Informal Marksmanship Training

Buy some sort of semi-auto or a bolt rifle that will accept stripper clips, then start shooting High Power matches. IMHO that's the quickest way to learn every facet of rifle shooting fundamentals. Worked for me.

35W

Do they have any "Appleseed" meets out there?

They seem to recommend a .22 semi-auto rifle, and about 250 or so rounds per day, for those who can visit on both weekend days.
You might check their website. People who attended seem to be happy about their improvements.

Remember, you can easily "pimp" your 10/22... there are stocks, barrels, triggers, and anything else available for those rifles.

As for shooting issues, here are a couple of randomly selected thoughts:

1) Just my humble opinion, but I'd probably focus on the fundamentals of shooting first, then worry about ranging with the mil-dot system later. In other words, eliminate some variables. Instead of wondering if you missed because of a ranging error or shooting error, make sure that you missed because of a shooting error!

2) I also like the walk-before-run philosophy. Before you worry about nailing the 6" steel at 500+ yards, see if you can consistently print sub-inch groups at 100 yards. Then, once you know you're pulling the trigger correctly, you can start to deal with factors of wind, elevation adjustment, and atmospheric compensation, each of which will certainly affect your shooting at longer distances.

3) Take the time to dry fire from your shooting position on the range. First, dry firing is entirely free practice. More importantly, it might reveal some problems with your form that may go unnoticed under the recoil of live fire.

4) Look for the skilled people at your range. Find the guy/gal who is accomplishing the things you want to accomplish, and strike up a conversation. Most gunners are happy to share their knowledge with interested beginners, and you might pick up a few points along the way.

4a) If you can't find a skilled person at your range, attend a couple of rifle matches. Maybe spectate once or twice, try to pick up some tips, and then shoot the match with a purely recreational mindset (you don't have to win to have fun, or learn).

5) When practicing, remember that perfect practice leads more naturally to perfect performance. Have a purpose for the things you do, and think through each shot. What happened? What did you do right? What did you do wrong? What was the result? This may sound simple and elementary, but it seems to me that far too many shooters fail to analyze themselves, and settle instead for a healthy dose of mediocrity. That, of course, is fine if you are just out shooting to have fun. But, if you are trying to improve, there probably ought to be a few more considerations involved.

As an example of this idea, I've known more than a couple of mediocre riflemen/women who have probably fired more than twice the number of rounds that I have in my life, and still fail to perform at even a middle-of-the-road level. It is my belief that their lack of performance is not the result of some inherent deficiency in these individuals, but is instead caused by a lack of purposeful practice and training (even self training) on their part.

6) When you find a skilled rifle shooter among your friends, or among those shooters you meet at the range, you might consider letting them put a group or two through your rifle. In doing so you may discover that your rifle is capable of far more accuracy than you think, or you may discover that you're already doing a pretty good job of placing the bullet where it needs to go.

If you can be more specific about the problems you may get specific answers. If you can post target pics all the better.

Check out some videos on youtube
hidetraining has some good videos
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=775zkbwSqfg

A lot of bad info so be selective.

I tend to take all the 'blame' for bad shot & don't use excuses. Sometimes equipment can be the issue.

+1 for Appleseed or SRS (Servie Rifle silhouette) matches.

Buy some cheap 223 practice rounds. (500 rounds should do it)

Attend at least the first day of an Appleseed with your Remington. Sucks about the drive and the heat, but you'll get the personal fundamentals instruction you need. Both the distance and the heat are inconvenient, but you can suffer through it. After the first day you can decide if its worth it for to attend the second day or not.

Even one day of Appleseed will show you what to work on, and then you can practice on your own for a while.

I been through some formal marksmanship training and attended two week-long camps for 3 position shooting, so trust me when I say Appleseed is a steal, and I can think of no better way rapidly bring a novice up to speed.

Find yourself a qualified instructor. I put "NRA rifle instructors California" into google as one search and up popped about 10 pages of results. Not all are NRA but here is the link to the NRA course schedule: http://www.nrainstructors.org/searchcourse.aspx

What you need is to learn the fundamentals of rifle marksmanship, such as positions, the steps to firing the shot, and trigger control. No one teaches these fundamentals better than Appleseed, and most others charge a lot more money to do it. Appleseed is only $70 for a weekend or $40 for a day. This is because they are a volunteer organization. They actually require a lot more training to become a full Instructor than the NRA does, so their instructors are very knowledgeable.

