Improving my shooting

[Ray B]

Something over 50 years ago I was taught to shoot the M14 in the USMC. they taught 4 positions but all had one thing in common: body alignment, which in the offhand position starts with the feet. With the rifle mounted (for righthanded shooter) it will mount in the shoulder pocket created by extending the right arm. the rifle will be pointed in a somewhat oblique angle to the forward left of the shooter. Feet should be spread and the left foot will be in the direction of the target. Depending on the rifle/cartridge and expectation of additional shots the shooter may want to slightly lean into the rifle. As the rifle is raised to the face a spot on the cheek should fit to the same spot on the riflestock. A correct "spotweld" will be such that the shooters eye will be in line with the sights. A correct body alignment can be checked. Hold the rifle at port arms (two handed carry), pick out a target. this can be done in a room (all of this is with an unloaded rifle). Look at the target, close your eyes, take a breath or two and relax, open your eyes just to check that you are looking at the target, close your eyes and mount the rifle as if to shoot it. Open your eyes- if your body alignment is correct you will be looking through the sights and the sights will be on the target. At first it won't be correct, so while holding the rifle move your feet until you are inline horizontally with the target. Vertical adjustments are made by changing the position of the left hand on the forend, closer for farther away which will cause the aimpoint to go up or down. The main thing will be to recognize the target, move your feet to the correct position so that the rifle will point at the target without the shooter trying to muscle the rifle onto the target.

So a course sequence should go: walking with rifle at port arms, observe the target, pivot on the right foot which will be to the rear, step toward the target with the left to get the correct body alignment. While doing this, the rifle is raised to the shoulder and to the cheek. With correct body alignment the shooter will be looking through the sights at the target and shooting will be just a matter of pressing the trigger straight back to his shoulder. Bullseye!!

 

[xausa]

It seems to me that my game shooting benefitted both from my competetive rifle shooting and from my competetive shotgun shooting. I learned to shoot skeet while stationed in Okinawa, where a round of skeet cost a dollar, including the use of the shotgun, the box of shells, and the use of the range, with two "trap boys" who operated the traps and another who released the "bird" when called for.

When I returned to Quantico from Vietnam, I found that two members of the US Olympic team, a skeet shooter and a trap shooter, were stationed there, and the Marine Corps had obligingly built each a practice field. However, what they were practicing was not American skeet and trap, but the international sport used in the Olympics.

In International Skeet, the starting position is not with the gun already shouldered and the shooter sighting down the barrel, but with the gun held at the waist, with the butt stock touching the hip bone. Also, the "bird" is not released from the trap when the shooter calls "Pull!", but a button is pushed by the range official, which starts a timer, and the bird may be released at any time in the next three seconds, which means that the shooter must respond to the bird, not the other way around. The gun must not be shouldered until the "bird" leaves the trap house.

One additional difference is that the "bird" is thrown harder, so that it flies faster and farther, so target acquisition is an essential part of the game. I found the sport much more realistic than the American version, which often led to a shoot-off between two shooters, both with perfect scores, more an endurance match than a test of skill.

I had bought a shotgun for myself, a Browning Superposed, which I found ideal for the sport, and when I acquired my first double rifle, it seemed natural for it to be and over-and-under as well.

In Okinawa, I had plenty of opportunity to practice my rifle skills as well. I was team captain of my battalion rifle team and in the Far Eastern Division Matches I shot well enough to earn my first "leg" on the Distinguished Rifle Shot award and was selected as one of the division team to participate in the Marine Corps Matches and ultimately in the National Matches. This was in 1965, and fate determined that instead of returning to the States, my orders were to DaNang, in Vietnam.

When I returned to the States at the end of my tour, I shot on the base team at Quantico, and after I returned to the civilian world, I competed as a member of my State Team, serving as captain for several years. I also resumed my skeet competition with several members of the Nashville Gun Club, who were interested in the challange of International Skeet, and practiced frequently with soldiers from Fort Campbell, who also shot International Skeet competetively.

