Sighting / Shooting Technique

[garfy]

And wot about breath control in all this.
They say shot gun shooting is an art, rifle shooting a science. But the more you shoot, the more your rifle shooting slips over to the shotgun side of the fence. You instinctively know when it right.
Didn't pull on a fox last night cause it didnt "feel right". Been back today and analysed it. was half laid in a tractor rut, with my neck at such an odd position i couldn't have seen thru the scope correctly.
i think it becomes like a 6th sense.

ps i can't shoot paper for a gold pig!!!!!

Garfy

[PESCA]

You'd be surprised how many people fall into the 'hold your breath' syndrome. A big no-no. IMHO, should always be on the exhale.

This is when instinct kicks in. You shouldn't really know when you're doing it. You can get too deliberate.

George

[SikaStag]

And wot about breath control in all this.
They say shot gun shooting is an art, rifle shooting a science. But the more you shoot, the more your rifle shooting slips over to the shotgun side of the fence. You instinctively know when it right.
Didn't pull on a fox last night cause it didnt "feel right". Been back today and analysed it. was half laid in a tractor rut, with my neck at such an odd position i couldn't have seen thru the scope correctly.
i think it becomes like a 6th sense.

ps i can't shoot paper for a gold pig!!!!!

Garfy

Good call.

You will get it on another night. It never went away that night educated.

Ian

[SikaStag]

You'd be surprised how many people fall into the 'hold your breath' syndrome. A big no-no. IMHO, should always be on the exhale.

This is when instinct kicks in. You shouldn't really know when you're doing it. You can get too deliberate.

George

In agreement with you on that George. holding the breath in makes you tense. on the exhale, is my preferred method.

Ian

[chas]

When I first got my CZ HMR the trigger on it was terrible,as for shooting on the exhale, by the time the bloody thing had gone off I'd passed out.
More seriously, this paper target thing, I think it's more to do with concentrating on a black dot or whatever you're using and your mind questioning why you're doing it.
I'll take a pop at a rabbit at 300-400 yards in the right conditions and usually hit (if it hits, it's dead) but judging by my performance on paper using MOA as an indicator I shouldn't have hit it in the first place.
To me it's down to relevance, the same as when I went to school (Yes I did in fact do so) they would drum something into you with no explanation as to what use it was, you just had to learn it, it had no relevance in everyday life, but once at college and they put things into perspective, it did have relevance in real life situations and became interesting as such.
To put it another way it's down to gratification, there is no reward for me hitting a piece of paper, but hitting a rabbit or fox is my intention and carries a certain amount of satisfaction and it's own reward as such.
I will admit that from now on I will study my shots with more detail.
Maybe, instead of circular bullseyes, we need little rabbit shapes

[Hartshot]

Or head shoot bulls instead

Still think there's some truth in the theory though. Us chasing the crosshair around a paper target is more common than we think, can't think of any other explanation for it personally !

H

[SikaStag]

Good read Chas.

If most people are zeroeing at round spots circles what ever you want to call them, then you are going to have to concentrate hard. I can get someone shooting better groups in an instant, just by not shooting at a round target. Shoot at a square target.

Draw a Square about 5-6" in diameter with a thick black edge about 1/2" thick. I have them larger than this that have orange squares. Bought them from Deben at trade price many years ago.

Now rather than have to concentrate on a round target.

Divide your cross hair into 4 quarters. Forget about shooting at the middle of the square. your targets are the very corners of the square. For instance if you were shooting at say the top left corner of the square, you would put the bottom right lines of your reticle from 3-6 on a clock face, in line with the lines on the top left of the square. It can be done fast and will produce true groups that you and your rifle are capable of.

I hope this makes sense. It is well worth giving a try. you will be amazed how easy it is to get a good group.
Ye of course you have to follow all the same procedures for consistency. It works and works better than any other zeroing I have used or seen.
The square on the target from Deben is about an inch and a half thick, so I get to use the 4 outer corners as well as the 4 inner corners as points to shoot at. 8 groups from one square. do that with a circle. The target is also marked with inch and half inch lines. to help with zeroing.

Ian

[sedstar]

There are 2 main kinds of shooting, and they have been pointed out: practical hunting shooting (with hunting fieldcraft), and the other is TARGET shooting.

a LOT of people get into practical shooting because it is so natural of a match with learning hunting techniques. I *think* a lot of people get introduced to hunting by an older person, or by a buddy, either way its mentoring thing. You adopt whatever they do, naturally.

