How to shoot really well!

[texnmidwest]

I think the best way to hit what you are aiming at is to throw a grenade.

[tlarkin]

Originally Posted by texnmidwest

I think the best way to hit what you are aiming at is to throw a grenade.

Area of effect weapons eh?

[billy]

i have been doing a lot of handgun practice.
as the sights waver over the target i squeeze as soon as they waver across what i want to hit.
in other words i dont try to hold them dead on the target all day.

[wunhunglo]

Originally Posted by billy

i have been doing a lot of handgun practice.
as the sights waver over the target i squeeze as soon as they waver across what i want to hit.
in other words i dont try to hold them dead on the target all day.

Not too sure I agree with your wavering but I find it is most effective if I get the shot off within about 3-4 seconds of acquiring the sight picture! A few seconds longer and I tend to start wavering (especially if I'm doing one handed target shooting).

[KingMusa45]

my prob is im a lefty with my riffle and a righty with my pistol. so far ive been told i need to pick a hand and shoot from it but it just dont feel right. i naturly use both hands evenly for daily tasks but somethings i just cant do with both hands. what do yall suggest for getting my shot together?

[wunhunglo]

Originally Posted by KingMusa45

my prob is im a lefty with my riffle and a righty with my pistol. so far ive been told i need to pick a hand and shoot from it but it just dont feel right. i naturly use both hands evenly for daily tasks but somethings i just cant do with both hands. what do yall suggest for getting my shot together?

If you're a Lefty and left eye dominant, I don't see a problem.
If you're a lefty with right eye dominant it is a little bit of an issue with rifle shooting. In which case you could try and shoot rifles from the right shoulder or buy a good optical sight so you can shoot them with both eyes open.
Pistol shooting shouldn't make any difference unless you're one of those guys who closes one or more eyes when shooting.

[billy]

Originally Posted by wunhunglo

Not too sure I agree with your wavering but I find it is most effective if I get the shot off within about 3-4 seconds of acquiring the sight picture! A few seconds longer and I tend to start wavering (especially if I'm doing one handed target shooting).

im sorry.
i should have specified one handed shooting.
1911a1/sp101.357mag/1873colt 45 l.c. clones

(i dont try it with my raging bull)

right eye dominant and a better shot with my left hand.

[Aaronb2245]

Originally Posted by twyo

Ok guys, so I have a question for you. What pointers do you have for making a really good shot? Is it good breathing techniques? Is it squeezing the triger well? And how do you combat flinching? You get the idea. I know that practice is the ultimate key, but if you practice the wrong thing one hundred times it is still wrong. So, spread the knowledge and give some tips on what makes some guys such great shots.

Many factors contribute to the success of a well places shot.

Breathing Control = make your shot during the pause after an exhalation of breath. The ultimate goal is to make your shot during cardiopulmonary pause.

Support - Do not use muscle to support your rifle. If you must shoot in the standing use a sling as support, and in other positions the key is bone support. You know you have proper bone support and alignment to the target when you can close your eyes relax, then re-open them and you are still right on target.

Cheek and Stock Weld - these are aso important. The goal here is to have a nice cheek weld - meaning your cheek is bumped up by the pressure on the butt stock. If this is not possible on your rifle you can make or purchase a cheek piece. Stock weld is important and the placement of the stock on the shoulder will be a little different between rifle types. I personal keep some what of a high stock weld, and this also helps compliment my cheek weld.

Learn the characteristics of you rifle, and shoot the same weight/type projectile until you are proficient making wind and dope adjustments. Consistency is a key factor in great marksmanship.

There are many other things I could ramble on about, however my post is already growing long. A book that may interest you is - "Understanding Firearm Ballistics" by: Robery A. Rinker. There are many other good books out there, but I have found this one to my liking as it covers many aspects without going to far over the top mathmatically.

Good luck!

[wunhunglo]

Originally Posted by billy

im sorry.
i should have specified one handed shooting.
1911a1/sp101.357mag/1873colt 45 l.c. clones

(i dont try it with my raging bull)

right eye dominant and a better shot with my left hand.

Nowadays I'm mostly restricted to 12" barrelled pistol & revolver and they get heeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaavy after a wee while!!

[jimkim]

Sounds like you get a good workout. I used to shoot a friends colt dragoon clone. He told me that some of our Calvary carried it in the war. I couldn't imagine riding a horse holding the reins in my teeth and firing two of these monsters. You are a better man than me Gunga Din.

