If you're dry firing practice is excellent, how come your groups can still be large?

[Carl1000]

So this may be a newbie question... I dry fire every time I go to the range before I shoot. I feel like I'm very good at it. The crosshairs barely move from the center of the dot of the target every time. I don't jerk the trigger. I'm very good with shooting pistol, so I know all about trying not to anticipate the shot and make mistakes.

So, It seems like I'm doing everything right with dry firing practice. And with the bullet going so fast without much to affect it by the time you pull the trigger, how come my groups can vary so much? I could have sub MOA groups, then 2MOA groups after. I don't jerk the trigger enough to move the bullet 2 inches lol. What would be the other factors that could cause this? Again, if my dry firing is so precise consistently, there's other things obviously I need to work on.

 

[FredHammer]

Recoil management needs work

 

[Wild_Bill148]

I agree. One way to tell with pistol or rifle is using a .22 trainer. If your groups are tight and consistent with the .22 then recoil management may be your issue.

Suppressors make rifles a little more pleasant to shoot.

 

[Molon]

And with the bullet going so fast without much to affect it by the time you pull the trigger,

False premise.

Your position, follow through and recoil management all need work. I'm also willing to bet that you're not shooting enough shots in your groups to see what your true accuracy/precision is. Take several of your targets and over-lay them from the point of aim to see what your true accuracy/precision is.

 

[Carl_Ross]

So this may be a newbie question... I dry fire every time I go to the range before I shoot. I feel like I'm very good at it. The crosshairs barely move from the center of the dot of the target every time. I don't jerk the trigger. I'm very good with shooting pistol, so I know all about trying not to anticipate the shot and make mistakes.

So, It seems like I'm doing everything right with dry firing practice. And with the bullet going so fast without much to affect it by the time you pull the trigger, how come my groups can vary so much? I could have sub MOA groups, then 2MOA groups after. I don't jerk the trigger enough to move the bullet 2 inches lol. What would be the other factors that could cause this? Again, if my dry firing is so precise consistently, there's other things obviously I need to work on.

Are you shooting a system that you should expect 1 moa performance from? There’s a lot of variables here between the trigger puller, rifle, ammo, and optic.

 

[papershredder]

... I dry fire every time I go to the range before I shoot. I feel like I'm very good at it. The crosshairs barely move from the center of the dot of the target every time....
......And with the bullet going so fast without much to affect it by the time you pull the trigger, how come my groups can vary so much?

Has more of an effect than you might think. There's a high-speed video by either Applied Ballistics or Bryan Litz out there that shows the barrel moving before the projectile exits the barrel. Keep practicing dry firing, and as stated above, work on your fundamentals.

 

[MakeSawdust]

We know so little it is hard to help. It could be the gun ammo combo will only shoot 2 moa. It could be a combination of shooter error and gun/ammo.

If you are serious about shooting small it pays to have quality stuff. Bullets, brass, and barrels are important.

You can screw a quality barrel, chambered by a talented smith onto an old Remington or savage. Load berger bullets in Lapua brass and it will almost always shoot small. You don't need a fancy custom action or expensive reloading equipment. For a long time I loaded my match ammo with Lee dies on a Lee press.

Case in point. My TL3 with a Hunt's Long Range chambered krieger in 6 Dasher running Lapua brass and Berger 108s will shoot 5 shot groups in the .2s and .3s pretty consistently from a bipod and rear bag. Unscrew that barrel and screw a factory savage 22/250 barrel on and the same exact gun with factory ammo shoots about 1.5 moa. The difference is in the ammo and the machine work.

Many people say the gun can outshoot them. You don't truly know until you have a 1 hole gun. Only then can you isolate the shooter as the problem.

I didn't think I could shoot better than 1/2 moa until I shot 2 one hole groups in a row with a friend's custom gun. After having many good barrels now, some are better than others and the gun and ammo absolutely play a role. In benchrest and f class most top shooters chamber multiple barrels at a time and only run the best ones in competition.

Have a known good shooter shoot your gun and see what they can do. That will give some indication of how much is you and how much is the gun. Then come back with more info and maybe we can be more helpful.