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Cell4soul

Shooting Techniques

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As I have been working on load development with my rifle, I have been trying to work on my shooting techniques. You always hear from others about proper breathing and smooth trigger pull. Recently I noticed that when I am completely still with good breathing and cross hairs on the target, that my aim point moves with my heart beat. I found that my heart beat was transferring through my cheek weld on the stock. The movement was very slight, but I can see how even the slightest movement would affect group sizes. I lightened up my cheek weld significantly so that my cheek was barely touching the stock. This seemed to eliminate my heart beat from affecting movement of my aim point.

 

I know that more trigger time = more accurate shooting. Do ya'll have any techniques that have worked for you. Any fine tuning to your shooting style over the years that has made you more successful?

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I have the same problem when shooting positional service rifle in the prone.

 

For this specific issue I roll slightly to the side using the cocked-leg prone position. This will get your chest off the ground which is likely where your heartbeat is registering movement.

 

If you are a right handed shooter, your right leg will be cocked and the sole of your right foot should be touching or near your left leg.

 

If this isn't comfortable for you I would suggest a solid rear support in the form of a bag. There are lots of lightweight options that can be carried in the field.

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Buy a DVD called "Magpul's Art of the Precision Rifle". I have watched it probably 5-6 times, and still learn things I missed.

 

It is a lengthy video, a total of over 9 hours. But it is the best video for shooting technique I have seen personally.

It teaches all kinds of fundementals, from zeroing, reticles and their uses plus pros and cons of different types, ballistic calculators and truing, wind holds, elevation holds, fundamentals and positional shooting, gear, etc.

 

I get the heartbeat shift sometimes too. Relax, and learn breathing techniques and shooting form, along with using the right gear will help. If you are doing nothing but looking for bench rest type accuracy, the less input from the shooter the better. If you are shooting in a hunting or active type environment, shooter input is a necessary evil. You just need to learn how to deal with it. The better the rest and more points of contact with stationary objects, the better.

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I have that DVD set. I've watched it a few times...very interesting, cool stuff. Some of it is a bit over my head...talking in "mils". I'm trying to learn better technique as well, mainly to see what my rifle can do as I try to make it more accurate. Fun stuff!

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Biggest thing is consistency. Where the front rest is on the forend, where the rear rest is, your cheek weld and hand/finger placement/pressure etc.

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I have found when shooting I need to make sure the rifle recoils freely for my most accurate shots. I try and use as little input from me as possible rest my cheek on the cheek rest and lay my hand lightly on the side of the rifle no thumb over the stock and pull the trigger back with steady even force till it goes off.

The best thing I have found for accuracy is lighter trigger weight and do not try and manage recoil with tight holds.

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what rifle, caliber and scope?

Savage model 10 with heavy varmint barrel, a Bell and Carlson Medalist stock, bedded and free floated topped with a Leoupold VX-6 3x18-44.

 

A lot of good info in this thread. I appreciate all the feedback. The good news is that I really enjoy reloading and the trigger time, so I have nothing but time to get better at both.

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One of the biggest small things that has helped me, is to time my squeeze with my exhale. The heartbeat thing never bothered me much. As Casey said, its all about consistency.

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Buy a DVD called "Magpul's Art of the Precision Rifle". I have watched it probably 5-6 times, and still learn things I missed.

 

It is a lengthy video, a total of over 9 hours. But it is the best video for shooting technique I have seen personally.

It teaches all kinds of fundementals, from zeroing, reticles and their uses plus pros and cons of different types, ballistic calculators and truing, wind holds, elevation holds, fundamentals and positional shooting, gear, etc.

 

I get the heartbeat shift sometimes too. Relax, and learn breathing techniques and shooting form, along with using the right gear will help. If you are doing nothing but looking for bench rest type accuracy, the less input from the shooter the better. If you are shooting in a hunting or active type environment, shooter input is a necessary evil. You just need to learn how to deal with it. The better the rest and more points of contact with stationary objects, the

no luck finding this dvd set as of yet

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Seems to have been discontinued

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