I'm pretty new to shooting and have been shooting my 4x scoped Savage MKII .22 at 50 yards for practice. Once I'm satisfied with my groupings, I will move to 100 yards. What are some things I should be taking note of? Things like breathing, stance (I mostly shoot from a bench though), and trigger pull. I don't want to delve too much into different ammo, and luckily, my rifle likes the cheap stuff. I realize that practice makes perfect, but is there anything to help speed my improvement? Any tips? thanks!
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shooting tips
- Thread starter rifleman8
- Start date
Singlesix1954
New member
As said before...the trigger should be gently depressed as you focas the sights and target. Never think "SHOOT!", just think about the sight picture. The best shot is when you are a little surprised that it went off!
big al hunter
New member
Read read read. If you don't have time to read a book here are a few tips that helped me when I was starting out.
1. Get comfortable, adjust your bench or position to make holding still easier.
2. Line up your crosshair and keep it there. to do this you may want sand bags under your forend and buttstock, or you can rest just on the forend.
3. When you are ready to fire inhale 2 times, on the second exhale stop breathing at halfway out. This stops your body from moving (and your gun too)
4. Sqeeze the trigger slowly until the gun goes bang.
5. Repeat until it works every time.(thats the fun part)
Some guys suggest using a sling for some positions and they can be very helpful. You should be able to find that in the military training books and I remember reading it in one of Jack O'connor's books too. sorry don't remember which one.
hope this helps you as much as it did me.
1. Get comfortable, adjust your bench or position to make holding still easier.
2. Line up your crosshair and keep it there. to do this you may want sand bags under your forend and buttstock, or you can rest just on the forend.
3. When you are ready to fire inhale 2 times, on the second exhale stop breathing at halfway out. This stops your body from moving (and your gun too)
4. Sqeeze the trigger slowly until the gun goes bang.
5. Repeat until it works every time.(thats the fun part)
Some guys suggest using a sling for some positions and they can be very helpful. You should be able to find that in the military training books and I remember reading it in one of Jack O'connor's books too. sorry don't remember which one.
hope this helps you as much as it did me.
ndking1126
New member
After the round has been fired, hold the trigger back for a second or two, then release it.
thesheepdog
New member
Since there is no way to measure "half a breath" consistently, we do not teach this; rather based on your natural breathing habits, the pause before your next breath is the MOST consistent of any respiratory pauses.stop breathing at halfway out
The Six Steps of firing the shot (Appleseed Marksmanship Training):
1. Sight ALIGNMENT.
If you're using iron sights, line up the sights. If you're using a scope, this is already done for you.
2. Sight PICTURE.
Make sure your sights are aimed where you want the bullet to impact the target.
3. Respiratory PAUSE
Just like your natural respiratory pause before you take another breath; except you will hold your breath instead of taking another breath.
4a. Focus your EYE on the FRONT SIGHT
Simple as that; make sure that your eye is focused on your sight/crosshairs, and not some other area of the sight/reticle.
4b. Focus your MIND on KEEPING the front sight on the TARGET
If you have your eye focused on the front sight/scope reticle, but it's not on the target, how are you helping yourself? Keep the sights on the target, all the time.
5. SQUEEZE the trigger
Just like squeezing a lemon; it's not a jerk or a pull; you're just slowly pressing the trigger back till it goes click.
6. Follow Through:
-Hold the trigger back (if you don't, you can impart motion on the rifle; therefore decreasing accuracy)
-Take a “MENTAL SNAPSHOT” of where the front sight was when the round went off.
You're calling your shots on this one. If you know where that front sight/reticle was pointed when you squeezed that trigger, that's where the round should be.
Also you should consider an Appleseed Marksmanship Clinic
I am an Instructor for them, and I have got to say, it's well worth the few bucks you spend to learn some excellent marksmanship training that would cost you $500+ elsewhere.
appleseedinfo.org
I too am new to a Savage Mark II
A very experienced friend helped to sight in my BSA Sweet 22 scope. I was putting 5 shots within an inch at 50 yards. So I was generally happy. Then as I put over 100 rounds through the gun I noticed that if I even so much as raised my eyebrow that the crosshairs of the scope would move a significant distance on the target. Is this caused by a cheap scope? Are there scopes with two sets of crosshairs so that you know you are remaining on target.
