Shooting lighter weight rifles?

[zr600]

How do you guys shoot lighter weight rifles good? I have a 7 mag Remington 700 action criterion magnum Sporter contour 26" long, have it in a Mesa precision stock bedded, trigger tech trigger. Have a Trijicon 4-16x50 acculite scope on it. Weights about 9lbs. Shooting off a Harris and a rear bag at the range it seem like it's hard to shoot good. Seems like the reticle really is moving left to right. Have been struggling finding a good load for it am just wondering if it's the fact I just can't hold it as steady as my other rifles that are 2-5 more pounds. How do I get it to settle down?

 

[rammac]

Marksmanship training from a professional company.
Do a little research on obtaining proper cheek-weld and natural point of aim.

I shoot a Kimber Mountain Ascent in .308 that weighs just under 7 lbs with scope and fully loaded and I have no issues with shooting sub-MOA groups with it.

 

[MagnumManiac]

Your problem will stem from the bi-pod.
Been there done that.
I have a few Kimbers that shoot terrible off a bi-pod, if I shoot off my pack, like I do when hunting, they all print little itty bitty clovers.
The only lightweight rigs I own that actually shoot off bi-pods ok are my Win Model 70 EW's in 300WM & 338WM. My Featherweight was also terrible but my Super Grade is also just fine with them.
Even my Rem 700 338EDGE had issues with a bi-pod.
There is an actual 'thing' with bi-pods and hard surfaces, it is known as recoil bounce.
I used to use 2 towels folded under the bi-pod to minimise the bounce, but it still had some affect even though I loaded the bi-pod hard.

I use a Caldwell front rest now...buy once, cry once.

Cheers.

 

[Rich Coyle]

My rifle is about like a 8mm-.338 Win Mag. I fire a 198 grain Hammer Hunter at 3,050 feet per second with 72 grains of H4350 from a 7 1/4 pound ready to go rifle. It has a good recoil pad and a five port ti beast brake. I hold it like I would a B-B gun and get groups under 3/4" for five shots at 100 yards and about 3" groups for five shots at 300 yards.

 

[Blacktailer]

If you are shooting off of a bench, you need to set up so you have zero wobble. In fact if you are set up correctly you should be able to aim at the target, close your eyes for a moment and open them back up and still be centered on the target. You should also be able to dry fire and have the crosshairs not move. The only way you can do that is to not be supporting the rifle with muscle, it has to be totally supported by your bipod and bag. Also some padding under the bipod is a good idea.

 

[snox801]

I think it's your setup also I have a 6.5 creed that is 6.7pbs with ammo ready to hunt and it's never down more than a .5" group with good ammo.
I can tell you under that 6lbs where I'm this started was a chore. I added weight were I thought it would be needed

 

[Plinker147]

The more you hold the gun, the tighter the grip the more you will induce wobble. Shooting light guns is just plain a harder even with great mechanics. A light trigger helps too. I grip lightly, and let the gun recoil freely and can shoot just fine. I don't believe in the bipod theory, I practice like I play with a bipod and have never experienced different results than shooting off sand bags

 

[Forcedoutage]

If you get use to shooting heavy rifles, the lighter ones will show a lot of your movement which wasn't a factor with the heavy ones. All i shoot is light rifles, they are much less forgiving.

 

[Barrelnut]

All good stuff above.
If the crosshair is moving to the rhythm of your heartbeat, after getting all of the above in order, try using less cheek pressure on the stock, it will help with the crosshair wobble. Bet you can actually get into your normal position and let up on the cheek weld and watch the wobble disappear.

 

[Pdvdh]

You should also be able to dry fire and have the crosshairs not move.

I can't do that. Some crosshair movement is visible when the trigger breaks, even with light pull weight Jewel triggers on my backpacking rifles. The heavier the rifle the more forgiving, but I typically see crosshair movement when dry firing. I just want it to be repeatable crosshair movement.

 

[dfanonymous]

I can't do that. Some crosshair movement is visible when the trigger breaks, even with light pull weight Jewel triggers on my backpacking rifles. The heavier the rifle the more forgiving, but I typically see crosshair movement when dry firing. I just want it to be repeatable crosshair movement.

It's not about lbs if trigger pull. It's having your finger straight and pressing the trigger straight back toward you. Lateral movement during trigger press is a finder/hand position problem. Mixed in with gripping the gun which is also a no no. There are people in the world that can take an m40 with a 6-7lb trigger and get good results. Trigger lbs is just a crutch and convenience. Or in most case, an edge for competitive nature.

 

[asd9055]

Your problem will stem from the bi-pod.
Been there done that.
I have a few Kimbers that shoot terrible off a bi-pod, if I shoot off my pack, like I do when hunting, they all print little itty bitty clovers.
The only lightweight rigs I own that actually shoot off bi-pods ok are my Win Model 70 EW's in 300WM & 338WM. My Featherweight was also terrible but my Super Grade is also just fine with them.
Even my Rem 700 338EDGE had issues with a bi-pod.
There is an actual 'thing' with bi-pods and hard surfaces, it is known as recoil bounce.
I used to use 2 towels folded under the bi-pod to minimise the bounce, but it still had some affect even though I loaded the bi-pod hard.

I use a Caldwell front rest now...buy once, cry once.

Cheers.

Great for the range...what about the field?...

 

[Rich Coyle]

I've been using a twenty ounce trigger for decades. If it's a problem I'm still ignorant of it.

 

[Pdvdh]

It's not about lbs if trigger pull. It's having your finger straight and pressing the trigger straight back toward you. Lateral movement during trigger press is a finder/hand position problem. Mixed in with gripping the gun which is also a no no. There are people in the world that can take an m40 with a 6-7lb trigger and get good results. Trigger lbs is just a crutch and convenience. Or in most case, an edge for competitive nature.

Well I don't wanna squabble. Primarily don't want the OP striving to attain the unattainable.
I always see visible crosshair movement while dry firing.
If others can commonly squeeze the trigger and see no crosshair movement when it breaks and the firing pin falls, then OK... maybe it's a reasonably attainable goal. One which I know I will never attain with my backpack hunting weight rifles.

Even off sandbags, let alone a bipod.