[jv101]

i know this thread is old. but i didnt want to make another one for this stupid question im about to ask.

now i went out and shot at about 300yards.. and couldnt hit a damn thing. i had a 6 inch target out. and a board behind it. which only stuck out about 2inches behind the target. I can hit the board in all 4 corners. but not the target lol..im pretty much getting say an 8inch grouping lol. but at 150yards my .308 is pretty much dead center(except for shooting a litlle high) could it be my bullets or could it be something else? i am just using 150gr winchester super x bullets from walmart. but id think at that distance id beable to put something in the black lol.. there wasnt too much wind either

[samuel]

Originally Posted by texnmidwest

I think the best way to hit what you are aiming at is to throw a grenade.

Tip the gun to a 90% angle right in front of your chest,raise your head,look down your nose and sight it in,jerk off 6 quick shots and 'shazam',there will be several dead bodies at your feet!!! ( I saw it in a movie and it worked.) Also,as Texas T stated,head position is important.If you can keep your head on your shoulders instead of stuck up other parts of your anatomy,it really helps.(but isn't essential if you are making a movie) sam.

[Wingwiper]

Originally Posted by jv101

i know this thread is old. but i didnt want to make another one for this stupid question im about to ask.

now i went out and shot at about 300yards.. and couldnt hit a damn thing. i had a 6 inch target out. and a board behind it. which only stuck out about 2inches behind the target. I can hit the board in all 4 corners. but not the target lol..im pretty much getting say an 8inch grouping lol. but at 150yards my .308 is pretty much dead center(except for shooting a litlle high) could it be my bullets or could it be something else? i am just using 150gr winchester super x bullets from walmart. but id think at that distance id beable to put something in the black lol.. there wasnt too much wind either

There is NO SUCH THING as PRETTY MUCH CENTER, it either IS or it isn't.

You need to sight the .308 in at about 50 yards and be sure you can put your rounds or the center of your group into a Bottle cap in the CENTER of the X ring. If you are happy with JUST hitting Xs that will prove to be your downfall, you need to be ONLY happy when you hit CENTER Xs when sighting in. If your Center of Group is off by 1 inch at 100 yards you will be off 3 inches at 300. By sighting in at 50 yards the .308 should be very very close (depenting on rifle and rifling) to Center at 300 yards. My reference is with a M14 or a M1A.
Never settle for PRETTY MUCH, ALWAYS settle for DEAD ON.

[jv101]

another stupid questions. why do you say sight in at 50yards? others say to sight in at 100yards. also best way to sight in is to shoot and adjust your crosshairs to the hole your bullet made? or shoot and adjust your crosshairs from the point of impact to the bullseye?

thanks

[turner]

Originally Posted by jv101

another stupid questions. why do you say sight in at 50yards? others say to sight in at 100yards. also best way to sight in is to shoot and adjust your crosshairs to the hole your bullet made? or shoot and adjust your crosshairs from the point of impact to the bullseye?

thanks

Neither of those is a stupid question.... There are many opinions on "where" to sight in a high powered rifle. The best way to figure that distance which you "should" be zeroed at is to determine how far you're wanting to shoot at targets/game and not need holdover. Another method is to sight in in such a manner that you have maximum range available to hit a target/animal without worry about needing to hold high or low. This is commonly known as MPBR max point blank range. For a typical deer hunting scenario this would be, with a .308 and 150gr bullet somewhere around 275yds (depending on the exact bullet and powder charge). The easiest way to sight in, using that method would be to sight in at a predetermined height at 100yds(high) and then having done that, your bullet will cross your line of sight twice, while never being more than 3" high or low at any point from muzzle to 275 yds. The height above target center at 100yds you'd want for this method would be 2.7". The bullet's path would be at it's highest point(3") at 120yds and approximately 1.7" high at 200yds and at 3" low at 275yds. As for the question about whether to hold your rifle still and moving the crosshairs to coincide with the "improper" bullet impact, OR, adjusting the scope's adjustments so as to bring the POI to the center of the target, I suggest you opt for the latter and use your scope's adjustments to bring the POI into the center of your target. I believe this to be the much more popular method, even though both will work.
Best of luck.