The only other sad part was that my new Savage failed to insert a cartridge into the chamber about 10% of the time. It is a bolt action. I have shipped the rifle back to Savage to see if they can fix that. I hope they can.
I would appreciate any comments about scope crosshairs moving based on where you place your cheek on the stock..or the movement of your eyebrow moving up. Thanks. "newsig"
A very experienced friend helped to sight in my BSA Sweet 22 scope. I was putting 5 shots within an inch at 50 yards. So I was generally happy. Then as I put over 100 rounds through the gun I noticed that if I even so much as raised my eyebrow that the crosshairs of the scope would move a significant distance on the target. Is this caused by a cheap scope? Are there scopes with two sets of crosshairs so that you know you are remaining on target.
The only other sad part was that my new Savage failed to insert a cartridge into the chamber about 10% of the time. It is a bolt action. I have shipped the rifle back to Savage to see if they can fix that. I hope they can.
I would appreciate any comments about scope crosshairs moving based on where you place your cheek on the stock..or the movement of your eyebrow moving up. Thanks. "newsig"
Art Eatman
Staff in Memoriam
"...the crosshairs of the scope would move a significant distance on the target."
Read up on "parallax". Also, "AO" scopes; that's adjustable object.
A couple of items for when a shooter has become fairly proficient but wishes to improve: First, consider that Olympic shooters learn to press the trigger between heartbeats. A pulse rate in the sixties means nearly a full second.
Next is the old and unavoidable human reaction time. The average is 0.2 seconds between the time your brain says, "Do it!" and anything actually happens out there at a finger tip. (Or a foot on a brake pedal.) So, since nobody is truly a human bench rest, you must anticipate where the sight picture will be in 0.2 seconds from Right Now and act accordingly.
Read up on "parallax". Also, "AO" scopes; that's adjustable object.
A couple of items for when a shooter has become fairly proficient but wishes to improve: First, consider that Olympic shooters learn to press the trigger between heartbeats. A pulse rate in the sixties means nearly a full second.
Next is the old and unavoidable human reaction time. The average is 0.2 seconds between the time your brain says, "Do it!" and anything actually happens out there at a finger tip. (Or a foot on a brake pedal.) So, since nobody is truly a human bench rest, you must anticipate where the sight picture will be in 0.2 seconds from Right Now and act accordingly.
i am no expert but what works best for me...
hold gun firm, but do not strain in any way
aim and completely let cross hairs settle on center of target
start applying pressure on trigger still breathing.
you must know your gun for this to be successful but...
apply 3/4 pressure give or take on trigger then stop breathing on top side of natural breath(inhaled) what this does is keeps your brain from starving for oxygen. within a couple of seconds if the gun has not went off you will lose your steadiness with no oxygen.
then finish pressing trigger until gun fires
you should not know when its going to go off (even though you will have a good idea)
as was said before, keep trigger pressed for a couple seconds
also occasionally have someone load for you where sometimes they load live rounds and sometimes they don't. if the gun moves at all when you fire without a live round you know your not doing it properly. this is a good practice to force yourself to not jerk.
good luck remember practice...practice...practice
BUT ONLY GOOD PRACTICE WILL IMPROVE YOUR ACCURACY
practicing bad habits will only make you worse.
hold gun firm, but do not strain in any way
aim and completely let cross hairs settle on center of target
start applying pressure on trigger still breathing.
you must know your gun for this to be successful but...
apply 3/4 pressure give or take on trigger then stop breathing on top side of natural breath(inhaled) what this does is keeps your brain from starving for oxygen. within a couple of seconds if the gun has not went off you will lose your steadiness with no oxygen.
then finish pressing trigger until gun fires
you should not know when its going to go off (even though you will have a good idea)
as was said before, keep trigger pressed for a couple seconds
also occasionally have someone load for you where sometimes they load live rounds and sometimes they don't. if the gun moves at all when you fire without a live round you know your not doing it properly. this is a good practice to force yourself to not jerk.
good luck remember practice...practice...practice
BUT ONLY GOOD PRACTICE WILL IMPROVE YOUR ACCURACY
practicing bad habits will only make you worse.
big al hunter
New member
newsig
the majority of scope manufacturers set there scopes for no paralax at 100 yards. There are many scopes that have adjustable paralax systems also called adjustable objective. There is nothing wrong with the scope thats what happens in all scopes. Read up on it or google paralax it will help your understanding.
