07-01-2012, 06:22 PM
I think your skill for your level of development is normal. It takes a lot of rounds to learn to shoot well. It is the basics that count but they can be very hard to master, it is mental not physical that gives you the most problems. I would say that the issue is not your set up, but your understanding of how to use it properly. (assuming you have tightened down your scope rings and still want to improve)
The basics are sight alignment, sight picture, trigger control, and follow through.
By sight alignment I mean that your head is placed on the stock with your cheek firmly in contact and positioned so that your head is vertical and your eye aligned with the center of your scope or sights. Ideally the stock should bear the full weight of your head so that your neck muscles are completely relaxed, there should be no effort whatsoever to keep your eye in alignment.
By sight picture I mean that after you have achieved alignment the sights are centered on the target, if not, move the rests until they are, do not muscle the gun to the target, move the rests. If you are bag sqeezing it should be minimal and by minimal I mean it should move the sights by no more than 1/4 moa and it would be better to not move it at all.
By trigger control I mean moving the trigger straight back without upsetting the sight picture. Dryfire to check this at least a dozen times to check that your sights are not moving, and if they are work to find out why and eliminate the movement. You can't shoot good groups unless you can do this and it would be a good idea to check maintenance by firing live rounds and dryfire alternately as you shoot your groups. You will find that a medium firm grip on the pistol grip similar to a firm handshake will yield best results. It isn't important where your finger contacts the trigger as long as it moved the trigger straight back with no side to side force. You should not use the pistol grip to move the rifle for sight picture, this is death to peak accuracy, again, move the rest.
Follow through requires that you keep your eyes open through the shot and recoil. You should be able to call your shots and you will as you develop this skill but it will take a while. For my junior rifle team I require that they plot each shot before looking through their spotting scope and compare the plot with the actual impact point. This is very valuable training and results with them being able to call their shots within 1" at 200 yard in the offhand position.
If you have mastered these fundamentals you have probably fired more than 2,000 rounds in quality practice sessions. Most require 10,000 or more.
Bob
The basics are sight alignment, sight picture, trigger control, and follow through.
By sight alignment I mean that your head is placed on the stock with your cheek firmly in contact and positioned so that your head is vertical and your eye aligned with the center of your scope or sights. Ideally the stock should bear the full weight of your head so that your neck muscles are completely relaxed, there should be no effort whatsoever to keep your eye in alignment.
By sight picture I mean that after you have achieved alignment the sights are centered on the target, if not, move the rests until they are, do not muscle the gun to the target, move the rests. If you are bag sqeezing it should be minimal and by minimal I mean it should move the sights by no more than 1/4 moa and it would be better to not move it at all.
By trigger control I mean moving the trigger straight back without upsetting the sight picture. Dryfire to check this at least a dozen times to check that your sights are not moving, and if they are work to find out why and eliminate the movement. You can't shoot good groups unless you can do this and it would be a good idea to check maintenance by firing live rounds and dryfire alternately as you shoot your groups. You will find that a medium firm grip on the pistol grip similar to a firm handshake will yield best results. It isn't important where your finger contacts the trigger as long as it moved the trigger straight back with no side to side force. You should not use the pistol grip to move the rifle for sight picture, this is death to peak accuracy, again, move the rest.
Follow through requires that you keep your eyes open through the shot and recoil. You should be able to call your shots and you will as you develop this skill but it will take a while. For my junior rifle team I require that they plot each shot before looking through their spotting scope and compare the plot with the actual impact point. This is very valuable training and results with them being able to call their shots within 1" at 200 yard in the offhand position.
If you have mastered these fundamentals you have probably fired more than 2,000 rounds in quality practice sessions. Most require 10,000 or more.
Bob