precision rifle shooting help

[jjbritland]

Ok. So my 308 is more accurate than I am. Im not going to lie and say i am a sniper by any means. I have noticed a few areas that i need major help with. My breathing, trigger pull, steadying my rifle and eye focus all need serious attention. I only shoot to 200 yards and any farther would be a waste of ammo at this point. I love shooting and I want to get really good at it. Can anyone suggest a course or any books or videos that can help me with my technique? I have no problem putting in the range time. I would just like it to be more productive.

[Tomcat088]

Ok. So my 308 is more accurate than I am. Im not going to lie and say i am a sniper by any means. I have noticed a few areas that i need major help with. My breathing, trigger pull, steadying my rifle and eye focus all need serious attention. I only shoot to 200 yards and any farther would be a waste of ammo at this point. I love shooting and I want to get really good at it. Can anyone suggest a course or any books or videos that can help me with my technique? I have no problem putting in the range time. I would just like it to be more productive.

I'll be happy to help you out. There are a few questions that we'd need answered as we get into this. Knowing what rig and the specifics would help. It would also be nice to know if you're shooting irons, or what kind of optics or scope that you're using. It'll help in telling you where to focus, etc. After answering some of those questions, we'll see what we can do to help you.

[rmagill]

A basic rifle course might be a good place to start.

[diablojdUSP45]

When you shoot slow every thing down to one shot at a time and enjoy each shot. Don't let misses frustrate you, you will get better with time and by using proper technique.

*****
stance:
first get your stance settled real nice. there are actually a lot more than the basic 3 stances but stick to the basic 3 unless you have a need to use a different stance.

standing kneeling and prone


In the standing you can use a sling wrapped around your arm to help you stabilize your rifle.

Kneeling you can support your elbow on your knee and use the sling to help stabilize similar to the standing

in prone you can use a bipod and really get a stable stance

If you dont know how to properly do a stance dont be shy get help to learn it.

*****
breathing:

you want to control your breathing so that your hands aren't shaking. take aim on the exact spot you want to hit and focus breathing normally. Then right before you take your shot put your finger on the trigger and pause your breath. If you pause for a very short period then you will notice the lack of expanding and contracting of your chest will stabilize your shot drastically. However dont hold your breath too long or it will have an adverse effect on your accuracy ( I am not trying to make a joke on you passing out or anything i am serious). If you must take a few breaths and line back up on your target and restart your breathing technique.

****

trigger control:

You never want to jerk the trigger.. now at first this may seem kind of confusing... "Jerk the trigger..wtf is he talking about?"

think of the trigger as being fragile, you want to gently roll your finger over the trigger and pull back.

Jerking the trigger causes you to move the rifle and throw off your shots

****

Something else I have seen some people do is taking their eye off the target once they felt the trigger was pulled....Don't do that. Keep your eye on the target that way you don't start preemptively move and miss your target because of a momentary twitch as you readjusted anticipating the shots end.

Also know your weapons maximum effective range.

You also need to zero in your scope/sight. This can be done by firing rounds at your target and adjusting your sight till you are consistently hitting your target at your desired range. Also just because you are zeroed in for a target at 200 yards doesn't mean you cant hit at 250 or 300 yards. If you have a scope with dots along the reticule those are there so you can adjust your fire without rezeroing in. take some practice shots aiming with those dots that run along your crosshairs (if you have them)

I know this stuff may seem pretty basic and maybe you already knew this but i hope i was able to help you with something.

[arrrrgh15]

Ok. So my 308 is more accurate than I am. Im not going to lie and say i am a sniper by any means. I have noticed a few areas that i need major help with. My breathing, trigger pull, steadying my rifle and eye focus all need serious attention. I only shoot to 200 yards and any farther would be a waste of ammo at this point. I love shooting and I want to get really good at it. Can anyone suggest a course or any books or videos that can help me with my technique? I have no problem putting in the range time. I would just like it to be more productive.

There are long range precision rifle courses offered by BHTC near you. Freddy and Mike will help you out. I occassionally help with the course they offer in mifflin co. They just ran a course this weekend.

