Equipment versus practice posts and Rifle practice/shooting

[mxgsfmdpx]

Simulated field shot with Tikka .223 “cold bore shot” (not totally “cold” as I had shot that morning and shot this single shot before I packed up and left).

Found a rock that stood out nicely with sun shining on it up the steep slope. Got my phone scope setup on my tripod with 15s and zoomed into the rock.

Grabbed my rifle, loaded the mag and chambered a round, laid my backpack down and got comfortable, ranged the rock with binos at 534 yards, got a wind reading from kestrel 4MPH 2-3 o clock, dialed for elevation and knew my wind hold, grabbed bino harness as rear rest, held on the shaded top tip of the rock, basically a vitalish size area on top of the rock, safety off and shoot.

 

[Jason Snyder]

Did a round this morning, seated with crossed trekking poles. Shots were taken in rounds of three, getting up to reload the magazine and then rebuilding the position. Shots were not times but were taken as fast as possible while maintaining accuracy.

Other than the shankarooney on the right, I was fairly happy. I played around with the position and the one on the right came while I was still making adjustments. The last three felt very dialed in and all landed inside the 1.5” target dot.

Kimber Hunter 6.5 CM
Talley rings
Leupold VX3i 4.5-14x40

All shots were taken on 7ish power

 

[Jason Snyder]

Did a quick 10 round group today, prone off a pack w/ no rear bag.

I was messing around with platform a bit on the second magazine. Obviously it was not helpful. The two rounds at 8 and 10 o’clock came from that series.

 

[The Guide]

Can someone describe the "sitting, unsupported" position for me? I'm trying to decide if that means nothing external helping you (like a pack or a bipod) just using elbows on knees or if it means literally seated, not touching anything.

Thanks,

Jay

 

[StoneTrees]

Just my 2 cents...practice what you'll go to in the field rather than matching what others are doing.

 

[The Guide]

Just my 2 cents...practice what you'll go to in the field rather than matching what others are doing.

That's not what the exercise is for. But you should always prepare for the way you hunt and shoot in your area.

Jay

 

[aschuler]

Can someone describe the "sitting, unsupported" position for me? I'm trying to decide if that means nothing external helping you (like a pack or a bipod) just using elbows on knees or if it means literally seated, not touching anything.

Thanks,

Jay

Here's how I do it. If the rifle has a sling I use it...if I have time.

 

[mxgsfmdpx]

Can someone describe the "sitting, unsupported" position for me? I'm trying to decide if that means nothing external helping you (like a pack or a bipod) just using elbows on knees or if it means literally seated, not touching anything.

Thanks,

Jay

When I think of seated and unsupported it basically means, no time for a bipod or pack, and the vegetation is short enough that you can get a shot off seated instead of standing and taking offhand shot. Think bumping a target animal you didn't see and he's staring at you or running away slowly looking back. Very common hunting shot for me, and is always preferred over shooting standing and offhand.

This position varies greatly on how you can get comfortable and stable in what I've seen. Indian style sitting or legs crossed in some fashion is popular. This is what works best for me currently...

 

[wind gypsy]

Can someone describe the "sitting, unsupported" position for me? I'm trying to decide if that means nothing external helping you (like a pack or a bipod) just using elbows on knees or if it means literally seated, not touching anything.

Thanks,

Jay

Meaning you are not using anything but your body to support the rifle (no pack/bipod/tripod/rokblok/etc).

 

[NSI]

Different people prefer left over right, right over left, open, and boot stack. The latter is more of a cousin than a sibling.

More universal to the first 3 is the idea of supporting both elbows with the insides of the legs, avoiding hard on hard contact with the knees when able.

Play around with it. Don’t go off comfort, go off 10 round 100 yard group size.

-J

 

[mxgsfmdpx]

Play around with it. Don’t go off comfort, go off 10 round 100 yard group size.

-J

Excellent advice!

 

[The Guide]

I'm very familiar with that position. I just wanted to make sure that it wasn't something other than what I thought it was.

Jay

 

[Dave0317]

Got my 10 year old to the range today. Had a great time, but, the public range we were on is really only set up for shooting off of a bench. Can’t do positional stuff at this particular range.
Saw some of the most fudd type stuff I’ve ever seen. Like a guy that had a 3-9 scope, on TOP of a carry handle on a AR, with a muzzle brake. He would blast a 20 rounds into like a 8 inch shotgun pattern size group at 50 yards, and then repeat. Endlessly. Very weird. To each their own.

