First post. Where I am with shooting and where to go from here.

[Blackcat]

My goal is to become the best shooter I can be out to at least 1000 yards.
I need some advice on where to go from where im at in my shooting.
My rifle is a newer savage .308, Vortex viper PST MOA with Weaver low profile rings and Weaver 20 MOA rail. I have a shooting range in my backyard that goes out to 1000 yards. I just zeroed at 100 yards and adjusted the parallax correction. Im shooting Federal powershock 150g. The life of the rifle so far is as follows: Break in, fire a round clean and repeat for the first 20 rounds. Zeroed at 100 yards that took another 60 rounds. Could have used fewer rounds but I was taking my time and experimenting with it.
Raised the comb by taping a 1 1/2 inch pad to it. That helped a lot. The rifle sits on a leadsled for support.
I take my time and watch my breathing. The reticle seems perfectly aligned with the target. I squeeze gently and follow through. Most of my shots land within 2 MOA with quite a few fliers. When im off... Im way off.
Now heres my thoughts on it. The groups arent as tight as I would like. Of course I need practice. Other factors that cross my mind are. The ledsled could be effecting shot placement. I might be more accurate with a sand bag and solid contact with the rifle to shoulder. The wind at 100 yards could be causing fliers... But im not sure about this. A good competition load might also help get the groups tighter.
My shooting position could also have an effect. I live in a very remote area and theres nobody nearby to watch how I shoot and give me pointers. Im learning by reading and doing.
Down the road Im looking at changing the stock to a Macmillan A5 and the barrel to a Krieger heavy target barrel. Based on that what else can I do to make my groups tighter and more consistent ?
Shooting skills, rifle adjustments things I may have overlooked.
Thanks for your time !

 

[Codeman]

Windflags
Try different loads or reload
Practice
Lighter trigger
Ditch the leadslead, bipod and rear bag or front rest and rear bag

 

[watercam]

I agree with the above and your suspicion regarding the Lead Sled. The rifle needs to give with recoil in a linear manner parallel with the line of sight.
You will save a ton of money and time if you start reloading and start using the best match bullets you can afford.
Search the Reloading section and .308 info page for more information and for God's sake buy a good reloading manual (or two or three) instead of asking folks for loads that work. Your rifle will be somewhat unique and will shoot what ever you find makes it shoot.
As far as accurate factory ammo, Federal Match, Black Hills Match, HSM Match and Hornady Match to name a few. Know that you will be best off with 175 grain match bullets AND HEAVIER at 1000 yards or 155s if you have a longer (28"+) barrel.
Best of luck, have fun!

 

[watercam]

Also, your learning curve will be shorter if you visit a local competition (High Power, Benchrest, Tactical) and watch and ask questions. That is what I did NOT do and I regret it!

 

[Lapua40X]

...Raised the comb by taping a 1 1/2 inch pad to it. That helped a lot. The rifle sits on a leadsled for support.

I take my time and watch my breathing.

I squeeze gently and follow through. Most of my shots land within 2 MOA with quite a few fliers. When im off... Im way off.

I might be more accurate with a sand bag and solid contact with the rifle to shoulder. The wind at 100 yards could be causing fliers...

My shooting position could also have an effect. I live in a very remote area and there's nobody nearby to watch how I shoot and give me pointers. Im learning by reading and doing.