the majority of scope manufacturers set there scopes for no paralax at 100 yards. There are many scopes that have adjustable paralax systems also called adjustable objective. There is nothing wrong with the scope thats what happens in all scopes. Read up on it or google paralax it will help your understanding.
smoakingun
New member
Sheepdog put it out there for you by the numbers. Every shot fired by the numbers, exactly the same way. Find an appleseed event near you, learn to shoot without the bag, the way a rifleman should.
www.appleseedinfo.org
www.appleseedinfo.org
When getting into offhand shooting and other positions, using a scope, you may find this helpful.
First: Nobody can hold a rifle completely still when shooting offhand. Try to find positions with the non-trigger hand that allows you the best control of the sights on that particular day and with that rifle. Sometimes it works best with the hand back towards the receiver, sometimes you have better control with it out farther on the forend.
Target shooters tend to hold closer to the receiver with the left elbow tucked against the hip or ribs. That's true for heavy rifles, especially shooting long strings.
I like my left hand pretty far out on the forend for more consistent control, but have shot offhand pretty well for 55 years. My left arm has pretty good control, but I'm not ambidextrous.
Breathing: Take a deeper than normal breath when mounting the rifle, then take shallow breaths until the rifle settles near target center, then holding it for not more than about 10 seconds before the shot. If you start shaking, put the rifle down and try again.
The best tip I can offer for offhand scoped shooting is to keep your eye on the center of the target (or the point you would like to hit on game). It works much better to move the crosshairs to the point you want to hit, than to look at the center of the reticle, then, try to find the aiming point. When looking at the target aiming point you'll see the reticle more naturally move toward that point. Small reticle movement will also not be as unsettling to you.
As I mentioned before, you can't hold the crosshairs completely still, but as you see them moving toward the aim point, squeeze the trigger slowly, and when it passes off the aim point hold that point in the squeeze until the reticle approaches the center again. Don't be concerned with the size of your groups on paper. With practice they will get smaller.
Practicing with snap caps is very valuable, but you may need to use a centerfire rifle, since dummy .22LR rounds don't last very long. (I often use empty rimfire cases and rotate them after each "shot".)
I strongly encourage you to fire several shots offhand at every range session. Practice doesn't make perfect...careful practice does.
Shooting more than one rifle offhand is also good. You can find the rifle balance, trigger action that is most helpful to your accuracy.
Aim small, miss small!!!
JP
First: Nobody can hold a rifle completely still when shooting offhand. Try to find positions with the non-trigger hand that allows you the best control of the sights on that particular day and with that rifle. Sometimes it works best with the hand back towards the receiver, sometimes you have better control with it out farther on the forend.
Target shooters tend to hold closer to the receiver with the left elbow tucked against the hip or ribs. That's true for heavy rifles, especially shooting long strings.
I like my left hand pretty far out on the forend for more consistent control, but have shot offhand pretty well for 55 years. My left arm has pretty good control, but I'm not ambidextrous.
Breathing: Take a deeper than normal breath when mounting the rifle, then take shallow breaths until the rifle settles near target center, then holding it for not more than about 10 seconds before the shot. If you start shaking, put the rifle down and try again.
The best tip I can offer for offhand scoped shooting is to keep your eye on the center of the target (or the point you would like to hit on game). It works much better to move the crosshairs to the point you want to hit, than to look at the center of the reticle, then, try to find the aiming point. When looking at the target aiming point you'll see the reticle more naturally move toward that point. Small reticle movement will also not be as unsettling to you.
As I mentioned before, you can't hold the crosshairs completely still, but as you see them moving toward the aim point, squeeze the trigger slowly, and when it passes off the aim point hold that point in the squeeze until the reticle approaches the center again. Don't be concerned with the size of your groups on paper. With practice they will get smaller.
Practicing with snap caps is very valuable, but you may need to use a centerfire rifle, since dummy .22LR rounds don't last very long. (I often use empty rimfire cases and rotate them after each "shot".)
I strongly encourage you to fire several shots offhand at every range session. Practice doesn't make perfect...careful practice does.
Shooting more than one rifle offhand is also good. You can find the rifle balance, trigger action that is most helpful to your accuracy.
Aim small, miss small!!!
JP