I'm a new shooter and I went to a range for my first time 2 days ago on Sunday. I had help from one of the Range officers about how to hold it when preparing to take a shot and following through and it was working good for me but I wanted to ask about any advice on how to hold the rifle more steady when aiming? I had a very hard time keeping my reticle lined up with where I was trying to shoot at 100 yards and I would aim off where I was trying to shoot. I was able to get the scope almost zero but we ended up leaving since some other people started shooting at the target I put up and I was going to go back when it was less busy to finish so I left the adjustments where they were until I can finish doing individual groups. Any tips or is it just more practice? Thanks.
How to hold rifle steady?
- Thread starter BryanL
- Start date
Can I assume you were shooting offhand? ie. standing without support? If want to learn that position, someone knowledgeable with that position that can be there with you could help immensely. You also spoke about zeroing your rifle. If that is what you were at the range for, then the standing position is the worst for that. If your range doesn't have some shooting benches, I would advise going prone and using whatever you have to put under the rifle to steady it, sandbags, a back pack etc.
I hope this helps,
Lloyd
I hope this helps,
Lloyd
Oh sorry I forgot to mention anything about that! I was using one of the benches they have and a Harris bipod 9"-13" but I don't have one of those rear stock bags that I see lots of people use online I was holding the back of the stock with my right hand and used my left for the trigger, bolt and safety. I shoot left handed and the target is sort sort of level with where the benches are it isn't higher or lower I think. I was also told to lean into the rifle pushing it forward instead of leaning it back into me and that helped me get more steady but I think I was the problem when I was moving around too much. It is a Remington 700 with a 20 inch barrel in .308. I got this rifle so that I could have something that I hopefully will not need to replace or upgrade for the next few years that I continue shooting. I can't afford to buy much of the better ammo people say to get like Federal Premium or Hornady so I used Sellior and Bellot 147 grain ammo. I hope this helps.
Rear bags help quite a bit, same with loading the bipod (leaning in.) I'm absolutely not an authority on rifle shooting, (I'm actually quite terrible I only shoot pistols)
But were you nervous? Did you drink caffeine before hand? Was your breathing smooth or could you not pay attention to it due to being nervous?
Edit to add stuff
When squeezing the trigger, are you only squeezing it enough to touch the wound off or are you squeezing and holding before you release it? Also you want your face to scope position to be as close to identical every time you shoot. Having your face in different positions will change the impact of your shot.
But were you nervous? Did you drink caffeine before hand? Was your breathing smooth or could you not pay attention to it due to being nervous?
Edit to add stuff
When squeezing the trigger, are you only squeezing it enough to touch the wound off or are you squeezing and holding before you release it? Also you want your face to scope position to be as close to identical every time you shoot. Having your face in different positions will change the impact of your shot.
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I think I was pretty nervous, I had no idea how different shooting a rifle actually was from my imagination until I took that first shot. There was also a few other people shooting some sort of AK style rifle and another person with a Mosin Nagant or M1 Garand (can't remember what they had) that was very loud and would startle me sometimes after I was exhaling and holding my breath to get ready to fire. With my trigger squeeze I would only focus on the reticle and would gently squeeze until it breaks and continued to hold pressure until I finished the shot and got back on target. But I didn't feel like I was anticipating the recoil or the shot to come, I squeezed through until it actually startled me once the shot had happened. I went through all 20 rounds in the end and felt like I got a little more used to it after the 10th or 12th round. I would have probably went longer if my arm wasn't hurting so bad and there were less people. I also remembered about halfway through that barrels heat up and I was getting a little overexcited and shooting pretty fast without much of a break in between, so I started letting the barrel sit for 10-20 seconds before I would take another shot and took a little more time to try and focus the reticle but by then I was still all over the place and couldn't hold it still.
rjtfroggy
Gold $$ Contributor
No need for a fancy rear bag, just fill an old sock with sand tie it off and use it it will work for now.
Don't hold your breath ( makes your heart beat show up in reticle), squeeze trigger at top or bottom of breath.
Do not stay in the scope to long, eye gets tired and will start to blur. Start your breathing at the same time as your sighting and fire when both get on target.
There is probably more but I haven't had my coffee yet.
Don't hold your breath ( makes your heart beat show up in reticle), squeeze trigger at top or bottom of breath.
Do not stay in the scope to long, eye gets tired and will start to blur. Start your breathing at the same time as your sighting and fire when both get on target.
There is probably more but I haven't had my coffee yet.