I got into the game late 20s, and had little experience hunting. Target shooting, then reloading quickly followed, then PRECISION reloading and learning bench shooting techniques both took a couple years to come to fruition.

People like to divide the two up, into 2 "camps" and make a friendly argument about it. Like people do about most subjects, but, it really isnt necessary. All my buddies (mates? lol) into guns and hunting are the practical sort of hunter/shooter. I am the only "far end of a fart" technical bench shooter in the lot.

After couple/several years of teasing back and forth, a FEW of them got right interested in bench shooting and reloading. Really, other than sighting in for deer season, they only shoot a few rounds hunting season. They realized that all teh rest of their shooting in on a BENCH at the range, and also THAT was where you sight in.

I had to "convince" them of a few things, and they reacted like it was a magic act.

==================================================

the ones i go to the range with? They learn basic bench shooting, which is terribly useful for sighting in a scope, and for testing and tuning in handloads. They typically all cut their group sizes in half almost immediately.

I actively learn from them. I got sort of the hang of just tossing a range bag on a roof of a vehicle and getting half decent groups off. I have to use what mother nature might provide fro a rest often... tree branch, rock, clump of dirt or what have you. I like to go prone and use bipods often.

I bring bench shooting "tricks" to the practical shooting though.

===================================================

typically any "hunting" for ME involves going with one of them. I only knew one, maybe two older hunters that were a perfect mix of the two, practical/benching. BOTH were considered "legendary" out in the field.

Its kind of like the MMA fighting that developed as sport fighting, whats "best"? Technical ground grappling is great, and good stand-up strikers are great too... MMA fighting evolved to include both. THIS hunting is the same, i wager. A healthy mix of bench target shooting, and, practical hunting shooting is best all around.

[PESCA]

Regarding instinct (tenuous link), I was out after charlie one night and was using the .243. Blowing a gale it was, so took a calibre to buck the wind as best I could.

Anyhow, we entered a field and spotted the fox way out at the other side and on the incline of where the land gradually rises up. I was using a PVS14 at the time. I leaned over the bonnet of the truck and set up for him. Now, if it's presented, I always take the shoulder shot. Charlie was moving across the field right to left and so was the wind. Guessing it was 30-35 mph.

Took the shot when it presented itself. Too far away and too windy to hear the thump, but could see that he went straight down and stayed down. As it was a freshly sown field and had been raining, I set off on foot to collect him, with my mate keeping the roof-mounted Lightforce pointed in the right direction. After what seemed like an age of heavy walking, with boots now having gained an extra six inches in height with the soil, I finally reached the fox. Proper dead, but with very little head left. I'd forgotten about the strength of the wind when I lined up the shot. I'd sorted out the drop but not the windage. In the heat of the moment, my instinct had let me down.

Knowing that it was a long shot, on an incline and in a strong, full-value wind, I took a stick with me, onto which I'd tied a fertiliser bag, and marked where I'd dropped him. Went back the next day and pinged it from where we'd had the truck parked. It was 311 yards-my furthest ever shot with nv. But, I'd rather it had been the shoulder shot and not the head

George

[AirRifleSport]

Regarding instinct (tenuous link), I was out after charlie one night and was using the .243. Blowing a gale it was, so took a calibre to buck the wind as best I could.

Anyhow, we entered a field and spotted the fox way out at the other side and on the incline of where the land gradually rises up. I was using a PVS14 at the time. I leaned over the bonnet of the truck and set up for him. Now, if it's presented, I always take the shoulder shot. Charlie was moving across the field right to left and so was the wind. Guessing it was 30-35 mph.

Took the shot when it presented itself. Too far away and too windy to hear the thump, but could see that he went straight down and stayed down. As it was a freshly sown field and had been raining, I set off on foot to collect him, with my mate keeping the roof-mounted Lightforce pointed in the right direction. After what seemed like an age of heavy walking, with boots now having gained an extra six inches in height with the soil, I finally reached the fox. Proper dead, but with very little head left. I'd forgotten about the strength of the wind when I lined up the shot. I'd sorted out the drop but not the windage. In the heat of the moment, my instinct had let me down.

Knowing that it was a long shot, on an incline and in a strong, full-value wind, I took a stick with me, onto which I'd tied a fertiliser bag, and marked where I'd dropped him. Went back the next day and pinged it from where we'd had the truck parked. It was 311 yards-my furthest ever shot with nv. But, I'd rather it had been the shoulder shot and not the head

George

Is there a chance that the POI difference was to do also because of focus change on the NV?

Franco