Shooting form

[Broz]

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

JIm

I am very fond of the JP tactical compensator on smaller rifles 300 mags and down. They really shine on 7mm and 300 wins. I have had many installed. Good looks , affordable, reasonable noise and great recoil reduction.

Jeff

 

[sendero72]

Thanks again.....I like this site!

 

[unm1136]

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

Thanks
Jeff

I consistently practice two unsupported sitting and one supported sitting across my platforms (12ga. 30-06 bolt, AR, and now my daughter's TC Encore in .260.) Shooting 8-12 inch plates at all distances. With the shotgun with slugs and irons I run 150 pretty consistently. All the other guns have scopes or an aimpoint. Supported sitting my best distance so far is 535 yards with about 80% hits, so I would risk a 400 yard shot from a supported sitting. Given a choice between supported sitting and prone I will almost always choose sitting, if possible. With my AR 300 is also no problem from sitting, and with work 500 is possible.

My crosslegged offhand is probably my best position. I am flexable enough to put my elbows in front of my knees, creating a small amount of stretching tension across my back, stabilizing. On a good day, without armor, I can actually rest my elbows on the ground in front of me. I have shot my 12 gauge from this position, but no rifle heavier than 30-06 150s. My gun doesn't like heavier loads. The 30-06 I am comfortable out to 200 without blinking. I could be convinced to go 300 depending on conditions.

Open legged sitting I am comfortable to one half to two thirds that distance, depending.

I was taught long ago by a retired Weapons Sergeant from 7th Group that standing is often necessary, prone is great for deliberate, planned stuff. Sitting is almost as accurate as prone, and almost as fast as kneeling, but it is faster than prone and more accurate than kneeling offhand. Sitting is also not consistently practiced, and doesn't appear in qualification shoots, so no one does it. The more I played with it, the more I liked it. At work, during quals we do deliberate headshots from 25 (target area 3x5 inches) from position of choice in three seconds, and everyone else drops to prone and I consistently get better, faster hits from sitting. I have made that hit at three times that distance before, in less than a second (.96 sec) from sitting. (On the command to ready, we get into position, sights on the target. When the timer beeps we have three seconds to press off the shot. at 25 yards my par time is usually about .45-.55 sec)

I have been dedicating a lot of ammo to sitting positions for the last seven years, and don't worry about groups a lot of the time... Hitting an 8 inch circle on demand is my goal. I also usually spend a mag of my 1911 at 100 yards from sitting very frequently, again on steel, and not for pretty groups. Based on my range setup, I frequently check zero from a supported sitting, and consistently have no problem out to 300-400 yards. And the rare times I shoot on paper for groups this particular -06 seems to be a 2 MOA gun, and so does my AR. Actually, due to my range setup, I much prefer shooting sitting to prone. I would say that about 35%-40% of my shooting is done prone, 25% or so is sitting, 25% kneeling, and 10-15% standing. I guess looking at the math it is not quite half, but some days I don't sit at all, and some days all my shooting is done from the sitting. Most of my recreational shooting is done sitting, and most of my work shooting is done prone. I do much better on moving plates at at 100 yards sitting than I do at 25 yards standing.

Sorry for the long winded response... It is bed time for me.

pat

 

[unm1136]

Also, I keep meaning to get a bipod for my rifles, but sitting I am much more comfortable, and my Kifaru Duplex frame can sit in front of me, and my rifle nestles nicely between the stays, allowing me my supported sitting.

pat

 

[Broz]

UNM1136, thanks for the detailed response. It sounds like you know what works well for you and the practice has paid off.

Jeff

PS, I would be lost with out my 9" to 13" bi pod prone.

 

[unm1136]

UNM1136, thanks for the detailed response. It sounds like you know what works well for you and the practice has paid off.

Jeff

PS, I would be lost with out my 9" to 13" bi pod prone.

Thank you!

I have one friend who is trying to become a sponsored competitive shooter who shoots 100-300 rounds a day four to six days a week, about 40-45 weeks a year (about 55K rounds a year). Another friend is a sponsored USPSA shooter who has almost 80,000 rounds delivered to his home each year. His agency has about 250 cops and he two years ago he bought 750,000 rifle rounds for the department. I have 1/10th the cops and orderd 28,000 rounds rifle, and 45,000 rounds pistol last year, anticipating it would last 2 years.

