Practical Marksmanship

Little Terry

Well-Known Member
I spent a couple of hours last night doing some zeroing and practice with the .243 after having the barrel screw cut and fitting a Mod. I have a Steyr Luxus with S&B 8x56 fixed mag scope and Atec mod and shoot factory ammo (usually Norma or Winchester).

I was set up on the bonnet of my Navara, using a bipod. I was shooting slightly down hill in order to make it as safe as possible and there was quite a strong wind blowing from left to right. I am not an expert shot and have done next to nothing on the range. I usually fire one or two test shots and then go hunting. Usually hit what I shoot at and have had no real reason to question my technique.

However, last night I put over 30 rounds through the rifle and tried out some different bullet weights etc. To be quite honest, the more I shot and the harder I tried, the worse my grouping seemed to get!

It got me thinking about marksmanship techniques. I want to go back to the basics now (I'm never going to be interested in pushing the accuracy of my rifle to it's limits and any rifle i own will probably be capable of more than I am).

I would like to see what you consider to be the best advice for consistent, reliable shooting accuracy so that i can apply the advice on my next practice session.

I don't want this to turn into a thread about pillar bedding, load development, etc, just practical tips about how to shoot as well as possible within real life stalking conditions - grip, trigger control, breathing, etc etc.

Thanks in advance for the help.

Mark.
 
"To be quite honest, the more I shot and the harder I tried, the worse my grouping seemed to get!"

That's probably because the barrel and moderator heated up. We see it a lot on the range and shooters instead of taking a break and allowing things to cool down and return to normal start chasing the error and will often adjust ad re-adjust their scopes.
 
As it's usually the first shot that counts I wouldn't get to hung up on it,the harder I try and the longer I take over a shot the worse I get,just the way it is with me,my best shots are usually the ones I don't even have time to think about.
 
Mark,

some things I find useful to remember -

1) Get as many ponts of contact as possible between you and the object you are resting on - on a bonnet i'd be insuring my leg/legs are incontact with the car and arms etc as this will naturally help stabalize you.


2) Squeeze the trigger with the first line between the first and second pads of your finger, if you use the first pad you tend to "pull" instead of squeezing, the pressure on the trigger should come from compressing the trigger and pistol grip between the crook of your thumb/hand and the line between your first and second pad on your index finger.

3) look for the bullet strike - a good friend told me this and to this day i still do it, it isn't about seeing the bullet strike but more the fact you train your brain to be looking for that and not concentrating on recoil etc.

4) remember to breathe! a lot of time as you try harder you end up holding your breath and your heart thumps harder, take your time, and breath normally with a small pause (i prefer this on the exhale) and then let the shot go - most of my misses wiith foxes have been scrabbling out a window of the truck trying to get a shot off when in reality I probably had more time than I assumed I had.

5) if you find you are working yourself up about it - walk away - no point trying to shoot the group in a tizzy, it'll be ok, you know the rifle can do it.

a lot of the above hasd been stolen from various sources and it's what works for me - I am by no means any expert, i don't reload rounds - I frankly see no point - there were some big consistency issues with factory loads historically but this has obviously come on leaps and bounds as technology improves - most standard sporting rifles with factory ammo and a mediocre scope will produce 1"-1 1/2" groups with reletive ease nowadays - i would say even better! if the rifle is producing a 1/2" group with factory ammo why bother reloading??

Hope this helps

Gixer
 
Just a thought and I do zero off my navara bonnet as well,but they do move around a bit on windy day.
 
Bipod on a bonnet = DISAPOINTMENT!

Invest in one of these for all your grouping tests and much more:

1mediumbenchbag.jpg


Dog-Gone-Good Medium Bench Bag.

K
 
Last edited:
I spent a couple of hours last night doing some zeroing and practice with the .243 after having the barrel screw cut and fitting a Mod. I have a Steyr Luxus with S&B 8x56 fixed mag scope and Atec mod and shoot factory ammo (usually Norma or Winchester).

I was set up on the bonnet of my Navara, using a bipod. I was shooting slightly down hill in order to make it as safe as possible and there was quite a strong wind blowing from left to right. I am not an expert shot and have done next to nothing on the range. I usually fire one or two test shots and then go hunting. Usually hit what I shoot at and have had no real reason to question my technique.

However, last night I put over 30 rounds through the rifle and tried out some different bullet weights etc. To be quite honest, the more I shot and the harder I tried, the worse my grouping seemed to get!

It got me thinking about marksmanship techniques. I want to go back to the basics now (I'm never going to be interested in pushing the accuracy of my rifle to it's limits and any rifle i own will probably be capable of more than I am).

I would like to see what you consider to be the best advice for consistent, reliable shooting accuracy so that i can apply the advice on my next practice session.

I don't want this to turn into a thread about pillar bedding, load development, etc, just practical tips about how to shoot as well as possible within real life stalking conditions - grip, trigger control, breathing, etc etc.

Thanks in advance for the help.

Mark.

Sounds like the barrel is getting hot ,this can have a big influence on accuracy and why target shooters use heavy barrel rifles , they take longer to heat up and dont distort as much ,the down side is target rifles are usually too heavy for stalking ,if you want to loose off 30+ rounds in your stalking rifle take a flask of coffee and have a short break as soon as you can feel the barrel getting hot.
 
bit obvious but after a few shots check the mods still tight, iv got one that for some reason shoots a bit loose after a few rounds and I used to have a t8 that shot better when it was screwed on tight and then turned back half a turn, on the technique front I think gixers covered all the bases for zeroing your rifle, I don't know whether its just me but for zeroing you go through all the correct procedures but who can actually remember going through it when shooting live quarry it seems like muscle memory and something in the back of your brain takes over
 
Shooting off or from a vehicle or any other wheeled / sprung plant has built in disadvantages, & is a skill in itself, add any sort of wind from other than directly in front or behind...... Forget it for groups!
 
Look at my signature block below. In the Forces, change Firearm to Weapon, and that is what we are trained to do.
 
I find lots of dry-firing helps although its not as important since I've started using my set trigger for all shots at stationary targets.
The trick is to remove any influence from either your pulse or your muscles. If you're using muscles to 'force' the crosshairs on target then lactic acid will build up and it will become increasingly harder to hold the position and keep your heart rate down. So (for example) wedge your rucksack under your leg, roll your gunslip up and wedge it behind your back between you and the fence post, get your friend to sit directly behind you facing away and lean into them, wedge your shooting sticks into the hooks created by your knee, your ankle or your elbow etc etc etc Get creative!
Think back over the last 2 years worth of deer you shot, what was your most common shooting position??? Work it out and then other than zeroing, practice that position regularly so you've got that muscle memory.

As for shooting at targets, I like (most of my shooting is at foxes) to shoot at fox cut-outs traced from Robert bucknells book. I shoot mostly from the truck so I tend to drive around the field at random and take a shot from odd angles across the wind and at unknown distances.

That said, I do like to shoot a few tight groups from a bipod every now and again just for fun :)
 
If using sticks and forced to take a kneeling shot be sure to go down on your left knee (reverse if left handed) as your right knee is now the perfect support for right rifle cradling arm.

Before people shout “well that’s bl**dy obvious” let me assure you I see more people get this wrong than right.

Cheers

K
 
If using sticks and forced to take a kneeling shot be sure to go down on your left knee (reverse if left handed) as your right knee is now the perfect support for right rifle cradling arm.

Before people shout “well that’s bl**dy obvious” let me assure you I see more people get this wrong than right.

Cheers

K

The Kynoch method?
 
The Kynoch method?

I doubt he came up with it but as you suggest many have benefited from his guidance. And that includes one very sporting member who managed to laugh after Kynoch gave his leg a friendly kick to emphasis the point only to have it pointed out that the less than ideally orientated limb in question was in fact a prosthetic of the nylon and carbon variety!

K
 
A lot of good advice. Try shooting a tight group go on a calm day. Practice shooting also in a wind so you can get a feel for what effect the wind has. If you are have a **** time at the target forget getting wound up, try it on another day with a better frame of mind. Try shooting the first shot at the target, keep this and on the next occasion shoot another first shot. Over lay the two targets.
 
I'm with tartinjock on this one, the marksmanship principals are a good start on the way consistent shooting.


Position and hold must be firm enough to support the weapon
The weapon must point naturally at the target without any undue physical effort
Sight alignment (aiming) must be correct
The shot must be released and followed through without disturbing the position
 
i never really was worried about thumbnail sized groups i was happy with an inch and i never had a fox compliant.
but i started reloading and now im clover leaf or im back off to the drawing board.
ive found just using a rear bag of any sort rolled up slip, even used a mole hill sighting in helps grouping and always off a bipod for groups and load testing.
​best of luck matt
 
Back
Top