All this shooting burned a lot of ammunition, some of it furnished by the Director of Civilian Marksmanship, some bought, but mostly loaded by myself. However, it was well worth the expense, when I considered the confidence it built in my ability to shoulder my rifle or shotgun and rapidly acquire the target and release the shot without disturbing my aim. Today I live on a farm with the luxury of a 600 yard range only a couple of hundred yards from my house, so my opportunities for practice and load testing are limited only by my deteriorating physical condition.

Hunting in Africa is a young man's game, and I was lucky enough to be young when I experienced it.

 

[375Fox]

Now the first part of your post I'm not 100% if you are talking about shooting offhand for your groups or maybe a bench? If bench I'm not sure how that works for you. I'm running scopes from 1x4 up to 4x40. Personally can rip off 10 rounds on target pretty quickly on 25X or higher while maintaining sub moa groups. When shooting off hand I'm looking for my site picture. Then getting my timing down, no one can hold it perfect. It is making sure the crosshairs are where you want when the trigger is tripped. I'm running 2 stage triggers as much as possible to help with that.

Your panic comment, ever shoot a 3 shot group and the first two are touching and that third shot you get into your mind and shank the last shot (same thing with a 5 shot group). Our brains do funny things, the only way I know to fix it. Dry fire, Dry fire, Dry fire. Your dummy rounds are definitely a training tool. Have slipped dead rounds in shooters mags to see if the flinch while firing. Going from big bore to 22 will tell you a lot too.

On bench and offhand within reasonable distance. I will shoot the same group at 100 yards on bench at 2x as I will at 10x even though I think I should not be able to because the detail is not there. At 300 yards, I would shoot the same group with my 375 and 5x scope as I would with my 300 and 10x scope. Offhand or on sticks is no different. For me the more unnecessary detail I have to try and make it perfect, the longer I find I take for the same result on paper.
For me also, I’ve found training with a 22 is very limited benefit. My brain acts differently when it expects recoil. I need to practice with rifle I plan to use on a hunt. Shooting with a 22 or known dummy you can practice good form I guess, but l learn the most on the dummies I don’t know are live or dummies until the trigger is pulled. You learn last second trigger control, if you tense up when squeezing the trigger, how you act on the second or third reload when shooting fast, probably many more things depending on person. You can’t work on them until you know and if they are minor usually get covered up with recoil. I usually don’t shoot more than 5 from a center fire at any range session (except 223 occasionally, range is close and very accessible). The dummies give me a lot of trigger practice. If you think it’s a live round and the crosshairs were where they needed to be when trigger broke, it’s as good as sending a bullet down range for me, just cheaper.

 

[IvW]

Worst thing you can do is shoot against a stopwatch.......speed means nothing if you cannot hit what you are aiming for....

 

[saswart]

This may sound way off, but since I started pistol shooting and .22 plinking, I experienced an exponential increase improvement on my shooting in general. From pistols I learned the dry fire exercise (not going into to much detail, I created dummy rounds with hard rubber primers), practice reloading etc. Then .22 for physically shooting, getting the press/squeeze and fundamentals right. It is like golf, practice the putter, the fundamentals of putting goes into the short chips, which goes to pitches, then half swing etc.

 

[Tanks]

...

Hunting in Africa is a young man's game, and I was lucky enough to be young when I experienced it.

Ahem, at 66 and turning 67 in a few days and 3 weeks or so from my next safari to Zimbabwe I will disagree with it being a young man's game.

 

[Ray B]

Hunting in Africa is a young man's game,

It's not one's age, but how they have aged.

