets better/more solid.....the sling may need to become tighter, the stock may need to get lengthened, etc.
In my case....I used to have my stock different by one position shorter for seated than prone. As seated became more stable/comfy(it is never comfy), I found that my prone setting works perfect for seated, but my sling needed to be 2 inches or so longer.
So....do not be afraid to experiment, as the body becomes more used to/comfy with the positions of seated and prone....you can likely improve that score some by tightening a sling or lengthening a stock a bit.
When making changes it is always best to do those singularly. I do not ever recommend changing more than one thing at a time. Then dry fire and live fire with the change, was it better?
Also, do not count only 1 attempt as a "try". Especially with marksmanship/steady hold factors. It is best to have a coach, or someone that can intelligently critique a change. Often a positive change, will feel awkward for a while and may take some time for the positive results to yield.
Working with my daughter lately, I often find myself wanting to laugh. I'll have her adjust a part of her position, for example:
Standing, having an erect head position on the rifle, will most times result in greater than 50% of the buttstock being visible above the shoulder from behind. Many struggle with this.....So, as I watch her dry firing, that stock of hers has a screw/bolt about 1/2 way in the middle of the stock. After she establishes her position, I know what distance that screw/bolt should be in reference to her shoulder (when I am directly behind her). When it is wrong, I have her take the rifle down and start the position over.
She typically replies sarcastically: "That is not what I am used to doing"! LOL
My response: "What you're used to doing, is not resulting in 10's"!
We argue this for a bit, she concedes, and starts to shoot 10's!
Having a partner/coach to work with can be of immense value.
R/
Chris