Shooting form

[fire arrow]

Last week when I was at the range I kinda snuck over to the 1000 yard range just to check it out. I overheard two older guys talking about shooting form, well they were actually arguing about it. One like his thumb laid over the stock, the other laid his thumb towards the barrel. One guy cupped the grip, the other had contact with his last three finger tips.

So it got me thinking about a few things specifically when it comes to shooting form when it comes to longrange shooting. How much will you guys pull your rifle into your shoulder, and when it comes to checkweld how much pressure do you place on your stock. I know that the key is consistence and that all the little things adds up. I was just curious to know the "right way" to do it.

Any other pointers would be great to hear as well.

 

[sendero72]

You may want to try Shawn Carlock @ longrangeonly.com. He knows a little about the long range game and had an article on body setup to the rifle. Ask Bros on this site, he's about as good as they come. These guys shoot game at long range, not paper.

 

[Sam Millard]

The right way to do it is the way that allows you to make consistent hits!

Seriously, there are a lot of good shooters out there that will disagree over "correct" forms of shooting. There are some basic fundamentals involved that must be followed, but what works for one shooter might not work for the next. Shawn and Jeff are both at the top of their games when it comes to real world field shooting, but I bet if you put them next to each other on a ridgetop and studied their process for breaking a clean shot, it would look different to some degree (obviously, Shawn shoots from the wrong side of the gun).

How the rifle fits you plays an important role in proper form. The style of the grip will influence grip and trigger finger placement. The weight and balance between front and rear supports also come into play. Heavy rifles mask some bad habits, light rifles magnify them! If the comb of your stock doesn't allow you to have a relaxed, consistent cheekweld because of the height of your scope, stop right now and get that right...you have to have it!

I set my cheek piece up to give me a "neutral" cheekweld, meaning the weight of my head relaxing on the stock. With my McMillan stocks, my trigger hand thumb is resting along the top of the stock toward the target, trigger finger straight out to the trigger bar, 3 fingers relaxed on the vertical grip...no tension or pulling on anything. I use my body weight, which I align as straight as possible behind the rifle, to lightly "load" the bipod forward. Non shooting hand runs the rear bag as needed for fine vertical adjustments. To be consistent, I try to keep everything simple and repeatable. To test my position during practice or when I can't shoot, I will set up like I'm taking a shot, close my eyes, break the trigger, and see if the crosshairs are still perfectly on target. It is very hard to do that if you have to muscle anything into place! Obviously in the field, it can be impossible sometimes not to pull and push stuff to make a shot from a not so perfect position, but when we are shooting at distances over 1000 yards, we need to get as close to perfect as we can.

Don't be intimidated by the long distance; work on your position wherever you can. If you can consistently hold and hit 1/2 MOA or better at 100 yards from a field prone position, that will work fine out to 1000 or more!

 

[sendero72]

Sam Millard
I pretty much try to apply the technique you described. I'm a right handed shooter. But when I'm off, it's always to the left. Any suggestion or ideas as to why I pull to the left.

Jim

 

[Broz]

Sam Millard
I pretty much try to apply the technique you described. I'm a right handed shooter. But when I'm off, it's always to the left. Any suggestion or ideas as to why I pull to the left.

Jim

I do not want to answer for Sam as I want to hear his answer too. But I will offer this, if your muzzle is at 12:00 and your body and feet are at 7:00 or 8:00 it could be pushing the rifle butt left under recoil causing the muzzle to deflect left. I would try to get straighter behind the rifle and pull the stock in slightly tighter to your shoulder. Then preload the bipod slightly by pushing forward with your toes. Never muscle the rifle, but just enough pull and push to remove all slack.

This is of course assuming your bubble level is square and trued to turret travel.

Jeff

 

[sendero72]

Thanks Jeff
I failed to mention that I'm a East Coast flatlander. If we were to shoot prone, our longest shot would be no more than 10 feet at best I shoot the bean fields of South Carolina from a two man ladder stand with a benchrest sandbag setup. We are 15 to 20 feet up, overlooking the fields. But I will try getting closer to a 6:00 position behind the rifle. 1100 yds yards is the longest field that we have at the moment. Possible 1350 by season opener in September.

Jim

 

[Broz]

Sorry Jim that blows my theory. How about a platform stand to shoot prone??

 

[unm1136]

On heavy recoiling rifles and shotguns with magnum loads I have knocked my glasses off with the thumb over the wrist of the stock... Never done it with thumb pointed forward along the outside of the stock, or on the receiver tang, which is why I prefer my Mossberg to a Remington, because when my thumb rides the safety I have fewer problems. As far as stringing left, without watching the shooter it would be hard to tell. First place to start is natural poinpt of aim, then how the position is built. Sometimes natural body tension will pull things around. I find that improper sling tension to cause me to pull left most of the time. I am also not too popular in my circle for maintaing that sitting is more useful than prone under most circumstances. Don't get me wrong, prone is where more than half of my shooting is done, but in the field I use sitting alot.

pat

 

[Sam Millard]

Jim, I haven't shot from a bench for 3 years now. The same theory Jeff described for a prone shooter could still apply for a bench shooter. I would think it would be magnified because less of your body weight is behind the gun. It can be very strange to some people to line up directly behind the gun when you have been angling left your whole life, which is a more natural, comfortable position!

