Thoughts on Improvement of My Long(ish) Range Shooting

[OregonSteeler]

Being self-aware and critical of where I stand as I hunter, I can honestly say I'm not that great of a shot outside of 220+ yds. This is where I will be focusing a lot of my time over the next few months and would like to be confident out to roughly 500yds by fall.

I realize to get where I want to be; it's going to take practice, practice, and more practice. I hunt with a Tikka T3 Lite 270 WSM. Should I be spending most all of my range time behind the rifle I'll hunt with, or can I use a smaller caliber (.22-250 or .243) to save on ammo cost and recoil abuse? I have a hard time not flinching and thought using a smaller caliber with negligible recoil may help in that area?

I'd also like to hear how many shots people usually take during a range session and any other recommendations or tips to improve my accuracy?

Thanks!

 

[Steve300xcw]

Grab a .223 and get shit figured out with that first. a tikka setup the same as your 270 would be a good choice

I wouldnt spend much time shooting off a bench.

I used to shoot 200-300 rounds of rifle when I would go out. Hind sight, I was just burning powder with alot of those rounds. Now days I generally bring 100 rounds of .223, and 50 of 243 and 300rum. I generally dont burn them all up either.

Now when I get to the point I feel I am just burning powder I wrap it up. Some days thats only 20 rounds.

 

[def90]

Being self-aware and critical of where I stand as I hunter, I can honestly say I'm not that great of a shot outside of 220+ yds. This is where I will be focusing a lot of my time over the next few months and would like to be confident out to roughly 500yds by fall.

I realize to get where I want to be; it's going to take practice, practice, and more practice. I hunt with a Tikka T3 Lite 270 WSM. Should I be spending most all of my range time behind the rifle I'll hunt with, or can I use a smaller caliber (.22-250 or .243) to save on ammo cost and recoil abuse? I have a hard time not flinching and thought using a smaller caliber with negligible recoil may help in that area?

I'd also like to hear how many shots people usually take during a range session and any other recommendations or tips to improve my accuracy?

Thanks!

Find someone in your area giving a long range tactical shooting class and take it.

Something like the precision shooting class offered here:

Colorado Outdoor Shooting Range, Long Range Training: Ragnar Tactical

Our Colorado outdoor shooting range allows for a wide variety of practice courses including long range training. Call us today!

ragnartactical.com

Or this:

Introduction to Long Range Shooting Course - Precision Rifle 101

We will be taking you through a systematic approach to the fundamentals and mechanics of precision shooting.

moderndaysniper.com

 

[OregonSteeler]

Grab a .223 and get shit figured out with that first. a tikka setup the same as your 270 would be a good choice

I wouldnt spend much time shooting off a bench.

I used to shoot 200-300 rounds of rifle when I would go out. Hind sight, I was just burning powder with alot of those rounds. Now days I generally bring 100 rounds of .223, and 50 of 243 and 300rum. I generally dont burn them all up either.

Now when I get to the point I feel I am just burning powder I wrap it up. Some days thats only 20 rounds.

I forgot to mention that none of my shooting will be off a bench. Trying to mimic real world hunting shots as much as possible.

 

[Steve300xcw]

You have any canyons or cuts that you can shoot, or are you stuck with the local range?

 

[jayhawk]

One of the above courses may help you figure out why you're flinching. There was a study (can't find the citation) where they compared felt recoil in different calibers with or without suppressors. (i.e. 300win with supressor vs .223 without). What they found was that flinching was more about a reaction to the sound and concussion of the shot rather than the recoil.

Makes sense, but take that with a grain of salt because I'm working from memory here.

 

[jimh406]

If you are flinching, you need to get that under control first. It won't matter if you are on/off a bench until you get that under control. It should be pretty easy to find out how to get rid of a flinch. I'm sure there are some articles on the internet, but it's a lot of repetition. Not easy to find methods but can be hard to get rid of without time and work.

There are probably schools that will take your money with your flinch, but until you have the flinch under control you'll probably not get to take advantage of what they are teaching.

If you are using a muzzle brake, the increased noise could be impacting you. I think maybe a .223/5.56 will be a lot less expensive to shoot. Do try to get something with a similar trigger. Of course, you could also buy a heavier rifle with something slightly more powerful.

 

[Antares]

You want to improve and you're making a plan. I think that's great. You need to get that flinch sorted out and then you'll be on your way. It's been said above but I'll reiterate.

Get a .223 Rem Tikka. Set it up with the same rings and scope as your .270WSM. Buy 1000+ rounds of .223 ammo. Get a suppressor if you can swing it. Make some .223 dummy rounds (pull the bullet, dump the powder, fire the primer, reseat the bullet). Put 3 dummy rounds and one live round in a stuff sack. Load a 4-round mag by grabbing rounds out of the bag. Start shooting. When you fire the live round, start over. This will help you fix that flinch and stretch your ammo.

I have identical Tikkas. One in .223 Rem and one in .308 Win.

Some good youtube channels for working on form.
THLR.NO
Phillip Velayo

Good luck!

