Swifty Morgan
member
Today I went outside and shot a few rounds from a .17 HMR Savage bolt-action rifle with a Burris Fullfield II scope. I was shooting at about 100 yards. It's my understanding that this gun is only accurate to something like 150, and I'm not a great shot anyway, so I didn't push it. I don't have any training, so I need some help.
First of all, does anyone here know how well this rifle will shoot with Hornady factory ammunition, at its best? I can't tell how well I'm doing until I know how well the equipment will perform if someone shoots it perfectly. The rounds from my first 5.5" target all went into (or bordered) the center ring, which I suppose is around 2". That's a good performance by my dubious standards, but for all I know, the gun will shoot 1/2 MOA.
Second thing: I feel like my elbows are not stable when I shoot. I was using a plastic folding table, and it's slippery, so I thought too much about my elbows, disturbing my concentration. I can put a rubber mat or something on it, but then if I shoot a bigger gun, the recoil will rub my elbows raw. I assume other people must have had this problem and come up with a solution. Should I be using elbow pads or something?
Final thing: what's the best tool for measuring the distance to the target? I can do it with a tape measure if I have to, but I assume with all the gadgetry available these days, there is probably some reasonably cheap tool everyone else is already using, which I need to know about.
Thanks for any help you can provide.
First of all, does anyone here know how well this rifle will shoot with Hornady factory ammunition, at its best? I can't tell how well I'm doing until I know how well the equipment will perform if someone shoots it perfectly. The rounds from my first 5.5" target all went into (or bordered) the center ring, which I suppose is around 2". That's a good performance by my dubious standards, but for all I know, the gun will shoot 1/2 MOA.
Second thing: I feel like my elbows are not stable when I shoot. I was using a plastic folding table, and it's slippery, so I thought too much about my elbows, disturbing my concentration. I can put a rubber mat or something on it, but then if I shoot a bigger gun, the recoil will rub my elbows raw. I assume other people must have had this problem and come up with a solution. Should I be using elbow pads or something?
Final thing: what's the best tool for measuring the distance to the target? I can do it with a tape measure if I have to, but I assume with all the gadgetry available these days, there is probably some reasonably cheap tool everyone else is already using, which I need to know about.
Thanks for any help you can provide.
Last edited: