Advice on improving *my* accuracy (the gun is fine)

I think most of us can sympathize because standing is the least stabil position. The sights are gonna wander. You can practice and refine your position to be more steady but IMHO even more important:

Squeeze the trigger only when the sights line up on the target. Sounds obvious but if you miss, you didn't do it.

Make sure your trigger pull is not pulling the entire gun. Just like handgunning, one of the most critical elements is that your trigger finger must work independant of the rest of your body. Dry firing is telling here.

Shoot lots of paper targets. Shooting range junk is not nearly as informative.

If you're really jittery, caffiene could be a factor.

You have just about the perfect rifle to learn with. Get lots of ammo and have fun.

I suggest you find yourself an inexpensive 4x rimfire scope (with 1" tube diameter) and mount it. The Bushnells come with the proper mounts to fit on the dovetail on the rifle. Try to have the crosshairs approximately on target relative to sighting down the open sights and tighten down the screws. Sight it in at 25 yds and move to longer range and adjust scope. Don't waste your time shooting further than 50 yds unless you are just plinking. I would do most of my shooting at 25 yds for the time being. A pair of binoculars or a more powerful scope will allow you to see where you're hitting without walking up to the target.

[You might buy your scope at a place like Sportsman's Warehouse and they will probably mount and bore sight it on your rifle for free. This is kind of a nice service!] Then you will be mostly fine tuning it from the bench. In your case, this sounds like a good idea.

Nothing wrong with shooting from the bench. Everyone has trouble holding a rifle steady.

Consider buying and installing a trigger kit. Go to Rimfire Central forum and there is an entire section devoted to 10/22's. Lots of advice there. I would do this later after you have shoot a while so you can appreciate the difference.

Buy a basic sling and mount it on your rifle. Adjust it long enough to have alittle slack when you hang the rifle on your shoulder. Think of it as enough slack for use with a heavy coat. Pick up the rifle and put your left arm through the sling and kind of wrap up in the sling so the sling is tight and sort of braced on your arm. This will help you hold the rifle steadier.

Develop your shooting skills around using the scope as your primary aiming tool. They are much easier to use as compared to open sights. You will also get an idea of how "shakey" you are by looking through the scope at a target.

Shoot from both a rest and without a rest. Try shooting sitting down with the rifle braced on your knees. Again the sling helps.

Buy the same ammo and restrict your shooting to that one ammo until you have gotten used to shooting. I would suggest you purchase Federal Champion 510's at Walmart. They are sold in 50 round boxes.

Oh... squeeze the trigger rather than yanking it.

adding a sling will help alot, but nobody can keep a rifle perfectly still so you just have to watch the sights as they move around the target, then squeez the trigger as it crosses the target. A scope is nice and will make shooting alot easier, but everyone should have a firm grasp on using iron sights before moving on to optics, in my opinion anyway. Scopes will not fix a technique problem but can possibly cover it up a little.

Standing is the most awful position to use to learn sight alignment and trigger pull.

You really have to pork out your rifle to shoot it well standing. If you are ever at a Highpower match, go weigh some of the AR's on the line. Shooters have put lead weights in the things, and most will weigh about 15 to 17 pounds. The weight is there so the shooter can shoot the thing well in standing. That extra weight slows the movement during the heart beat, and slows movement as you pull the trigger.

If you really want to improve your abilities to shoot off the bench, go shoot at a local 100 yard reduced highpower match. You will shoot standing, sitting, prone. You get to use a sling sitting and prone. You will need a centerfire rifle, an AR is just the ticket.

I have found that I use the sitting position more in the woods than any other. I only shoot offhand for practice, or if the scrub brush is so high I have to stand. With the sitting position I can put my elbows on my knees, use a sling, and I am high enough that I clear most scrub brush. And it is good stable position.

The absolute best way to perfect a prone position is to shoot smallbore. The small bore target is tiny, and the slightest movement, off axis trigger pull, will toss the bullet way out.

If you have a CMP club in the area, check it out.

put your foot, opposite, of your trigger finger , forward, feet should be slightly more than shoulder width apart. Rear foot should be pointing slightly outward, not straight forward downrange. Your shooting trigger elbow, should be up 90 degrees, to pinch the stock between your shoulder, and cheek, like a fakey benchtop being made out of your shoulder. your front arm should bend, so that your front elbow is resting against your side/stomach, like a shooting stick on the ground. which means your front hand, is right up under the magwell, not way out front. Relax your breathing ; take long but slow breaths, and then slowly exhale; when you start this slow exhale, raise the rifle and fire.
This is absolute; take no more than 8 seconds from when you raise the rifle to your eye, to fire. If you do not fire in 8 seconds. drop the weapon fully to your sides, so the weapon is at full length rest, in your hands. After 8 seconds, you will start getting shaky without a rest.
once you know the above, it just takes practice, how far do i like my feet apart, how much do I like my foot pointed out, how hard am I pulling rearward the weapon into my shoulder, how many deep breaths before I raise the weapon; you know, those sort of things. I figure it will take you at least 200 rounds fired downrange, before you start noticing something, confidence and ease in which you pull the trigger. After that, your offhand groups will begin to noticeably improve. Do not worry to much, about the size of your groups, before you get to that 200 th round shot, and heck , maybe for you, you might not get to that confident and relaxed stage for 300 rounds; don't rush it.
These are the most simplest , and fastest steps, to improve shooting offhand. there are other little tricks to learn, but these are the most basic things to learn in offhand shooting.

The key to shooting well is mastering the 4 basics. Master those and you can shoot anything well!

• a good position
• breathing
• sight alignment
• trigger control

It will take a good bit of practice on you part FiveBillionAcres so be willing to to put in the time & effort. I'd recommend keeping a journal so you can track your progress as well. Write down EVERYTHING, no matter how insignificant. Over time you can refer back to your notes and you'll notice patterns of what works and what doesn't.

Don't forget physical fitness. Muscle control, heart and breathing rate, and the ability to slow those all depend on being reasonably fit. Moreover, endorphins help quiet your mind and focus on the business at hand.

It helps to find your natural point of aim. Close your eyes and shoulder the rifle. Find a comfortable stance, and open your eyes. If you are pointing to one side of the target, adjust your feet and repeat.

Your forward hand should be pulling the gun into your shoulder, not just supporting its weight. The muscle tension reduces your wobble, and the habit will help when shooting guns with noticeable recoil.

On that 10/22, putting in an aftermarket Volquartsen or Power Custom hammer would be a big big help to the trigger pull. Just swapping out the hammer, without doing anything else, will change it from the six or eight pound pull it has now to between two and three pounds. Much easier to get the thing to go bang just when the sights are on.

Keep your scope turned down to around 4x and you won't see all the movement. The 8 second advice is sound.

Keep your scope turned down to around 4x and you won't see all the movement.

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You won't see it, but it will still be there. I find that turning my scope up to the highest power amplifies my shaking and allows me to correct it, thus making me better at holding it steady. It is bad for trigger control though, as the urge to jerk the trigger becomes greater.
Might want to try pulling the gun tight into your shoulder too. Also, watch some olympic 3 position shooters shooting offhand.

Pracitice. Yes, the movement is there. The idea is to build your confidence.

Just remember, even if you do use the higher magnification, turn it down once in a while for trigger control practice, and if you use the lowest, maybe turn it up every now and then, once you're comfortable with the lower magnifications, for steadiness.

not to be insulting, but... are you taking a proper hold and stance with the rifle? Is it aligned with your body properly, and vice versa? Does it rest in your forehand properly? Are you taking a proper posture? Are yu holding it to your shoulder properly? Trigger squeeze?

http://www.marines.cc/content/view/82/56/

There are some good techniques shown in some of the manuals here.

Get Ye to an Appleseed Shoot !

These are tailor made for folks like you, who want to learn and improve their shooting skills.

Take your 10/22 and get some seriously good marksmanship instruction for $70 for the entire weekend!

Good luck.

+1 on the Appleseed.

wth theres not to many appleseeds in ohio

Master the Hasty Sling

Standing while shooting is the least desirable position. A hasty sling with left elbow directly under the stock and right elbow 90 degrees straight-out is the proper position for best results in "off-hand" shooting. I like cobra-style slings. Sling adjustment is crucial, while a comfortable hold is not a consideration. Steadiness and comfort are not synonimous while standing. Turning one's left hand outward is even less comfortable, yet may be advantagious to accuracy. Everyone's anatomy is unique, so try different holds. If it's uncomfortable, it's probably steady. Cliffy

Definitely look at the techniques suggested, but here are a few basics off the top of my head:

-Get your RIGHT elbow UP - parallel to the ground. This creates a pocket for your rifle butt.
-Get your left elbow into the side of your ribcage. This gives you support.
-The trigger should be to the left of the first joint on your trigger finger.
-Without a round in the chamber - Stand sideways to your target - left foot in front...close your eyes. Put the rifle up to your cheek and aim with your eyes closed. If you are not close to being on-target, adjust your feet, do it again and practice this stance until you naturally point your whole body at the target.
-Maintain a consistent sight picture. The front sight, rear sight and target should always look the same to you. Otherwise all your other improvements mean nothing.
-Aim at your target and hold your breath.
-The sights will always sway around the target. Decide for yourself when the amount of sway is acceptable. Your shot will land somewhere in this range. If it's not acceptable, relax, take a deep breath and set up again.
-When the sway is acceptable, s-q-u-e-e-z-e the trigger so it surprises you when it goes off.
-FOLLOW THROUGH - Maintain your sight picture through the shot.
-CALL your shot to yourself before it's marked. "High Right"..."Low"...etc.
-Check your shooting on each shot, not just the group. Use a spotting scope, binoculars, rifle scope or telescope. You will only improve as a rifleman if you measure yourself on every single shot.

