Should I just give up?

[IntoForever]

Offer to pay for a day at the range for someone who can help you out. They can help you with proper stance/seating, sights breathing etc... Trust me, it's worth it to learn right the first time instead of trying to unlearn decades of bad habits. My friend has missed a clothes dryer at 10 feet with my .380 due to his horrible habits.

[lilro]

Sell them all to me! Then come back, buy some more and get some tips. Proper grip is a huge factor. Perfect practice makes perfect. The more work it takes to get better, the more accomplished you will feel. Don't give up. State your area. I am sure there is someone here who would be willing to meet up and help you.

I'm in the Richmond area. But I go to bullseye in San Rafael when I shoot my glock. Adjustable distance is a necessity.

[alfred1222]

Where are you located OP?? if your near me we can go out and shoot together, and ill help zero your guns and what not. and just a heads up, it took me a couple hundred rounds through my AR just to get the zero perfect and consistent. even after that, i had to shoot close to 1000 rounds just to get the groupings that i wanted to get. it was the same thing with shotguns. it took me 3 years of shooting on and off, and 2 years of shooting every single weekend, and alot more sells than i can count, to get to where i can shoot 23/25 consistently. Dont give up. go buy a 300 round box of .223, a rest, and clear you schedule, and just shoot till if works

[Merc1138]

For rifles, take an appleseed class. They're pretty cheap, cover the basics, the instructors can spot some of your problems and help you correct them, and are just a good experience in general. I'm not going to say everything taught an an appleseed class should be taken as gospel, but it'll at the very least be an excellent starting point.

[bluenoise]

I agree you just need someone to teach you the basics. From there, you can practice what you've learned. With the Glock, you can do dry fire exercises at home (make sure there is absolutely no live ammo around!) which help you with your trigger pull. Hold a steady sight picture as you press the trigger. Nothing should move, if you're doing it correctly.

Get you rifle sighted in. Use a bench rest or sandbags and put a small clump of holes into the paper at 25 yards. From there, you can then dial it in the same way from your desired distance. You should only need to adjust elevation, if it was sighted dead-on at 25.

"Invest" in a .22LR gun or two, since shooting those is far cheaper than any of the centerfire calibers. All the same mechanics apply, so it's good, cheap practice.

Have fun and be safe!

[brian.243]

All this is good advice. Also if your ar is scoped you need to make sure your scope mounts are tight. Don't give up start off close. Get good and move target out another 5 yards get good and move it outagain

[Josh3239]

For zeroing @ 25yds, should my point of aim and point of impact be the same?

Yes. Your point of aim is where your aiming and your point of impact is where your hitting.

Set your target at 25 yards, if you cannot see you impacts at that distance get yourself some Shoot-N-C targets. They are excellent, I only shoot those now because of the ease of seeing the impacts. And just make the adjustments. If seeing isn't a problem they have grid targets measured in 1'' grids to help you find work out the adjustments in your head. Once your on at 25 yards, you'll be on paper at 100 yards and can adjust from there.

Shoot from a comfortable position (not standing, bring a chair/stool or go prone) and use a bag or something to support the front end of the rifle. Remember it isn't a race. 1 good shot will tell you more than 10 bad ones.

So I went home and blind adjusted the front/rear sight according to the markings on the zero target. Went back today, with a spotting scope, and did the 3 shot and check technique. I did worse than before, and hardly ever hit the target, so the adjustments were still basically blind. Put it back to mech. zero and still was off. So after walking back and forth 100yds a few times with no results to even change technique or sights, I got frustrated and left.

Either your sights aren't holding you zero or you adjusted the wrong way.

When I first took out my Remington 700 with a $900 Vortex scope on it I put the target at 100 yards and every shot I fired failed to get on paper. I had to use the biggest shoot'n'c target I had and placed the target at 25 yards just to find my impact. Only needed one shot to make the correct adjustments to get a 100 yard zero. I've taken my Remington 700 out to the steel plates at ASR to 400 yards without touching the sights. The story with my Garand is nearly the same.

Firstly, what are your sights? If there are some bottom feeder like Leapers or UTG they should be dumped. But they need to be zero'd. There are targets that will show you which way to turn the dials and how any times as well, such as this one:
http://www.paulbunyan.net/users/pilot/M16A2tgt.gif. This is used in Army basic.

I've found a pistol class locally, but no luck for rifle classes. Any of you calgunners know of any in the East Bay area?

Good, it'll be worth it. Go to the shooting meets section and offer a box of ammo or something to shoot with another calgunner. Or just ask a rangemaster or your neighbor. I usually end up chatting with my neighbors at shooting ranges anyways.

Also, for handguns this target helped me a bunch I recommend it big time! Print it off and use it! http://www.freeportjuniorclub.org/im...%5D%5B1%5D.GIF

[lilro]

Firstly, what are your sights? If there are some bottom feeder like Leapers or UTG they should be dumped. But they need to be zero'd. There are targets that will show you which way to turn the dials and how any times as well, such as this one:
http://www.paulbunyan.net/users/pilot/M16A2tgt.gif. This is used in Army basic.

It's the standard Colt AR front sight post, and a magpul MBUS in the rear.

This is the target I used

http://www.ableammo.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=76026

[foesgth]

The best bang for the buck

Before you give up and take up stamp collecting, try an Appleseed.

[msand951]

Go out with someone to help you sight in your rilfe. Maybe buy a 10/22 for practice if you want to. and keep having FUN. You will get it eventually. You can take classes too. Dont stress out .
And some newbs Ive taken shooting . Had a good idea on aiming and looking down the sights cause of Call of duty. So it might help. Who would of taught it . games

[fighterpilot562]

take a class. and shooting about having fun not stressing about how good of a shot u r

[russ69]

All good advice so far. For pistol practice get a good 22LR auto and practice at 7 yards. With a rifle go to 50 yards until you start getting good groups.
Some instruction will help but you can learn on your own. Next time you go to the range, find a guy that is shooting small groups, then ask for some help. He might look too serious to disturb but most guys will at least help you get started.
I have guys come up to me all the time, 10 minutes of my time and usually they get on target and figure it out. I have no problem stopping and helping a new shooter. I see guys struggling all the time, all they have to do is ask for help and I'm willing to pitch in. If they don't ask, I just MMOB. Not everyone wants help.

[chucksolo69]

Keep at it. It has take me 30 years to be able to consistently put my shots in the 8, 9, and 10 ring of an NRA slow fire pistol target at 25 yards with my .45's and 9mm's. It'll come, it just takes practice. Hang in there!!

[llamatrnr]

I used to not be able to hit the broad side of a barn, so a frend suggested I move inside the barn; I did much better

(All very good advice above; thought I'd add a bit of levity)

[Mata]

Give up...list your guns cheap and spend the money on Call of Duty Modules...

This! I will even probably buy from you... heh.

Get a class or 5 under your belt. Pistol and rifle are different, but a lot of accuracy is trigger control, you can practice that at home.

Buy a couple snap caps and just practice squeezing the trigger. Then, at the range, put a few mags down range then do some ball and dummy drills if you have a friend with you. Those will show you how you are doing on the trigger.

Also, google the acronym: BRASS