[jv101]

^^ hmm that is very interesting. i plan on shooting all ranges (working my way from 100yards out to 500+yards) which was why i was wondering why he said to sight in at 50yards. at 100yards id like to get all my shots in the bullseye. but if 50yards works just as well i can do that too.

now the thing i dont really understand in your paragraph is this:

The easiest way to sight in, using that method would be to sight in at a predetermined height at 100yds(high) and then having done that, your bullet will cross your line of sight twice, while never being more than 3" high or low at any point from muzzle to 275 yds. The height above target center at 100yds you'd want for this method would be 2.7". The bullet's path would be at it's highest point(3") at 120yds and approximately 1.7" high at 200yds and at 3" low at 275yds.

by that do you mean sight in at 100yards. and at 200yards you would aim "about" 2 inches high of where your 100yard POI normally is? i have mil dots on my scope so that may make things easier when shooting distances

[turner]

Originally Posted by jv101

^^ hmm that is very interesting. i plan on shooting all ranges (working my way from 100yards out to 500+yards) which was why i was wondering why he said to sight in at 50yards. at 100yards id like to get all my shots in the bullseye. but if 50yards works just as well i can do that too.

now the thing i dont really understand in your paragraph is this:

by that do you mean sight in at 100yards. and at 200yards you would aim "about" 2 inches high of where your 100yard POI normally is? i have mil dots on my scope so that may make things easier when shooting distances

The method I described does not require any sight picture adjustment whatsoever from muzzle to 275yds, simply aim at the target/animal and squeeze off your shot. You apparently have a mil-dot type reticle on your scope, which could, if studied and used correctly, allow you to sight in with the main(top) dot/crosshair at 100yds and use the lower dots as aiming points at longer distances; 200, 300yds etc. You'd need to study your particular scope's instructions to find that out. The method I mentioned would be suitable for a single crosshair type reticle and intermediate type ranges found in typical hunting. Good luck

[Wingwiper]

I said to sight in at 50 yards because the first intersection over the line of sight is at 50 yards and the drop will take back over again over the line of sight at 300.

Now you will have your 50 yard zero and the 300 yard zero is the same as the 50 yard.

It is easier to sight in a TIGHT GROUP at 50 yards than it is at 100. If you can shoot a tight group at 50 yards and have it DEAD CENTER V or X then your 100 yd and 200 yd is a mere Elevation adjustment. NO WIND Zero is much easier accomplished at 50 yards as well.

The 308 or 7.62mm crosses twice at 50 and 300 yards but you must be within 6 inches at muzzle.

Hope this cleared it up some.

You want to be dead center because for everyinch you are off at 100 yards you will multiply the error by the first number of yards, so at 600 yards you will be 6 inches off for every inch at 100yd.

Now a simple question, if you needed to shoot a tight group to Zero your rifle and have as little outside error affecting the impact as possible, would you pick 50 yards or 100 yards to start the sighting in at?????


As far as sight adjustment

If you round was three inches HIGH and two inches to the left at 100 yards, I would add 3 moa DOWN and two moa RIGHT. DO NOT adjust to the impact.

[jv101]

hmm ill have to try these out tomorrow!

still kind of confused about everything lol. ill get it figured out one way or another i guess lol. anyway should i zero my scopes elevation and windage and shoot and adjust from there? or leave it where its at, shoot and adjust? i always thought it was best to sight in at 100yards. then it would be easier make corrections at 300yards and so on

[turner]

Originally Posted by jv101

hmm ill have to try these out tomorrow!

still kind of confused about everything lol. ill get it figured out one way or another i guess lol. anyway should i zero my scopes elevation and windage and shoot and adjust from there? or leave it where its at, shoot and adjust? i always thought it was best to sight in at 100yards. then it would be easier make corrections at 300yards and so on

Try this..... leave your scope's adjustments right where they are and plan on shooting at 50yds to get a good tight group. Adjust as necessary to bring the POI of a 3 shot group to center of target (I'd suggest no higher than 4-5 power for this) Once your rifle is zeroed there, at 50 yds, back up to 100yds. Once there, if you want, simply adjust the center of your 3 shot group fired there, to get your 100yd zero. With your apparent type of scope, once you read the instructions, you can figure where the other, lower dots should make your gun (hit) zeroed at longer ranges. Wingwiper is absolutely correct when he says you must have a good starting point, or known zero, before you can expect to have anything approaching good groups at long rang. His suggestion of doing this initially at 50yds is an excellent one. I recommend you use 3 shot groups and the center of that 3 shot group to make your corrections and adjust your scope properly. Be advised adjustments for most scopes are set to move a designated amount(most normally 1/4") per click @100yds and you will need to double the number of clicks to get proper adjustment at 50yds.