Becoming a better marksman

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Nathanael_Greene

Nathanael_Greene

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I was at the rifle range yesterday (shooting my new Savage in 30-06), and I was frankly disappointed at my poor results.

The rifle isn't to blame; on some rare instances I was able to put together some decent strings. I got a clear sight picture through the scope, and was in a fairly comfortable shooting position. But I was very inconsistent.

I think part of it was that the recoil was pretty stout (a lot more than from the 30-30 I'm more used to and halfway decent with) and I began to think about it too much.

Can anyone recommend some practice I can do at home between trips to the range to improve my consistency?

I was never in the military, so I haven't had exposure to any training of that sort.

Thanks!
 
Can anyone recommend some practice I can do at home between trips to the range to improve my consistency?
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Try shooting a Highpower match - great people and even better instruction. Can't say enough about how much you will learn from this path.
 
Hmm...glad I wasn't the first to beat that drum. I concurr with Sven's suggestion.

"I was never in the military, so I haven't had exposure to any training of that sort."

With exception of the Marines, this is probably a good thing.
 
Pick up Cooper's "Art of the Rifle". Study the technique and practice the different positions with lots of dry fire. If the recoil bothers you, try some lighter loads (red box American Eagle 150gr are pretty light), a recoil pad or rolled up towel for the shoulder and double up on hearing protection (lots of perceived recoil can be tied to muzzle blast).

Other than that, nothing is better than trigger time for improvement.
 
Learn about "Natural Point of Aim"

That made a big difference for me.

Try to get off the bench, and do more from prone, sitting, offhand, etc.

Another vote for a High power match. This also may do double duty for you as a qualifier for CMP purchases. Because your next rifle should be an M1 Garand of course...
 
I think part of it was that the recoil was pretty stout (a lot more than from the 30-30 I'm more used to and halfway decent with) and I began to think about it too much.
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Yep, that pretty much sums it up.

Nothing personal against any suggestions put forth here, but if you really want to screw things up, go to a match. You think you're thinking too hard now? Pishaw. Competition'll make it worse, unless you make it your life (but then, chances are, you'll wreck any natural ability you might've had before for "real" situations, like hunting...).

One thing to remember about competiton or military training - it assumes everyone can only shoot with one particular technique to hit the target. In a robotic world, that might be true. It's done that way in the interest of teaching to masses of people. "I" am not one of the "masses", and neither are "you". We all have our own way of doing things. That's not to say the training is bad, but it should say that generalized training for the masses would be like saying a bandaid and an aspirin cures all ailments.

Chalk it up to a bad day, and stop thinking too hard. If you don't see the bullet hitting the target/animal before you put the rifle into your cheek, you're thinking too hard.

Try this - bring your 30-30 with you next time. If things aren't going well with the 30-06, "rest" with a few shots from the 30-30 in between to calm your nerves and boost your confidence.

As larryw said above, "Other than that, nothing is better than trigger time for improvement."
 
Buy a 22

If you do not have a 22 caliber rifle, buy one and keep practicing.

Look around for a small bore league or some other type of organized competition. It will push you and you can learn from others.

JPM
 
A bolt action 30-06 is going to beat you up. You should definitely get a recoil pad(s) or you'll be developing some bad, flinchy habits. Even better would be a little less rifle to practice with for a time being until you can develop some sound fundamentals.

I recommend shooting highpower rifle competitions. Borrow a Garand from your local club. The recoil is much easier on the M1. I think they're pretty comfortable to shoot.

If you can shoot well in prone, sitting and offhand, you'll be able to shoot a rifle well in any real world application (except in those situations where the local SWAT team calls you out of the blue because they need someone that can kicking down a door and make 4 shots before the first ejected case hits the floor).
 
:p

"(except in those situations where the local SWAT team calls you out of the blue because they need someone that can kicking down a door and make 4 shots before the first ejected case hits the floor)."

Ooo, don't you just hate it when they do that? Last time they rousted me up off the couch I was in the middle of my shows...:D
 
One thing to remember about competiton or military training - it assumes everyone can only shoot with one particular technique to hit the target. In a robotic world, that might be true. It's done that way in the interest of teaching to masses of people. "I" am not one of the "masses", and neither are "you". We all have our own way of doing things. That's not to say the training is bad, but it should say that generalized training for the masses would be like saying a bandaid and an aspirin cures all ailments.
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Military and "tactical" training may be robotic (I am going to assume it is, for as you say yankytrash, it IS supposed to teach masses of people the fundamentals).