1. Dump the lead sled. If you're working up a load it MAY, IMO, be useful. But I wouldn't rely on one of those mechanical devices for learning to shoot. Put the rifle to your shoulder and learn to put the butt against the shoulder in a natural vertical position. At the bench or at prone, a butt bag can help - but butt bags too have their draw backs.
2. Taking your time breathing won't be enough. "How" you breathe and whether you hold your breath or use some other method, consistently, is more important.
3. Wind can cause fliers, but at 100 yards it'd have to be a pretty stiff wind - and without knowing how far out the fliers register on target, the wind speed and direction, it's not possible to make much of that data.
4. Don't "squeeze' the trigger. "Squeeze" implies that you've got the trigger trapped between one part of you hand and another. Like squeezing lemons; squeezing through the pistol grip, toward the palm of your hand. Learn to "press" the trigger using the pad of your trigger finger and pressing straight back toward the butt. I usually instruct new shooters to place the thumb of their shooting hand alongside the stock rather than wrapping it over the stock's grip. That eliminates (or at least reduces) the tendency to put pressure on the side of the stock or put torque on the stock that can throw a shot off target.
5. Entirely self taught shooters are not unheard of, but it's not the best way to go because once you establish bad habits they're difficult to break. Find a range where regular competitive matches are held and go to the matches. It's OK to go as a spectator. Try to select a match that corresponds with the type of shooting you'd like to do yourself. It doesn't make much sense to spend a lot of time at bench rest shoots if tactical is what you're interested in. Watch closely. Remember that you're not as interested in watching targets as you are in watching shooting holds, positions, etc. Have a notebook handy to take notes and draw diagrams. A digital camera can also be useful. Be courteous, but don't be shy about asking questions. Standing alongside a group of experienced shooters and listening to their tales (most of which are actually true) is helpful. If you hear a term you don't understand and the timing doesn't seem right for asking a question, look it up when you get back home. It's fine to ask questions but avoid trying to get a complete class on competitive shooting your first time out. I have never attended a shooting competition where there weren't some experienced shooter(s) that were openly willing to help a new shooter regardless of whether or not they brought a rifle with them.

http://www.uspsa.org/uspsa-about-getting-started.php

6. Read this:
http://www.amazon.com/Accuracy-Precision-Long-Range-Shooting/dp/B009G41VMM

 

[BoydAllen]

Do a little online research on getting your trigger as light as is safe, or replace it with a better one. Pay some attention to how your finger is placed on the trigger, and the direction of pull. This is more important than having your trigger hand be comfortable. The positioning of your trigger hand should start with trigger contact and everything else should be to maintain that, and the direction of pull as they should be. If you are shooting off of a rest that does not move, you should not jab at the trigger, trying to have the rifle go off at a precise instant (talking here about a factory trigger). You need to increase pressure until the rifle discharges, so that you do not know exactly when that will happen, and then follow through as you see the cross hairs rise on the target. Don't try to resist the rise of the rifle as it recoils, maintain whatever contact that you have as a constant. Put up some sticks (15 35 and 65 yards should do for 100 yard shooting.) that are about as tall as the line from your muzzle to the target, with surveyors' tape tied to their tops, hanging down to just above the ground, and start to pay attention to them. (If you are shooting right handed, put the line of the flags to the left of the bench so that you can see them when you are in shooting position.) Try to get all of the shots of a group off so that the ribbons are in the same pattern, so that the wind is as close to the same as you can manage for each shot in the group. I agree with those that said that you should ditch the lead sled and get a good front rest and rear bag. What most fellows do not know is that with a proper bench and rest setup, your cross hairs should not be moving at all as you are pulling the trigger. If you pay strict attention to these details, and get your rifle's action bedded, you will probably cut your group sizes in half, and reduce the number of fliers. I do not suggest that you spend too much more time fiddling with things such as loads until you have all of this attended to. Keep the horse in front of the cart.

 

[CaptainMal]

First let me welcome you to the forum. Your first post is a doozie. You ask for a brief explanation on how to get better and there is none. It takes almost a lifetime of experience to learn enough to know there's lots more to know.

Good start. Read what others are saying. Read that link. Read books. Read many posts on this forum. Learn, learn and learn some more.

None are here to criticize your equipment, knowledge and skills. Tips you will get will be good-faith attempts to touch on the many subjects involved. As with most all education, you probably don't know enough to fathom how much you don't know.

Read and learn a little at a time. Thanks for the post.

 

[people]

Read read and read more. With that being said wind flags will help as will stepping out 100yds at a time until you are shooting as far as you can. The farther you shoot the more you will learn.

Now that you have a 100yd zero shoot it at 200 to see how much drop there is. Zero at 200 then shoot at 300. Keep logs on every shot. You do that all the way to 1000 you will know more about shooting than most out there.

 

[Blackcat]

Wow thanks for all the great replies! Lots of useful information its going to take me a bit to digest it and put into action. I especially like the wind flag idea!
I would love to find a range or some shooting competitions in the area. Ive asked around and so far ive been told theres nobody near by. Closest would be several hours away.