 

[Inline6]

On bench and offhand within reasonable distance. I will shoot the same group at 100 yards on bench at 2x as I will at 10x even though I think I should not be able to because the detail is not there. At 300 yards, I would shoot the same group with my 375 and 5x scope as I would with my 300 and 10x scope. Offhand or on sticks is no different. For me the more unnecessary detail I have to try and make it perfect, the longer I find I take for the same result on paper.
For me also, I’ve found training with a 22 is very limited benefit. My brain acts differently when it expects recoil. I need to practice with rifle I plan to use on a hunt. Shooting with a 22 or known dummy you can practice good form I guess, but l learn the most on the dummies I don’t know are live or dummies until the trigger is pulled. You learn last second trigger control, if you tense up when squeezing the trigger, how you act on the second or third reload when shooting fast, probably many more things depending on person. You can’t work on them until you know and if they are minor usually get covered up with recoil. I usually don’t shoot more than 5 from a center fire at any range session (except 223 occasionally, range is close and very accessible). The dummies give me a lot of trigger practice. If you think it’s a live round and the crosshairs were where they needed to be when trigger broke, it’s as good as sending a bullet down range for me, just cheaper.

By the sounds of your reply, believe we have different expectations for our rifles. Not a bad thing just different, nothing wrong with that. My background is matches over hunting. Most of my match stages are 10 rounds in 90 seconds, could be 10 different targets at 10 different distances ranging from 100 to 1200. Could be prone, off a barricade, prop, or tripod. Just really depends on the match director.

Worst thing you can do is shoot against a stopwatch.......speed means nothing if you cannot hit what you are aiming for....

The stopwatch induces stress, which is hard to duplicate in a range session. If you don't train in a high stress situation, how do you know how you are going to respond in a real life stressful situation? That said you have to manage your expectations, a new shoot is probably not going to hang with veteran of the sport. It takes many reps to get their for most. IMHO the stress will cause you to find your weaknesses quickly. Then work on those, was it a short stroke, missed a reload, rushed your shot, ect. The stopwatch is a training tool, like all training it can create or reinforce good or poor habits. We alone are responsible for our training.

 

[Ray B]

The stopwatch induces stress, which is hard to duplicate in a range session. .

this reminded me of qualification day in boot camp. For two weeks we had learned position and body alignment. This came to fruition at either the 200 or 300 yard line (56 years ago so give me a break), rapid fire, sitting position. 50 seconds to shoot 5 rnds, change mags, 5 more. things started with the shooters in standing position, rifles @ port arms, slings already attached to left arm. at command shooters dropped to sitting, bent forward putting left upper arm on shin, cheek to weldspot. close eyes take a breath, open eyes and look through sights. I was off target. rather than "horse" the rifle over to the bullseye, I adjusted my position, squirming around. closed eyes, breathed checked- still off bullseye. By now there is a war going on around me as everyone is shooting volley after volley and here I sit squirming around trying to get on target. I don't know how many seconds of the 50 clicked off while I squirmed- in retrospect, probably an eternity of 12-15 seconds. finally on the third try closed my eyes, breathed, looked, there sat the front post centered in the bullseye. I feared the targets would be dropping and I'd be left with unfired rounds (an unforgivable sin with severe consequences) so I immediately pressed the trigger, I was tied into the rifle so we rocked back then dropped back to pre-fire position. As the sights passed through the bull I pressed the trigger again, and again, and again- change mags resume firing. 10 shots fired, total time of firing, including mag change: about 10 seconds. Now I'm empty and everyone else is still shooting- for several seconds. When the targets dropped for scoring and things got quiet my coach asked me where I called those shots. I recall being a little slow on the second shot as the sight passed through the bull so I dropped the shot from the bull to the 4 ring, but the other 9 were 5s. The coach said We'll see, you didn't need a selector. So we stood up and proceeded to the next firing line. I kept looking over my shoulder and finally the target appeared: 1 black marker in the 4, 9 white in the black- today was going to be a good day. After that I never doubted the importance of proper body alignment- and for the following year that belief and practice served me and my fellow Marines very well.