Anyway…the Hunting Rifle Skill test.
Have any of y’all used a scaled down version to test/teach a very new shooter?

I’m thinking using a mix of some iterations with a 10/22 and then the .223 tikka to get my 10 year old up to a decent level of skill for hunting season. This is the first year he has been fairly serious about marksmanship. He won 1st place in his age group at a 4H archery competition. And is now focused on rifle work for this fall.

I’m thinking of a COF like this to use as an assessment of his readiness to hunt at a particular distance and field position.

Target: NRA B8
Distance: choose a distance to “qualify” your shooter to hunt at. I’ll probably start my son at 50 yards, and progress to 100 as soon as possible.

Fire 3 shots in each position; standing, kneeling, sitting, prone. Missing the “black” of the B8, with any shot, means that position is a no-go for that distance.

Make a note of the positions that are left, let’s say he misses a standing shot, so he is a go for kneeling, sitting, prone

The next COF will be a NRA B8, same distance.
Take 10 rounds, and shoot 1 kneeling, 1 sitting, 1 prone, x repeat until 10 rounds fired. Forces you to re-build a good position each shot.

If all shots are in the black, He is now ready to hunt out to that distance in those positions.

Work on the weaknesses and re-test, move to further distances, etc.


Anyone do something similar? Especially with a kid that is just starting and won’t have the skill for Form’s test as outlined in the first post of this thread?

I haven’t done this yet, but we will soon as we get to a range that allows the positional shooting. Incorporating a tripod or other field support tools would be good if you plan to use them or have them available when you hunt.

I like the B8 because the black rings measure 5.5 inches. A bit smaller than the usual “pie plate” people recommend for deer vitals. So a better accuracy standard, but also realistically achievable for a young shooter.

 

[Bluumoon]

Got my 10 year old to the range today. Had a great time, but, the public range we were on is really only set up for shooting off of a bench. Can’t do positional stuff at this particular range.
Saw some of the most fudd type stuff I’ve ever seen. Like a guy that had a 3-9 scope, on TOP of a carry handle on a AR, with a muzzle brake. He would blast a 20 rounds into like a 8 inch shotgun pattern size group at 50 yards, and then repeat. Endlessly. Very weird. To each their own.

Anyway…the Hunting Rifle Skill test.
Have any of y’all used a scaled down version to test/teach a very new shooter?

I’m thinking using a mix of some iterations with a 10/22 and then the .223 tikka to get my 10 year old up to a decent level of skill for hunting season. This is the first year he has been fairly serious about marksmanship. He won 1st place in his age group at a 4H archery competition. And is now focused on rifle work for this fall.

I’m thinking of a COF like this to use as an assessment of his readiness to hunt at a particular distance and field position.

Target: NRA B8
Distance: choose a distance to “qualify” your shooter to hunt at. I’ll probably start my son at 50 yards, and progress to 100 as soon as possible.

Fire 3 shots in each position; standing, kneeling, sitting, prone. Missing the “black” of the B8, with any shot, means that position is a no-go for that distance.

Make a note of the positions that are left, let’s say he misses a standing shot, so he is a go for kneeling, sitting, prone

The next COF will be a NRA B8, same distance.
Take 10 rounds, and shoot 1 kneeling, 1 sitting, 1 prone, x repeat until 10 rounds fired. Forces you to re-build a good position each shot.

If all shots are in the black, He is now ready to hunt out to that distance in those positions.

Work on the weaknesses and re-test, move to further distances, etc.


Anyone do something similar? Especially with a kid that is just starting and won’t have the skill for Form’s test as outlined in the first post of this thread?

I haven’t done this yet, but we will soon as we get to a range that allows the positional shooting. Incorporating a tripod or other field support tools would be good if you plan to use them or have them available when you hunt.

I like the B8 because the black rings measure 5.5 inches. A bit smaller than the usual “pie plate” people recommend for deer vitals. So a better accuracy standard, but also realistically achievable for a young shooter.

Someone at the beginning of the thread posted a scaled version for 50 yard .22lr use.

 

[mlevimadden]

Got my 10 year old to the range today. Had a great time, but, the public range we were on is really only set up for shooting off of a bench. Can’t do positional stuff at this particular range.
Saw some of the most fudd type stuff I’ve ever seen. Like a guy that had a 3-9 scope, on TOP of a carry handle on a AR, with a muzzle brake. He would blast a 20 rounds into like a 8 inch shotgun pattern size group at 50 yards, and then repeat. Endlessly. Very weird. To each their own.

