Off-hand shooting

t

crs said:

Aussie Hunter said "I often do this on pigs that are standing still at a bit of a distance, I will put the cross-hairs on the bottom of the leg and start moving upward and squeeze the trigger as I am moving my sight up the shoulder. Much much easier to take steady shot this way than just trying to hold the cross-hairs in one spot on the shoulder especially when you are breathing heavy and the adrenaline is flowing."

BINGO!
A professional hunter friend taught me this technique and it has worked well for me for several years - right and left handed, on various game and in America and Africa.
I suspect that one reason is that the mind is focused on trigger squeeze at a particular area as opposed to a particular spot. No stress. It is also very fast. More like shooting a shotgun. Works well on moving game too.

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this is a good method
i used this on my PH course and it worked well
less swinging around and making circles with the scope, if you move in one plane, bottom to top and shot goes off when u are on the target then it seems to work well
also a trick to free hand shooting is,....shoot when the crosshairs are on target the first time, dont try and be steadier. longer you take the worse it gets and the more you start moving around

looking forward

jduckhunter said:

I can't hold a gun steady while shooting offhand to save my butt, the crosshairs are always moving. So what I decided to do years ago was to try and control the movement. To accomplish that I get the gun and crosshairs moving in an up and down motion, that seems to make it easier to maintain my left and right hold. Then all I need to do is get my timing right when to pull the trigger, I usually take the shot when the crosshairs are moving up and over the bullseye for the 2nd or 3rd time.

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Yep

Don't fight the motion, that will just make the shot worse. Let it move, time the sway, put some pressure on the trigger if it's very heavy, and shoot when it feels right.

A heavier rifle is easier to shoot than a light one and barrel heavy is preferred for me.

There is a big difference between 50 and 100 yards imo. 50 yards an experienced hunter can put 2-3 shots at around 4-5". If you can hit a paper plate at 100 yards you are doing very well compared to most. I routinely see people not able to hit paper at 100 yards when seated at the bench with a rolled up soft case.

Imo, 100 yards is very far to shoot an unwounded animal. But it also depends on the vital size

.22 lr best cheapest and most fun to practise offhand shooting.
Do that to work on your rythm and breathing once you have that sorted move to your rifle.

I do a great deal of practice with the empty rifle I intend to hunt with. I dont need the bolt cocked so there is not a lot of dry firing as such but getting on target and the practice is to take the first sighting and knowing when to squeeze off the shot. That is the essence of off hand shooting from my experience and as has been said thew steadiest way for me is to come up the body to the point of release so there is preperation time, short though it is, to be ready for the trigger release.

Aussie_Hunter said:

I often do this on pigs that are standing still at a bit of a distance, I will put the cross-hairs on the bottom of the leg and start moving upward and squeeze the trigger as I am moving my sight up the shoulder. Much much easier to take steady shot this way than just trying to hold the cross-hairs in one spot on the shoulder especially when you are breathing heavy and the adrenaline is flowing.

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That's exactly how my dad taught me to shoot off-hand years ago....works great. It's amazing how repeatable you can get using this method with just a little practice. I use my 308 win with inexpensive ammo to practice off-hand, the bulk rate 45 cent type rounds, then go through a box of good ammo right before going out to hunt in whatever caliber I'm going to be using. I prefer the 308 over something like a 22 for practice because it's a true hunting caliber so you get that full rifle weight and feel, its inexpensive to shoot, and inside 100 yards its going to match most calibers within an inch or so for bullet travel/POI. Transitioning to other calibers is pretty seamless, especially a 300 win mag, if you have all your rifles using the same zero distance.

Dry fire, dry fire and dry fire. Then dry fire some more.

Lots and lots of dry fire practice. Enough that you might even need snap caps.

And the method mentioned about coming from below the target and breaking the shot immediatly when the sights are on, does work if you practice it.

Once again, the impressive experience and helpfulness of this community is for all the world to see! Very much appreciated.

shootist~ said:

Lots and lots of dry fire practice. Enough that you might even need snap caps.

And the method mentioned about coming from below the target and breaking the shot immediatly when the sights are on, does work if you practice it.

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I'm torn about snap caps. On the other hand engineer in me finds it hard to believe the dry fire could damage the pin. Maybe propagate existing crack if anything. Then again I would prefer not to find out the hard way.
On the bright side, training with snap caps also works as practice to reloading and fumbling with ammo in hurry so I use them.

I certainly don’t have much more to offer. Ton of great information here. One thing I don’t see is what magnification is your scope on? First safari my ph turned my rifle scope off of 9 and down to 6x power. It surprisingly helped a ton. This is when free hand shooting or even off of sticks. It lessens the perceived movement of the crosshairs. From then on the only time my scope is above 6 is from a blind or bench.

MMAL said:

I certainly don’t have much more to offer. Ton of great information here. One thing I don’t see is what magnification is your scope on? First safari my ph turned my rifle scope off of 9 and down to 6x power. It surprisingly helped a ton. This is when free hand shooting or even off of sticks. It lessens the previewed movement of the crosshairs. From then on the only time my scope is above 6 is from a blind or bench.

