[bubba052698]

Hi all,

I was just curious on the proper way to hold the gun when shooting with a sandbag or rest.

I'm right-handed. Sometimes I put my left hand under the stock amd sometimes I grip the bottom of the fore stock. My question is....

Are you supposed to hold the gun firmly, or do you let the recoil rise the barrel up and let the brunt of the force hit your shoulder? I find myself tensing up before the shot and almost forcing the gun to move as little as possible. Which way is the most accurate? What about under rapid fire conditions?

Thanks in advance for the info

 

[AF-Dude]

I've found that I shoot better if I am totally relaxed, let the gun do what it wants, and just focus on sight alignment, breathing, and trigger pull. I've found that when I tense up and try to hold the rifle still by brute force I usually flinch or overcompensate one way or the other.
But that's just my experience.
I haven't played too much with rapid fire, or at least not enough to know what I'm doing.
Hope that helps

 

[cajungeo]

Bubba, I use a firm rearward pull of butt plate straight into my shoulder, using my right hand. 2 things I have to watch is; the force is directed into my shoulder, and not downward. My trigger finger, is relaxed till its time to squeeze. My left fist is under the butt. It squeezes the bag to make fine adjustment in elevation.

When I was in the Marines, our PMI had us hold the M-14 into the shoulder firm enough with the right had only, and dry fire it a couple of times. The left hand was down at our sides. Thats for field shooting which is a little diff, than bench shooting.

I've read some Benchresters, put teflon tape on their stock forearm, then baby powder their front rest bag, they pinch the triger with the fore finger, and thumb. When they fire they let the muzzle jump. I don't go to that extreme with the mini, but the muzzle jumps some as I'm not holding the forestock in "slow fire". Now rapid fire I have to hold the forestock with the left hand.

The key is be consistant. Sight picture, rifle contact pressure (arms hands, head), breath control, trigger squeeze.

After tunning, or working up reloads, I wean my self off the bench rest, and practice shooting field positions. It is a lot different. Your POI will change, so sight adjustments will be necessary. Another thing that changes is group size. it will be larger, sometimes much larger. The difference is not your rifle, ammo, or sights, its you. Practice, Practice, Practice

 

[Mordru]

From a field position (standing, kneeling, etc...) I always want to use my sling to help steady my stance. Wrap the sling around your left arm as your take your stance to provide tension between your left arm and the foreend of your rifle. This technique allows you to really lock in with your left arm and hold the rifle much more still than with an unsupported left arm. Very could advice from Cajungeo re: stock into and against right shoulder but not downward. I use this technique for sighting (prior to hunting, etc.) once I have my optic zeroed. Once you are accustomed to this technique you will be able to make rapid and accurate shots. Some military training still involves use of the sling as a firing aid some does not. British SAS make a big point of "never putting a sling" on any of their rifles. But this seems a little overeaching to me.

As a buddy of mine likes to point out there ain't no benchrests in a deer stand. The same can be applied to yote's and other varmits. Field shooting is more fun, more practical, and more beneficial in case, gods forfend, you need to shoot rapidly and accurately to save you or your beloved from some varmit that goes on two legs.

 

[bubba052698]

Thanks for the info guys


Just lately I've noticed some (bad) habits as of late when it comes to shooting. One big one is tensing up and flinching. Man, it's hard to stop blinking, hehe. I'm trying to get consistent and learn the proper way to shoot.

I never wanted my mini to be a sub-moa shooter, and I probably won't ever mount a magnified scope on it. I just would like to hit a paper plate from any position to about 150 yards at a good cyclic rate

 

[dvdstdg]

Originally posted by bubba052698
Hi all,

I find myself tensing up before the shot and almost forcing the gun to move as little as possible. Which way is the most accurate? What about under rapid fire conditions?

Tension is the enemy. Any of the books, tracts, or service manuals will stress relaxed position. Tension when shooting will have the same effect as tension in your golf swing or anyother activity - bad, unrepeatable results.

 

[Zydeco76]

I have fought with it for a long time. I still do it when I am unfamiliar with the weapon. That whole 10 guage thing when I was a kid. Wear hearing protection and plink alot. Also I often make it a point when trying to work on technique is to load each bullet one at a time. Stay away from speed shooting at long range. Atleast untill you can hit everytime. You will be surprised one day when you can drill em at speed it comes pretty quick as long as you don't have to think real hard about the details. Only hits count!!!! Caliber don't matter. Super ultra bullets of megadeath are a joke when they only come close. sometimes these fast little sporters spoil the new guy. one shot one kill.

 

[reloader]

When I started really drilling myself on position shooting through dry firing drills with my mini I actually developed a flinch. I've been practicing good marksmanship with my .300 WM for years, and trust me, if you can zen yourself into ignoring that you should have your recoil problems licked. I have come to suspect that the comaratively huge hammer slamming into the back of the bolt inches in front of my face is part of the problem. Anyone else been bothered by this? I've had to work pretty hard to overcome this.

 

[cajungeo]

Bubba, I started to write, all I know about a cure for a flinch, but found this article, which covers just about all. Print this out, and Practice it. You will be cured. You can have a relap, so its something you have to work with now, and then. Check out: http://groups.msn.com/firearms1/howtofiretheshot.msnw

 

[bubba052698]

Cool, thanks Cajungeo. I'm going to try that the next time I go out

 

[The Karbine Kid]

This is a semi-silly flinch test and excercise, but it's something you can do while sitting on your rear in front of the computer. Pick an object to stare at, then while staring at it, smack yourself in the forehead with your palm, do it in such a way so it doesn't block your line of sight to the object. Try your hardest not to blink.

 

[Zydeco76]

good guide Cajungeo. Good advive inthere. Call your shot, keeps your eyes open.

 

[Spud]

Hi guys,
For flinch training I will load the kid's rifle or pistol myself. he won't know if it is a dud or a live round. Often I have him do the same for me when I got the 300 WMag jumping all over the place. As for grip, I try to make it comfortable as possible. If one is in a strain, ain't nothing gonna shoot straight. That could be changed by stock design, depending on the type of shooting. Benchrest style won't work for a hunter and likewise. I guess that most of all, practice, then practice some more. I will also recommend to get rid of any buttplate that tends to slip when in shooting position. Hope this helps.
Best,
Spud:usa: