How much do you practice?

[AckleyHunter]

Hi All,

How often do you guys shoot your hunting rifles? Especially the big bores. Do you have a smaller rifle you practice with, or just shoot you dedicated hunting rifles?

 

[ftrovato]

I try to shoot every few weeks. When I'm planning a hunt I try and go weekly for the months leading up to the hunt.

I also keep a few guns accessible without having to go into my safe and practice pointing, swinging and dry firing for the month leading up to a hunt.

 

[HuntingGold]

I've been shooting all year. I just walked in from the range and shooting my 280AI.

 

[roklok]

I shoot several times a week. I have a 200 yard (soon to be 300) range behind the house and a small gong that is 50 yards off my front porch for rimfires and handguns.

 

[Rare Breed]

Hi All,

How often do you guys shoot your hunting rifles? Especially the big bores. Do you have a smaller rifle you practice with, or just shoot you dedicated hunting rifles?

Once per month every month. Big bore 450 NE 10 shots, 275 Rigby 10-15

 

[chashardy]

Currently just practicing at sporting clays with my 12 gauge. When I have an upcoming hunt, I go to the rifle range near me every week to shoot the rifles I plan to take on my safari. Last two African safaris I took 416 Rigby and 375 H&H double, so those were the practice rifles. I book my hunts at least a year in advance. With the Rigby, I would typically shoot 6 or 8 rounds a week. Any more on a rifle range bench and I tend to start flinching. Same with the 375. So, by the time I leave for Africa, I've probably shot more than 200 rounds through each rifle. It gets expensive at $300 a box of 20 for the Rigby and over $200 for the 375! But it's worth the investment because I feel very comfortable handling either rifle when hunting.

 

[NoStepOnSnek]

Depends on the gun. Turkey guns and my less used deer rifles I sight in/pattern before the season. More commonly used guns I shoot whenever I get the chance, especially after 4th of July/Halloween when there are watermelons or pumpkins to shoot with the 458. 458 I shoot as stated above, or when I find ammo for cheap I will finish off the previous box

 

[Bill J H]

I’m retired, handload, and like shooting. The main rifles I shoot are 308, 270, 30-06, 6.5CM, 222, and recently, 7-08.
Base on my Large Rifle, Small Rifle, and Small Rifle Magnum primer count, I ran thru just under 1000 rounds in the last year.
Probably 50% off a bench for load development, etc., and the rest shooting in hunting-like positions or actually hunting.

 

[SStomcat]

Try to do it once a month, but sometimes it's every other.
470 NE, 8-10 shots over 25 to 50 yards depending on my mood , 9.3X62 another 5-10 shots mainly over 100 yards or beyond OR 10-20 shots from my 30.06.

 

[PARA45]

In preparation to a safari I shoot weekly from the sticks I take. I’ll shoot my 375 H&H, followed by a 22 LR. But I practice at least once a month otherwise.

 

[Sideshow]

Not enough or as much as I’d like to there’s that god dam awful thing called work that keeps getting in the way

 

[MS 9x56]

I hunt my rifles in a rotation. I use the rifles up this season to hunt woodchucks and in in the off season. My 9.3 is a bit of overkill but it encourages aim small miss small.

 

[USMA84DAB]

In training for the safari I would go through 50 rounds per range session on the .375 Ruger. I wore a sissy pad so I didn't develop a flinch. After zeroing it was all off of sticks, seated, kneeling, standing. The nine months before I went, I probably shot every other month for the first 6 months, then every month for the last 3 months, and twice the last month.

I shot other rifles (.308WIN, .30-06, .35WAI), but did not do it as a substitute/down-bore practice rifle for the .375 Ruger.

 

[Mark Biggerstaff]

Very seldom do any real practicing with my hunting rifles, other than making sure they are sighted.
Before a safari maybe 5-10 rounds thru what I am taking. Main reason is what I do about every weekend or other weekend for job. Which is sighting in rifles and trouble shooting them for customers.
I fire on an average 60-70 rounds every session when I go to range.

