Precision shooting techniques?

[FlyinBryan]

I see threads on this rifle or that one. this barrel or that one. mainenance and cleaning, and a wealth of other great rifle info.

what i dont see a lot of is the actual mechanics of proper precision shooting.

im sure i could be more accurate if i could learn just a few tips from other posters here.

what are your methods for precision shooting?

 

[Sunray]

Geeuz, FlyinBryan, you're asking for a book. Good question though. There are long range shooting clinics put on by the NRA. Jump over to their site to find one. I think the CMP does 'em too.
However, here's a few simple things that might help, given good ammo and a rifle that will shoot it. Use a sling? Gives stability. It's one of those things that are easier to do than explain. Your fore hand goes through the sling and back around the sling to grasp the forestock and have the sling high on your upper arm. That make any sense? Ten seconds in person at a clinic would make it very clear. A target shooting sling isn't the same as a lugging around sling. Most of 'em attach to the rifle in one place.
Personal comfort matters too. Got a shooting matt? $10 will buy you one of those blue foam camping matts in Walmart. Keeps you off wet dirt. Or just out of the dirt.
Concentration is a big thing. If you're worried about anything in your regular life, you won't shoot well. In any case, aside from being able to read the wind and mirage(that'd be the heat waves coming off the ground. Mirage will tell you about how the wind is blowing down range.). The wind can be different at the firing point and the targets. You have to watch the range flags.
Your best bet would be to jump on one of the clinics. Ask at the next match or practice you go to. Shooters tend to bend over backwards, with no expectations, to help.

 

[DRYHUMOR]

Breathing and heartbeat, your heartbeat can move the point of impact as much as an MOA, depending on distance. Get all setup, and then look through the scope and make note of what your heartbeat is doing to the sight picture. Then take in a slow breath, release half, hold. Imagine pulling the trigger at that time, should be a bit more steady.

Fine tune as needed, and try to learn to call where the round went as the trigger broke.

Lay off the caffiene, it can get you jittery.

 

[keyboard commando]

Eight Steady Hold Factors

1. The butt of the rifle should fit into the pocket of the shoulder.

2. The forearm of the rifle should lie across the heel of the left hand and rest in the "U" formed by the thumb and forefinger. Grip should be relaxed. Slight rearward pressure is applied, pulling the rifle butt into the shoulder.

3. Lower three fingers and thumb of right hand are firm (not tense) around grip exerting steady rearward pressure to pull rifle butt into the pocket of the shoulder. Trigger finger is relaxed alongside (not in) trigger guard.

4. Position of the elbows will vary according to shooting position. In the standing position the right elbow should be horizontal to the ground, the left elbow directly under the rifle.

5. Use the Spot Weld on rifles that allow it. Place the right cheekbone against the right thumb as it wraps around the small of the stock. This locates the shooter's eye at the same place behind the rear sight each time the weapon is shouldered.

6. Use the Stock Weld on rifles with stocks where the length of pull or presence of a pistol grip preclude the use of the spot weld. Place the cheek directly against the stock. Be diligent to locate the cheek in the same location on the stock each time.

7. Avoid tension. Muscles that are overly tense cause trembling. A firm grip rather than a desperate grasp, steady rather than strained pressure seating the rifle butt into the shoulder.

8. Control your breathing. Take a deep breath as the rifle is brought into position. As the sights begin to come into alignment, let half to most of the breath out. Your rifle will be steadier at this point, and trigger squeeze may be executed.

 

[Lex]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gAso3l7UCU

and


http://www.huntingmag.com/big_game/dirty_dozen/

 

[22to45]

How to be accurate:

Don't touch it off until the sight is where you want it..

 

[everallm]

Use of a sling, stance and probably most important 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.......

 

[BigBuckMaster]

one word for you: Weaver Stance. oh, thats two. my bad. basicly, you tak a half step back with your right foot (of left, if left handed) and have your hands join together. fire away!

 

[BigBuckMaster]

oops, i didnt notice that you said "RIFLE". my bad.

 

[hksw]

What type of shooting are you looking into? Benchrest? Position? Silhouette? etc.?

 

[Tarvis]

Read Jeff Cooper's "The Art of The Rifle" for starters.

 

[FlyinBryan]

What type of shooting are you looking into? Benchrest? Position? Silhouette? etc.?

benchrest mostly

 

[P-32]

Bench Rest? That will not make you a better rifleman. Good luck on finding a bench rest out in the field.

Want to make your self a better Rifleman? NRA High Power. It makes working with a scope a cake walk too. Why? You have to learn how to do about everything all ready brought up just to keep your bullets in the black.

 

[FlyinBryan]

Good luck on finding a bench rest out in the field.

lets just assume i CAN find one in the field. (the one i built in the field),,,,,any techniques or tips for shooting from it?

 

[FlyinBryan]

great read king.

i liked reading the background to support and give some insight to the way you came up and learned to shoot.

it sounds familiar (cept for the attack cats, lol.

thx for the post.

 

[helz_mcfugly]

make it fully auto and just shoot till you hit it. HAH. you know like the towelyban

 

[FlyinBryan]

make it fully auto and just shoot till you hit it. HAH. you know like the towelyban

lol@ towely ban.

after you left the range yesterday we came home and ordered 3 of these:

http://www.midwayusa.com/eproductpage.exe/showproduct?saleitemid=168462

and 250 of these:

http://www.midwayusa.com/eproductpage.exe/showproduct?saleitemid=533930

figured id give the noslers a shot.

 

[Art Eatman]

The earlier comment about heartbeat is well-put. Olympic shooters learn to press the trigger between heartbeats.

Nobody is a human benchrest. There is always going to be a small amount of wobbling around. There is that 0.2-second time lag between the time your brain recognizes what your eye sees as a proper sight picture, and the actual motion of your trigger finger.

The deal, then, is to learn to anticipate where your crosshairs or your iron-sight alignment will be in 0.2 seconds, and that's when you tell your trigger finger, "Do it!"

 

[user4574]

make shure that you slow your breathing down before you shoot, theorefore you are more relaxed.

concentrate on your target, nothing else.

use a sling or bipod and stock support (sandbag)

if you are firing in the prone position use your hips to adjust your natural sight allignment.

use good ammo!!!

hope this helps a little bit.

User4574

 

[Tarvis]

If you can pull the trigger without moving the gun chances are you will soon become a very good shooter

Good point, but what about NPOA (natural point of aim)? Firing from a good field position without setting the NPOA on the target will widen groups which is irrelevant to the rifleman, whose only concern is hitting the target on the first shot, but it is none-the-less important if it makes the accuracy potential larger than the target.

Taking an Appleseed is another great way to learn the basics; it helped me a lot.

 

[aka108]

Don't go partying the night before you shoot if you want any accuracy. You'll never do good with a hangover from over indulging in booze the night before no matter how high priced the stuff is. Voice of experience speaking here.

 

[plinky]

I'm not so much of a precision shooter but there is one thing that I have learned and relearned every time I think it might not apply:

Even in rifles which seem to have little or no recoil, hold the rifle firmly and consistantly to your shoulder. Even in a mild shooting combo my groups shrink quite a bit with a firm hold. I have read that some shooters let the rifle freely recoil and in fact touch the rifle as little as possible. I've not found a situation yet where that worked well for me.