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I agree, 6 or 7x is a good choice in that 50-75 yard range. I don't think most folks should be shooting offhand past that.

Pheroze said:

I spent time at the range today, proving to myself that I need to spend a great deal more. I am working on off-hand shots at 100 yards. Using my 308 Norma my routine is:

1. One round round is loaded. It is chambered and rifle on safe;
2. Off safe with the act of bringing the rifle to the shoulder;
3. Aim
4. Shoot
5. Keep finger on the trigger and pressed back until sight picture returns. This takes a moment with the recoil.
6. Keep at the shoulder to rack the bolt; and
7. Return to safe when rifle leaves the shoulder

I noticed the movement of the cross-hairs is a circle larger than the 8.5x11 paper target at 100 yards. So, I am trying to figure out how to reduce the basic movement of the rifle so that its pattern falls only on the target. I found moving my resting hand forward on the stock tended to help. But, is this just a matter of gaining strength and familiarity with the rifle?

The shots that struck the paper tended to be on the periphery. The last shot hit true to the one inch red square in the middle and I called it a day at that point. Shot about 25 rounds.

I restricted the routine to single shots to just find a technique that would work.

Any training tips would be appreciated. Thanks fellas.

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Sounds like you are doing some good training! I would like to add the idea of wrapping the sling around your arm to get the stability you need. There are many different slings so you just have to try and see what works for you. Best of luck!
Philip

samu said:

I'm torn about snap caps. On the other hand engineer in me finds it hard to believe the dry fire could damage the pin...

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I know on centerfire firearms you do not need snap caps. I dry fire close to an hour a day (pistol) and never had an issue.

I shoulder the rifle with my left hand as much under the rifle as I can for support, take a deep breath which raises the muzzle, let it out slowly and when the crosshairs come down over the right spot on the target while exhaling squeeze the trigger all in one fluid motion. This eliminates the wobble from trying to hold on target and counteracting heartbeat. Recoil will raise the muzzle. Inhale. Run the bolt and repeat. With practice it becomes a smooth cycle.

Fred Gunner said:

My thoughts exactly
Either the Hasty Sling method:

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Or My wife and I both have the Galco Ching sling on our rifles they work great:

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We also spend three or four days each week dry firing standing unsupported. We place a quarter on the barrel just behind the front sight. The goal is to break the shot without disturbing the coin.

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My wife got me one of those for Christmas 2 years ago, put it on my Ruger american 30-06. (not a rifle I would have bought for myself, but won it in a raffle) After a bit of practice with it I got pretty steady. Took a nice doe at 180 yards through the woods with it off hand. It now goes on whichever rifle I am going to use on the upcoming hunt. That rifle is one of the most accurate I own along with my CZ 9.3

Me personally, I hate using slings. I might catch some negative feedback for that statement, but so be it. The absolute best advice I have to offer is find the sweet spot in your trigger (rifle make or model make zero difference) learnyour trigger. Crosshairs are going to sway, but squeeze slowly and when it is about to break then let it break at the exact moment the crosshairs are where you want them to be. Obviously sounds more simple to explain than to apply but it is simple. Just takes a lot of practice, a lot of time and a shitload of ammo. If you really want to be proficient with a firearm, you can. Whether its prone, kneeling or unsupported, if you practice you will get there. Not sorry, I still just don't like slings for unsupported positions. Lol

Jeffrey said:

I personally am neutral on the importance of a sling from offhand. From sitting or prone that’s a different story.

My favorite sling is the Andy’s Leather Rhodesian sling. You can set your loop size and away you go. Highly recommended.

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Yeah, I rate this sling as well. I saw a marked improvement in my Sporting Rifle scores though using it. It's good for standing, kneeling, sitting, prone, so a versatile bit of kit. Quick enough to deploy for snap shooting too if you practice a bit.

Alistair said:

Yeah, I rate this sling as well. I saw a marked improvement in my Sporting Rifle scores though using it. It's good for standing, kneeling, sitting, prone, so a versatile bit of kit. Quick enough to deploy for snap shooting too if you practice a bit.

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When I am still hunting I always remove the sling. I typically use open sights while still hunting. I use my 1905 MS in 9x56 or my remington model 14 pump in 30 rem. The remington is over a hundred years old and the MS turns 100 next year. It makes me smile to use them in the way they were intended and they still make meat just fine thank you.

I practice tired. I like to condition my mind to patiently wait for the correct sight picture and not lunge at it. The burning of the muscles is what gets you there. Slow fire an AR at 50 or 100 yards with a twenty round magazine and only make good trigger presses. Then move up to a thirty or fourth round magazine. The burn is intense.
I also really enjoy my BL-22 for offhand practice. It is light and wobbly and holds sixteen glorious rounds of .22 LR. You can load it with CB Shorts and focus on your follow through as the bullets are slow enough to be affected by barrel movement. I practice at 25 yards with this load. Accuracy is about minute of spot on the NRA .22 50 foot targets for me right now. I shot today sweating and hot and all kinds of bothered. Mental focus was required. High velocity target @50y and CB Shorts @25y.

