The benefit of "called" shots.

P

Pond James Pond

New member
I've seen posts and comments referring to "called" shots and I'd like to understand the reason/benefit of these.

Knowing the definition might help too: I take it to mean acknowledging when a shot has gone awry, or trying to ascertain where it hit on the target, based on the sight picture at the bang... Is this right?

If they are used, they clearly serve a purpose and I'd like to see if they can help my shooting improve (assuming I ever find a spare 5 mins to actually go to the range.... :rolleyes:).

One conclusion was that it might be a conscious means of eliminating shots from an accuracy group that are clearly user error, or perhaps some method of assessing trigger discipline.

Am I close?
 
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When I shot on a military rifle team, we had to "call and mark" our shots. A coach was watching with a spotting scope to determine if our "called" hits were actually where they were called. This ensured we were keeping our eyes open through the trigger break and follow through.
No shooter can hold perfectly still on target but should know where the sights were on the target when the shot broke.
In some cases, shooters use the term as an alibi for an errant shot. I no longer shoot competition, so if I make an "oops shot" during accuracy testing, I note such on the target and move on. It happens.
 
As MoBuck said, you should be able to "call" all your shots because your brain will have a picture of the sight location when the gun goes off. You should know where the shot went.

If your sights where high and right and the shot went low and left, something is wrong.

If your sights were high and right and the shot went high and right, what else do you expect? That's where the sights were. ;)

Don't confuse called shots with called "flyers". A flyer is a shot that's not with the rest of the group. You can call a flyer too, "Oops, that one is going to be high and right." but if it's just a "Screwed that one up." and you don't know where it went, that's not a "called shot", it's a screw up.
 
if it's just a "Screwed that one up." and you don't know where it went, that's not a "called shot", it's a screw up.
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Those are the ones I have sometimes seen described as called shots.

Actually, I should also note my own flunked shots. I have not always done so, but I know some I had flinched on, or yanked the trigger.

As for actually calling them, I'll give it a go, but I suspect I may be blinking at the bang. I did get a flinch when I first started shooting the first .308 with zero technique and a steel butt-plate...

Been trying to eliminate it and the heavier Varmint model with a decent rubber butt-plate has helped a lot.
 
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"Calling the shot" is also taught at Appleseed events. Mobuck explained the what, how (to verify), and why. Once you understand you're calling the shots correctly, then your dry fire practice has become exponentially more valuable
 
Called shots apply more to position and field shooting positions than benchrest, (except maybe for flinch shots, which happen and difficult to "call" accurately, except perhaps for direction of movement).

When I'm shooting offhand and "in the groove", I can tell exactly where the crosshairs were when the shot broke. One time, shooting in a one-shot, offhand turkey shoot, I was shamed into taking a rare offhand shot (I usually let others win that venue, but they needed one more contestant to make the minimum number) The crosshairs looked dead center when the Rem 700, .22-250 fired. Someone asked how I thought I did and told him it looked too good. We went down to check targets and it was a pinwheel!

Yesterday, I was down back with my new .223 Rem 700 SFLV. Shooting at a soda can hanging from a tree limb about 140 yards away, the reticle on my second shot was on the can when the rifle fired, but at that distance, the bullet was higher than the point of aim, so it probably missed by a fraction of an inch. Still, a good let-off and I feel pretty good about the shot, as I'm still getting familiar the new rifle. I also knew I was off when the first shot broke.

A senior, still having fun with rifles.
 
Calling shots

Try as I might, I have yet to duplicate the 'Lethal Weapon' scene where he makes a face with the target full back in the indoor range. I came very close at the 7 yard target on my last shoot.
 
People who can call their shots very well can sight in an accurate rifle/ammo combination standing on their hind legs and shooting only one shot at the target. Shoot the round, call the shot, adjust your sights (that, of course, you must know exactly how much one click moves them) then you're done.

Fliers? There are no fliers. Never has been. Never will be. Those so called "fliers" represent the most extreme of all the variables across all that batch of ammo that you just happen to shoot. Best example I know of was with Lake City Army Ammo Plant's match ammo. Specs say its shots on target has to have a mean radius from test group center of no more than 3.5 inches at 600 yards. That's about the average of a 10-shot group it would produce. A lot of National Match ammo for the Nationals had its test group up for public viewing. All 27 ten-shot groups were on it; 270 bullet holes. Calculated mean radius was 1.9 inches. The extreme spread was about 10 inches. 5 or 6 shot holes were at least 4.5 inches out from group center; furthest one at 5 inches. Were these widest few shot "fliers" or a statistical normality of the ammo showing what happens when all its variables add up in the same direction?

That 270-shot group's about 4/5ths the way down in this thread:

http://www.ar15.com/mobile/topic.html?b=3&f=16&t=512887
 
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I really learned to call my shots after lots and lots of dry fire practice. Having the picture in my mind of exactly where the sights were when the trigger broke came pretty easy after hours of sitting in my 'Archie Bunker' chair with my rifle and a couple snap caps 'shooting' at various trinkets on the mantle around the fire place.