If it is not a mechanical rifle problem (like bedding, uneven or intermittent pressure on the barrel, etc.), you should be able to work it out much like we do while shooting from the ground. I assume you are shooting a rifle designed for static long range shooting, heavy and wearing a muzzle brake? The first thing I would do is get as low on the bench as possible. Next I would get as much as my body behind the rifle as I can. You need to find a hold that allows you to relax as much as possible. Some muscle tension in the right places can help, but you have to be consistent with it. To find the right balance, I would dry fire from the position...a lot!! You need to have a consistent cheek weld and trigger press no matter what position you are shooting from. If the crosshairs move at all when dry firing, the position or hold needs to be adjusted. Focus on your follow through while dry firing, also. To teach my kids follow through, I had them count to two after the shot breaks before breaking their cheek weld. I use the same technique on myself sometimes to reinforce good habits. As simple as it sounds, the key to making an accurate shot at any distance is to hold the crosshairs on the target, press the trigger straight back without moving the crosshairs, and make sure the rifle doesn't move until the bullet leaves the barrel. I highly recommend dry firing, literally hundreds of times, before introducing recoil and blast that will distract you.

 

[Broz]

Don't get me wrong, prone is where more than half of my shooting is done, but in the field I use sitting alot.
pat

Pat, what would be the longest you would engage game from a sitting position?

Thanks
Jeff

 

[Broz]

Some muscle tension in the right places can help, but you have to be consistent with it. To find the right balance, I would dry fire from the position...a lot!! You need to have a consistent cheek weld and trigger press no matter what position you are shooting from. If the crosshairs move at all when dry firing, the position or hold needs to be adjusted. Focus on your follow through while dry firing, also. To teach my kids follow through, I had them count to two after the shot breaks before breaking their cheek weld. I use the same technique on myself sometimes to reinforce good habits. As simple as it sounds, the key to making an accurate shot at any distance is to hold the crosshairs on the target, press the trigger straight back without moving the crosshairs, and make sure the rifle doesn't move until the bullet leaves the barrel. I highly recommend dry firing, literally hundreds of times, before introducing recoil and blast that will distract you.

This is great advice. Practice can be very quiet and done almost anywhere. Practice often on follow through and form is priceless as well as the very important muscle memory training. If you came to my house today you might be surprised to find a long range rig in my bedroom pointed out the slider. It serves two purposes. One, at least once a day I can get behind it and dry fire on something in the mile long stubble field below the house. Crows make good targets to dry fire on at long range. Two if another coyote dares to cross below I am close to ready.

Jeff

 

[KMD]

Great advice above!

Train how ya fight.

Regardless of position, you need to keep your position to where recoil will impact your body in a consistent manner, from shot to shot.

Practice building a position to where you can achieve a natural point of aim that requires little/no 'muscling' into. IE, bone on bone contact.
forget about 'gripping' the stock, and work on getting your trigger finger PARALLEL to the trigger shoe. That will facilitate a trigger press that is on an imaginary line straight back through the stock and to your shoulder.

Practice pressing trigger at your natural respiratory pause. IE, the moment after exhaling naturally. DO NOT hold your breath, or blow 'half out' and squeeze. Your diaphrgm muscles are contracted when holding breath and will screw up your consistency. If the shot doesn't come at your natural respiratory pause, take another breath and pull straight back on the trigger at your next natural respiratory pause

Follow through the recoil pulse and try to literally SEE the bullet impact the target. If your NPA and position are correct, the recoil pulse will be consistent and your eye will return onto the target afterward. If your sight picture is knocked off target from recoil, your NPA and position were compromised at the shot.


Solid Position
Obtain NPA on target
Straight back trigger pull @ respiratory pause
Follow through the recoil pulse

Dry firing is GREAT for practicing!!!
Good luck & have fun shooting...

 

[sendero72]

Thanks for all the input guys. My 7mag is built for long range. F-class Hart #6 contour 9 twist barrel, Jewell trigger, Nightforce 8-32x56 Moar, Defensive Edge cheek piece,and bedded. Sam, I think you hit the weakness with not enough dry firing time. I do dry fire a few times while sitting in my stand, but the daily routine is far better. I don't have a muzzle brake so I will look into that this week. I'm 59 years old and yes the recoil is slightly more than it was 20 years ago Go figure!

Thanks Again,
Jim

 

[Whisky]

I worked hard one winter on my rifle fundamentals, from the comfort of my warm house. I still believe the thousands of dry fires cured me of the god awful target panic in archery. Good stuff!!

 

[Sam Millard]

I worked hard one winter on my rifle fundamentals, from the comfort of my warm house. I still believe the thousands of dry fires cured me of the god awful target panic in archery. Good stuff!!

Target panic can be a real bitch to get over! Hours of disciplined dry fire is definitely the way to go there...

 

[sendero72]

PS.....Any suggestions on the best designs for muzzle brakes?

JIm

 

[Sam Millard]

Open side discharge brakes, no holes on the bottom...

 

[Sam Millard]

Here is a 5 port slab brake from Defensive Edge. Jake weighed 53 pounds at the time. Works pretty good!

[video=vimeo;82062810]https://vimeo.com/82062810[/video]

 

[Darren Best]

The DE brake and the Kirby Allen Pain Killer brake both work really well.

I shot a 338 Allen Mag last summer and recoil was nothing, although the back blast and debris from it take some getting used to.

 

[fire arrow]

PS.....Any suggestions on the best designs for muzzle brakes?

JIm

Look up muscle break. The gases shoot out the side and not down. Do dirt in the face.