Shooting off hand does of course add some challenges compared to prone or sticks. But don't let the reticle movement scare you. Some guys focus so much on holding it steady that they ignore all of the other more important pieces. Focus on your breathing and relaxation. A drill you can even practice at home. Obviously an unloaded rifle works best for this lol.

Simply shoulder your rifle however you feel most comfortable. Some guys love sling methods, I do not like to add any other steps or possible confusion when the adrenaline kicks in. But whatever makes your more comfortable do it.

Exercise 1 : Shoulder your rifle, and I like to anchor my left elbow (lead hand) onto my hip. You will see a lot of Olympic shooters stand this way. And close your eyes and just breathe. You will feel like you are swaying all over the place. But with your eyes closed keep doing this until you feel a steady movement back and forth with your breathing. That movement should be up and down, but could be on an angle back and forth etc. Practice this in your home, spend 15 minutes with your eyes closed whatever it takes. Eventually open your eyes and keep doing the exact same breathing and feeling of that swaying motion. The key here is to remain totally relaxed. As you look through your scope you should see whatever point of impact sway in and out of sight. Don't worry about centering it etc just watch it come and go. Ideally the less the movement the better but again don't freak out and start worrying about holding steady. Holding steady in your brain will send signals to your muscles to freeze. "Freeze" right away creates tension, tension creates vibration and sporadic movement in every which way. If you ever watch children play that game where they run around like crazy and when the music stops they have to freeze. Count how many kids make a sound like a "uugh" as if they are flexing their abs. Watch how many kids literally flex their muscles. Trust me you do the same thing when trying to steady a rifle and focus so hard on make it stop moving. Instead embrace the movement and learn to shoot with it. Stay loose and follow your up and down movement with your breathing. Do this for hours, days, weeks etc. So that every time you do this drill your eyes closed part becomes shorter and shorter as you now know your breathing movement, your muscles have conditioned themselves to hold for so long in this relaxed state. And it builds confidence. Because the idea is when its real hunting time, you want to take one deep breath and already be in your relaxed state and already in your known movement. And for those of you about to tell me you don't have that time for that one breath in real life situation..... your the guy who wounds animals at 50 yards with Texas Heart shots. Everyone has that time, and if you don't.... the next animal will be a better one to shoot at, let that one run.

Exercise 2 : So before you start dry firing. You want to make sure you are clicking the boom button just after you exhaled. We talked about learning your sway with your breathing. When you open your eyes and see your intended point of impact adjust so that the sway hits that point on the bottom or at your exhale. So when you exhale the basement of your sway should be there, which ideally is on your target. and again do this for hours, days and weeks. Don't rush to start squeezing that trigger, just watch that intended point of impact a thousand times just at the end of your exhale. And again focus on being relaxed. This part builds total confidence and is the most important. You will see the more times you do this you will become more and more comfortable. Where you can walk even into a gun shop and shoulder a potential purchase rifle and immediately just get into that mode or being relaxed and seeing that sway and having your target at the bottom of the exhale. How many times you see john the hunter walk into a gun shop, shoulder a rifle aiming it at the taxidermy on the ceiling. Shouldering it all strong and tense to show everyone how he knows how to shoulder a rifle. He is only practicing a tense hold which in return becomes the worst muscle memory possible. That is what his brain will go to in a real life situation too. This will take a ton of practice, but its free and no paper is harmed in this practice.

Exercise 3 : Now I missed one of the "most important" parts right? the part that goes bang. This is actually not the most important part. Guys who shoot bench competitions, long range precision etc trigger pull is huge. In off hand hunting shots made within 200 yards is not as much. Now before your heads explode, yes trigger pull is still incredibly important, I am just saying being relaxed and learning your movement is far more important. A nice crisp trigger pull is still a necessity, but if you are relaxed and don't have any tension you will be able to click the bang button much much much better then in the jerky tension state. So now at this point you can raise your rifle and within a few seconds can get into your motion of the ocean. Now just click boom right at the end of that exhale or even a partial second after it. Do this a gazillion times.

Now go to the range and practice what you have learned. Please for the love of god don't go closing your eyes swaying around like a tree in a storm with a loaded rifle at the range. You should be beyond exercise 1 before going to the range lol.

Moral of the story and this entire shooting principal. It is designed to take away everything you have read or heard and throw it out the window. 99% of miss shots withing close range (I am assuming if we are shooting off hand we are not shooting 400 yards) are from jerky, rushed, nervous shots. Taking your time, controlling your breathing and adrenaline will guarantee you better accuracy without even knowing the simple fundamentals of shooting. Then when you want to shoot 3" circles at 300 yards off hand, you can worry about those smaller technical pieces that will get you there. But just like golf, people who have not even figured out the basic golf swing are reading about fades, draws, flop shots, have your hands here, have your hands there etc. Meanwhile step one is muscle memory, relaxation, get out of your head, and CONFIDENCE. This will lead to dead animals every time you aim at one. Considering almost all animals we hunt have boiler rooms from 4" to 18". So we will save the 3" groups at 300 for another day.