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Need to improve consistency!

Nomad0001

Private
Full Member
Minuteman
Feb 16, 2012
104
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67
Greenville, SC
Just got back from the range. .308 Rem 700 5r with Weaver 3-15 EMDR. Match Ammo, perfect zero, shooting from 100 yards. No wind to speak of.

From the bench, flip the Harris bipod legs open, get my sandbag under the rear of the stock, rattle off 5 consecutive shots; all touch each other. Change target, next 5 shots are an inch apart from each other. Change target, 4 consecutive shots through the same hole. Change target, shots spread out again. You get the idea.

This is my first A) precision rifle B) Scope C) Bipod D) Sandbag

Anyone have some simple, easy to follow steps or drill that I can check off so every shot is the same (within my ability)?

Thank you!
 
A very broad question with no real answer. There are no simple answers.
There are factors you can work on. I was in your situation 6 months ago and my shooting has improved but the same situation is still there. Just that the groups are opening less.
Position is everything. You have to get your position behind the gun repeatable. There are many factors in this alone.
Do a search on "Natural point of aim" in this forum. It is explained very well by those much more knowledgeable than I.
Position of rifle in shoulder
Position of body behind the rifle
Position of head on the stock and relative to the scope.
Position of firing hand on the grip
Position of support hand on the bag and position of bag on the stock.

Trigger control is probably next
Only first joint of trigger finger in contact with the gun
Hand position comes into that and then pull of trigger straight back
Follow through on trigger pull such that you don't release the trigger till after the recoil pulse is finished

Managing recoil and follow through.
See trigger above
Learn how to stop that bipod hop and no, don't put a 25lb sandbag atop the gun. A good muzzle brake is useful.
Keep your damn eyes open. You need to see bullet impact either on the target (difficult at 100 yards) or the berm.

The gun.
The thing has to fit you. Have someone knowledgeable look at the way the length of pull is working for you.
This goes back to position. You shouldn't have to crane your neck forward or back to be behind the scope with a full sight picture.
Cheek weld. Is your scope mounted too high to get one? Chin weld is bad. All this has to be natural and easy.
Action and scope mounting hardware torqued to specification?

Now, work on all these things one at a time until they become automatic for you when setting up for a shot.
I don't mean to run the whole check list for each and every shot. Concentrate on one aspect per range session with the exception of the gun fit stuff. If that isn't right nothing will be.
Yeah, that's a lot of ammo expended. Nobody has said that this sport is cheap, there are no quick fixes. You need to send rounds down range although dry fire is very useful as well.

ALL RULES ABOUT SAFE GUN HANDLING APPLY TO THE BELOW!!!!! CLEAR YOUR F'NN GUN !!!!!
Can you get behind your gun at home, set your cross hairs on a small dot on the wall or a far distant spot out a window and pull the trigger and have the crosshairs remain on target? Can you do it 50 times in a row?
 
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^^^^^^ He summed it all up perfectly and saved me a lot of typing. At least you know what you rifle is capable of at 100 yards. Now try out to 200 & 300! Good luck and have fun.
 
OP,

At the distance you are shooting you can easily be deceived by your equipment that you know how to properly execute the two firing tasks when you actually know very little about it. Shooting at mid range (500 to 600 yards) will unmask errors associated with NPA, Muscular Relaxation, and Bone/Artificial support, as well as errors from Sight Misalignment and poor Trigger Control. At mid range you will also see the effect of not properly adjusting sights for wind and weather conditions, slope, or distance to target.

As had been earlier stated by another contributor you need to make the position consistent. You however cannot make the position consistent without first having knowledge of how to build a steady position, mostly about how to get muscular relaxation.
 
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I think that a shooter who is new to a discipline, regardless of their level of experience in other ones, can fall prey to unrealistic confidence, as well as being overwhelmed by the differences between expectations and reality. Virtually no one has ever become an accomplished marksman completely on their own, no matter how much they read or view.

We all need a good coach at least occasionally, and especially when starting in.

Someone also mentioned that doing it right uses a lot of ammunition. So cheaper ammo (chamberings, not quality) should be the order of the day. Consider a 'trainer' rifle like a .223 or a .22LR (and yes, I do understand the contemporary difficulties of finding rimfire ammo...).

Welcome to the fray.

Greg
 
I'll add..

Dialing out parallax error.

Pulling with pressure strait back on the trigger.

Loading the bipod the same way every time. When shooting off a hard surface sometimes under recoil the rifle hops to a slightly different position which imposes torque.

Having a stock that fits perfectly goes a long way towards consistency.

Oh, practicing fundamentals with a good air rifle helps identify inconsistencies in ones form.
 
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Thanks to everyone for all the good replies (especially shovelstrokeed for the detailed one). Will work on these steps. I'm pretty well stocked up on FGMM ammo, but my gun club only goes to 300 yards max.

MD
 
Both Sterling and Greg are far more experienced than I and I probably won't live long enough to gain anything like their experience before I shuffle off this mortal plane. I'm 71 and fighting age every step of the way.
Frank has a shooter's course for like $10.00/month that lets you download videos on how to do everything I mentioned and more. Well worth the money IMHO. I work better from the printed word and have studied under the two gentlemen mentioned above without ever meeting either, just watched their posts and read with care.
I'm getting there and have gone from a 1.5 MOA average to around .7 average for 5 shot groups and have managed some in the .3 range with my 6.5 CM bolt gun. To date, I have only managed to shoot at 200 yards but my average holds. I'm getting to where calling the shot and knowing the reasons for my misses is starting to show up. I can't do it every time, or even the majority of the time but, I can call gross errors now and hope to start spotting the more subtle ones as I progress.
If it was easy, everybody would be shooting one hole groups at 600 yards.
The great violin player, Jascha Heifetz, when asked how often he practiced said "8 hours a day." The shocked questioner replied "But maestro, you are the best in the world, why so much?" Heifetz replied "If I only practice 6 hours a day, I will know it, if only 4, my audience will know."
 
Both Sterling and Greg are far more experienced than I and I probably won't live long enough to gain anything like their experience before I shuffle off this mortal plane. I'm 71 and fighting age every step of the way.
If it was easy, everybody would be shooting one hole groups at 600 yards.
If it were easy, this sport wouldn't be as much fun!
 
Approaching 68 in a few months, I seem to be chasing former performance. So I understand how I feels to have white hair and escalating restricted range of motion. Still, for me, it remains challenging and fun.

I appreciate kind words whenever they appear.

I used to believe that shooting is a sport where age is not an impediment. I am now reminded that it is also a physical sport, and that I am no longer committed to adequate exercise.

The one necessarily complements the other.

I agree completely that careless ease would rob me of my fun.

Greg
 
I'm having more fun teaching folks how to do it than I ever did when learning how to do it. It is no longer important for me to pull the trigger. That's good since glaucoma and diabetes has has caused me to need to shoot with my far sighted eye and thus I cannot produce the sort of scores with the Service Rifle at LR that I used to take for granted.
 
Tell me about it!! I'm looking at 70 in July. Knowing what to do and making myself do it is becoming more difficult year by year.
 
This winter I've taken to working on dry fire and positioning in my basement. This week I started using a laser bore sighter to help with my alignment behind the scope. It is amazing how much a little head movement will change point of aim.


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I'm in almost the same situation. I have got a lot of good info here on the hide. Keep it coming. I've done what I think I am capable of so now I am about to enlist actual coaching. I'm sure it will open my eyes to more of what I am doing wrong.