Equipment versus practice posts and Rifle practice/shooting

[Coopsdaddy]

A buddy asked me to teach his kids to shoot for western hunting purposes. I have been teaching my kids for years and so I started to put together a document with the basics which ballooned into the attached document. One version has pics, the other doesn't.

I borrowed some links from a document made by @LBWV and some stuff from @Formidilosus posts/podcasts, the classes I've been to, other documents and military training I did back in the day. I'm no guru. I'm sure I have some mistakes in there and I'm open to constructive feedback.

Take what works and throw the rest in the trash. Let the timer, groups and scores be your guide; they don't lie.

You

A buddy asked me to teach his kids to shoot for western hunting purposes. I have been teaching my kids for years and so I started to put together a document with the basics which ballooned into the attached document. One version has pics, the other doesn't.

I borrowed some links from a document made by @LBWV and some stuff from @Formidilosus posts/podcasts, the classes I've been to, other documents and military training I did back in the day. I'm no guru. I'm sure I have some mistakes in there and I'm open to constructive feedback.

Take what works and throw the rest in the trash. Let the timer, groups and scores be your guide; they don't lie.

you all getting these links to open?

 

[Antares]

You

you all getting these links to open?

They're not web links, they're .pdf files. Check your downloads folder or make sure your browser isn't blocking them.

 

[SixStrings]

Have been very thankful for the existence of this thread.
I went to the range today to see where my current skill level is at before attending the S2H course next week.

It’s been 3 weeks since my last trip, this time I was completely alone, which helps.
started off with 10 rounds zero confirmation on the .223:

the Dot is 1.5 MOA

then proceeded to shoot the hunting rifle drill:

16/20
I missed 2 offhand shots; 1 during the untimed portion and one in the medley and totally screwed up my 2 timed prone shots: the way I start the drill is with the rifle in the Exo Carrier. I am eager to try the gun bearer but until it is in my hands I’m trying to make this work.
Because of the raised buttplate on my Tikka it occasionally gets stuck in the Exo Rifle carrier,

this time it took forever to fiddle it out and then I felt truly in a rush trying to get at least one more point…and totally shanked the first shot just before the beep….and would have missed a 7 MOA target.

I use the hunting rifle drill as a "test" to see what needs work.
I was unhappy with how some of the sitting unsupported shots felt. So next were 10 rounds sitting unsupported with a 10s par time:

So I can hit 6 MOA…. Not statisfied with this.
So I did it again, focusing more on using my breath to guide me through the shot process

better, around 5,2 MOA but still not where I want to be.

So I slowed down and just tried to get a good group untimed focusing on good NPoA and a surprise trigger press while embracing the wobble:

I admit I couldn’t hide a smile when I walked up to the target,but I am well aware I cannot do this every time. Mind you these FMJs print a 30shot group at around 2,5 MOA.

Then tried to investigate sitting supported, this time with the .308. I have had ongoing trouble with the K4 frame dimensions as a shooting rest as opposed to the K3. Here I am using the pack turned sideways and shooting off of the “wings” of the teratorn bag. It’s not perfect but it’s the quickest way I found this far that allows decent grouping.

This was “timed” in the sense that I wanted to see what my times would be while having to guarantee a hit on a 3 MOA target. Worst shot here was at 2.5 MOA
average: 13s
best: 11.31s
worst: 16.87s
also, they are kinda looking to not be centered, although it was just a rough zero for this training ammo

after this I just could not leave the hunting rifle drill as is. I gave it another try, this time with the .308 that sits in a KRG Echo Chassis, which does not get caught by the rifle carrier. Because of time constraints and some other shots the barrels/cans by this point were very hot and I ended up using the .223 for the unsupported shots, letting the .308 cool in the meantime, that’s why there are 2 different size holes in the target. I guess that could be considered cheating
I noticed that after the practice I had a better gauge for how much time I truly have, plus I was more tired now which helped, because I felt calmer overall.

While looking for the impacts for the sitting unsupported timed round, I only ever found one. I searched every inch of the target. So either the second bullet went into a prior hole or I missed the entire target (which means missing a ~ 11MOA target). Worst case it's a 19/20 and no major f**ups this time. But this does not change what my “cold, on demand performance” was
While the target may look good, some of the processes behind the muzzle were not. I notice I have more work to do on the mindset side of things.

Maybe the answer is simply more practice, but does someone have any other tip for how to get the timed groups smaller?

I slow down for just a brief moment when the dot is on target, trying to focus on a surprise break, but at times I am not sure it's just a coping mechanism to hide anticipation.
I wonder if I "care too much" about the result on target, if I was heavily into archery I would probably be a prime candidate for target panic

 

[dreamingWest]

That's great shooting.
I really need to take the time to start doing this.

 

[Brap01]

Maybe the answer is simply more practice, but does someone have any other tip for how to get the timed groups smaller?

I was not happy with my seated unsupported shooting last week either.

This week I am going to experiment more with target focus when shooting that position and play around with narrating my shot process out loud to make sure the thinking part of my brain is talking louder than my lizard brain when shooting that position.

I sure hope others have tips for that position!