 

[Flipper Dude]

I shoot my big bores a couple of times prior to a safari. ( Not 2 shots, but 2 sessions). Make sure all is working good and that I’m working good. I used to shoot more before a safari back when I was hunting plains game with my ‘06. I do a lot of bird hunting, and that helps more than anything with swing and pull and foot position. And I’ll say that 10,000 shots with a BB gun and a 22 before the age of 8 help more than any practice I could do now.

Now, for the rest of you mere mortals, you better practice your ass off.

 

[375Fox]

I really don’t practice until 2 or 3 months before a hunt. I don’t enjoy shooting just to shoot. I have a 22 and 223 that sit in corner of garage I shoot regularly at groundhogs in the summer. For actual practice when I have a hunt coming up, I sight in at 100. Then shoot at 200 and 300 a few times off bench. Then practice off sticks at those ranges a few times. The shooting range is close. I generally will not fire more than 5 a day and add in a lot of dry fire practice. I may fire 2 or 3 boxes before a hunt starts. Less if it’s winter. More if weather is nice in summer. I generally only take the same 2 rifles on any safari. I’m very confident in them.

 

[Hogpatrol]

Like @Bill J H , I'm retired and handload, I chamber and build my rifles, pretty much for a specific bullet and mission. I shoot anywhere from one to three times a week. The small stuff, .17s, .20s, slow twist .22s I shoot at the 100, 200, and 300 meter backers and steel gongs. The .22 fast twist, 6.5s, .28s .30s and a.45 SML, mostly at the 300m, 385m and 500m backers and gongs. We have 2" and 4" gongs at 300, 385 and 500m. Like to shoot in to a good crosswind for worthwhile practice. Shoot off the bench, Rudolph sticks and sitting with a bipod. The goal is consistently hitting the four inch gong at 500m under all conditions. The 2" I leave for the real riflemen.
Before Africa hunts, I'm at the range the day before departure.

 

[R eight]

Hi All,

How often do you guys shoot your hunting rifles? Especially the big bores. Do you have a smaller rifle you practice with, or just shoot you dedicated hunting rifles?

Probably the real question is how often do you shoot them from field type positions and with hunting like scenarios.

 

[uplander01]

90-120 days before safari I start narrowing down to 2 rifle choices. I’m a safari rifle dork so at any given time I have 4-8, 375 and up rifles to choose from. Load development starts,…for a couple of rifles they are tried and true and I have multiple documented loads that work, then it’s a matter of whether or not I feel the load matches the game. sometimes a problem will arise during the load development and initial range sessions and the choice will be easy, sometimes not, but usually one will be performing better than the other. Then at 60 days out I make the choice. Then from that day forward I don’t touch another rifle. The rifle selection is made and then I must handle that rifle daily and go to the range once a week and shoot only off sticks. I probably shoulder that rifle 30-40 time a day, work the action, feel the trigger, until everything feels natural and instinctual. You know, weird rifle dork stuff…I’m a one rifle on safari guy.

“This is my rifle, there are many like it, but this one is mine”

 

[30.06king]

Apart from April thus year due to an ongojng bathroom renovation I usually get out weekly shooting a 243W for Hares, Rabbits and other pests and using from 1 to 6 shots. And every 3 to 4 weeks I would be out Deer hunting mostly using a 30.06 for 1 to 4 shots average. Actual range shooting would be roughly monthly, just for a bit of fun or working up a new load. With a new load coming close I might get in 3 or 4 weekly range sessions to find the final load. A range session could involve from 10 to 50 shots.
Until last year I had a few years doing feral Goat culling on a large ( 7,000 + acres ) farm of steep, hilly country. I would get down there every 1 to 2 months for a couple of days shooting anywhere from 20 to 100 shots approx and some trips only stopped when the ammo ran out. There were a lot of Goats to cull and I really enjoyed walking the block which gave me quite an advantage in approaching quiet Goats. Other guys typically hunted from quads which really got the Goats running at the sound. Walking that farm was fantastic for keeping up my fitness too. Sadly, part of the farm now has new owners so the culling opportunity is unlikely to recur.
My bigger cals are both 375's. H&H and Ruger. Usually only practise with those prior to the hunt on which they would be used. Would probably gte about 50 shots through at the range before starting the hunt.
To me it doesn't matter so much whether I'm practising or hunting. Either way it's trigger time and actual rifle handling that matters. The constant use keep me where I feel competent.