 

[R eight]

this reminded me of qualification day in boot camp. For two weeks we had learned position and body alignment. This came to fruition at either the 200 or 300 yard line (56 years ago so give me a break), rapid fire, sitting position. 50 seconds to shoot 5 rnds, change mags, 5 more. things started with the shooters in standing position, rifles @ port arms, slings already attached to left arm. at command shooters dropped to sitting, bent forward putting left upper arm on shin, cheek to weldspot. close eyes take a breath, open eyes and look through sights. I was off target. rather than "horse" the rifle over to the bullseye, I adjusted my position, squirming around. closed eyes, breathed checked- still off bullseye. By now there is a war going on around me as everyone is shooting volley after volley and here I sit squirming around trying to get on target. I don't know how many seconds of the 50 clicked off while I squirmed- in retrospect, probably an eternity of 12-15 seconds. finally on the third try closed my eyes, breathed, looked, there sat the front post centered in the bullseye. I feared the targets would be dropping and I'd be left with unfired rounds (an unforgivable sin with severe consequences) so I immediately pressed the trigger, I was tied into the rifle so we rocked back then dropped back to pre-fire position. As the sights passed through the bull I pressed the trigger again, and again, and again- change mags resume firing. 10 shots fired, total time of firing, including mag change: about 10 seconds. Now I'm empty and everyone else is still shooting- for several seconds. When the targets dropped for scoring and things got quiet my coach asked me where I called those shots. I recall being a little slow on the second shot as the sight passed through the bull so I dropped the shot from the bull to the 4 ring, but the other 9 were 5s. The coach said We'll see, you didn't need a selector. So we stood up and proceeded to the next firing line. I kept looking over my shoulder and finally the target appeared: 1 black marker in the 4, 9 white in the black- today was going to be a good day. After that I never doubted the importance of proper body alignment- and for the following year that belief and practice served me and my fellow Marines very well.

Natural body alignment is paramount. I was taught that as a kid shooting small bore rifle and pistol shooting (single handed…none of that 2 handed rot ) and it was reinforced into me when I’ve attended shooting schools in my 20’s and 30’s.

Unfortunately, many people have no idea what natural alignment is.

 

[xausa]

Ahem, at 66 and turning 67 in a few days and 3 weeks or so from my next safari to Zimbabwe I will disagree with it being a young man's game.

I consider 66 pretty young (I'll be 85 in February), but more important than years is stamina, by which I mean the ability to walk all morning through a treeless plain, following elephant tracks. I have neuropathy in both feet, and were it not for my faithful John Deere Gator, I wouldn't be able to hunt at all. I hunt from a ground blind. A tree stand is beyond my capabilities.
,

 

[Tanks]

I consider 66 pretty young (I'll be 85 in February), but more important than years is stamina...

Well, I guess it is all relative. My mother who is 89 (90 in January) is taking off for her third international trip to Amsterdam tomorrow. Has a trip to Canary islands scheduled for December. We will be celebrating her 90th birthday with all of kids and grandkids in Dubai (where she wanted to go) end of January.

That being said when I was in London with her, I found her limit. One hour and 45 minutes of walking and then she has to take a break and sit down. Guess no walking Safaris for her.

 

[Ontario Hunter]

I consider 66 pretty young (I'll be 85 in February), but more important than years is stamina, by which I mean the ability to walk all morning through a treeless plain, following elephant tracks. I have neuropathy in both feet, and were it not for my faithful John Deere Gator, I wouldn't be able to hunt at all. I hunt from a ground blind. A tree stand is beyond my capabilities.
,

I'm almost 71 and didn't have any trouble keeping up with my PH or tracker this year. Wasn't terribly rough country for a change but I attribute that to my PH's choice (he's not in the best condition). Last year another PH gave me a good workout looking for kudu in the high country.

He got me warmed up for high country elk hunting in Montana. I shot a bull up in this gawdforsaken place back in 1982 before it was helicopter logged and then burned. Thought I'd see if I could climb back up there again. Almost made it but discovered the battery crapped out in my rino communicator. I didn't want my diabetic older brother at the truck getting worried trying to find me so I went back.