Awhile back my buddies girlfriend went to the range with us, she was looking through the spotting scope calling out our shots as we were testing various loads/rifles. After my first few shots I started audibly calling my own shots before she could even look at them; she threw up her hands 'your calling them before I can even look at them; I guess I'll just sit down!' :p
 
Pond said:
Actually, I should also note my own flunked shots. I have not always done so, but I know some I had flinched on, or yanked the trigger.

As for actually calling them, I'll give it a go, but I suspect I may be blinking at the bang.
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Calling your shots is a great discipline to learn for correcting and preventing a tendency to blink or flinch when you pull the trigger. As Sierra280 noted, the way to start is with lots of dry-firing, concentrating on keeping your eyes open and maintaining your sight picture when you pull the trigger. All of this should be part of your follow-through when you shoot -- on its own, it will make you a better shot. One of the small round patches from a "Shoot n See" type target, stuck to a wall, makes a great target: small enough that you can easily see just where you're aiming.

Once you have a good feel for it, move up to a .22 at the range. Repeat, go to a larger caliber if you want... and so forth.
 
Vanya beat me to it!!There are multiple benefits,but the one I find most beneficial to me is focus.

Flinching is the natural,normal response to a loud noise and recoil.It is something we have to overcome to shoot well.A blink,a face mucle contracting,or a premature reaction to countering recoil,trying to see where the shot hit the dirt near the target,etc.Or just plain closing your eyes.

If I focus entirely on sight picture,or scope reticle,if I have the mental image of the sight relationship as the rifle recoils,I know my eyes were open and I was focused through the shot.

And,if I do not have that image,likely I closed my eyes or was otherwise distracted,lost my focus,at the shot.

Another benefit,maintain that focus,and see if your rifle/pistol settles back down to being on target.That would indicate natural point of aim and good position.It also helps prevent the subtle "lifting the finger off the trigger" as soon as the trigger breaks.You might beat lock time/ignition with your movement.
Thinking about all that is too much.I do not need head noise to focus of the sights on the target.

"Oh,I pulled that one" is a nice excuse for a miss,but focusing on the sight on the target pulls in trigger control,only increase pressure if its right,

Calling the shot is not excusing misses,it is the focus that makes it all come together for hits!
 
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you cannot progress as a rifleman until you can consistently call your shot. It should be an integral part of every shooting session.
 
There's also the "called shot" in the hunting world, wherein the hunter wants to ensure that the shot he is about to take will clearly be seen as a skilled shot, rather than dumb luck, after the fact.

Example scenario:
Two hunters are sitting on a ridge in Wyoming, getting ready to take their shots on some Antelope at 600 yards.
One says to the other, "You shoot first, since it'll take you longer to reload, if you need a follow-up shot; and I'll drill the one on the far right through the left eye as soon as you fire."
The shots are fired, and the one on the far right has a hole through its left eyeball and is missing the right side of its head.

The hunter that made the left eye shot has substantiated bragging rights, that can only be questioned if the witness's credibility is low.
 
The hunter that made the left eye shot has substantiated bragging rights, that can only be questioned if the witness's credibility is low.
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This same hunter also shot a bird in mid flight with a scoped 444 Marlin............wasn't a called shot, but was witnessed and a great shot none the less, and does allow some bragging around the campfire.
 
It's a Zen thing

Back when I was into archery and competition shooting, This was an old reference to the ancient Zen Archers. Where you developed a discipline of envisioning the actual flight of the arrow and the exact point where it would strike, before you released the arrow. On many occasions, I used it and it works or a least I always thought so. .... ;)

Supposedly this discipline, comes naturally the more you shoot. ...

Be Safe !!!
 
Called Shots:

"COME BACK"

Seriously, calling your shots is critical to good shooting, weather Target, Hunting or Combat.

If you record nothing else, record your calls in your data/score books.

How can you tell if you're sights are on, of if you have the right wind call if you don't call your shots.

When I coached for the AK NG Rifle team, I wouldn't allow my (new) shooters to have a scope on the line. I had a "team" plotting sheet, and I recorded the hit values, and they gave me the calls. I didn't give them the value of the shots until their stage was gone, then we'd set down and go over the Shot VS Calls to determine if there was a zero error or other problem.

Calling is also critical in determining the rifle, it will help you in judging whether the barrel needs replaces, or the bedding checked.

Calling shots nothing more then the last then you saw when the hammer fell.

If you can't or wont call shots, you didn't get to stay on my rifle team.

How much more critical would it be in sniper operations, How is the spotter suppose to make corrections if you don't convey to him your calls.

The same with hunting, we all miss, calling shots tells us where and how.
 
You do not become a competent marksman until you can call your shots. You need to be able to know exactly where your sights were as the shot broke. As you progress, you need to concentrate on tracking the sights in recoil when possible. Watch them go up and down. You cannot blink when the shot breaks. You need to be 100% aware and pay attention to what is happening when it happens.
 
You cannot blink when the shot breaks.
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Yeah... that's gonna be hard as my scope has a tendency to shove the lense of my glasses into my eye!

I have had some absolutely beautiful eye-lid prints on there, I can tell you...

I imagine that this means I need to play around with eye-relief, but I think my scope cannot go any further forward because of the rear objective housing: need to check.
 
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