Thread: Target Shooting

Originally Posted by Wintchase

Are you in the Marines now? Or ROTC?

I'm still NROTC at Mizzou

Originally Posted by Wintchase

Well, it looks to me that you shoot right handed? I could be wrong? If you are then it seems that you have your right shoulder further behind your left (mores so than what is needed). If i was your spotter I would have you pulll yoour left foot forward by a good five inches (almost square shouldered, and then work your way back to a more stable platform). Then I would tell you to raise your hand up and shoot with you second knuckle rather than your finger tip. That is another way to "pull" rounds... Dropping the hand.. As devipup can attest too, body position is "everything".... You asked why I thought you are doing that? I am not an expert, but I have one week out of every month at long range shooting ranges for about 15 years... I have trained hundres of long range shooters.. But I certainly wouldn't say I am an authority, I just had a lot of time doing it.. There are much better folks than me out there.
Also, I wouldn't shoot at fifty feet try to push it outto at least 100 yards.

I'm not following. Are you saying I should turn more towards the target or the other way?

Yup, I'm right handed. I have been standing at a 90 angle to the firing line because that is how I was taught to shoot offhand years ago. I never bothered to question it, because it's comfortable for me. But if changing that could lead to an improvement, I'm all for it. Same goes with the trigger finger; I was taught to use the very tip of the finger.

I'm shooting at 50 feet because I'm at an indoor range, an 50 feet is all there is. When it warms up and if I can find somewhere to shoot outdoors, I'm all for stretching out the range and shooting anything but benchrest.

I'm still curious as to what about my targets led you to the conclusions you reached, though. I have seen the charts for pistol targets, but never rifle targets.

Originally Posted by holli4pirating

I'm not following. Are you saying I should turn more towards the target or the other way?

Yup, I'm right handed. I have been standing at a 90 angle to the firing line because that is how I was taught to shoot offhand years ago. I never bothered to question it, because it's comfortable for me. But if changing that could lead to an improvement, I'm all for it. Same goes with the trigger finger; I was taught to use the very tip of the finger.

I'm shooting at 50 feet because I'm at an indoor range, an 50 feet is all there is. When it warms up and if I can find somewhere to shoot outdoors, I'm all for stretching out the range and shooting anything but benchrest.

I'm still curious as to what about my targets led you to the conclusions you reached, though. I have seen the charts for pistol targets, but never rifle targets.

I think if you turned toward the target more it would help. The body is nothing more than a meat platform to send the round down range.. You have to make it as steady as possible. By shooting with your body turned at a 90 degree the recoil doesn't have a steady solid platform. Being turned at a 90 pushed the shoulder back which alters the path of the bullet. Try it wih a empty chamber and you will notice how easy it is to turn the barrel away from the target. Then try it with a square body (slightly hunched over to absorb even more recoil) and you will see less barrel travel. With the trigger finger it is all about pulling straight back. Most folks worry about the tip of their finger and end up dropping their hand slightly. What that does is make you pull the trigge back at an angle..
I came to that conclusion because it seems to me that you have more rounds leaning to the right side than normal. This indicates a right hand shooter who is doing the things that i mentioned above... I learned this while training people. It becomes second nature.. Kinda like reading animal and human tracks.. After a while you just see it. Start watching other people at the range and see how their body position is versus their rounds.

Thanks for the input. I'll give your tips a shot.

Sounds like these guys have you covered on the body, I would like to ask about your rifle. CZ makes a very nice rifle, but even very nice rifles can be made to shoot a little better when you tweak them for you & you find out what it wants.

First thing I check and typically replace or work on is the trigger. I am bonkers over Timney triggers. A trigger should literally "break" without feeling any drag/creep. The break should be like if you pick up a piece of broken light bulb and "break" it in half. I personally like a trigger pull around 2 pounds and no more than 3 pounds.

I noticed you had the receiver/barrel assembly off from the stock. I'm sure you do this to clean the weapon, but when you put it back together do you use a torque wrench to tighten things back the exact same every time? It makes a difference. Secondly, does your barrel touch the forearm? If you can slide a dollar bill from the front of the forearm to the receiver without hanging up, you should be fine. If not, this can be addressed in a couple of ways to. Barrel harmonics can and will effect accuracy.

Length of pull is something that effects some shooters more than others...

Lastly is ammo. .22 ammo can vary quite a bit & it can take a while to find what your rifle likes. Just because you are shooting Ely doesn't mean its the best for your rifle. Mine likes CCI Greentag and believe it or not bulk WInchester 40gr dynapoints over most any other ammo.

I did replace the stock trigger spring with a 144 from Ace. I'm not sure of the exact pull weight, but it's definitely lighter than before. The first time I dry fired after the replacement, I remember being surprised when the trigger broke. There is a little bit of creep, but I can feel the change in tension before the shot goes, so I can take that up alright.

I haven't been using a torque wrench because I don't have one at the moment, but I have been putting the screws back to the exact same position each time. Not ideal, I know, but better than nothing. The barrel does not float freely. I have thought about doing a little sanding, but that's something I want to hold off on for now. Ammo is CCI SV. I know each of these factors will have some effect on my patterns, but, as you can see from the target, I am the bigger source of error at the moment. After all, I've not even put 2k rounds through her, and the last time I'd shot I was about half my current age.

The biggest thing with body position is YOU. Natural point of aim for me is slightly more angled than most, but thats where the sights fall on the target best. +1 to checking for ammo. When we practice we use some kind of winchester target loads, but at Wisconsin we used some no name brown paper wrapped rounds. They were so bad, both myself and one other shooter on our team had to keep using a pocket knife to eject the rounds. Our kid that won shot a in the high 230's he usually shoots high 280's. I think I ended up with a 180, and usually shoot around 220.

Yeaa i thought about the loads, but at 50ft you could have 2 minutes of angle bullets and still be on the mark.

I'm an IPSC and Bullseye guy

Originally Posted by eflatminor

I'm an IPSC and Bullseye guy

I have a bunch of pistols, but I shoot like Don Knotts (Barney Fife) wih a pistol....