Little things matter, and it takes a lot of shooting to tease them out. I am still learning, and as I learn one thing it leads me to another I didn’t even recognize.
Today. I took a few minutes to test a new rear bag. I shot a test group with the prototype and a “control” group on another proven bag.
The rifle is known and reliable. It is easy to shoot.
Shooting the group of 11 shots with the new bag I thought I felt and saw a little lateral wobble in my scope. And, the group on paper looked flatter and wider than normal. It also was trending left of the point of aim.
Overall, I was most happy with the total size of the group. But, I wondered why the group was outside of the norm I expected from the rifle.
After a cease fire at the range, I went back to my trusty rear bag and shot a group of 10. You can see that group centered on the point of aim. I used the ears of the bag to focus my effort on seeing how much lateral wobble I could eliminate while pinching the stock with my fingers. I didn’t pinch the stock with the prototype.
I was tired and I feel like some of the flyers in the second group was me. Except the flyers, I was happy to see the group was centered back on the point of aim. The core group of shots were also the size I would expect from my best shooting.
I concentrated on stopping lateral movement. I was also curious to see if my zero returned to center. That was my primary purpose, to confirm it wasn’t my rifle, and that something about my shooting was the cause.
I think I know why my group moved left of zero and why it widened out. I will go back to the range and shoot my .223 and the 6 BRA to test these little details and see if my hypothesis about which variables influenced the shift is accurate.
Pics below show the group and then how I was holding the rear bag. You can see the differences between the bags is significant.
The small bag weighed in at 0.9 ounces. I was pretty happy shooting that small of a group right out of the gate.
The big bag is heavy with poly beads and sand. When I shot, I didn’t seat the rifle all the way into the bag and ground it. I just wanted to see if I could focus on lateral movement and if the vertical movement would fall apart or hold together. I was pleased.
I think I learned that focusing on lateral movement is good, and even without full bottom support the group stayed small.
Today. I took a few minutes to test a new rear bag. I shot a test group with the prototype and a “control” group on another proven bag.
The rifle is known and reliable. It is easy to shoot.
Shooting the group of 11 shots with the new bag I thought I felt and saw a little lateral wobble in my scope. And, the group on paper looked flatter and wider than normal. It also was trending left of the point of aim.
Overall, I was most happy with the total size of the group. But, I wondered why the group was outside of the norm I expected from the rifle.
After a cease fire at the range, I went back to my trusty rear bag and shot a group of 10. You can see that group centered on the point of aim. I used the ears of the bag to focus my effort on seeing how much lateral wobble I could eliminate while pinching the stock with my fingers. I didn’t pinch the stock with the prototype.
I was tired and I feel like some of the flyers in the second group was me. Except the flyers, I was happy to see the group was centered back on the point of aim. The core group of shots were also the size I would expect from my best shooting.
I concentrated on stopping lateral movement. I was also curious to see if my zero returned to center. That was my primary purpose, to confirm it wasn’t my rifle, and that something about my shooting was the cause.
I think I know why my group moved left of zero and why it widened out. I will go back to the range and shoot my .223 and the 6 BRA to test these little details and see if my hypothesis about which variables influenced the shift is accurate.
Pics below show the group and then how I was holding the rear bag. You can see the differences between the bags is significant.
The small bag weighed in at 0.9 ounces. I was pretty happy shooting that small of a group right out of the gate.
The big bag is heavy with poly beads and sand. When I shot, I didn’t seat the rifle all the way into the bag and ground it. I just wanted to see if I could focus on lateral movement and if the vertical movement would fall apart or hold together. I was pleased.
I think I learned that focusing on lateral movement is good, and even without full bottom support the group stayed small.
