Most of my rifles are dedicated to shooting off of a bipod and I pass on off handed shots with those rifles unless it's a close shot. I'm not the best offhand shooter but I have an old Marlin 336 lever action 35 Remington. I can shoot better offhanded with that rifle than anything I own. Its just balanced perfect for off handed shots. 200 yards is a stretch for that rifle and a stretch for myself shooting offhanded.
Field Practice to Make Better Hunting Shots
- Thread starter Golovkin
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Litehiker
Well-Known Member
Well, it ain't field practice but I do shoot my hunting rifle from various positions, many using the sling, at my club's steel range. This range has targets from 212 yards out to 1,098 yards of silhouette shooting with the usual regulation size chickens, pigs turkeys rams and gongs.
THEN every 2nd Saturday we shoot a "varmint" competition at that range with MOA size light-up steel targets. i.e. 2" x 2" target at 212 yards, 5" x 5" at 550 yards, etc. Tricky!
The competition has two general classes, "light rifle" under 10 lbs. and "heavy rifle".
Eric B.
BTW, I practice positional shooting in my back yard while dry firing. Seems to help, especially with getting into position rapidly B/C it becomes a muscle memory.
THEN every 2nd Saturday we shoot a "varmint" competition at that range with MOA size light-up steel targets. i.e. 2" x 2" target at 212 yards, 5" x 5" at 550 yards, etc. Tricky!
The competition has two general classes, "light rifle" under 10 lbs. and "heavy rifle".
Eric B.
BTW, I practice positional shooting in my back yard while dry firing. Seems to help, especially with getting into position rapidly B/C it becomes a muscle memory.
I haven't seen POI shifts of more than an inch between setups on any rifle I own. All are bedded and have free floated barrels.
I recently did some field practice out to 800 yards to confirm drops and to validate my shooting app. I zeroed from prone with a bipod and used several different prone shooting rests out to 800 shooting 5 shot groups. All groupings were accurate and had pretty good precision. I ended at an 800 yard position off of very uneven and uncomfortable ground that wouldn't accommodate my bipod. I used small bags I pack with me and shoot a 2" group 1.5" from POI. Can't wait to do more as it was pretty fun!
I recently did some field practice out to 800 yards to confirm drops and to validate my shooting app. I zeroed from prone with a bipod and used several different prone shooting rests out to 800 shooting 5 shot groups. All groupings were accurate and had pretty good precision. I ended at an 800 yard position off of very uneven and uncomfortable ground that wouldn't accommodate my bipod. I used small bags I pack with me and shoot a 2" group 1.5" from POI. Can't wait to do more as it was pretty fun!
Overkill338
Well-Known Member
Running is the only way I know to get the heart going like buck fever.
NeedForSpeed
Well-Known Member
Hope Im not offending you but when you shoot off your pack is your barrel or stock sitting on the back pack. A rifle barrel resting on the back pack would definitely effect your point of impact. I dont know why it would otherwise be so effected. It doesnt make sense so Im questioning it.
JimmyCP
Well-Known Member
When the shot counts, I try to not even touch it to my shoulder and just take the hit. Of course that's probably part of why my shoulder needs replaced.
Both shoulders are bad but practice at the range it works best for me. Even off hand I raise it up both eyes open, crosshairs on and squeeze. If I try to brace it and focus, it's over, might as well throw a rock.
But off a bench or even a pack, I can't hesitate or crap goes everywhere. Target on and squeeze or my groups won't even be considered groups.
Seen alot of people including myself screw shots up anticipating recoil. Took a while to get that bad habit out of my system. Took my wife 2 years of target on and just letting it fly to get it out of her system. Last year she knocked an elk down at 650 and she now groups sub moa with 338 lapua out to 900 yards.
Yep better than me lol.
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Golovkin
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What is the highest recoil rifle you have and its weight? My .338 RUM is generating almost twice the recoil of a 9lb 300 win mag. (250gr, 3,000fps) I don't experience a major POI change on smaller rifles, but this one did it with the factory synthetic stock and now with a piller -glass bedded and floated stock.
Golovkin
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No offense taken! The barrel isn't touching anything, forearm is on my palm, fingers slightly holding, and my arm is just being steadied by the pack, both elbows are on the ground.
I believe the effect is from the recoil of the gun before the bullet has left the barrel.
If that's the case, maybe a new stock is on order?
dwightb
Well-Known Member
No sure why your POA would shift? When practicing crank your scope power back as far a possible. More resolution is good for bench rest but not hunting. The higher the power the more you see yourself shake! I won't shoot steel because of too many neighbors! Heavy projectiles can go anywhere off steel. I use cardboard on a surveyor's stake. Drywall screws through two short (3-4") pieces of plumber's tape(the iron strip with different size holes all along it). Staple it and the cardboard is off first strike to drive it in the ground. I carry 4 preattached in my truck all the time. Just carry them and a four pound hammer and drive em where you need them. I am lucky, I may be in a blind and the distances fixed but I practice year round on pigs when not shooting cardboard!
I also noted a point of impact change from shooting off a front rest and rear bag vs shooting free hand resting over hunting pack. So after shooting for groups and verifying loads or how ammo shoots I would zero prone over hunting pack no other aids. Practice was a deer shaped silhouette cut out of cardboard about 10 inches deep in the chest and roughly twice as long (whatever it took to be proportional). Then range time was shooting these targets at 100 yds off hand or sitting. For years shot black powder muzzleloader matches which were all off hand and now shoot small bore silhouette.
floyd kittrell
Well-Known Member
I use a "SLIK" tripod with wide rest on top , have never experienced any vertical change in the field
I've never had any accuracy problems , elevation or windage from prone or sitting shooting off my SLIK Tripod , never shot it from a standing position , I can't help and have no idea what caused that.
D.Camilleri
Well-Known Member
I have noticed some similar POI changes with my 338 rum shooting it off of my Best of the West Tripod. First shot off of the tripod was at a wolf two years ago while elk hunting. The shot was slightly more than 400 yards, usually a chip shot for me and I hit about 1/2 inch above his back. As I thought about what happened, I realized I should have backed up to a dead tree about 3 feet behind me and used it to stabilize my shooting shoulder. My theory is that my shoulder must have dropped slightly at the shot. Similarly, several years ago I shot my biggest mule deer ever at around 450 yards, shooting off of my stony point shooting sticks. I hit about 4 to 5 inches higher than my aiming point striking the deer in the spine. Again I think I slightly dropped my shoulder. The year before, I shot a deer at 760 yards off of the same shooting sticks, but I leaned into a tree and hit perfect. My rifle with either 285 or 300 grain bullets has a lot of recoil and hopefully today my new Terminator T3 muzzle brake will show up and possibly help with this issue. When shooting off of the bench, if I don't have good control of the front of the stock, it will rise 4 inches or more at the shot. Pushing a 285 gr bullet 2950 fps has an effect at the opposite end of the barrel.
