You'll like the CRC range. I surveyed that land staking out the firing lines and pits I designed bank in January, 1985. Temperature was 5 degrees F.
How to train: advise me on how to get better, faster
- Thread starter Evan
- Start date
You'll like the CRC range. I surveyed that land staking out the firing lines and pits I designed bank in January, 1985. Temperature was 5 degrees F.
Another update: I got the timney trigger installed a couple days ago and it made a HUGE difference in my confidence. I'm not a huge fan of 2-stage triggers and I'd like the pull to be lighter. It came out of the box at 8oz/1lb and I didn't mess with it to try and lighten it up. It's clean and consistent; Predictable; so I'll leave it as is for now and work on shooting instead of fiddling.
Important note for other RPR owners: taking off the lower, swapping the triggers, and putting it all back together moved my POI up 6 inches and right 4 inches at 330 yards. I had to re-zero. Not unexpected but I was hoping it would shoot to roughly the same point. I torqued the two main screws to 45 in-lbs.
I got out shooting this morning and am seeing some good improvement:
All at 330 yards, by GPS measurement. Ranging with my scope gave me 327 yards (having a 24" wide target board helps improve precision considerably). Wind was calm today, 5-7mph generally ramping up and down smoothly without sharp gusts or switches. I'm pleased that I'm centering up on my point of aim better and my groups are shrinking. These amazing 4 shot strings in the teens followed by a flier are really getting me excited about the potential of this rifle. I don't know if the fliers are gun control, wind, or ammunition. I'm not going to think about it too hard yet until it becomes more consistent than the once in every 5 groups or so that I'm seeing now. I'm pleased that bullets are frequently stacking on top of each other too, although it's a bit confusing at these ranges, because I'm not used to seeing that kind of accuracy and immediately start worrying that it was entirely off paper! Who thought Ruger of all companies could mass produce a rifle capable of this!
Thoughts and comments are appreciated. I'm thinking that I'll use this thread as a kind of log about my progress that I and others could come back to in the future. Maybe someone else will find it useful.
Important note for other RPR owners: taking off the lower, swapping the triggers, and putting it all back together moved my POI up 6 inches and right 4 inches at 330 yards. I had to re-zero. Not unexpected but I was hoping it would shoot to roughly the same point. I torqued the two main screws to 45 in-lbs.
I got out shooting this morning and am seeing some good improvement:
All at 330 yards, by GPS measurement. Ranging with my scope gave me 327 yards (having a 24" wide target board helps improve precision considerably). Wind was calm today, 5-7mph generally ramping up and down smoothly without sharp gusts or switches. I'm pleased that I'm centering up on my point of aim better and my groups are shrinking. These amazing 4 shot strings in the teens followed by a flier are really getting me excited about the potential of this rifle. I don't know if the fliers are gun control, wind, or ammunition. I'm not going to think about it too hard yet until it becomes more consistent than the once in every 5 groups or so that I'm seeing now. I'm pleased that bullets are frequently stacking on top of each other too, although it's a bit confusing at these ranges, because I'm not used to seeing that kind of accuracy and immediately start worrying that it was entirely off paper! Who thought Ruger of all companies could mass produce a rifle capable of this!
Thoughts and comments are appreciated. I'm thinking that I'll use this thread as a kind of log about my progress that I and others could come back to in the future. Maybe someone else will find it useful.
Forum Boss
Administrator
Best practice I did to improve my centerfire shooting was, believe it or not, to shoot rimfire at 25 yards with iron sights. I found it was a binary experience -- if I did everything right (breathing, hold, front sight, trigger, head position, body position, follow-through), the shot would be part of the group -- a ragged hole. If I did ANYthing wrong, the shot would fall outside the group. That allowed me to diagnose breathing, trigger, steadiness problems. I also found that slight variations in head and hand position would toss them out of the group.
I shot a prone 600-yard steel silhouette game at the time. I saw an immediate improvement in target knock-downs at 600 after my rimfire training.
I shot a prone 600-yard steel silhouette game at the time. I saw an immediate improvement in target knock-downs at 600 after my rimfire training.
"how to get better, faster"???
Two words:
DRY FIRE
It costs you NOTHING!
Assuming you have a grasp on the fundamentals of marksmanship, the easiest way to burn them into your muscle memory is by repetition. Dry firing allows you to focus on those fundamentals without the disturbance of muzzle blast and recoil, so you can really pay attention to what building a solid position, breaking a clean shot, and proper follow thru...
Also, the muscle memory of breaking a clean shot is happening while operating your primary rifle. In effect, you are learning how a clean shot feels when executed correctly. Once that familiarity becomes ingrained, it becomes easier to replicate. Furthermore, you'll know, by feel, right away if you did something wrong!
Do a search for an IOTA. It's a lens that fits over your scopes objective, allowing you dry on a paper target at much reduced distance...even indoors!
