Bad Day, Bad Shot, or just Bad?

How did your friend shoot?

Your mentioning not shooting rifles much speaks volumes! None of the rest of us were crack shots the first few times we shot either. Continual practice will make things a whole lot better/easier for you. No, your wearing glasses has not a thing to do with it, I wear them also, cause I can't see like I used to. Keep it up, you'll do fine.

Yup/ More trigger time is the answer

Shooting off hand is an aquired skill, especially with a scoped rifle. The trick is to not hold on the target too long, but to bring your cross hair down to the target and fire just as it crossed the point you wish to hit. You will have to also find the right spot on the stock to put your chin so that you get a full view with the scope and to hold that spot each time you shoot.

With practice you will do fine.
Jim

The trick is to not hold on the target too long, but to bring your cross hair down to the target and fire just as it crossed the point you wish to hit.

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Yup. Off hand is a whole different animal than rested; The longer you try to hold and steady on the target, the shakier you'll get.

guitarguy314 said:

Hey guys, I recently went shooting with my neighbor. He brought out his AR and Mosin. I don't shoot rifles often, so I was excited. The problem was that both rifles were scoped.

At 25 yards, my shots were all over the place, and at 100 yards, my shots were everywhere but the target. Is it just that I wear glasses? Is it just my bad eyes? Could it have been my shooting position (standing with no rest)?

Is there any way to improve short of getting a melon baller and stealing someone's eyes?

Thanks guys!

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The problem with shooting offhand with a scoped rifle is that you see clearly just how much you are waving around. Iron sights kind of cover that up because you are concentrating on the sight alignment.

The goal when shooting offhand is to adjust your position and breathing to eliminate vertical movement: when the sights are slowly swinging back and forth in a horizontal arc across the target, you can start hitting in the black consistently. Then it's just refinement to move the hits toward the 10 ring. How do you get to that point? Great natural talent, or ten- to twenty-years of practice.

Never said it was EASY...

IMHO

22s Not Fun,

I have to disagree. I have two CZ 22's in my safe and they are fun and inexpensive to shoot. They are valuable in that I can work on my shooting technique and transfer that added range time to improve my shooting technique while shooting my CZ 223. Just my 2c worth.

How about body type and paralax? I can zero a scope dead on, hand it to my 14 y/o, and he will be consistant, but off the target by 3". We haven't had the time to work out the issue yet to be sure, but that is the direction I am thinking.

FWIW I've had more trouble with scopes than I do with iron sights on rifles. This is something I want to improve on. More practice is needed.

And another thing...don't be hard on yourself! All things take practice to be done well, and shooting is certainly no exception. Buy a decent little rimfire, ad a good scope, and practice to your hear's content. Not only will it be cheap, but you'll have a blast!

Zero does change from person to person, its not uncommon to get a bit of windage adjustment when changing shooters. I'm talking more like <2" at 100y, and not enough to put you off paper.

If the scope is set too-high a power it can be a major distraction. Try using the lowest power setting when shooting offhand.

Really great stable offhand shooters use a sling or bone support so they don't have to engage large muscles to get off a shot. Some guys break the shot quickly on the first good sight picture. Everybody has to work hard to gain much confidence and break the shot as it's crossing the target, and not just after when its well-wide. Its as much timing the sight picture as anything else.

Two words: Appleseed clinic.

It isn't just you, rifle marksmanship is something that takes technique, skill, and practice.

Although the generic recommendation for more trigger time is legitimate, I also recommend that you read up on or go learn some actual rifle marksmanship techniques. That plus trigger time will give you the best investment.

There are actually a couple good videos online from Appleseed clinics that are helpful if you can't find the time or money to make it to one in person.

I find that rifle shooting is like any other skill, it takes learning in the first place and practice to maintain.

I find that even shooting a Daisy "air rifle" is better practice than going online and asking what was wrong. Almost as cheap and a better use of time generally, but I do like to skulk around leaping in to threads like this.

I can do my Daisy shooting even in a city apartment with little noise and no clean up......

Then when I shoot the big boys most of the skills DO carry over.

-kBob

Take it easy, you just had a bad shooting day and you didn't know those rifles and triggers. It happens sometimes, lol. Bet you shoot a lot better next time.

Hacker15E said:

Two words: Appleseed clinic.

It isn't just you, rifle marksmanship is something that takes technique, skill, and practice.

Although the generic recommendation for more trigger time is legitimate, I also recommend that you read up on or go learn some actual rifle marksmanship techniques. That plus trigger time will give you the best investment.

There are actually a couple good videos online from Appleseed clinics that are helpful if you can't find the time or money to make it to one in person.

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Yes!

More trigger time will probably just waste ammo and reinforce bad habits. Practicing things the wrong way does you no favors.

I have worn glasses my entire life because I like to see things clearly so I don't think that should impact your shooting ability as tlong as the prescription is correct. Using a scope at 25yds could be a problem but I would guess that you were probably flinching a lot after the first shot with the Mosin if you weren't accustomed to the recoil. Shooting without using bad habits is a skill that takes time.....

One additional thing you should consider: You may be flinching. Work with a 22 and other things that do not kick like a mule will help a lot.

BTW, I practice with 22 short barreled (2 to 3 inches) revolvers to help improve my concentration for shooting long guns. I generally use a 20 oz plastic coke bottle or coke can at about 20 yards as a target (they react nicely).

A good day is keeping about 75% for the shots on target.

Ball and dummy drill will usually show you if you are flinching

guitarguy314 said:

that's slipping a spent round or snapcap into the magazine right?

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Several, in random locations within multiple magazines, then blindly split up so you don't know where they are.

Works better if somebody else does it for you