What could be causing this?

M

Mosin-Marauder

New member
Was shooting my K-31 @ 100 yards with iron sights off the hood of a truck with sandbags. Was using GP11. Shot all over the place. Did absolutely awful, my dad shot 3 rounds and it was a 2" group. It was an 8" black bullseye. I made sure I was pulling the trigger well. Breathing was okay. I tried to return to the same sight picture and the same POA everytime. We drifted the sights a little, had the rear sight set at 200. Was going to try a competition, but im not going to now, with the way I was shooting. I know it's not the riflle. What could I be doing wrong? I had a hard time returning to the exact same sight picture and POA I think, but im not sure. I will have to try off the bench at 50 yard then move out to 100 yards again on an actual bench. Going to get some NRA 100 yard targets for 100 yards aswell. Help is appreciated. Thank you.
 
I think you are anticipating the shot and jerking the trigger, flinching and flicking your finger off the trigger when it fires. That makes the barrel point someplace you don't want it to. You're subconciously afraid of its noise and recoil.

Have your Dad load or not load it, then you shoot it wearing hearing protection. When you can fire the rifle with an empty chamber and hold still, then try loaded ammo all the time.
 
MM,its just natural to react in anticipation of noise and recoil.The instinctive part of you that has good sense tries to duck.
Its not about being tough,its just human.And,I agree ,its likely the cause of a loose group.

And getting all bagged up on the bench is not necessarily the answer.That might mask the flinch,but its still there.

Actually,if you are trying to learn to shoot,using the classic positions is useful.You want to know there is a bad habit forming so you don't have a lifetime bad habit.

Dry firing is good.Shooting a .22 is good.A .22 does not cover a flinch up with recoil.

What is needed to not anticipate recoil is focus.Focus really hard on seeing the sights on the target.What you must get is a mental picture of exactly where the sight was when the rifle recoiled.

Then say it out loud,an 8 at 7 oclock.Or point to the spot on a target beside you.Best,write it down.

You focus hard on that,get that image as the gun recoils,and you know your eyes were open when the gun recoils.

If you wobbled off left trying to snatch the trigger,well,you saw it.You know why.

Try it.Call your shots,and,follow through.Hold the trigger squeeze a bit.

If your position and natural point of aim are good,your rifle should settle down to looking at the target.If you are having to push or pull your rifle to the target,shift a bit so the rifle wants to shoot the 10 ring.

That works better than making it shoot the 10 ring.
 
Going to try to shoot a 100 yard NRA target from prone sometime soon. Will have to find a place to do so. Having a left mounted sling wouldn't affect accuracy any would it? I can't use the loop sling with the K-31, as the loop is too far up, so I have to hasty sling all positions.
 
MM try to watch the front sight throughout the shot, even as the muzzle lifts. You probably won't be able to follow it but it will help you focus on the front sight and not flinch. Try to follow the muzzle, calling your shots are key as well.
 
If the sling is attached to the forearm and the forearm is touching the barrel, any variation in the tension on the sling will affect the point of impact.
 
I made sure I was pulling the trigger well.
Click to expand...

That may just be part of the problem. Never pull the trigger, you‘ll jerk it. Never squeeze the trigger, you‘ll squeeze your entire hand. Press the trigger perfectly towards the rear. Press.
 
Just did some more dry fire practice. Prone and standing. Tightend the sling a good bit more, b feels a lot more stable now. Worked on my trigger press and breathing a lot more. Standing needs some more work. I have my stance down. Elbow resting on my side with my body parallel to the target. Shooting hand "chicken winged" out to better stabilize myself. Prone was good. Both need more work. Going to keep doing dry fire practice 30 minutes each day. I'll probably be able to shoot field positions at my cousins range. Also going to see about ordering some NRA 100 yard target as I said. I noticed when I "pulled" or squeezed the trigger out there today the cooking piece would rattle up and down, but when I pressed the trigger it didn't do it as much. So im hoping that's a good sign.
 
K31's are very accurate, granted one i use is for swiss match, ive got those fun match sites (being sarcastic as i dislike them , but i can shoot it ...so ...:D)

the Problem IMO is you as a young shooter are not experienced , and you keep using higher caliber rounds and they kick and like all novice shooters ive seen/trained who have caliber with recoil , they flinch , its human nature, it goes away with time and practice. best thing to do is get a recoil pad or a shoulder pad and that might help reduce flinch


From a physics standpoint

as a young shooter, you may not have the BODY mass of say your father or an other adult.

2nd law
The relationship between an object's mass m, its acceleration a, and the applied force F is F = ma.

Bullet is traveling from barrel yes? KE(kinetic energy) from the bullet (receiving this KE shock from the igniting of the powder)

now we apply
third law
For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.

Meaning the forces acted upon the bullet are then reciprocated in opposite direction for equivalent effect. meaning the bullet exerts force equal to what it receives, and this travels the length of the rifle to you

if your Mass is lower than your dads, you will feel a greater effect of this FORCE, F, then say your father

your dad being heavier Mass , will receive less of an impact and thus is able to maintain accuracy


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I have a recoil pad I use for my Mosin. You think that would help? I couldn't use it in the match though, I don't think. I could certainly try putting it on and see how it shoots then.
 
Are you gripping it the same every shot? That's one *possible* cause. If you grip it tight into the shoulder, then looser the next shot, back and forth, it will cause issues. Doesn't really matter whether you grip it loose or tight, as long as it's the same every shot.

Beyond that, could be inconsistent sight picture, or maybe flinching. Probably not flinching but could be.
 
Out was hard to get a consistent grip due to the sandbags. Like I said, I'll have to try the field positions @100 and see how that works out. If it groups 10 shots well (hand loads or surplus) I'll take it to competition. If not, more practice.
 
The sandbags should have aided in consistency, you need to develop a pattern and do it every single time you get into position.
 
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