Appleseed doesn't necessarily recommend a .22... that is just a good cheap option for people who can't afford to burn up 4-500 rounds of centerfire ammo in a weekend. Appleseed is actually geared towards teaching people to make hits on man-sized targets out to 500 yards with center-fire rifles. Most of the shooting is done at 25m on Army Qualification Targets, which allow .22s to participate; but any time they have the facilities for full distance shooting, they use them on the second day of the clinic. I know they have some events in California with full distance facilities. I recommend going to one of those.

If you can afford to shoot your .223 all weekend, you are welcome and encouraged to do so. You might want to practice stuffing rounds in the magazine quickly though... the Army Qualification Test, which is the main target used at Appleseed, has a couple of stages that require reloads under significant time pressure. It can be done with a bolt gun, even without stripper clips, but you have to be quick.

Appleseed teaches sling-supported positions, so I would definitely recommend buying a sling that can be used as a marksmanship aid. The GI web sling that Appleseed sells on their web store is a good (and cheap) option. It requires 1.25" sling swivels, so you'll probably have to buy those too.

Appleseed does not teach the use of bipods, sandbags, or bench rests. Like I said, it is a course on fundamentals... if you want instruction on competition or sniping techniques, you will need to take a class that teaches such things. Appleseed is a good basis for any other more niche-oriented rifle classes you want to take. The fundamentals apply to all rifle shooting.

Jeff, I used to be like you... I was a self-taught shooter and fancied myself pretty good... and I was. Pretty good. But I sure as hell had a lot to learn still, which I realized when I went to my first Appleseed. I promise there is a lot more to rifle marksmanship than you might think, and Appleseed really puts it all together for you. For instance, I never knew what NPOA was, much less how to acquire it and place it on target, and I didn't know that a sling was good for anything other than carrying a rifle over your shoulder. I also heard that term "MOA" and threw it around a little, but I didn't really understand the concept, and didn't know how to apply it to ranges other than 100 yards. I didn't know how to sight in my rifle by firing a single group. I also didn't know about ranging unknown distance targets in the field, and didn't know any good rules of thumb for compensating for wind or bullet drop.

I guarantee you, I don't care how good you are... shooting Expert on the Army Qualification Test and earning your Rifleman's patch is NOT easy. You should give it a try. I bet you anything it would make you a better Rifleman.

You mentioned your local gun clubs matches and a thought occured to me; do they offer or host smallbore matches? I help coach our 4-H smallbore team and it is the same principle as High Power except .22 RF's are used and the target is but 50' away. The clincher is that the target is only about 1 1/2" in diameter. Participants shoot in 3 positions including standing, kneeling, and prone using a sling for support (except in standing).

35W

This is some of the better on-line info you can find.

http://demigodllc.com/articles/practical-long-range-rifle-shooting-optics/

Here's a sim

http://www.shooterready.com/

The on-line info and tips from experienced shooters are good, but by far the best way to learn good fundamentals is to be taught them in a systematic way by trained instructors and then shoot in a coaching environment with experienced coaches hovering over you yelling at you every time you do something wrong. That's how you learn quickly and really make the fundamentals a part of your muscle memory.

Lots of times when you're shooting by yourself, you don't notice your own little bad habits that creep into your shooting. This even happens to the pros, so you know it is much worse for novices, who sometimes aren't even aware that something constitutes a bad habit, even if they are aware that they are doing it.

Appleseed provides this instructing and coaching environment. Appleseed also teaches you how to "call your shots" and analyze your groups to diagnose your own shooting errors, so you know what to look for when you are practicing by yourself.

I have heard really good things about the Appleseed events from people who have attended, so the OP really might want to check them out. I've never attended one myself, but I've known people who have attended and/or instructed at these events.

Like Jeff, I learned shooting without formal training. I've had quite a bit of formal training in more recent years, thanks to my employment in law enforcement. But, for the first 20 years that I shot I was mostly self-taught, or taught by family and friends. I did get some quality informal instruction in a rifle club in college, and I applied those skills to my shooting as well. So, I don't believe that someone needs to take a specific class to gain shooting proficiency, but I do believe that some instruction from a properly skilled shooter can be very helpful!

Absolutely... and the people who are self-taught or naturally good shots seem to take to the formal training much quicker and show much more improvement than just about anybody else.

Another vote for attending a Appleseed.
They're amongst the best at teaching fundamental basic marksmanship.
I qualified Rifleman at my first one.


Another to attend are the Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP).
They too do a great job, and they will help you progress even further, all the way to Camp Perry!