Help, I recently realized I don't know how to shoot.

[Pro2A]

so.. I have noticed better groups when shooting prone off a bipod if I have a hand on the foregrip, or against the mag well to control bounce. But all the instructors have told me to keep that hand back toward my chest on the bag under the buttstock.. so I am going to test this weekend, i need to sight in a rifle. Has anyone else experienced this?

Also, position your body straight behind, in line with your rifle......not angled like the "little green army man" we had when we were kids. That allows the recoil to be handled in straight line by the body. If "green army man" angled, the recoil will have an angular component shifting rifle.

 

[Pro2A]

so.. I have noticed better groups when shooting prone off a bipod if I have a hand on the foregrip, or against the mag well to control bounce. But all the instructors have told me to keep that hand back toward my chest on the bag under the butt stock.. so I am going to test this weekend, i need to sight in a rifle. Has anyone else experienced this?

Hand on bag under stock, squeezing to fine adjust elevation. Also, I often use an adjustable monopod (Accupod Rail-pod I think??) on stock with coarse and fine adjustments. If using monopod, use weak hand to pull stock into shoulder pocket. Stock out of shoulder pocket will add angular recoil component also. Having a bag with ears....like Armageddon Gamechanger......also really assists in controlling rifle and building a steadier position. Most instructors, especially military trained, teach forward bipod loading. I don't do this. Loading forward imparts a foreshortening of bipod height....like the hand of clock leaving 12o'clock and becoming an angle gaining horizontal component (same as canting to the side).....which has to be recovered during recoil raising barrel as bipod moves toward 12 o'clock again. Just my technique. Bench rest shooters don't forward load and commonly shoot free recoil.

 

[5.56×250]

I'm sorry , but I can't agree with knowing when the rifle is going off in a bench shooting situation. In hunting situation, ok, I'll buy that. Your not worried with pin point poa on an animal that has a pie plate to hit . If you jump or flinch because the rifle goes off, you dont have your mind right for what your doing.
Back in my competition archery days, alot of the better sticks would carry several releases all set to go off at different tensions. This helped eliminate ANTISIPATING the shot. The brain will react subconsciously, if it know when the gun is gonna go boom.
I guess we are all free to shoot the way we see fit and my opinion is just that, but not knowing when a weapon is about to fire in a situation where you dont have to push the issue has worked very well for me.

 

[YZ-80]

Well, the biggest thing I got to shoot at my disposal is a 6.5-284 so I guess I gotta turn in my man-card. Anyway, I see about .5 MOA difference (lower POA) when I go from shooting off my "Dog-gone Good" bag to my Harris bi-pod. I have been told to "front load" the bi-pod when I hunt/shoot prone. My shots max out at 400 yds in these parts, so I figure I'm ok with an 8" vital zone out that far and it has played out that way many times afield so I'm gonna keep doing it.

 

[nicholasjohn]

I'm sorry , but I can't agree with knowing when the rifle is going off in a bench shooting situation. In hunting situation, ok, I'll buy that. Your not worried with pin point poa on an animal that has a pie plate to hit . If you jump or flinch because the rifle goes off, you dont have your mind right for what your doing.
Back in my competition archery days, alot of the better sticks would carry several releases all set to go off at different tensions. This helped eliminate ANTISIPATING the shot. The brain will react subconsciously, if it know when the gun is gonna go boom.
I guess we are all free to shoot the way we see fit and my opinion is just that, but not knowing when a weapon is about to fire in a situation where you dont have to push the issue has worked very well for me.

Whatever works FOR YOU is the best way to go, Sir. I was talking about shooting running game, in situations where the animal is not in the open. The bullet has to arrive through an opening in the timber or brush at the same time the animal's vital zone gets there, and if I don't know when the gun is going to fire that is very unlikely to happen. For me, the same concept has worked well from the bench, but if that doesn't work well for you then I don't recommend it to you. I think this is one of those "chocolate vs. vanilla" issues - you can have either, and you get to choose between the two.

