- Joined
- Jan 28, 2003
- Messages
- 13,344
I wrote this in response to a question about how to become familiar with a new heavy double rifle. However it applies to any new rifle or an old rifle that you haven't made friends with yet.
One of the most critical things in my estimation are comfort and familiarity with your rifle.
Here is how I have achieved that with my doubles and all of the other rifles that I wear like a comfortable pair of boots. The first rule is to shoot a lot. Once you know that your rifle is sighted in for your chosen load you can get off the sticks/bench and do some meaningful shooting.
It is tough to get what you need at a gun range but if it's all that you have then so be it. At the range with a heavy double rifle practice with reduced loads at first so that you won't get wicked flinch built in. In rifles that are caliber .400 and under I think it is fine to practice with full house loads as they aren't all that hard on you.
I set four targets up, one at 75 on at 50 one at 25 and one at 10 yards. I will shoot the 25 yard target first off to warm up then I move into my drill. Fire two shots at the 75 yard target and do an emergency reload then fire one barrel or one round each in to the 50 and the 25 emergency reload and stick two into the 10 yard target start off slow than speed up as your accuracy and reload technique get better. All of this is done off hand standing. Don't worry about tiny little group just get to where you can put them all somewhere around the middle of the paper.
You can modify this as necessary with movement left to right and back and forth and target sequence as is allowed at your range.
After you become handy with the reduced power loads try the same thing after thoroughly cleaning the lead out of your bore if you were using reduced lead loads. Next try it with full house loads and add in some reactive targets like water jugs or some type of reactive steel. There is nothing more entertaining than busting water jugs with a rifle or flipping steel. Another reactive target that I am going to have to try is a balloon with 2 teaspoons of flower inserted then blown up I hear that it is a fun and cheap reactive target.
Next and much better than the range is taking a walk with your rifle and picking out rocks at various ranges and busting them from all sorts of different positions some with a double tap some with a single some with emergency reloads some without. Same goes for a bolt gun, practice your bolt stroke so that you can put three or four rounds on target in as many seconds at varying ranges from various field positions. Not only is this great for your shooting skills it is fun too! Of course you've got to have place to do this and they are not always easy to find. I have a nice pond on a ranch that I lease with a big dirt bank on the far side. I love to play at keeping a stick airborne with my .470 NE and full power loads I also love to do this with any caliber of bolt rifle from .22LR up to .458 Lott. Once you get that thing moving you are having so much fun shooting the stick you hardly notice the recoil of your rifle. Of course the occasional bullfrog or turtle is fun to launch too if it's allowed in your area.
The best however is using your rifle on live game in simulated DG conditions and I know of no better scenario than hunting hogs in thick cover in the Southern U.S.. On my lease I shoot between 50 and 200 hogs a year many of them with a double or some other iron sighted rifle. Shots range from just off the muzzle to way out yonder. I've killed hogs in simulated charge situations it is not a real charge by any means but the angles and the closure rates are similar. It isn't uncommon for confused hogs to run right at you as they try and escape they are running in your direction simply to get away but the shot is still on a coming at you critter. So it is valuable trigger time. I've shot them passing side to side I've shot them running away, standing still you name it you get to do it all on a good hog property. I've also had the opportunity to shoot them at long range, once you figure out that your double is a very valuable tool at 150 or even 200 + yards and that your bullets shoot way flatter than you imagined. You also figure out how usable iron sights are in most conditions.This is a serious confidence builder too! I've gotten to the point where I can bust rocks at 300 yards all day long with my heavy double it's just about knowing where to hold. Would I take that long range low percentage shot on game? You bet your butt I would on a wounded buff or elephant that was getting away into the thick stuff. I've done it before with a heavy bolt gun. I've never had the opportunity on DG to take a long back up shot with a double but I'll be ready if the day ever comes. I've smoked a couple of tripod hog way out there with a double. If you don't shoot you'll never know what you are capable of. Hogs are free and classified as a destructive pest so you might as well sling some lead at them. It's a great opportunity to see just how far you can push it.
I know that having a place to shoot multiple hogs isn't an option for many people but there is no better time spent with a double rifle or any rifle for that matter than on real life game. Even jack rabbits are a great tool for training if that's all you've got. In any case shoot a lot and mix it up don't stay on the sticks or the bench any longer than you need to. After awhile your rifle will become an extension of your body, once you get to the point where you don't need to think about proper form, when it just happens automatically. When you automatically go to the second trigger, when you stoke your bolt reflexively, when you don't even remeber having to aim, when you don't even notice your rifle going off besides the boom. When you don't have to think about your breath control.At this point you are totally relaxed and comfortable with your rifle. That is when you've reached a state of "zen" with your rifle and that is when you are ready to start hunting with it.