With me 250 rounds of 30-06, 1,000 rounds of .223, and 1,000 rounds of handgun is a lost year. 500 rounds 30-06, 3000 rounds of .223 and 3000 rounds of handgun is my goal and my best year yet is 800 rounds of '06, 5200 rounds of .223, and 4,000 rounds pistol.

Again, I am happy with hitting an 8-12 inch circle. Your needs may be different, and your training should reflect that.

pat

 

[Broz]

wow, that's a lot of shooting. I would be re-barreling my rifles all the time.

Staying in a 8" circle will keep a freezer full. Especially if a high percentage is there first round.

Jeff

 

[unm1136]

wow, that's a lot of shooting. I would be re-barreling my rifles all the time.

Staying in a 8" circle will keep a freezer full. Especially if a high percentage is there first round.

Jeff

Yeah, in truth my '06 probably needs it. My gun book says that I have 1960 rounds through it, and it has never shot well. If I don't take about 10 minutes off between shots the zero starts to wander in a predictable manner to the right and down as the barrel heats. 4th round is about 5 inches right and two inches low, 5th round is about six right and three low, and anything beyond that gets ugly in regards to my 8 inch circle, settling about 8 inches right, 10 inches low where it finally stabilizes. It is a WWII 1903/A3 that was bought by the Wife's grandfather in 1947 through CMP and sporterized. It whacked Nebraska mule deer for 50 years or so after the war, before I inherited it. Once I finish my project pistol, this one gets worked over.

My AR seems to be holding up well and got a good barrel from the factory. 13,983 rounds, about half of it during fairly intense run and gun classes, and it still headspaces and throat erosion is minimal.

1911 has 15,490 rounds through it, and is still running like a champ with only the trigger and grips replaced, both by me. Other than that it is bone stock.

I really need to get into reloading. Buying bulk ammo isn't too bad when I can find deals I tend to buy cases of each caliber, usually a couple of times a year. I get into a panic when my inventory drops below about 1500-2K, and luckily my "guy" doesn't charge me shipping for the ammo I buy.

pat

 

[Broz]

Man Pat, that some serious shooting. I think a Dillon 550 or 650 would pay for it self. Especially if you grabbed a used deal. Their warranty is no questions and they mean it.

I love guns with history like that 06. Maybe a bedding job and toss in a few pillars and a free float. After a very good cleaning with BoreTech Eliminator. Might breath some new life in to that old girl.

Jeff

 

[Sam Millard]

I second the Dillon. I love my 550...stupid easy and fast to crank out the ammo! If you find projos for the right price, you can load for $.12-$.18 each for 9mm. Don't load .45 anymore, but the bullets will obviously cost a little more. The nicest thing is buying the components in bulk and not being a prisoner to ammo demand. Of course a lot more people have jumped onto that train, so component demand has gone up some, too.

My carry G19 is at 8400 rounds now, over half loaded with the 550. Changed the recoil spring at 4000...just because it made me feel better

 

[unm1136]

Sam,

I forgot to mention that I replace the action spring in the AR and the recoil spring in my 1911. I keep brand new springs of each in my parts box and compare them to the springs in the gun when I clean them, every 400-1500 or so rounds. (I prefer dirty, well lubed guns, based on experience) I take some nail polish and mark the brand new action spring at the replace point and when my action spring in the gun hits that point it gets swapped out. Since the 1911 is carried 24/7 and is my primary piece the recoil spring in the gun gets replaced when it appears shorter than the brand new spring. The intervals are less consistent, but I can count on one hand the number of malfunctions each gun has had, and all have been traced to bad ammo or bad mags.

I don't shoot as much as I like, but have learned to swallow some pride and demo each and every drill I have my cops shoot. I have also been known to spend my lunch breaks at classes working on some aspect that is troubling me, whether I am teaching or taking the class.

Back to the topic, I honestly, seriously find sitting to be under used, and nearly as stable as prone for all my purposes.

pat

 

[fire arrow]

I'm in for the 650, great machine. My cousin runs a 650 for his 9, 45, 10, 223, and 308. While I would say it doesn't produce precision rounds, it does produce good rounds. We can load up a bunch when we work togeather. All except for the 10mm. The Dillons don't meter BlueDot , or any flake powder well. We just single stage the 10mm.