Shooting Tips and Tricks Thread

[cyotewa]

At the Paul Bunyan rendezvous splitting the ball on the axe blade and hitting clay pigeons was done at 25 yards.

[Hawken]

I shot competition for 50 years in NRA HP and standing was always one of my better scoring positions but at 76 years of age....those days are a 'done deal'! I CAN still shoot offhand but I ain't! Not when I can take a good rest position and make a good 'called shot'! Many people I've watched shoot from a bench use an artificial rest and by that I mean one of the commercial rest and in my opinion that's a no no! It's been my experience to discover long ago that when a rifle barrel or forearm is rested against a somewhat solid object and I mean by that even if it's rested across the top of a sandbag that the recoil cannot be controlled! Even with a 1-70" rate of twist that slow twist rate will still impart torque to the rifle and if the recoil is not dampened consistent accuracy can be problematic! I've watched people shoot off of shaky tables with four skinny legs purchased from Wally World and then complain that they couldn't get 'steady'! The shooting bench must be constructed to fit the shooter and if not stabilized....well you may as well go drink a beer and watch the jay birds! The bench in the photo below works for me. I'm not a small guy; rather I'm 6' and weigh in at 230#. This bench was constructed such that I sit such that my chest is up against the aft edge of the slot cut-out which stabilizes my body and I shoot off of my left shoulder since I am left eye dominant. My right hand goes out to the forward end of the forestock and my hand rest against the top of a rolled up shooting mat which I have threaded into the center a 2" piece of galvanized pipe to prevent the mat from collapsing! The forearm and barrel do not touch the mat. I shoot good consistent groups using this method with any type of rifle and as for hunting I have never had a problem killing game using a zero that I developed shooting from a bench!

Untitled by Rick Mulhern, on Flickr

At this occasion I was testing on how to hold for 200 yards with this .54 Hawken! I think I found it!

Untitled by Rick Mulhern, on Flickr

[Roaddog]

I sure like your shootn bench.I think it's time for one of my boys to fireup the welder.The fact that it can be moved around is a big pluss.

[Hawken]

I sure like your shootn bench.I think it's time for one of my boys to fireup the welder.The fact that it can be moved around is a big pluss.  

[Hawken]

Shooting offhand requires patience and hundreds....even thousands of rounds down range! Noone can hold a rifle completely still...there will always be movement...same with a pistol or revolver! Everyone has what's known as AOW aka AREA OF WOBBLE! Shooters must train to learn to trust their AOW! Many potential shooters do not have the patience...or take the time to practice, or research about what leads to great marksmanship skills and until your dues are paid....most will only be mediocre at best. A NPA  (Natural Point of Alignment) must be established when shooting offhand....or any other position for that matter and without a natural stance being established before starting to shoot makes the likely-hood of poor shots being made. Sometimes this isn't always possible when hunting but it is one of the foundations for most good shooting situations. There are two psychological processes that all shooters must overcome before becoming excellent marksmen. These are INHIBITION and HESITATION! When a shooter is aiming a rifle and attempting correct sight picture and 'hold', then enter these two problems! The shooter is attempting to do two different things at the same time aka maintenance of a good 'hold' and attempting to squeeze the trigger! Noone likes to make a bad shot and here is where INHIBITION comes into play! The shooter has a fear of a lousy performance and has a mental block and coupled with this....leads to HESITATION! When the eye sees a perfect sight picture a neural impulse is received and sent to the cerebral cortex which can...for all practical purposes be related to as the visual identification center of the brain. When the VIC then attempts to send a neural impulse to the correct motor cells which control the proper set of muscles which assist in trigger control...the neural impulse on it's route gets 'robbed' by billions of other stronger motor cells which reside in the upper part of the shooters brain and most often an incorrect impulse is sent to the wrong location causing possibly a shoulder twitch or a thumb which may be resting across the small of the stock! And there goes the bad shot! The good news is that the more time and practice that a shooter gains the weak neural impulse attempting to be sent on it's route to the proper motor cells that control the correct set of muscles to complete a good shot becomes stronger and stronger as time goes by! This is why we teach our children attempting to hit a baseball or to make a good lay-up shot in basketball...repetition repetition repetition...makes perfect! In conclusion, when a shooter has fired many shots down range and put extensive time into shooting offhand, the impulse to control the trigger will come automatically through a trained reflex action such that when the eye sees perfect sight picture.....the rifle fires!!

Good day gents!