Anyway…the Hunting Rifle Skill test.
Have any of y’all used a scaled down version to test/teach a very new shooter?

I’m thinking using a mix of some iterations with a 10/22 and then the .223 tikka to get my 10 year old up to a decent level of skill for hunting season. This is the first year he has been fairly serious about marksmanship. He won 1st place in his age group at a 4H archery competition. And is now focused on rifle work for this fall.

I’m thinking of a COF like this to use as an assessment of his readiness to hunt at a particular distance and field position.

Target: NRA B8
Distance: choose a distance to “qualify” your shooter to hunt at. I’ll probably start my son at 50 yards, and progress to 100 as soon as possible.

Fire 3 shots in each position; standing, kneeling, sitting, prone. Missing the “black” of the B8, with any shot, means that position is a no-go for that distance.

Make a note of the positions that are left, let’s say he misses a standing shot, so he is a go for kneeling, sitting, prone

The next COF will be a NRA B8, same distance.
Take 10 rounds, and shoot 1 kneeling, 1 sitting, 1 prone, x repeat until 10 rounds fired. Forces you to re-build a good position each shot.

If all shots are in the black, He is now ready to hunt out to that distance in those positions.

Work on the weaknesses and re-test, move to further distances, etc.


Anyone do something similar? Especially with a kid that is just starting and won’t have the skill for Form’s test as outlined in the first post of this thread?

I haven’t done this yet, but we will soon as we get to a range that allows the positional shooting. Incorporating a tripod or other field support tools would be good if you plan to use them or have them available when you hunt.

I like the B8 because the black rings measure 5.5 inches. A bit smaller than the usual “pie plate” people recommend for deer vitals. So a better accuracy standard, but also realistically achievable for a young shooter.

I wouldn’t see why a 10 yr old couldn’t do the drill and just make it easier to help build their confidence.

Have them shoot it with a 22, maybe move the full size target into 40 or 50 yds, and double or triple the time intervals.

 

[Dave0317]

I wouldn’t see why a 10 yr old couldn’t do the drill and just make it easier to help build their confidence.

Have them shoot it with a 22, maybe move the full size target into 40 or 50 yds, and double or triple the time intervals.

Yep, I think there is no need to re-invent the whole thing, was just thinking of some alternate stepping stone kind of drills. Keeping the same exact drill and scaling the target and/or distance & time standard is a great idea. Likely overkill for an eastern hunter that won’t shoot past 100 yards, but it will lay a foundation for him for the future for sure. Short term goal is for him to shoot well enough to hunt deer this year (likely under 100 yards). But long term goal, hopefully I’m training my future western hunting partner.

 

[mxgsfmdpx]

I wouldn’t see why a 10 yr old couldn’t do the drill and just make it easier to help build their confidence.

Have them shoot it with a 22, maybe move the full size target into 40 or 50 yds, and double or triple the time intervals.

My son is almost 7 and does these type of drills with a 10/22 build I made with a 17 Mach 2 barrel, with a custom wood stock I shaped from a blank, for his frame size and hand size.

 

[Jason Snyder]

Another round of seated with trekking poles today. Given the terrain I hunt, this is the most likely position for me to use, unless I have time to set up both pack and trekking poles.

POI was high today. I tried a different technique that was comfortable, but allows a lot more muzzle rise.

 

[Jason Snyder]

Tried out the off hand grip described by @mxgsfmdpx. A little short on ammo and I wanted to save some for Friday, so small groups.

First target, orange circle. Bench with bags, pinching buttstock with offhand. Dialed .3 mil correction to the left. Very easy to keep target in scope with this method.

First target, yellow circle. Sitting with crossed trekking poles.

Second target, red circle. Prone with bipod, pinching buttstock with offhand. Very easy to keep target in scope with this method.

Second target uncircled. Prone with bipod, support hand is gripping forend.





Have about a dozen rounds to play with to try this out at long range on Friday. Hopefully I’ll get more loaded tonight but not likely.

 

[Slick8]

I keep saying I'm going to do more of this type practice but time just seems to evade me.

I do have a 6.5 creed and 22LR which very closely mimic my big girls. And while the creed is a great hunting round the rifle is a bit heavy for all but deer stand use.

I have a comfortable max range of 800 yards with a caveat, it needs to be perfect conditions where I can get prone or sitting and supported off a tripod / pack. Not perfect conditions and that range erodes quickly.