At the very least, when you get to the range, perform several dry fires from your shooting position BEFORE sending a live round. That allows your body to 'remember' what a clean shot feels like, without suffering from a subconscious expectation of recoil...
Good luck and have fun!
Two words:
DRY FIRE
It costs you NOTHING!
Assuming you have a grasp on the fundamentals of marksmanship, the easiest way to burn them into your muscle memory is by repetition. Dry firing allows you to focus on those fundamentals without the disturbance of muzzle blast and recoil, so you can really pay attention to what building a solid position, breaking a clean shot, and proper follow thru...
Also, the muscle memory of breaking a clean shot is happening while operating your primary rifle. In effect, you are learning how a clean shot feels when executed correctly. Once that familiarity becomes ingrained, it becomes easier to replicate. Furthermore, you'll know, by feel, right away if you did something wrong!
Do a search for an IOTA. It's a lens that fits over your scopes objective, allowing you dry on a paper target at much reduced distance...even indoors!
At the very least, when you get to the range, perform several dry fires from your shooting position BEFORE sending a live round. That allows your body to 'remember' what a clean shot feels like, without suffering from a subconscious expectation of recoil...
Good luck and have fun!
So I got some splatter targets to help me see my shots more reliably at distance. Small thing to note: they only work if your shots hit them 
.
Went out again this morning and after my initial fouling group at ~200 yards to check that my POI hasn't changed (I'm zeroed at 200), I moved out to 350 yards (348, by scope measurement) and I got another stunning 4 shot string at 350 yards. Why 4 shots? Well, I didn't see the first shot, misinterpreted a taped-over hole as my first shot, and clicked over a correction that wasn't needed. I couldn't see the next shot either, so I said screw it and shot the rest of the string, resulting in 4 shots right on top of each other that I could see... of course. Haha. The first shot is hiding under the top info tag, pretty much dead center but 3" high.
Seeing this glorious 1st group, right out of the gate, I excitedly clicked back over and down and all following attempts after the first glorious group were back up at my more average ~0.5MOA. Here is a sampling:
I also went out to 600 and got this group... just barely:
I couldn't see my impacts, and was guessing. After shooting 5 and seeing nothing, I decided that I was wasting ammo and time. I wasn't shooting badly, but I felt out of rhythm at this point (~50 rounds in), so I stopped.
I got a scope mounted bubble level for the rifle (I had been using a small construction one to check level at the beginning of the day) and found out that my cant keeps changing a little every shot. Maybe a degree or two at most. The bipod is attached to a sling stud, which is attached to a picatinny rail, attached to the bottom of the handguard tube. These were adapters Ruger put in the box, and the stackup allows the gun to twist a little relative to the bipod. I probably need to get something better. I'm not sure an atlas is in budget right now, so I may look for a sling stud that mounts directly to the handguard via the notches, instead of through the above mentioned stackup of adapters. This will allow me to pull the harris bipod down into place on the handguard, not a narrow picatinny rail, and it should be more secure like it is on more traditional stocks. I haven't checked the math, but I imagine the degree or two of changing cant was contributing to some of the walking I've been seeing in my groups.
.Went out again this morning and after my initial fouling group at ~200 yards to check that my POI hasn't changed (I'm zeroed at 200), I moved out to 350 yards (348, by scope measurement) and I got another stunning 4 shot string at 350 yards. Why 4 shots? Well, I didn't see the first shot, misinterpreted a taped-over hole as my first shot, and clicked over a correction that wasn't needed. I couldn't see the next shot either, so I said screw it and shot the rest of the string, resulting in 4 shots right on top of each other that I could see... of course. Haha. The first shot is hiding under the top info tag, pretty much dead center but 3" high.
Seeing this glorious 1st group, right out of the gate, I excitedly clicked back over and down and all following attempts after the first glorious group were back up at my more average ~0.5MOA. Here is a sampling:
I also went out to 600 and got this group... just barely:
I couldn't see my impacts, and was guessing. After shooting 5 and seeing nothing, I decided that I was wasting ammo and time. I wasn't shooting badly, but I felt out of rhythm at this point (~50 rounds in), so I stopped.
I got a scope mounted bubble level for the rifle (I had been using a small construction one to check level at the beginning of the day) and found out that my cant keeps changing a little every shot. Maybe a degree or two at most. The bipod is attached to a sling stud, which is attached to a picatinny rail, attached to the bottom of the handguard tube. These were adapters Ruger put in the box, and the stackup allows the gun to twist a little relative to the bipod. I probably need to get something better. I'm not sure an atlas is in budget right now, so I may look for a sling stud that mounts directly to the handguard via the notches, instead of through the above mentioned stackup of adapters. This will allow me to pull the harris bipod down into place on the handguard, not a narrow picatinny rail, and it should be more secure like it is on more traditional stocks. I haven't checked the math, but I imagine the degree or two of changing cant was contributing to some of the walking I've been seeing in my groups.
