Alright, I’ll preface this by saying that I’m no expert on shooting. Over the last year Iv been working on being a better shot off a tripod, shot hundreds of centerfire rounds and thousands of .22. I think 2moa should be achievable off a tripod seated most of the time, with the above setup, I wouldn’t expect what guys running heavy comp rigs are doing off 1300$ rrs setups, with your setup.
I started with just a slik tripod and benro head, along with a Hogg saddle. This sucked. The ultra lite tripods don’t support the rifle, either do the heads. IMO a saddle is not the way to go, if anything invest in a way to directly attach. if running the tripod you have is what your going to do, id recommend a pint sized game changer git lite fill bag to slap over the top (Works awesome as a rear bag as well). If your serious about shooting off a tripod I’d look into investing in something more stable, and a tougher head, along with a direct connection. I ended with an rrs head on a cheaper tripod, hopefully upgrading the tripod soon. I can clip my rifle into the rrs head in seconds, makes setup way faster.
Few things, your shooting a hunting gun. Build your setup so that you can get it up fast. Your already pulling a tripod out of your pack. and looking at sub 400 yards, my personal max off a tripod, you don’t necessarily have the time to be farting around trying to do some of the stuff that’s mentioned above, such as adjusting to have perfect elevation with your pack under the butt, playing with your sling to apply pressure, or use shooting sticks under the butt. While these practices can steady things up a great deal, they take time to do. Something I probably won’t have in the field, so I try to practice like I’d hunt. Fast setups, that are quick. I even sold the saddle cause I was just another thing to pull out in order to get a shot off.
I would first work on seated. Seated with the rifle on a bag on your head. Height is very important, mid bicep, too high and your going to have issues managing recoil. I use my knee under my shooting hand elbow to provide stability, and hold the scope with my left, resting my other elbow on the tripod leg of other knee if I can. I run my tripod always one leg forward, two back. Don’t mean to plug another forum but snipers hide has a lot of videos and reading on tripod shooting. Work on building a stable position fast. Are you going to take the time to do things like clip your sling in your pant, or adjust the height perfect for a rear pack yoke support In the field? Probably not.
Splay put your tripod legs wide, don’t use the center column. Work on setups till you can’t mess it up quickly, and know your gear. I know what height I need to setup at for a seated shot without playing around
Shooting fundamentals become very important the higher off the ground you get. Specifically recoil management on these lighter hunting guns. Build your position square on the rifle, use your trigger hand fingers to pull the stock into your shoulder, taking up any slack. Don’t be afraid to apply some pressure if you got a bigger caliber. Your body has to absorb the recoil like it would prone or off a bench, easier said than done, but if your square on the rifle, firm and the rifle is at the right height things come together. Trigger control and follow through become very important as you have seen, a punch won’t result in satisfactory results like you see off a bench or prone. Keep your eyes open, try to spot your shot.
Dry fire ALOT. Focusing on breathing and trigger control. 22lr is great for this but don’t get lazy, lack of recoil on a 22 takes managing recoil off the table, something you will need to do to make hits off a tripod with a light gun. For that reason I’d suggest just stepping up dry fire drills
Using some of the above Iv gotten a lot more comfortable behind the tripod. It’s made me a better shooter. My setup is much more shooting oriented, usually I’m shooting 275 at a 4” plate. Seated is near 100%, as I go between seated and standing things drop to around 80% hits. I do things like specifically shoot off a bag instead of clip in just to keep myself on my toes. Shooting prs matches off barricades also helped a lot, a lot of the fundamentals are essentially the same off a barricade as they are a tripod.
Make your practice realistic. When I go out for a day of tripod practice I start seated. I work on setup and getting off one to two shots then I start completely over. I move from seated, to kneeling, to standing. Mix up the terrain as well if it’s possible. I’d throw a 2moa plate out, at a distance where wind isn’t a huge deal, and bang away. Then make it harder from there.
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