The elk died at the top of a waterfall in the canyon in above photo at the most distant point visible, upper left. Base of waterfall was just out of sight when I turned back.

It's not necessarily a "young man's game" but if you do plan for a lot of golden years bucket list hunting, keep your oar in the water now ... every year if you can. Get out there in hunting season and challenge yourself as much as possible. If you spend your days now sitting in a treestand, then that's about tops you can expect after retirement.

 

[Zambezi]

On improving my shooting... what would be the cause (I suspect trigger finger) for me to 90% of the time that I miss to miss right by an inch or so? Usually between 2;30-4 o'clock. It's not the rifle or the scope as the grouping and alignment is right, it's just any miss is usually in that region... I almost never miss left... PS I'm a leftie shooting a right handed bolt.

 

[BourbonTrail]

On improving my shooting... what would be the cause (I suspect trigger finger) for me to 90% of the time that I miss to miss right by an inch or so? Usually between 2;30-4 o'clock. It's not the rifle or the scope as the grouping and alignment is right, it's just any miss is usually in that region... I almost never miss left... PS I'm a leftie shooting a right handed bolt.

You are overcompensating the pressure on your shoulder in expectation of recoil (aka flinching, but the pushing kind). If you were jerking the trigger they would move left.

Dry fire practice should help.

 

[Ray B]

my shooting... 90% of the time that I miss to miss right by an inch or so? Usually between 2;30-4 o'clock. .

Since you are left handed the symptoms will be reversed from what I learned- rifle correctly sighted but misses from bull are in a pattern, such as you state. the pattern is basically 3:00 low. I suspect this is as noted above, caused by "bucking" the slight pressure from the shoulder in anticipation of the rifle coming back. It can be determined by having someone load your rifle while you remain in position. You will not know if you are shooting a live round or a snapcap. then have the loader watch the muzzle carefully. On those occasions when a snapcap is used if the muzzle dips to the right, bucking is the problem. The solution is to focus on the shooting- I focus on trying to watch the vapor trail of the bullet as it travels to the target- with my mind focused on that it over rides the tendency to do other things. the other option could be a reverse of "milking the trigger" instead of pushing straight back, the finger pushes slightly sideways which causes the groups to go to the side.

 

[Ontario Hunter]

On improving my shooting... what would be the cause (I suspect trigger finger) for me to 90% of the time that I miss to miss right by an inch or so? Usually between 2;30-4 o'clock. It's not the rifle or the scope as the grouping and alignment is right, it's just any miss is usually in that region... I almost never miss left... PS I'm a leftie shooting a right handed bolt.

What's your trigger like? If adjustable, lighten the pull weight a bit and see if that makes a difference. Also, a right-hand rifle should have a right-hand cant to the stock. That might have something to do with this issue. And finally, check to see if your barrel is freely free floating. Slip a five dollar bill between barrel and fore end and pull it towards receiver. It should not hang up till about 2" above chamber opening. Oh, and make sure your fingers do not touch the barrel when shooting off the bench. That can be enough to throw barrel harmonics off. Ask me how I know.

 

[Ray B]

Slip a five dollar bill between barrel and fore end and pull it towards receiver.

INFLATION!! I have found that a ONE dollar bill works fine.

 

[Tanks]

+1 on “Slow is smooth, smooth is fast”
...

Slow is still slow though. That's why after one has practiced the fundamentals one should also practice under time pressure with a timer. I probably have dry fired thousands of times more than live fire in order to improve. One can also call their shots (where the sights were when trigger was pressed) even when dry firing.

 

[Tanks]

On improving my shooting... what would be the cause (I suspect trigger finger) for me to 90% of the time that I miss to miss right by an inch or so? Usually between 2;30-4 o'clock. It's not the rifle or the scope as the grouping and alignment is right, it's just any miss is usually in that region... I almost never miss left... PS I'm a leftie shooting a right handed bolt.

I am a lefty as well. You are jerking the trigger rather than pressing it straight back.