[Stormrider51]

Good double-set triggers help, too.  I always adjust them so that once I see the correct sight picture I twitch my finger and the shot is away.
John

[sse]

Shooting offhand requires patience and hundreds....even thousands of rounds down range! Noone can hold a rifle completely still...there will always be movement...same with a pistol or revolver! Everyone has what's known as AOW aka AREA OF WOBBLE! Shooters must train to learn to trust their AOW! Many potential shooters do not have the patience...or take the time to practice, or research about what leads to great marksmanship skills and until your dues are paid....most will only be mediocre at best. A NPA  (Natural Point of Alignment) must be established when shooting offhand....or any other position for that matter and without a natural stance being established before starting to shoot makes the likely-hood of poor shots being made. Sometimes this isn't always possible when hunting but it is one of the foundations for most good shooting situations. There are two psychological processes that all shooters must overcome before becoming excellent marksmen. These are INHIBITION and HESITATION! When a shooter is aiming a rifle and attempting correct sight picture and 'hold', then enter these two problems! The shooter is attempting to do two different things at the same time aka maintenance of a good 'hold' and attempting to squeeze the trigger! Noone likes to make a bad shot and here is where INHIBITION comes into play! The shooter has a fear of a lousy performance and has a mental block and coupled with this....leads to HESITATION! When the eye sees a perfect sight picture a neural impulse is received and sent to the cerebral cortex which can...for all practical purposes be related to as the visual identification center of the brain. When the VIC then attempts to send a neural impulse to the correct motor cells which control the proper set of muscles which assist in trigger control...the neural impulse on it's route gets 'robbed' by billions of other stronger motor cells which reside in the upper part of the shooters brain and most often an incorrect impulse is sent to the wrong location causing possibly a shoulder twitch or a thumb which may be resting across the small of the stock! And there goes the bad shot! The good news is that the more time and practice that a shooter gains the weak neural impulse attempting to be sent on it's route to the proper motor cells that control the correct set of muscles to complete a good shot becomes stronger and stronger as time goes by! This is why we teach our children attempting to hit a baseball or to make a good lay-up shot in basketball...repetition repetition repetition...makes perfect! In conclusion, when a shooter has fired many shots down range and put extensive time into shooting offhand, the impulse to control the trigger will come automatically through a trained reflex action such that when the eye sees perfect sight picture.....the rifle fires!!

Good day gents!

Hawken, I really like how you broke this down, nodding here.  

So, you may be able to answer this question.  Why is it sometimes after no practice for months, many months, one can go out and shoot well?  While back, I went to the winter event at our club and had not practiced or shot the muzzle loader for nearly a year, but I ended up not missing one target (ten of them) and won the shoot.  Be interested in knowing your take.  There are others here who could probably also add some insight, if they would like...

[Hawken]

Sometimes things work out that way but shooting consistently ALL THE TIME is the key to great marksmanship and during all the years that I was involved with the competitive NRA HP game and shooting in the military, as well as instructing,  I have never known a consistent winner that didn't spend many hours training! An example of what I am speaking to are the elite military teams of the USMC at Quantico, VA. and the USAMTU at Ft. Benning, Georgia! THEY shoot every day! That's their job. When you got up and went to work every day those shooters got up every day and went to the range and trained and that's why they WIN!! A rifleman can have a long layoff but the layoff doesn't wipe out the prior fundamentals that have been learned and adhered to!

"WINNERS EXPECT IT....LOSERS HOPE FOR IT!"

[sse]

Well said.  I think the mental aspect has a lot to do with it.  I can think of times when I excelled, and there was a certain stillness of thought, that somehow enhanced the execution of the prior fundamentals that have been learned and adhered to.  If everything is right anything can happen, but, as you mention, with no consistency whatsoever.  Usually, after a long hiatus, it can be mediocre or worse.

Another example from when I was a golf nut, one year the best round I scored was the first outing of the year, that was a good day for some reason.  Have no good explanation for it.

[Hawken]

Let's convert one of Yogi's quotes to:

"Shooting is 90% mental....and the other half is physical!" :USA  

[RonC]

I have to agree with Hawken!
If I go shooting frequently, and shoot with one particular rifle, I improve.
If I lay off and just go shooting now and then, my groups fall apart and I will only get better if I practice regularly again.
Ron

[Hawken]

I shot competition for 50 years in NRA HP and standing was always one of my better scoring positions but at 76 years of age....those days are a 'done deal'! I CAN still shoot offhand but I ain't! Not when I can take a good rest position and make a good 'called shot'! Many people I've watched shoot from a bench use an artificial rest and by that I mean one of the commercial rest and in my opinion that's a no no! It's been my experience to discover long ago that when a rifle barrel or forearm is rested against a somewhat solid object and I mean by that even if it's rested across the top of a sandbag that the recoil cannot be controlled! Even with a 1-70" rate of twist that slow twist rate will still impart torque to the rifle and if the recoil is not dampened consistent accuracy can be problematic! I've watched people shoot off of shaky tables with four skinny legs purchased from Wally World and then complain that they couldn't get 'steady'! The shooting bench must be constructed to fit the shooter and if not stabilized....well you may as well go drink a beer and watch the jay birds! The bench in the photo below works for me. I'm not a small guy; rather I'm 6' and weigh in at 230#. This bench was constructed such that I sit such that my chest is up against the aft edge of the slot cut-out which stabilizes my body and I shoot off of my left shoulder since I am left eye dominant. My right hand goes out to the forward end of the forestock and my hand rest against the top of a rolled up shooting mat which I have threaded into the center a 2" piece of galvanized pipe to prevent the mat from collapsing! The forearm and barrel do not touch the mat. I shoot good consistent groups using this method with any type of rifle and as for hunting I have never had a problem killing game using a zero that I developed shooting from a bench!

Benchflt by Rick Mulhern, on Flickr