Good shooting advice/books?

K

Kaylee

New member
Howdy!

Well okay.. I finally got the bug to actually learn how to use a rifle *well*. Partly trying to prepare for a first hunt this year with less worry of a gutshot, partly just for the fun of knowing the skill.

SO.. in between pestering the Old Wiseones at the range, I'm starting reading up as well. Does anyone have any suggestions in particular? I've heard of Cooper and "Ultimate Sniper" mentioned a couple times, but I'd like to hear a couple reviews before I plunk down the cash at the local bookstore...

Thanks muchly!

-K
 
K, Cooper's "Art of the Rifle" is well worth the price. The biggest thing is to get on the range and shoot. I find that plinking with a purpose is pretty good training. Zero your rifle with Wal-Mart specials and start shooting. If you become convinced that some other load is the ticket, simply re-zero when hunting season rolls around.

Bottom line is shoot often and get feedback..

Giz
 
Concur on Cooper's book. The Ultimate Sniper may be overkill for what you want. Msg Jim Owens has an excellant series of books on shooting. Sorry but I don't know where his website is at.
 
Call this opinion from an Old Fart who's been around for a while:

Being able to hit your target, whether from a benchrest or offhand at a tin can or deer, requires having the correct sight picture at the moment your finger makes that last tiny movement which causes the loud noise.

For a hunter, the benchrest is merely a means of getting the barrel and sights aligned. Once that's done, further benchrest shooting is pointless. The exception is that it's a comfortable position from which to practice the eye-finger coordination, for a beginning shooter.

Out in the field, where a hunters' important work is done, shots are taken from offhand (particular if you're a walking and stalking hunter in brushy country) or with some "casual" rest--tree, rock, whatever.

Since the most difficult position is the Offhand, I've always suggested practicing from it. The .22 rifle and the ubiquitous tin can make the least expensive combination. If you can achieve coordination with the typical trigger of a .22 rifle, you can easily deal with the same situation with a big game rifle having a quality trigger. (And, yes, some .22s have decent triggers, but they are not the least expensive.)

Okay. You've done all this practice, focussing on what you're doing and not just "getting off" on making noise. Now it's time to go seek Bambi for your supper.

A mistake that many novice hunters make is to just shoot at the whole animal. "A scope full of brown; "Bang!" You have to learn deer anatomy, and pick a specific spot on the critter to shoot at.

If I have any kind of rest, and the deer is inside of 100 yards or so, I usually shoot for the center of the neck. Otherwise, I try for the heart/lung area, going low in the chest where the heart is located. If I shoot a bit high, the lungs are destroyed. My personal limit for offhand shooting is around 100 to 150 yards, and then only if it "feels right". I just don't like the idea of a bad hit and thus losing a crippled deer.

I don't advocate shooting at a running deer until after one has quite a bit of experience. The longer one stays with a particular rifle, the better one gets "married" to it, and the greater the confidence.

Nuff fer now; hope this helps.

Regards,

Art
 
"Complete Book of Rifles and Shotguns" by Jack O'Conner.

It is an older book but everything in it still holds true.
 
Zorro said, "It is an older book but everything in it still holds true."

"How to" doesn't change. What my father had learned by 1920 wasn't any different from what I had learned by around 1945, which isn't any different from what I do today. :)

The only difference from the days of Lexington and Concord is the technology--but not how to use it.

Art
 
I love books and have quite a few but my advice is:
Use the public library!
Craig Boddington in addition to Jack O'Conner come to mind
Save your money for ammo and the next new gun.
 
I concur with Art About the .22 idea. When I was younger I took this course called 'shoot where you look'. The whole idea of the course was developing hand & eye coordination and for this we used BBguns without the sights. It may seem silly, but I could hit a thrown tennis ball in the air and some could hit pennies and asprins. Sounds ridiculous, I know... but with enough practice, and the right technique, you'd be surprised. Anyway, I shot the hell out of that BBgun and also put about 50,000 rounds through a Ruger 10/.22. The other day I put my finger on my first .308 rifle and pulled the trigger- guess what- the skills are the same.
 
I love gun books also. The best shooting instruction I have read is in The Hunting Rifle by Townsend Whelen copyright 1940. My copy is from Wolfe Publishing. They were selling them off cheap last fall and they may still have a copy of their reprint.

Cooper's Art of the Rifle didn't impress me. His other books were much better.

The .22 is a great way to start out but you need to shoot the big rifle after you master the small one. I agree about leaving the bench rest behind. Practice mostly sitting and offhand positions as well as leaning over a rest and resting the rifle on a tree.
 
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