-Your objective is to keep every fiber of your body still except for the few trigger finger muscles involved in pulling a few pounds of trigger.
-Just like a big league pitcher or at the free-throw line...get into a cadence. The difference is, this cadence involves a lot more gear and the adjustments are MUCH more small and precise. Have your range bag, clothing, ammo, gun, sights, etc. set up the same way every time. Get rid of anything you don't need up at the shooting line.

Gear:
-A sling will not really help you shoot standing up. (Well-- maybe a Ching Sling can, but I have no experience with one). But it is invaluable for shooting prone, sitting and for carrying your rifle. Start with a simple cotton green US military sling and learn how to use it correctly. You will probably have to add wider sling swivels to make it work on your Ruger.
-Wear a thick glove on your left hand. Even a thick ski glove will work. Something with a good grip and to insulate the rifle from your body.
-Wear a sweatshirt and a leather or canvas jacket. Again - something with a good grip and to insulate the rifle from your body.
-When you're ready to move up, spend some bucks on a nice shooting coat. But they are not at all necessary to start.
-Wear a good pair of boots.
-Wear long pants and long sleeves to keep the sun, bugs and neighbor's stray brass from bothering you.
-I always have problems with hats and sweating, but a baseball or boonie hat will keep the sun off your eyes and the hot brass off your skull.
-Ear and eye protection.

-SHOOT SAFELY!

wth theres not to many appleseeds in ohio

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There was just one, last weekend, in Gibsonburg!

There is one coming to Canton/Minerva area October 25-26. http://appleseedinfo.org/smf/index.php?topic=1754.0

I bet there may be one or two more, yet in 2008.

However, there are plans for 12 or more for 2009!

another thing; I just noticed we are talking about a 10.22 here; You can dry fire it all you want, without hurting anything. Do not hesitate to put a small sticky target of some type, on a wall, and practice all the above things. that feeling of confidence and relaxation sets in with muscle memory, and this takes several hundred rounds to achieve. The best thing we have going here, is since we aretalking 22's , it is not that much diff in sound and recoil, from dry fireing, like a centerfire would be. So put a target on the wall, and shoot away!!!!

Don't be too hard on yourself. That is always my problem. I hold a really high standard for myself, and when I fail to reach it, as I sometimes do, it makes it really hard for me to forget and move on. Regarding mistakes, you have to have a short memory--like a quarterback. Take lessons from them, but mentally, be prepared to focus on the next shot, not the last one. Remember that these are not skills man is innately born with. They must be taught and practiced diligently.

I think it was the late Col Cooper who stated that only good men can be good shots. Self-control is the defining quality of both good shots, and good men. Being a good shot requires discipline, focus, and control. All of these things are largely mental, as opposed to physical. While on the subject of quotes, Thomas Jefferson is quoted as saying the regular sports give exercise to the body but not to the mind. Shooting exercises the mind, which he felt was more important. So he recommended (paraphrasing) "..the rifle be the constant companion of your walks..."

My 10/22 had a terrible trigger when I bought it. Maybe Ruger is putting better triggers in the rifles they ship nowdays, I don't know. If not, I definitely recommend you have a competition hammer dropped in there. One of the best $35 purchases I've ever made. It's really hard to keep a 6 pound rifle steady with an 8 pound trigger pull.

Few people are really at their best offhand. I recommend you start lower and work up. Get a good prone position built so you can focus more on trigger pull and breathing, and on focusing on the front sight (when using iron sights), instead of keeping the muzzle still. As your breathing and trigger control increases, and your confidence build, work to the sitting position, then the kneeling, and finally to the standing (offhand) position. Remember that these skills take time to obtain. But practicing is fun, and in the end, it is well worth it.

The other issue to mange is breath control.

The "chicken wing" stance with the weak hand supporting the stock, wrapped through the sling will steady you noticeably.

Next issue is breathing control, this can make the difference between and X ring and a flyer.....

Bring the rifle snugly to shoulder (if it's loose it'll hurt)

Don't do a death grip on the grip or stock as you will shortly start to micro tremble as your muscles tighten up.

Sight and breath in and out normally, do not take up tension in your arms.

There will be sight wobble, mostly be vertical at this point and is a natural consequence of breathing......quite important to you....

When you have the target acquired, take any slack in the sling up and breath in and out deeply twice, FULLY. Expect the rifle to move up and down in a vertical plane.

On the second breath out, exhale, stop and do not "hold your breath", you have already flushed the carbon dioxide, which triggers the breathing reflex and you will not feel a need to breath for 5 -10 seconds.

Vertical wobble will be minimal now, bring the sights down to the target and squeeze the trigger, following through and then safety on and relax.

If you still don't feel you are sighted well, want to shift position etc stop, finger off trigger, safety on, tension off hands and arms, wait a short time and restart the process.

If you stay in tension or hold your breath you will quickly start feeling your lungs and blood flow pulsing and you'll be all over the target.

The idea is to surprise yourself when the round goes down range.

You can do a lot of this at home before going to the range so you are prepared before hand.

The biggest points are be comfortable in a position, know your limitations and enjoy what your doing. The more you fret the worse it'll get.......