Tips for better marksmanship?

[film495]

off hand shooting? find your natural point of aim with your feet. look at a target, close your eyes, and then sight the target with the rifle/pistol with your eyes closed - then open and see where you're aiming compared to the target. do this exercise a number of times, and you'll likely find you're off this way or that, every time. now do it, and sight again with your eyes closed and open, then without moving the sight picture with your hands, adjust your feet and figure out which way, small adjustments matter, to set your feet under you, that matches your natural point of aim. I don't really know why, but for me, both pistol and rifle target shooting, I aim more naturally if I feel like I'm leaning forward a bit more than is natural to me, so that is my natural point of aim, and it makes sense also to me that leaning into it a bit is just going to be easier recoil management anyways etc. but, I figured this out doing dry fire exercises in my living room. I do as a routine now, find my natural stance, and then bring my back/right foot forward about 6" to feel like I'm leaning on my front foot just a bit more, but my balance is still really good. I don't know if any of this is right or not, just what I've figured out in the last few years learning to shoot - and it seems to be working for me. My front grip - I no longer really just grab it with the palm/cup of my hand. I more balance it on the base/back knuckle/palm side of my hand like resting in a tree branch, so - that without grabbing it, it will balance their perfectly centered - then I squeeze it with my thumb and index finger, but really just enough so I'm not going to lose my grip.

And I agree with the previous post. Sometimes it is almost better to just accept the wobble, and see how it traces accross the center of the target when shooting off hand, and time the trigger pull when the wobble is lined up. Shooting a .22 LR at 6" steel targets off hand at 50 yards with a 2.5x scope - I can hit pretty good, but there's no way I can hold the sight picture fixed just off hand standing there, it becomes more of a timing and trigger control skill to figure out. Was for me anyways, still working on it.

 

[Thomasss]

A lot of good ideas here, AND 5 inch groups off hand is very good, but you can do better. You didn't say how far you were shooting. But you may improve by benching resting a few and eventually go back to shooting off hand. I've learned from experience to find whatever that is at hand to steady your aim, like leaning against a tree or kneeling down with an elbow on a knee. With off hand shooting I found moving the barrel, like a shotgun can steady your aim. Starting with aiming at the deer's back(or the top of a target) and bring your aim until you're at the bulls eye (or where you want to shoot) and as you move down to that spot squeeze the trigger. Moving the gun in this manner has helped me prevent snap shooting the gun and shaking the barrel before shooting.

 

[Varminterror]

5 inch groups off hand is very good,

5” groups at 20 yards.

 

[Laphroaig]

Off hand shooting is a tough skill to master. Some good tips given, natural point of aim, maximum bone support, don't jerk the trigger. Some advocate accepting the wobble, others timing the shot as the sights move into the target. A very good treatise on 3P smallbore shooting, "Ways of the Rifle" devotes 75 pages to the subject. I've read them all several times, taken notes, and still can't master it to my liking.

For hunting, I consider standing shots as a last resort only. I missed a standing bull elk, broadside at 100 yds., and that will haunt me into my grave.

Rifle shooting is an athletic endeavor and like sports, some have more natural ability than others. I could never catch up to a good fastball either.

 

[Bazoo]

I find offhand is the most fun to shoot. I use two stances. First is a shotgun style stance for fast shots. Like id take with a 30-30 close range. Second is a supported stance with my elbow into my side and the rifle mostly rested on my palm. Like that I can be more accurate. I find i hit better if I shoot reactive targets over paper for some reason. I've been shooting offhand since I was 13 with a BB gun. Learning new tips here and there along the way. Practicing holding the gun steady, dry fire, or just holding the stance, helps build muscle tone and I think it's key.

 

[Justin]

You want to get good?

Go shoot with people who are better than you. Find a shooting sport that appeals to you, find the local ranges where they hold matches, and start going. Most folks are happy to have new people show up, and will be willing to share what they know.