So I decided to bring out the 22-250 and swap guns. 10 shots in the RPR, 10 shots in the 22-250, repeat. The wind was awful today; quick, sharp gusts that shifted direction during my 1 hour session resulted in more fliers than usual.
225 yards, 6.5 creedmoor:
310 yards, 22-250 (shooting 55gn vmax, 10-shot group, middle 5 shots all grouped together, so I tagged them separately for reference):
310 yards, 6.5 Creedmoor, 2 5-shot groups back to back:
I feel like this exercise showed me a few very important things:
1. Despite the 22-250's significantly worse ballistic performance in the wind (2x the clicks of the 6.5 for wind), I don't fight the rifle as much as the RPR, resulting in the same/better groups despite the deficit. The 22-250 doesn't move as much, and the traditional style stock rides in the rear bag MUCH better. Slight pushes and squeezes to the bag move the crosshair more consistently. I always have to fight the RPR to get the point of aim back where it was after a shot. It becomes night and day switching between the two rifles. I need to do something to the RPR stock. Suggestions are welcome if anyone has seen any products; brief search hasn't really turned up much. I may need to fabricate something that mounts to the picatinny rail on the bottom.
2. I am affected by the muzzle blast of the 6.5 creedmoor some. I don't flinch, but I also have to work harder to calm myself behind the gun each time. This manifests as needing to perform more breathing exercises between shots before the twitches I see in the crosshair smooth out. If you had asked me before today, I would have said that the 6.5 was well within my comfort zone, easily controlled and managed, and no different than the 22-250. Now I say the larger caliber has a notable detriment to my performance and accuracy that is readily apparent in a back-to-back test.
225 yards, 6.5 creedmoor:
310 yards, 22-250 (shooting 55gn vmax, 10-shot group, middle 5 shots all grouped together, so I tagged them separately for reference):
310 yards, 6.5 Creedmoor, 2 5-shot groups back to back:
I feel like this exercise showed me a few very important things:
1. Despite the 22-250's significantly worse ballistic performance in the wind (2x the clicks of the 6.5 for wind), I don't fight the rifle as much as the RPR, resulting in the same/better groups despite the deficit. The 22-250 doesn't move as much, and the traditional style stock rides in the rear bag MUCH better. Slight pushes and squeezes to the bag move the crosshair more consistently. I always have to fight the RPR to get the point of aim back where it was after a shot. It becomes night and day switching between the two rifles. I need to do something to the RPR stock. Suggestions are welcome if anyone has seen any products; brief search hasn't really turned up much. I may need to fabricate something that mounts to the picatinny rail on the bottom.
2. I am affected by the muzzle blast of the 6.5 creedmoor some. I don't flinch, but I also have to work harder to calm myself behind the gun each time. This manifests as needing to perform more breathing exercises between shots before the twitches I see in the crosshair smooth out. If you had asked me before today, I would have said that the 6.5 was well within my comfort zone, easily controlled and managed, and no different than the 22-250. Now I say the larger caliber has a notable detriment to my performance and accuracy that is readily apparent in a back-to-back test.
2 really great tips from forum boss and fredo.
Both of which helped me become a better shot.
I use a break barrel pellet gun with 1 helluva heavy trigger. Feeling the creep and the wall of the trigger while concentrating on sight alignment,breathing, and wind.
Dry firing saved my ass in basic.
At pre qualify, I kept stringing my shots, vertical and horizontal on paper. I wore shrunk stripes on my helmet for 6 weeks cuz of it. This is how my DI solved the problem.
I would lay in prone position aiming at a spot on the wall, my bunk mate would place a nickel flat on the barrel balancing it. Now break the shot without dropping the nickel.
Do this untill you get 20 clean breaks with no dropped nickels. This enabled me to loose the stripes and clear basic with an expert marksman badge that I kept entire time in service.
Both of which helped me become a better shot.
I use a break barrel pellet gun with 1 helluva heavy trigger. Feeling the creep and the wall of the trigger while concentrating on sight alignment,breathing, and wind.
Dry firing saved my ass in basic.
At pre qualify, I kept stringing my shots, vertical and horizontal on paper. I wore shrunk stripes on my helmet for 6 weeks cuz of it. This is how my DI solved the problem.
I would lay in prone position aiming at a spot on the wall, my bunk mate would place a nickel flat on the barrel balancing it. Now break the shot without dropping the nickel.
Do this untill you get 20 clean breaks with no dropped nickels. This enabled me to loose the stripes and clear basic with an expert marksman badge that I kept entire time in service.
Steve Donlon
Gold $$ Contributor
If you are becoming uncomfortable with the 6.5 recoil, maybe shoot a bigger calbier for a while then when you go back to the 6.5 it will seem more manageable. Or get a muzzle brake. After shooting heavy bullets in my 30-06s' my 6.5 RPR rifle feels tame. Or shoot a bigger magnum and you will really feel comfortable.
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