 

[def90]

Taking a class is a lot cheaper than buying a whole nother gun to practice on that is still not the gun that you will ultimately be shooting.

Seriously, take a class. Precision shooting classes are all about diagnosing and fixing the bullshit you are doing as you pull the trigger.

I take a minimum of two classes a year of various sorts. No matter how many classes I take I always walk away with having learned something.

 

[ResearchinStuff]

Tikka 223, a heap of ammo, dry fire, and this progression.

Equipment versus practice posts and Rifle practice/shooting

This isn’t in response to anyone I particular, but there is an up tick in the amount of “I want a XXXX distance hunting rifle” traffic the last few months. I am getting a lot of questions relating to this, which I do not mind helping, but thought a public post might help answer some questions...

rokslide.com

Might seriously consider trading the 270 wsm for an 8 twist 243 or 6.5 creed too, it's doing nothing for you inside 500 that those milder cartridges can't match.

 

[Teodoro]

Does the gun fit you at least moderately well? I am pretty certain that my first deer rifle gave me a flinch because the scope's eye relief was not appropriate to the gun.
I put it in the back of the safe, moved on to other rifles, and started shooting better. I just assumed it was because the caliber (.270) was too much for me. A couple years later, I took it back to the range. Lo and behold, I started to flinch again. Then I swapped scopes, and the flinch vanished. I could finally get a real sense of what the rifle could do, instead of only measuring my own shortcomings.
Fit obviously wasn't the only problem with my shooting when I started out. But it made all the other things harder to solve.

 

[EdP]

Don't underestimate the value of dry firing to help tame that flinch. It is very easy to do and cost nothing but the time to do it. 5 or 10 shots every day. Make sure you know where the crosshairs were when the trigger broke. If you can't "call your shots," you flinched.

 

[Rich M]

I dont shoot more than 5 in a row thru a given rifle and let it cool in between shots.

Will shoot 20-100 rounds thru several rifles during a range session. All for groups.

Not having distance to shoot, must go for smallest groups possible. 1 inch at 250 gives me confidence for 350 and probably has me ready for 500 but just dont know, never shot 500 yet.

 

[PNWGATOR]

Between this:

.223 for bear, mountain goat, deer, elk, and moose.

DON'T HAVE TIME TO READ 176 PAGES? HERE'S THE CHEAT SHEET. “Bullets matter more than headstamps.” “Spent primers offer the supreme tutorial”. I’ve read it here and elsewhere online. It got my attention. I started digging and asking questions and listened. The 77gr TMK delivered by a .223...

rokslide.com

and @ResearchinStuff ’s post #10 above, you ought to be set.

 

[PNWGATOR]

PS Purposeful riflemanship is paramount.

Bullet selection.

Robust delivery shstem

Minimum 10 round group to confirm zero.

Purposeful field position practice.

 

[Shotgunslade]

Practice at 100 yards. Focus on the fundamentals. Tighten your groups, practice trigger pull, breathing, etc. Get confident at that range & it will solve a lot of problems. Use a good ballistic app & have fun.

 

[young7.3]

I literally had the same question but hadn’t posted it yet. Tagging along for tips!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[jimh406]

10 round group to confirm zero. ... for a hunting rifle, really?

 

[Antares]

10 round group to confirm zero. ... for a hunting rifle, really?

30 would be ideal, but 10 is acceptable.

 

[Formidilosus]

A zero or zero check is simply looking at the average location, and is achievable by just a few rounds. It’s not really different from how an average muzzle velocity is found by just a few rounds. If you are experiencing significant inconsistencies in your zero with 5-round groups, you’ve got a gear and/or shooter problem.

Factory ammo
View attachment 548576

Different factory ammo
View attachment 548577

Different ammo yet
View attachment 548578

I could keep going. Notice how the group-to-group offset is relatively small? IME, the difference from a 5-shot group zero offset to a 20+ shot group zero offset is on the order of less than 0.05 mils. People recommending 10 or 20+ round groups for a zero should be ignored, it’s nonsense.

So Brian Litz, and Hornday should be ignored because they state to zero off of 20-30 shots and not a few 3-5 shoot groups?

Same with average MV, after a handful of rounds, you are wasting time and ammo.
View attachment 548574

Again, any actual shooting with a variety of rifles will show that 5 shots across a chrono can and will have huge variation in it.

Dry fire is your skills acquisition. You’ll be way ahead intentionally dry firing everyday at home instead of buying a 223 or 22lr that leaves out the primary component of live fire - recoil management/follow through. I would buy a better stock to replace the factory Tupperware.

How many people have you taught that says that a 223 doesn’t make a good training or practice rifle?

Try out Kraft drills to evaluate positional. Avoid dRiLlS that have arbitrary equipment requirements/restrictions, arbitrary par times, arbitrary standards, etc.

Isn’t a Kraft drill “arbitrary” in position and then time once you get your “number”?





I will meet you with @Ryan Avery with a camera, we’ll have multiple brand new in the box rifles, scopes and ammo, you can be the shooter and show that there is only a .05 mil variation between MPOI from a 5 shot group to a 20 shot group.