Tips for shooting light weight rifles

Joined
Oct 24, 2015
Messages
1,544
Location
W. Wa
Practice first and foremost - in realistic field positions not off a bench!

Some people mentioned buying a rifle in a shoulder friendly chambering - and while I generally agree with that sentiment, even a creedmoor in a 6lb rifle kicks quite a bit compared to its heavier counterpart. “Yadda yadda not gonna feel the recoil when shooting at game” is true, but I actually like to practice with my rifles(and have fun doing it) so yeah, won’t feel it on game, but steel and paper you’ll definitely be feeling it. With that said, I’d recommend a muzzle device whether that’s a suppressor or brake. I already wear hearing protection for every shot so it’s not a big deal for me, and I’ve yet to miss a shot on an animal due to putting hearing protection on.
 

Eagle

WKR
Joined
Feb 27, 2012
Messages
1,069
Location
Western Kentucky
For the 6lb 10oz (all up) tikka I built I found that keeping my trigger hand thumb off the stock helped tremendously in consistency. Prior to taking that advice from formidilious, I had been placing my off hand on top of my barrel in front of my scope and that helped as well, but not nearly as easy to replicate in the field as just simply keeping my thumb off the stock. If you're aligned correctly, there's no reason you can't shoot the rifle well so long as no external influences are being put into the rifle.
 
Joined
Mar 31, 2018
Messages
92
Location
USA
Great question. I've shot in the prone position with light rifles with absolutely no forearm pressure. Recently I've read on here that even some companies have recommended that you put a bit of pressure downwards on scope, or grip the forearm when sighting in a lightweight rifle. Perhaps more knowledgeable people here can chime in on this. Apparently lightweight rifles can have accuracy impacted by the muzzle jump or recoil if you don't apply some grip or pressure to forearm.
 

Stid2677

WKR
Joined
Sep 13, 2012
Messages
2,349
Most has been mentioned already, and I'm hesitant to even mention this for safety. But, for me, running a light trigger, made a huge improvement in my accuracy with a lightweight mountain rifle. I also only chamber when ready to fire, and exercise extraordinary care knowing that the rifle could accidentally fire easier with a 2lb trigger as opposed to a 5lb trigger. This and lots of shooting.
 
Joined
Dec 29, 2016
Messages
690
Location
Reno, NV
The biggest thing to consider is a muzzle brake. Our 5.5 pound 243 Winchester kicked something fierce, something my wife did not appreciate or enjoy. Getting a brake reduced the recoil in half, which made sense since the expelling gases coming out of the front of rifle accounts for half of the felt recoil.

Also, agree, do not shoot from a bench unless to zero, and for certain, do not zero your rifle from a lead sled or other device that will change the point of impact.
 

MeatBuck

WKR
Joined
Aug 30, 2018
Messages
783
Location
woodpile, Commiefornia
Light trigger... just had mine lightening up again as I was t happy with the pull. Also learning the trigger and knowing how much pressure it takes to make it pop. Being surprised by it going off is ok unless you haven’t completely settled the crosshairs.
I found that with the heavy trigger I saw movement of the crosshairs as I started to squeeze and it psyched me out waiting for the bang. I’d start trying to overcompensate for the movements I was seeing by tensing up and it made things worse.
 

BCD

WKR
Joined
Jan 9, 2019
Messages
683
Location
Hudson, WI
Great question. I've shot in the prone position with light rifles with absolutely no forearm pressure. Recently I've read on here that even some companies have recommended that you put a bit of pressure downwards on scope, or grip the forearm when sighting in a lightweight rifle. Perhaps more knowledgeable people here can chime in on this. Apparently lightweight rifles can have accuracy impacted by the muzzle jump or recoil if you don't apply some grip or pressure to forearm.


This is interesting. My off hand is always holding the rear bag in the prone but I have noticed that when I am off, it is typically shooting high. Can any elaborate more on this?? What do you mean by "grip the forearm"?
 
Joined
Feb 2, 2020
Messages
1,990
For the 6lb 10oz (all up) tikka I built I found that keeping my trigger hand thumb off the stock helped tremendously in consistency. Prior to taking that advice from formidilious, I had been placing my off hand on top of my barrel in front of my scope and that helped as well, but not nearly as easy to replicate in the field as just simply keeping my thumb off the stock. If you're aligned correctly, there's no reason you can't shoot the rifle well so long as no external influences are being put into the rifle.

Is there a particular thread this advice of keeping the trigger hand thumb off the stock is discussed in? I'd like to get a good explanation or picture of it.

I've been working on keeping my thumb directly on top just behind edge of the tang and using slight downward pressure just to help stabilize the stock while breaking the trigger. It has seemed to help a bit.
 

BCD

WKR
Joined
Jan 9, 2019
Messages
683
Location
Hudson, WI
Is there a particular thread this advice of keeping the trigger hand thumb off the stock is discussed in? I'd like to get a good explanation or picture of it.

I've been working on keeping my thumb directly on top just behind edge of the tang and using slight downward pressure just to help stabilize the stock while breaking the trigger. It has seemed to help a bit.

I would like to know more about keeping the thumb off of the stock as well....
 

coues32

WKR
Joined
Jan 13, 2016
Messages
480
I and others have had luck putting slight pressure on top of the scope instead of holding the stock.
Kimbers,CLR in magnums, one has a brake others don't.

There is a thread on shooting kimber rifles floating around somewhere
 
Joined
Mar 31, 2018
Messages
92
Location
USA
This is interesting. My off hand is always holding the rear bag in the prone but I have noticed that when I am off, it is typically shooting high. Can any elaborate more on this?? What do you mean by "grip the forearm"?


Here's another one that mentions it

 

IL Rifle

FNG
Joined
Apr 14, 2020
Messages
20
I have an 80s M70 XTR Lightweight in .30-06. I replaced the old hard pad with a Limbsaver. That helps a lot. I also use military type sling wrapped around my arm and hold the forearm of the rifle and use a pack as support for the back of my hand when shooting prone. I find a good solid hold on the rifle helps control the rifle and minimize recoil.
 

Wapiti1

WKR
Joined
Sep 18, 2017
Messages
3,569
Location
Indiana
One thing that I haven't seen yet is overtravel on the trigger. On a light rifle, you want some overtravel. In fact, on any rifle, I set it up to have overtravel. If the trigger stops dead after the break, you may pull it sideways as you react to recoil. Having some overtravel helps eliminate that trigger control issue.

Jeremy
 
Top