 

[snakepit]

Do a little online research on getting your trigger as light as is safe, or replace it with a better one. Pay some attention to how your finger is placed on the trigger, and the direction of pull. This is more important than having your trigger hand be comfortable. The positioning of your trigger hand should start with trigger contact and everything else should be to maintain that, and the direction of pull as they should be. If you are shooting off of a rest that does not move, you should not jab at the trigger, trying to have the rifle go off at a precise instant (talking here about a factory trigger). You need to increase pressure until the rifle discharges, so that you do not know exactly when that will happen, and then follow through as you see the cross hairs rise on the target. Don't try to resist the rise of the rifle as it recoils, maintain whatever contact that you have as a constant. Put up some sticks (15 35 and 65 yards should do for 100 yard shooting.) that are about as tall as the line from your muzzle to the target, with surveyors' tape tied to their tops, hanging down to just above the ground, and start to pay attention to them. (If you are shooting right handed, put the line of the flags to the left of the bench so that you can see them when you are in shooting position.) Try to get all of the shots of a group off so that the ribbons are in the same pattern, so that the wind is as close to the same as you can manage for each shot in the group. I agree with those that said that you should ditch the lead sled and get a good front rest and rear bag. What most fellows do not know is that with a proper bench and rest setup, your cross hairs should not be moving at all as you are pulling the trigger. If you pay strict attention to these details, and get your rifle's action bedded, you will probably cut your group sizes in half, and reduce the number of fliers. I do not suggest that you spend too much more time fiddling with things such as loads until you have all of this attended to. Keep the horse in front of the cart.

Boyd, what you wrote in this paragraph took me a long time to learn on my own. I hope Blackcat pays attention to what you wrote, it will save him a lot of frustration and move him along the learning curve at a faster pace.

 

[6BRinNZ]

Wow thanks for all the great replies! Lots of useful information its going to take me a bit to digest it and put into action. I especially like the wind flag idea!
I would love to find a range or some shooting competitions in the area. Ive asked around and so far ive been told theres nobody near by. Closest would be several hours away.

One way around this is to film yourself shooting...you can review your own footage and check that you are doing the same thing each time. You might find someone willing to review the footage if you made it available.

Training in isolation is always difficult, at some point you need to gear up and go to a range - if you end up doing a competition or two you will find your learning curve steep but it will push you ahead much faster.

 

[Erik Cortina]

This is all great info, but step one would be to work up a good load for the gun. If your gun is not accurate, you will be chasing your tail the entire time.

 

[Shynloco]

Wow thanks for all the great replies! Lots of useful information its going to take me a bit to digest it and put into action. I especially like the wind flag idea!
I would love to find a range or some shooting competitions in the area. Ive asked around and so far ive been told theres nobody near by. Closest would be several hours away.

Blackcat,
Welcome aboard. Many experienced folks have posted much very good info. And NOTHING can replace experience and help develop a good solid learning curve with the assistance of those who actually shoot in competitions. And regardless of how far you'd have to drive, you REALLY should find a an NRA sanctioned competition AT LEAST ONCE to see how the serious shooters compete and do their thing. And get there early enough to watch as the shooter set up their equipment. Just seeing the variety of equipment gives you some ideas so you don't waste money in buying and then rebuying equipment. I started out using a Caldwell Lead Sled and then went through a few rests before settling on the one I now use. But I put the Lead Sled to good use and thats what I clean my rifles on nowadays and sometimes use it to rough zero scopes. And it's not the price of the equipment per se as it is finding the rest that works best for you in the discipline you are shooting. But again, you'd be doing yourself a HUGE favor by attending a serious competition to get help get you in the mind set of what is needed to be good. Of course the equipment is just one factor. But getting started right will save you time and money in the long run. Good luck and happy shooting as you learn and develop as a successful shooter.

Alex

 

[timeout]

This is all great info, but step one would be to work up a good load for the gun. If your gun is not accurate, you will be chasing your tail the entire time.

This is kind of a which came first, chicken or the egg thing. If the shooter does not have shooting skills and proper rests, it is impossible to test loads. He still won't know if it is the gun, the load, or his shooting. I think the best first step is to find a good shooter with an accurate rifle that is willing to let him get behind the trigger.

 

[Wolfdawg]

Enroll and attend as many shooting schools as you can find and afford. The Original PA 1000 Yard benchrest Shooters Club in Williamsport holds a long range benchrest school every spring. you would be amazed at the time you will save in the learning curve by going to something like that for a few days.

Again, WELCOME... Oh yea, hang on, it can be a windy ride!!!!!

Wolfdawg