 

[Canhunter35]

Preloading bipods is very important in managing the recoil but I've found it's a fine line. The right amount the rifle will recoil and the bipod legs will remain in the same position. Too little or too much and they will jump from the position they held before the shot. A rifle should recoil and naturally settle back into position, if you're off target or it's moved you're doing something wrong and that affecting your shot.
Poi changes not because you've changed position but because you've changed your position relative to the rifle. From your grip, thumb position, cheek weld, angle of your body.
This is why I love muzzle brakes, it allows us to be sloppy with our form lol

 

[James L Holzhauer]

I thank Chase 723 for excellent advice. I shoot my light caliber rifles for trigger time them my heavy recoil rifles for experience. You must make your shooting real world.

 

[5.56×250]

Whatever works FOR YOU is the best way to go, Sir. I was talking about shooting running game, in situations where the animal is not in the open. The bullet has to arrive through an opening in the timber or brush at the same time the animal's vital zone gets there, and if I don't know when the gun is going to fire that is very unlikely to happen. For me, the same concept has worked well from the bench, but if that doesn't work well for you then I don't recommend it to you. I think this is one of those "chocolate vs. vanilla" issues - you can have either, and you get to choose between the two.

I like this response much better than the one I responded to earlier . We ARE all free to choose our shooting styles.
I didnt intend to offend on my other post. I just felt very strongly that your information might cause a novice shooter ( this is the web and anyone can read this stuff. It's not just seasoned veterans who read our posts) to think its proper shooting technique to shoulder your weapon and snatch the trigger. That will ,in almost every case , cause a novice to flinch and teach a habit that is difficult ,at best, to get past. Knowing the time frame a weapon will shoot in is very different than slapping the trigger just to make it go boom when you want. A novice is unlikely to know the difference. I spent 15 yrs working with lost souls , many who were on the verge of quiting shooting (archery), to get them over the urge to punch/flinch/ close their eyes/ and even drop their arm before triggering their release , because they rushed a shot. Some people are naturals at making difficult shots on moving game, most just wound, get frustrated, and quit, or worse, just keep on losing animals. We owe it to the animal, and our sport, to only take shots you are confident you can make. And just as importantly , to practice solid fundamentals before advancing to trick shot quality styles of shooting.

 

[nicholasjohn]

I like this response much better than the one I responded to earlier . We ARE all free to choose our shooting styles.
I didnt intend to offend on my other post. I just felt very strongly that your information might cause a novice shooter ( this is the web and anyone can read this stuff. It's not just seasoned veterans who read our posts) to think its proper shooting technique to shoulder your weapon and snatch the trigger. That will ,in almost every case , cause a novice to flinch and teach a habit that is difficult ,at best, to get past. Knowing the time frame a weapon will shoot in is very different than slapping the trigger just to make it go boom when you want. A novice is unlikely to know the difference. I spent 15 yrs working with lost souls , many who were on the verge of quiting shooting (archery), to get them over the urge to punch/flinch/ close their eyes/ and even drop their arm before triggering their release , because they rushed a shot. Some people are naturals at making difficult shots on moving game, most just wound, get frustrated, and quit, or worse, just keep on losing animals. We owe it to the animal, and our sport, to only take shots you are confident you can make. And just as importantly , to practice solid fundamentals before advancing to trick shot quality styles of shooting.

No offense taken, Sir. A conflicting opinion is not offensive unless it was meant to be, and that is usually made clear in the delivery. Yours was clearly not intended to offend, and I didn't take it that way.

I can see your point about how a novice shooter might mistake knowing when the gun is going to fire with making the gun fire. I must admit that I was not thinking along those lines when I wrote my post. I have found than whenever I try to make something happen, the results are not often what I had in mind. Letting it happen, and having a pretty good idea when it is going to happen, is more like what I meant. You're right - they aren't the same thing. Making the gun fire is the set-up for a bad hit, and timing the swing so that the goes bang when the sight picture is just right is what puts animals in the back of the pick-up.

