Shooting MOA or better...what's the secret?

[CSACANNONEER]

Although decent equipment and great ammo is a must, don't think that just by being a gear queer is going to do much. The fact is that only lots of quality practice and skill will come.

[PistolPete75]

trued action, match barrel, crisp trigger pull, match ammo/reloading skills, and fundemental marksmanship skills all come in to play.

I was doing 1moa with my first remington 700p. It's pretty easy to do when the gear is good.

[JTROKS]

I've found that my biggest obstacle is my fear of recoil. Granted .270 Winchester isn't a huge round, it shakes up my shoulder pretty well and it's hard not to anticipate it.

+1 on that! I shoot a 270 Win chambered hunting rifle that weights almost 8 lbs and the thought of the scope just a little over 3" away from my eye is not very comforting.

[BigBamBoo]

.................

[PistolPete75]

+1 on that! I shoot a 270 Win chambered hunting rifle that weights almost 8 lbs and the thought of the scope just a little over 3" away from my eye is not very comforting.

two things to cure that. practice dry firing and install a muzzle brake.

start out with a rear bag. when you can do sub-moa all day long, then move on to using no rear bags under timed sessions. 5 shots under 1 minute is pretty much standard. guys i shoot with can hit submoa all day long around the 25-35second mark through a bolt action.

there will be two thoughts to this. benchresters and precision style shooting. benchresters have gizmos to hold down their rifle with highly modified custom rifles and extreme reloading techniques, precision guys do it through knowledge of ballistics and fundemental marksmanship skills in the dirt, off a roof top, downhill/uphill, long distance, etc.

want to learn? check this thread out.

http://www.calguns.net/calgunforum/showthread.php?t=111596

[jcaoloveshine]

I'm shooting a Winchester Model 70 Black Shadow in .270 Winchester. The only modification I've made to it is to lighten the trigger pull down to around 2lbs or so. The scope is a 3-9x40 8 Point Simmons and it holds zero fine and has a clear sight picture.

[PistolPete75]

that's a hunting rifle. if you can hold 1moa on that your doing very well.

[Mute]

If recoil is your primary obstacle, first thing is to make sure you have the rifle mounted properly to your shoulder. If there is still a problem after you've verified that then you'll have to either use a better recoil pad or a muzzle brake to counter the effects.

[Fjold]

I think that what a lot of people fear about recoil is more mental than physical. If the stock fits you and your position is correct you have to get up to really high levels of recoil before it physically hurts you.

[dfletcher]

So what do you guys do to shoot really accurately? Having started shooting higher power this summer, I find that if I focus well and slowly squeeze but dont quickly jerk the trigger things seem to go alright. What are the other aspects to accurate shooting technique? I've already got the rifle nice and tight against my shoulder and I've adjusted trigger pull so it's nice and crisp, it's just that I seem to still fear recoil.

Practice alot and learn something each time you shoot, about your technique and equipment. BTW - as someone else pointed out in another thread, the gun doesn't kick any less if you flinch.

[sb_pete]

I once had a buddy... He was the division sniper instructor at Camp Pendleton for years and now is with an Army unit out of Bragg. He said "If you shoot 200 rounds a day for years, you can get pretty good."

LOL, true, just don't try that with the ammo on your own dime

I've found that my biggest obstacle is my fear of recoil. Granted .270 Winchester isn't a huge round, it shakes up my shoulder pretty well and it's hard not to anticipate it.

Well, I'm sure as hell no Carlos Hathcock or anything, but I can tell you what 's helped me:

1. Have you tried using snap caps?
Obviously this is easier in pistols where you can "shuffle the deck" with your magazines. It is harder to load them so you won't anticipate their presence in an internally magged bolt action, but you could have a friend load your rifle and mix them in randomly. I have done this quite a bit for myself and others and it does wonders for recoil anticipation.

2. Also, as others have said, work on breathing and technique by dry fire practice. Little things like firing during a natural respiratory pause and using the pad of your finger instead of the joint can make a huge difference. Someone once told me to try dry firing with my eyes closed while trying to make the trigger pull take as long as possible (like minutes, not seconds). This seemed to help me.

3. One thing that helped me with dry firing inside was using a mirror. I don't know your situation but I don't have the space to focus my scope inside and don't really want to go scaring my neighbors. So I use a mirror to be able to focus on a target while indoors.

3. Like Ahhnother8 said, High Power can be a great help, heck any competitive shooting can be. The gear isn't essential, although exposure to it tends to be bad on the wallet. The important thing is to be around other shooters who are better than you and to learn from them while having fun. If you're not having fun, you won't learn as much. Putting yourself around better shooters gives you the opportunity to learn a great deal. You still have to seek out their advice though. Let the RO and the other shooters around you know that you are trying to improve your form and would appreciate their input. Obviously you want to be humble about this kind of thing though, don't get defensive and make sure you listen to their advice in such a way that it is pleasant for them to give it to you. I remember a couple months back, I was watching this know-it-all guy "teaching" his two boys how to shoot at an across the course match. After the first couple times some of the other guys tried to give some pointers to the kids, well [Sigh] his kids would have been much better off without him there...

Hope that helps
-Pete

[CRTguns]

Just because you're not Tiger Woods doesn't mean you can't make par on every hole. Let's not discourage each other from being better riflemen.

Or just because you have sensitive feelings does not mean we have to candy coat the truth---


Note the smily. That means that my comment was in jest.

[jcaoloveshine]

that's a hunting rifle. if you can hold 1moa on that your doing very well.

Do you have any experience with the Black Shadow? I'm pretty sure this rifle shoots better than me, but all I've done to it is lightened the trigger pull (the stock is still factory). Sometimes I'd get half moa 2-shot groups but most of the time I got 3-4MOA. Most likely a combination of trigger jerk and flinching.

[Timberwolf]

Do you have any experience with the Black Shadow? I'm pretty sure this rifle shoots better than me, but all I've done to it is lightened the trigger pull (the stock is still factory). Sometimes I'd get half moa 2-shot groups but most of the time I got 3-4MOA. Most likely a combination of trigger jerk and flinching.

and barrel heating and changing POI - your sporter barreled rifle is not a target rifle, not meant to be. Bench it and from a cold barrel shoot a three shot 100 yard group then let it cool to a cold barrel, adjust you scope from the center of your last three shot group of from the center of your closest two if you have one way out. Verify zero with an additional three shot group. Repeat these steps until zeroed then get off the benck and practice your four basic positions, prone, kneeling, sitting and standing. Remeber the basics of marksmanship especially B.R.A.S.S. - Breath, Relax, Aim, Stop (or slack with a two stage trigger, or sight with iron sights), Squeeze. Also don't neglect dry firing which for a beginner should be two to three time the amount of live fire ie 1 hour live fire = 2 - 3 hours dry fireing.

[PistolPete75]

Do you have any experience with the Black Shadow? I'm pretty sure this rifle shoots better than me, but all I've done to it is lightened the trigger pull (the stock is still factory). Sometimes I'd get half moa 2-shot groups but most of the time I got 3-4MOA. Most likely a combination of trigger jerk and flinching.

I only shoot remington and savage bolt actions rifles with heavy, target bull barrels.

+1 on what Timber said. Sporter barrels will open up when the barrel gets hot. They are designed for hunting, and not extreme accuracy. Shooting 3 to 4 moa on a hunting rifle should be okay if your shooting deer. I'm sure you'll still hit it. If you want accuracy, get a remington 700p and shoot match ammo. I bet, you'll get close to 1moa on your first try.