Bipod or me ?

[tika]

Having fitted my dolphin Trakker bipod to my ftr rifle , the gun doesn't track back to point of impact even though I have 4 bullets touching at 300 yards. I can never seem to see the bullet landing, I am using a sand bag at the rear and don't know what is wrong , is it my technique ? Is it the sand bag , ? would appreciate someone's input on this , the rifle could go left , right , up when the shot is gone off. I have tried pulling back hard and soft on the recoil pad , all seems to make no difference,

 

[Immike]

I would start with a rear bag that fits your stock. Then work with your position behind the rifle.

 

[s1rk1118]

If you are shooting a 308, it never will. Too much torque, the bipod will move, usually left. Even a 223 will move the bipod, however slightly. Don't worry about it.

 

[tika]

Yes I am shooting a 308 , but I have been told you should see the bullets land on the target, meaning the rifle should track straight back, I can never see them land

 

[diego-ted]

I don't know about seeing impacts but when my position is correct, I stay on target. Wh3n my position is off the rifle does jump left.

Ted

 

[tika]

thanks , what is the correct position?

 

[Turbulent Turtle]

You're not going to believe this but that depends on the individual.

You have to find what will work for you; a repeatable position in which you do not fight to get into your NPA. What I have found for me, with the cradle-type bipods (Sinclair Gen 3) is to lie straight back alongside the rifle and put minimal pressure on the stock with my noggin.

The shape of the stock is arguably the biggest influence in how the rifle will recoil. My other .308 F-TR rifle has a regular shape stock and what I discovered is that when I was shooting, the rifle would recoil and as it did so, the stock would drop down some following the shape of the stock and it would submarine somewhat under my shoulder and of course the stock would be pushed right, away from my body. This caused the barrel and scope to swing left and it could jump over a few targets at 1000 yards. As long as it was consistent, that was not a big issue.

When I started shooting my current rifle with the PR&T stock that is almost flat on the bottom, I discovered that it was not jumping left anywhere near as much as the other rifle; it was tracking much better. After a few matches, I had it to the point where I would be able to track my shots at 1000 and 600 yards. Now if I fire and find my scope pointing one or two targets over, I know I have an issue that needs attention right now. On the other hand if I fire and I find the scope pointing somewhere in the black on my target (or near where I was aiming,) I know I'm doing it properly.

A sand bag is definitely not what you want for a rear rest; it gets deformed easily and that will mess you up.

 

[broncman]

I shoot a 308 with a Duplin bioid. I forgot my cheekrest as I had layed it aside while cleaning, and forgot to throw it in the case. I shot my best groups yet with NO pressure at all from my head. Had to hold my head up the whole time, but their was zero influence on the rifle...

 

[tika]

Thanks lads, what is the best rear bag instead of the sand bag I am using?

 

[Immike]

I like protector and Edgewood with tall ears.

 

[Turbulent Turtle]

I currently use a Protektor, with medium rabbit ears, which I bought about 3-4 years ago. I believe SEB makes bags and Edgewood also has some good bags as was mentioned just above.

You will want to fill the rear bag with heavy sand, regardless of which one you get. You will not find such sand at Home Depot, look at Sinclair or other similar places.

 

[tika]

thanks again.

 

[jsthntn247]

I have found recoil management is everything in ftr. If you rifle is jumping all over you need to go to the range and practice hold, head placement, and position behind the gun. When done properly you will still be in the black after recoil on a 600 yard target.

 

[tika]

Got someone to check my prone position, seems I was not straight enough behind the rifle also I needed to raise my adjustable cheek piece another half an inch , to my surprise the position I am practicing now seems to be more comfortable, will see how I go on the range this weekend

 

[tika]

Went to comp today, shot very well, seen 90 percent of shots landing, between my body position, breathing and grip (all been practiced ) I have improved my shooting immensely , thanks for all the help.

 

[eric32]

Went to comp today, shot very well, seen 90 percent of shots landing, between my body position, breathing and grip (all been practiced ) I have improved my shooting immensely , thanks for all the help.

could you give a bit more detail about grip and your head position changes and anything else that you changed. That aided you to see your impacts and bullet trace.

 

[DRNewcomb]

Went to comp today, shot very well, seen 90 percent of shots landing, between my body position, breathing and grip (all been practiced ) I have improved my shooting immensely , thanks for all the help.

This is my situation. When I started shooting F-TR, four matches ago, I decided that as much as possible, I'd shoot what I already owned and not spend a bunch of money until I got 'hold of the concept. What I owned included a .308 Target Model 70 with an old Burris 12x scope, which I fitted with a Harris bipod. I now have my loads* down to the point that I believe they will hold the 10 ring, provided I do my part. Yesterday I shot 543-5X out of 600 at 600 y, which is my best so far. I've decide that my next upgrade has to be to replace the cheapie Caldwell rear bag I started with and which I have to prop on top of a flat sandbag to get enough hight. But now I'm beginning to pay more attention to my fundamentals and not just scratch my head when a shot goes bad. I believe that I can do much better with what I have, provided I can get my technique settled down. I used to shoot a lot of NMC highpower and if my muzzle broke left like it does shooting F-TR I'd know I was doing something wrong. It just feels like I'm getting too much movement. Maybe I just need to get down in position at 100 y and try different positions. I know it's doing my technique no good to test my loads from a bench then go to a match and shoot from the floor. Sorry if I'm rambling. Just please don't tell me I need to spend $3K for a new rifle and $1.5K for a new scope. I know the real problem is between my ears. The other issue I have has to do with reading wind. Where I shoot, near Pascagoula MS, the range flags generally blow in three different directions at once and normally switch directions two or three times during a string.

*My current load is prepped LC-77 case with 46 gn Varget, Fed 215 magnum primer and a Hornady 168 gn BT. Why this load? I have a bunch of components left over from when I shot NMC and don't need to spend $47/c for Bergers to learn what I'm doing wrong.

 

[broncman]

I never shoot my comp gun from the bench. Bad hold habits have been to hard to break. After I got a barrel and load I trusted, I finally started watching the wind. I dont have a lot of matches under my belt this year but have shot over 1200 rounds in practice at home.

My best improvements came after I got my load and new barrel to the point I trusted them.

I got behind several topnotch shooters with my spotting scope and watched as they shot. Watched the flags and conditions when they shot each round. Took some notes and luckily one of the guys talked with me after a match and put some cause and effect to what I saw. I then used that advice and started seeing it when I shot and finished with my highest personal score in the windiest match I had shot yet!

Find someone shooting in the top percentile and let them coach you if they will. Otherwise shoot a few matches to get cause and effect regardless of score.

 

[DRNewcomb]

I never shoot my comp gun from the bench. Bad hold habits have been to hard to break.

Understood. Mostly what I've been doing from the bench is chronographing loads. I've never tried to set up my chronograph so near the ground that I could shoot through it prone. I don't think my tripod will go that low.

 

[broncman]

I have a flat long board I attatch it to and put it straight on the ground. Perfect height with my bipod!