Dry fire is an excellent way to practice steadying the rifle, breathing, trigger pull. You can practice to the point that it becomes automatic. And you can do them in the comfort of your own home.

I really don't even think about those things anymore and spend most of my time focusing on wind, follow through, and spotting my own impacts.

[jjbritland]

You guys are fantastic! The rifle is a keltec rfb 308 with an 18" barrel. Im running a lucid hd7 red dot which has a 2 moa reticle. Its backed up with a lucid 2 x5 variable magnifier. I have a grippod bipod. I use dag surplus 308 most of the time. I know its not theost accurate setup in the world but it should be able to get 1"-1/2" groups. ( atleast thats what some others r getting with the rfb). I just put on the new rds so it needs cited in and i have to adjust the gas setting ( major downfall with this weapon. 32 settings?) i have no trainig yet bit i will dwf look into it. Im going to get some snap caps today and work on breaching and trigger pull today at the kitchen table looking out the window.i really like thos rifle bit i miss my ar sometimes.

[jjbritland]

I know 100 to 200 yards with a semi auto is far from precision shooting . I should have labeled the subject as " need help becoming more accurate with what i have"

[kiltedguard]

I find that as spot on as the advice is that you've been given by the previous postings, there is no replacement for a "shooting coach". I'm not talking about some paid trainer, but just someone who knows a bit about rifle shooting to sit or lay down next to you and look at your different fundamentals as you go through the shooting process. It will help break you of bad habbits, identify issues you didn't know you had, and get that consistancy which leads to better shooting.

[spblademaker]

Ill be making a trip to Easton Fish and Game Range this Saturday. Look for the guy with the green bag that says "Instructor" on it. I'll be glad to help.

[silverado_mick]

breathing:

you want to control your breathing so that your hands aren't shaking. take aim on the exact spot you want to hit and focus breathing normally. Then right before you take your shot put your finger on the trigger and pause your breath. If you pause for a very short period then you will notice the lack of expanding and contracting of your chest will stabilize your shot drastically. However dont hold your breath too long or it will have an adverse effect on your accuracy ( I am not trying to make a joke on you passing out or anything i am serious). If you must take a few breaths and line back up on your target and restart your breathing technique.

I agree with every part of your post except this one bro. Instead of causing an unntural pause in your body's rhythm, why not utilize your natural resiratory pause and achieve the same or even better results? If you focus on breathing normally you will find that at the bottom of every breath there is a period of time where your respiratory cycle pauses naturally. That is when you want your shots to break.

Get into a good prone shooting position and sight in on your target. Once on target close your eyes and breath for a minute or so. Let yourself relax. When you open your eyes if your sights have drifted off target, move your body until they are back on target. After repeating this process a few times you will be able to fine tune your body position to the point where your sights settle in on the target at the bottom of every breath while your hands support the rifle without applying any lateral pressure to it. You don't want to force or "muscle" the rifle onto the target, because it is very difficult to repeat the same amount of pressure from shot to shot. Rather, you want the rifle to be resting naturally in your hands with no exertion on your part, and the sights settling where you want the bullet to strike during your natural resiratory pause. This is called your natural point of aim. Once established, your natural point of aim is the position your body returns to not only after every breath, but after the recoil of every shot.

Focus on your breathing, and at the bottom of every breath during that natural respiratory pause, thats when you want to apply gentle but firm pressure straight to the rear on the trigger. When the shot breaks, just continue your natural resiration through the next cycle almost as if nothing happened. Dry fire practice sessions will help immensely with your natural point of aim, your breathing, and your trigger control.

Establishing your natural point of aim and practicing good control of your respiration is key to grouping well at distance. Trigger control, sight alignment, and sight picture are also fundamental of marksmanship, as well as a consistent cheek weld.

All this is much easier taught in person, with an experienced shooter/instructor as your guide. It's kind of an art form (especially at longer ranges) and it's really tough to explain the feel that one has for a good shot when the trigger breaks. Good luck in your quest to improve on yourself, don't get discouraged when you plateau, and keep us posted on your progress!