DagOtto
FNG
- Joined
- Jun 19, 2024
- Messages
- 83
Hi All,
I'm a mountain hunter and I am focused on improving my skills as a field shooter on game. I am not interested in optimizing competition or bench shooting. My guns are all between 8 and 10.5 pounds fully built-out and loaded. My personal shooting distance limit for big game is 500 yards absolute max. and in real life I've never shot an animal past 380. I prefer prone off of my hunting pack with a light weight rear bag, but also end up shooting off of my pack with no rear support, off of a cheap tripod while sitting, off of hay bales, fence posts, tree limbs and very occasionally in surprise situations off-hand.
With that profile out of the way I'm hoping to get some shooting skill advice.
For years, thanks to you-tube, I've been working hard to have my rifles fit to my face so that I can shoulder the rifle with my eyes closed, then open my eyes and be looking right down the center of the scope. This has meant going with a more tactical style stock with the higher comb or adding neoprene or nylon cheek pads and also using low scope rings and generally avoiding pic rails.
I thought this was the generally accepted best way to set up a rifle for optimal shooting.
Yesterday I was at a friends house who is into competitive benchrest shooting. He was showing me his reloading set-up as I'm finally getting into that world, but during our conversation he started showing me his crazy awesome competition guns and we started talking shooting technique.
He said that one of the biggest improvements he has had in his own shooting was when another competitor told him to get his cheek off the stock completely because any pressure from chin or cheek alters the stock's recoil direction and therefore affects bullet travel. He now floats his cheek and chin off of the stock completely. He strongly suggested I do the same and he says he has done that with his hunting guns as well.
I was dumbfounded and need advice. Is this a thing? What is the current accepted "best practice" for shooters like me as I described above?
DO
I'm a mountain hunter and I am focused on improving my skills as a field shooter on game. I am not interested in optimizing competition or bench shooting. My guns are all between 8 and 10.5 pounds fully built-out and loaded. My personal shooting distance limit for big game is 500 yards absolute max. and in real life I've never shot an animal past 380. I prefer prone off of my hunting pack with a light weight rear bag, but also end up shooting off of my pack with no rear support, off of a cheap tripod while sitting, off of hay bales, fence posts, tree limbs and very occasionally in surprise situations off-hand.
With that profile out of the way I'm hoping to get some shooting skill advice.
For years, thanks to you-tube, I've been working hard to have my rifles fit to my face so that I can shoulder the rifle with my eyes closed, then open my eyes and be looking right down the center of the scope. This has meant going with a more tactical style stock with the higher comb or adding neoprene or nylon cheek pads and also using low scope rings and generally avoiding pic rails.
I thought this was the generally accepted best way to set up a rifle for optimal shooting.
Yesterday I was at a friends house who is into competitive benchrest shooting. He was showing me his reloading set-up as I'm finally getting into that world, but during our conversation he started showing me his crazy awesome competition guns and we started talking shooting technique.
He said that one of the biggest improvements he has had in his own shooting was when another competitor told him to get his cheek off the stock completely because any pressure from chin or cheek alters the stock's recoil direction and therefore affects bullet travel. He now floats his cheek and chin off of the stock completely. He strongly suggested I do the same and he says he has done that with his hunting guns as well.
I was dumbfounded and need advice. Is this a thing? What is the current accepted "best practice" for shooters like me as I described above?
DO