Does everyone know how to establish their natural point of aim?

[PWC]

I see a lot of new shooters here and asking for help with shooting small groups. Usually the answers center around powder, bullet and primer. I think more basically it should start with the shooter.

I used to coach Jr smallbore. First thing after sight alignment and sight picture was natural point of aim, after they can demonstrate properly holding the rifle.

With the unloaded rifle, close your eyes and shoulder the rifle and get a cheek weld. Then open your eyes and check for sight alignment, and adjust their position as necessary. Repeat; very shortly they will develop muscle memory for sight alignment.

Then, have them face a target, and repeat the exercise. When they open their eyes they will see how far off target they are: hold position. The forward foot is the anchor, move the back foot left or right, forward or backward until the sights are aligned on the target making a complete sight picture. The front sight will wobble in a horizontal 8 because you can't hold still. Your heart beat alone will move the sight. With practise the wobble will get smaller (sooner without coffee).

The idea is to get on target with no muscle stress. Don't muscle the rifle onto the target because during recoil, the rifle will want to go back to its natural point of aim off target, which must be then muscled back on target for the next shot. Properly set up, the rifle will come out of recoil back on target.

Building muscle memory by practicing shouldering the rifle, sight alignment, and natural point of aim can be practiced at home with a thumbtack stuck in the wall, as the target, about shoulder height.

 

[wiscoaster]

I learned another method from a YouTube video that doesn't involve the firearm at all, so I think could be considered to be a preliminary step to the method described in the OP:
1) Face the target.
2) Close your eyes.
3) Point at the target with your index finger.
4) Open you eyes and take note of where you're pointing.
Repeat as necessary until you're on target.
So, even more basic, you're establishing in your mind:
1) What the target looks like.
2) Where the target is in relation to where you are.
3) The direction from you to the target.
4) What it feels like when your "natural" pointing direction is correct.
Master the mental before mastering the muscle.

 

[lightman]

I have to agree with you. At some point good equipment makes a difference. But at the basic level its about the shooter. Learn good fundamentals. Breath control, sight picture, trigger squeeze.

To find my naturally comfort place I do the closed eye point with the finger thing.

 

[PWC]

The problem with using your arm is it isn't the rifle, and it can be all over the place.

However; if you are shooting a handgun, the off hand thumb becomes your pointer with 2 handed hold.

Extend arm and use your off hand pointy finger to point at a distant object....feels normal. Now, close your off hand loosley and extend your arm and point your thumb at the distant object. It will cause your arm to roll outward and you can feel the elbow "lock".

Now with an unloaded handgun, point it one handed normally, then wrap your off hand around the other grip but with the thumb pointing at the target. I think you'll find the gun better supported, at least I do.

 

[FL-NC]

Most people can't even almost define natural point of aim, and therefore don't understand the importance of it. I had to teach this as a sniper instructor to soldiers already in Special Operations units when they decided to go down the path to get sniper qualified. I even made sure those assigned to my team who weren't even destined for sniper training fully understood and applied the concept in the use of their standard issue weapons- and they were able to witness firsthand the improvement in their marksmanship as their group sizes shrunk, using the same equipment that they were always using.

 

[Varminterror]

I see your cultural unfamiliarity with NPOA and raise you recoil management, and if you call, I’ll raise trigger management…

Marksmanship is not an inherent instinct. It’s not innate to the human condition. “Self-taught” is a fallacy.

 

[Poper]

Marksmanship is not an inherent instinct. It’s not innate to the human condition. “Self-taught” is a fallacy.

You are correct, of course. Still, there are some people more attuned to shooting than others.

I began shooting BB guns under the supervision and with the close instruction of my father in our basement when I was 6 or 7 years old. I liked it immensely and have been a competition smallbore shooter since the ripe old age of 11. Now 66 years old, I find I still have room for improvement and always find something to learn.

 

[PWC]

Why gamble?

In this time of component drouth, it would be a good time for basics review.

 

[Bazoo]

I’m interested in the basics, to refresh myself. Can someone suggest a tutorial for basic rifle and basic handgun marksmanship fundamentals.

 

[J-Bar]

I’m interested in the basics, to refresh myself. Can someone suggest a tutorial for basic rifle and basic handgun marksmanship fundamentals.

Sadly, I cannot give you a link to such a tutorial.

Until you find one, which I hope you will share with us, practice squeezing the trigger in such a way that the sight picture is not disturbed. In my experience, trigger control is 90+% of the battle.

I am 78 years old, and have been shooting for more than 60 of those years. And I still have to consciously focus on trigger control to avoid jerking the shot. I envy those lucky few for whom trigger management is instinctive or a secondary goal. I’m not there yet.

 

[Dr T]

This is sort of like my measure of how well my rifle fits. I stand in an off hand position and look at my target. I then shoulder the rifle. If the crosshairs are on my target, the rifle "fits" me.

My No.1 RSI passes this test spectacularly, and a couple of my bolt guns pass it well enough for me to take them seriously hunting. Other bolt guns do not do it well for me (e.g. Weatherby Vanguards), but most are sort of in the middle.

 

[Dr T]

As a response to J-Bar: Over the last half a decade I have had to practice a drill to get rid of the dread disease of buck fever (I have been hunting over 60 years and it still tries to sneak up on me). The first day of the season, I will sit in my blind waiting for the deer to show up (they are generally out 110 to 160 yds). Then, with the rifle on SAFE, I will take careful aim at the ears of the does and squeeze the trigger. I will repeat this until the crosshairs do not move off of the does' ears and I am no longer jerking the trigger. Then I will seriously start hunting. (Disclaimer: My license has "up to" 5 doe tags, and we have a lot of does.)

 

[AzShooter1]

Thanks to all for the wonderful information. NPOA is something I learned years ago in Archery. It still works for my pistol shooting. I don't have much experience with rifles.

 

[PWC]

I’m interested in the basics, to refresh myself. Can someone suggest a tutorial for basic rifle and basic handgun marksmanship fundamentals.

One of the best is "NRA Junior Rifle Shooting" "A handbook for young people on the sport of rifle shooting"
Years ago our program bought cases of these and gave them out to the juniors on the program. Very good basic instruction. Get past the fact that the pictures show BB guns, air rifles and .22 smallbore. Basic fundimentals apply from BB guns to high power center fire. Takes you thru aiming, breath control, hold control, trigger control, and all four shooting positions.

Unfortunately, I can't find the book on the NRA site, but they are on eBay, Amazon and ETSY. The NRA site is, to me, no longer easy to navigate.

The CMP website has the Army Marksmanship Unit manual "Service Rifle Marksmanship Guide". It shows the same thing but from a more adult perspective. I recommend both, in the order presented. Get a hilighter too.

 

[35 Whelen]

I shot our local High Power matches for a while and doing so profoundly changed the way I shoot. (I'll argue until I die that any rifleman wanting to learn to be truly effective with a long arm should participate in these matches.) I was taught all the fundamentals but natural point of aim was the last I learned and every bit as important as the other fundamentals. Basically using NPOA means not doing anything to the rifle to influence where it's pointed.

35W

 

[Walkalong]

Getting comfortable with the rifle.