I used the instructions that came with the rings and rail to tighten them down with a Wheeler torque wrench since people said it was Okay to use for a good price. The picture of the scope is how it is after 20 rounds I don't believe there's any movement on the scope and I don't feel rattling trying to shake it. I did notice it was hard for me to get a comfortable position on the stock with my cheek and I had to readjust a lot, is there a method on how far back or how close you need to get to the scope with your cheek?
Attachments
That's great to hear. I have cat litter would that work? If not can any sand from a hardware store work fine or does it need to be something specific? When I would hold my breath it would slow down a little bit but I was getting uncomfortable by the time I would take the shot sometimes, I will try this next time going once my shoulder gets a little better. No holding breath just as soon as it leaves or I get a full breath in take the shot? Continue to breathe in and out just wait until I inhale fully or exhale to take it?
timeout
Silver $$ Contributor
I realize that it's probably not in the budget right now, but I believe you would be much better off to purchase a .223 Remington caliber to practice with. The main reason I say this is because with the .308 making your shoulder sore, you may develop a flinch. The second thing is that your ammo will be much less expensive which should allow you to practice more. Thirdly, a .223 is just plain fun to shoot.
A 9 inch to 13 inch bipod is very tall for shooting off the bench try to get a 6 to 9 inch bipod lower is steadier if you can’t get a constant cheek weld you might see about installing an adjustable cheek piece, one from Matthews fabrication is cheap easy to install and a veteran owned company
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L1986
Gold $$ Contributor
First welcome to the forum and to shooting! It’s a great past time and can be both rewarding and frustrating, often at the same time! The knowledge base here is absolutely incredible, these guys are the best! One thing I’ll add is that if there is someone in your area that is an experienced shooter that you would feel comfortable asking for help that is always a good way to go. In person instruction is usually a lot better. Sounds like you were at a decent range (they at least had a range officer) so chances are there may be some experienced shooters there willing to give some good tips. Other than that it sounds like your on the right track. Just keep practicing and enjoy it!
Yeah after that first visit I definitely should have gone with the .223 version, only thing was the .308 was in stock for a good price to me (925, compared to where I see them listed on gunbroker and other sites for well over 1200) and the only one I found with a left handed configuration. I would have gotten an SPS but people said the stocks were not good at all and that it was worth getting the LTR with an H-S Precision stock. Even the guy there was surprised I was starting off on .308. I really wasn't expecting it to be as powerful as it was, there was another RSO there shooting a varmint type .223 that looked way easier to control and way less power coming back recoil wise. It was definitely a shock but most of the pain has subsided now, it now sort of feels like the soreness you get after lifting weights the day after. Is it normal for your shoulder to also become numb or is that a sign to stop shooting?
I liked the way the Harris Bipod felt, should I try to go with their 6-9 version or is there a better option that might do better for bench shooting specifically? I will also definitely get one of those cheek welds, I remember watching a video about having one and I totally forgot about it until now. Thanks.
Adjustable Kydex Cheek Rest - Matthew's Fabrication
Adjustable Kydex Cheek rest - Matthew's Fabrication
matthewsfabrication.com
rjtfroggy
Gold $$ Contributor
Take the bipod off while learning to shoot the rifle. For a front rest cut the lower half of a pant leg and fill with the same sand you use for the sock, play sand from local hardware works just fine. You only need to keep the gun steady.
As for cheek weld your eye relief has to be set right so your cheek drops in place at or very near the same place every time. Eye relief is in the owners manual, when it is right there will be no black in the sight picture that is no black ring looking through the scope.
As for breathing take a full (deep) breath and start sighting by the time you are at or done exhaling you should be on target so squeeze off the shot.
As for cheek weld your eye relief has to be set right so your cheek drops in place at or very near the same place every time. Eye relief is in the owners manual, when it is right there will be no black in the sight picture that is no black ring looking through the scope.
As for breathing take a full (deep) breath and start sighting by the time you are at or done exhaling you should be on target so squeeze off the shot.
Thank you very much for the welcome! I appreciate how much help I have already received in such a short amount of time! Unfortunately, I don't really know how to reach out to people in my area (only turned 18 back in January) but the staff there were really helpful and had given me a lot of tips and got me on paper within minutes. It was a nice range, they make sure that when you want to go down to set a new target up or check your groups that everybody doesn't have any ammo loaded, bolts to the rear and safeties on before anybody is allowed to go down. I'm looking forward to going back this weekend or next (only opened on weekends) to try and put the advice here to practice and see how much I can try to improve!
Bench shooting is best done with a adjustable front rest and rear bag. Bi-pods are for hunting use- not for yielding the true accuracy of your rifle. Lead shot bags filled with sand will work in the short term- Brownells sells them- or you can improvise. Please don't even think of a lead sled or other such contraptions.
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