I have found that practicing for Highpower has actually made me more comfortable with ANY rifle, not just my beloved AR-15. You need to have a basic foundation to start from, but once established it is easy to adopt and try new ideas. My first introductions were very standardized in position development. Now everything I do to hit targets with a rifle is far from that standard I learned.

Case in point: Most people are taught to not cant their rifle when shooting. I have experimented and found I am more stable when I do. My sitting position with an AR-15 is canted so far I have to put on between 3 and 3.5 minutes of left windage for 200 yards. Of course this canting lines my eye glasses up behind the rear aperture more reliably. (There is much method to my madness.)

This is not meant as a bash in any way, shape or form. Just an observation from one innocent bystander! :)

BTW, Mr. Greene, I also vote for trying out a Highpower match! :D And I will also recommend practicing with a .22LR and dry-firing.
 
before beginning any journey, it's help

ful to know which direction and how far you want to go, ya know. Do you seek field ability for defensive shooting? Not likely, with a bolt action. Do you seek snapshooting skills for the deep woods taking of deer? Possible, given the 30-30. Do you want to take long range game? Not much to it, you just have to use a bipod and prone, have a rangefinder, and wait for the ideal shot-conditions. You could get a rubber shotgun recoil pad fitted, a PAST gel filled shooting vest, a BOSS compensator, to help with the recoil, and use less powerful reloads, until you get used to the greater recoil of the 06.

Take a good look at stock design and fit. Some belt you a lot more than others, you know. You can drill holes in forend and add lead shot to them and to buttstock hole, increasing wt and reducing felt recoil. Be sure to use really good earmuffs, all the time, as well as shooting glasses. Tiny particles of oil, or hot powder striking your eyes can really induce severe flinch. Have someone videotape you shooting, and notice if you are moving your head, or blinking at the shot. Make up some dummy rounds, mix them into the handful of live rds you are going to fire. Carefully notice, when you hit the "dud" if your head or the sights "twitch". Dryfire a lot, it wont hurt a bolt action, and since it's just a toy, it won't matter if it does, really. Get a really nice trigger letoff, with zero trigger movement after the sear releases. That's easy to do with modern bolt actions.
 
Get a book on shooting from your local library. Just about any older book will do. Most libraries have 50's/60's/70's published hunting/shooting related books that provide a lot of the good basic information on breathing and positioning, as well as use of a sling. Once you get your "book learnin", take the knowledge to the range and practice. The NRA also puts out some good basic instructional books on the various shooting disciplines.
 
another maybe for recoil.. if you're shooting off a bench, try getting down in some field positions. My old bolt .30-06 was absolute murder off a bench, but once you're down in a seated or offhand position it was a pussycat.. it shoves you around alright, but doesn't hurt anything like off a bench, since the body can absorb the recoil by being pushed around.

-K
 
. My old bolt .30-06 was absolute murder off a bench, but once you're down in a seated or offhand position it was a pussycat.. it shoves you around alright, but doesn't hurt anything like off a bench, since the body can absorb the recoil by being pushed around.
Click to expand...

Good points! Also, once you learn how to shoot with a sling (where your left arm is almost lashed to the forend of the stock), you'll find that your left hand will take up to about half the recoil energy instead of having all of it directed to your shoulder.
 
Thanks for the tips, everyone. I've got a couple of snapcaps in 30-06; I'll mix them in to see if I'm jerking the trigger or flinching when I shoot.

In terms of other rifle shooting, as I said, I'm decent (not outstanding) with a 30-30 at 100 yards, so I guess part of the equation is just to get more accustomed to the bolt and to the effects of a 30-06. I guess I'll take both rifles to the range next time and see how my shooting contrasts between the two.

I'll practice with the sling, too, since I think that's a good habit for a number of reasons.

My goal is to be able to reliably make effective 100-yard shots on a deer-sized target. My first time out with the 30-06, I don't think I did better than about 4".

I'll see if I can dig up a copy of Col. Cooper's book while I'm at it.
 
I agree with the .22 idea. Try to find a scope that is close to the Savage's scope. For the price of a 20 round box of 30.06 you can get 500 rounds of .22 LR. Practice, practice, practice. Not to mention fun, fun, fun.:D
 
All good advice that's been given here.