"Forcing the issue" doesn't work well in most endeavors. I've spent my whole life flying airplanes ( I just retired from a long career of airline flying ) and making an airplane land will almost never produce the desired results. However, if one doesn't set up the approach correctly, and know when an airplane is going to touch down, he is pretty likely to run one off the end of the runway and have a MAJOR problem. Shooting is not much different, especially with a moving target. You kinda have to know when it's going to happen, and the rifle's trigger is a lot like the flight controls in the cockpit. A lot of things in life are that way.

 

[WildRose]

So I realized I don't know crap about shooting big guns. This hurts a bit considering I've shot guns since I was 10yrs old.

I took my 338RUM to the range to try out my custom dial scope that leupold retrofitted. I get it dialed in by putting it on a gun rest (the kind that holds the gun and has a strap across the bottom of the butt). I put two bags of lead shot on the front legs to absorb some recoil and sight it in at 100yds.

Then I decide to go prone and shoot off a bipod at 200 300 and 400...

But all shots are at the bottom or below the paper...

Now out of time, I had to leave and think about why the rifle shot high off the rest and low off the bipod. I imagine its because the high recoiling rifle is "stuck" on that rest and is experiencing muzzle rise before the bullet departs whereas from the bipod it is kicking straight back and the top off the butt is anchored off my shoulder vs. rocking up because the bottom is trapped by a strap?

I think this issue is relative to the amount of recoil, therefore shooting a high recoiling rifle requires more skill, so where do I go to learn how to shoot right?

I obviously need to sight in from actual shooting positions , but there is probably a ton to learn so that the gun recoils off my shoulder consistently also?

Hit the search feature looking for "managing recoil". Your rifle will not shoot the same off the shoulder as it does off of the lead sled.

 

[5.56×250]

No offense taken, Sir. A conflicting opinion is not offensive unless it was meant to be, and that is usually made clear in the delivery. Yours was clearly not intended to offend, and I didn't take it that way.

I can see your point about how a novice shooter might mistake knowing when the gun is going to fire with making the gun fire. I must admit that I was not thinking along those lines when I wrote my post. I have found than whenever I try to make something happen, the results are not often what I had in mind. Letting it happen, and having a pretty good idea when it is going to happen, is more like what I meant. You're right - they aren't the same thing. Making the gun fire is the set-up for a bad hit, and timing the swing so that the goes bang when the sight picture is just right is what puts animals in the back of the pick-up.

"Forcing the issue" doesn't work well in most endeavors. I've spent my whole life flying airplanes ( I just retired from a long career of airline flying ) and making an airplane land will almost never produce the desired results. However, if one doesn't set up the approach correctly, and know when an airplane is going to touch down, he is pretty likely to run one off the end of the runway and have a MAJOR problem. Shooting is not much different, especially with a moving target. You kinda have to know when it's going to happen, and the rifle's trigger is a lot like the flight controls in the cockpit. A lot of things in life are that way.

Very well said.

 

[KyCarl]

I'm about fed up with my bi pod! I have an Atlas and I shoot better off a rolled up jacket or my day bag! It seems to me that it has a "springy" feel about it?

 

[Rick Richard]

I'm about fed up with my bi pod! I have an Atlas and I shoot better off a rolled up jacket or my day bag! It seems to me that it has a "springy" feel about it?

Try the spike feet. I find the rubber on the bottom of the extensions to be too soft giving that spongy feel

 

[5.56×250]

I have an old Harris swivel bipod I've used for years. If I dont tighten the knobs that hold the legs in place while shooting with the bipod in the lowest position, it's like trying to shoot off a half inflated beach ball . I have no idea if that is relevant with the style of bipod you use but I'm just throwing it out there.