Good luck and have fun.
One of the most critical things in my estimation are comfort and familiarity with your rifle.
Here is how I have achieved that with my doubles and all of the other rifles that I wear like a comfortable pair of boots. The first rule is to shoot a lot. Once you know that your rifle is sighted in for your chosen load you can get off the sticks/bench and do some meaningful shooting.
It is tough to get what you need at a gun range but if it's all that you have then so be it. At the range with a heavy double rifle practice with reduced loads at first so that you won't get wicked flinch built in. In rifles that are caliber .400 and under I think it is fine to practice with full house loads as they aren't all that hard on you.
I set four targets up, one at 75 on at 50 one at 25 and one at 10 yards. I will shoot the 25 yard target first off to warm up then I move into my drill. Fire two shots at the 75 yard target and do an emergency reload then fire one barrel or one round each in to the 50 and the 25 emergency reload and stick two into the 10 yard target start off slow than speed up as your accuracy and reload technique get better. All of this is done off hand standing. Don't worry about tiny little group just get to where you can put them all somewhere around the middle of the paper.
You can modify this as necessary with movement left to right and back and forth and target sequence as is allowed at your range.
After you become handy with the reduced power loads try the same thing after thoroughly cleaning the lead out of your bore if you were using reduced lead loads. Next try it with full house loads and add in some reactive targets like water jugs or some type of reactive steel. There is nothing more entertaining than busting water jugs with a rifle or flipping steel. Another reactive target that I am going to have to try is a balloon with 2 teaspoons of flower inserted then blown up I hear that it is a fun and cheap reactive target.
Next and much better than the range is taking a walk with your rifle and picking out rocks at various ranges and busting them from all sorts of different positions some with a double tap some with a single some with emergency reloads some without. Same goes for a bolt gun, practice your bolt stroke so that you can put three or four rounds on target in as many seconds at varying ranges from various field positions. Not only is this great for your shooting skills it is fun too! Of course you've got to have place to do this and they are not always easy to find. I have a nice pond on a ranch that I lease with a big dirt bank on the far side. I love to play at keeping a stick airborne with my .470 NE and full power loads I also love to do this with any caliber of bolt rifle from .22LR up to .458 Lott. Once you get that thing moving you are having so much fun shooting the stick you hardly notice the recoil of your rifle. Of course the occasional bullfrog or turtle is fun to launch too if it's allowed in your area.
The best however is using your rifle on live game in simulated DG conditions and I know of no better scenario than hunting hogs in thick cover in the Southern U.S.. On my lease I shoot between 50 and 200 hogs a year many of them with a double or some other iron sighted rifle. Shots range from just off the muzzle to way out yonder. I've killed hogs in simulated charge situations it is not a real charge by any means but the angles and the closure rates are similar. It isn't uncommon for confused hogs to run right at you as they try and escape they are running in your direction simply to get away but the shot is still on a coming at you critter. So it is valuable trigger time. I've shot them passing side to side I've shot them running away, standing still you name it you get to do it all on a good hog property. I've also had the opportunity to shoot them at long range, once you figure out that your double is a very valuable tool at 150 or even 200 + yards and that your bullets shoot way flatter than you imagined. You also figure out how usable iron sights are in most conditions.This is a serious confidence builder too! I've gotten to the point where I can bust rocks at 300 yards all day long with my heavy double it's just about knowing where to hold. Would I take that long range low percentage shot on game? You bet your butt I would on a wounded buff or elephant that was getting away into the thick stuff. I've done it before with a heavy bolt gun. I've never had the opportunity on DG to take a long back up shot with a double but I'll be ready if the day ever comes. I've smoked a couple of tripod hog way out there with a double. If you don't shoot you'll never know what you are capable of. Hogs are free and classified as a destructive pest so you might as well sling some lead at them. It's a great opportunity to see just how far you can push it.
I know that having a place to shoot multiple hogs isn't an option for many people but there is no better time spent with a double rifle or any rifle for that matter than on real life game. Even jack rabbits are a great tool for training if that's all you've got. In any case shoot a lot and mix it up don't stay on the sticks or the bench any longer than you need to. After awhile your rifle will become an extension of your body, once you get to the point where you don't need to think about proper form, when it just happens automatically. When you automatically go to the second trigger, when you stoke your bolt reflexively, when you don't even remeber having to aim, when you don't even notice your rifle going off besides the boom. When you don't have to think about your breath control.At this point you are totally relaxed and comfortable with your rifle. That is when you've reached a state of "zen" with your rifle and that is when you are ready to start hunting with it.
Good luck and have fun.