Dry fire practice with snap caps done often WILL help ................. and can be done from the comfort of your home.

here's another little trick .................. buy, borrow, steal an air rifle - set it up at 10 meters and shoot, shoot, shoot. Concentrate on form & hold while you're doing it - not results.....................some are real accurate some ain't. You want to work on form & function. If you can learn to shoot low powered (400-600fps) air rifle well, you can shoot ANYTHING well. I did WONDERS for my skills. :D
 
I have ruined my shooting by trying that match highpower target thingy once or twice.
It has made it extremly hard to hunt deer and elk as they are moving not like those easy targets in that highpower shooting target thingy games.

I am afraid to even attempt goose hunting or ducks or even rabbits again because by the time I get in the prone position to get a shot I either can't see the game anymore or they are already gone.

and that rapid fire stuff is not what its cracked up to be.
Why would I want to shoot bambi's father 10 times and if its moving well thats no good?

Hey I met one of those ex highpower shooter type's at a gun show over the weekend and I just had to agree with him as he stopped doing it because it was just to darn easy and why waste your time on something thats easy and will ruin any chance you have to be half way good at hunting or anything else.

now why don't they try shooting at those targets at 200 yards or even 300 yards or try something real funny 600 yards or longer, what a waste of time as we all know you just can't hit anything with open sights at 600 yards why try.

Yeah! like YankeeTrash has do not do it as like him doing it once will give you a excuse for never being able to hunt or hit anything again.

What I just do not understand is why the military waste our soldiers time with practice like YankeeTrash describes.
Oh I guess I will not try that sport anymore, Man thank you for saving me alot of heartbreak as I almost was going to try one of those highpower matchtarget thinghy games again this weeks end!

Thanks Jon
 
Although it may be marginal, some improvement will also occur if you "rest" the rifle between rounds for about 30-60 seconds. Those barrels heat up mighty fast with 30-06 loads and that will schmuoik your groups at 100 yards.
 
I found .30-06 to have too much recoil for me to begin with. So I got a .243 for recoil-free practice. When I become competent with the .243, I'll try .30-06 again.
 
With all due respect to the above posters...

I suspect there's high power, then there's HIGH POWER

Shooting 30-50 shots from a bolt 30-06 from a bench or prone is more fun than I want in an afternoon. I've shot a lot in my life, but I still don't enjoy getting beat up. 50 shots from a 30-06 is as much fun as 3 rounds with Mike Tyson IMO.

I shoot 3" copper solids for deer, .45-90's, a heavy loaded .45-70, and a .300 WM, but getting whacked is getting whacked...period. And I know, some cowboy is gonna pop up and tell us how he shoots 100 straight with a .700 Nitro one handed....yeah, right

Now, an AR with .223's is a whole different program. You could shoot a hundred of those and the effect would be less than one .30-06

You can only kill paper about so dead. 22's kill a 25 yard paper target just as dead as a .458. Funny, when I target shoot with my friends we all do great with our .22's.

Ever notice how many people say "That _____ brand of .22 is REALLY accurate"? Ya think maybe is because they can hit something with it instead of worring about the muzzle blast and recoil????

Point is...get something that's cheap to shoot and do plenty of REAL trigger time. Snap caps and dry firing are fine, but it ain't the real thing. And, I suppose competition is fine as the guys I've met are typically very friendly and helpful....just remember, they've probably put 500,000 more rounds downrange than you have. HTH
 
I'm not here to fight a battle, but I do know that a large group of Marine snipers come from their Highpower team. They feel it is much easier to recruit from there than it is from anywhere else. Actually, this has been true for both the Army and Marines since early Vietnam.

Also, regarding .223 training vice large caliber, I have seen this with my own eyes. I shoot mid-Master scores across the course, and almost always shoot a High Master score at 600 yards slow prone. I recently bought another match M1A and tested it on a slow prone course and still shot a mid-Master score with it. When you learn to handle a rifle, you can very closely repeat your performance with just about anything as long as the rifle is up to the task.
 
The intent of the Highpower Rifle competition (specifically the Service Rifle category) is to promote civilian marksmanship and familiarity with the nation's battle rifles. Grunts don't have bipods and scopes (at least not until last year). It can be run on just about any rifle range in the country without any special range equipment. It's not intended to produce combat-ready civilians. The course of fire is limitied and simple, but very effective in training marksmen the fundamentals of good shooting.

If you can shoot with iron sights offhand, sitting and prone, then shooting with scopes, bipods, etc is going to be an easy transition.

All of the specialized Highpower Comp. gear (coats, mats, gloves, flags) are nothing more than enhancements. I can still hit a soda can at 100yds offhand with any rifle that's up to the task.

Ty
 
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