advice on shooting

[TomisinMd]

You're anticipating your shot and flinching. Trigger control exercises.

Have a buddy balance a quarter on your barrel after you've acquired a target to dry fire on. Practice squeezing the trigger straight back until you can manipulate it without having the sites disturbed and without the quarter falling off the barrel.

After you've mastered that, take that buddy to the range and have him load your rifle each shot. Randomly, he/she can put a dummy round or snap cap into your chamber. Nothing like dropping the firing pin on an empty chamber during live fire to expose your flinch / recoil anticipation.

As an aside, I disagree somewhat with the recoil isn't an issue in accuracy statement above. While technically correct (the bullet will be out of the barrel before the impulse is transmitted through the body), how the rifle reacts during recoil will reveal problems in fundamental areas such as bone support, body position, natural point of aim and trigger control which have a HUGE effect on accuracy.

Paying attention to where the rifle jumps after recoil is important to diagnosing and fixing those areas. If those fundamentals are sound, the rifle will drive straight back into your body and the sites will fall naturally back to the target. With a scope, you should be able to watch the trace of your round (at longer distances). If you can't, one or more of the fundamentals need to be honed.

This is good stuff. Especially having a buddy load either a snap cap or live round without you knowing it.

Just curious, does it affect your accuracy?

 

[booker]

Dry fire.

And get Steve Anderson's book, Refinement & Repetition, Dry Fire Drills for Dramatic Improvement:
http://www.brianenos.com/pages/reviews.html#steve

 

[Major03]

Does occasionally inserting a dummy round affect accuracy? Yes and no, If you're prone to anticipating and flinching, it'll make those faults really apparent. Those habits have a huge negative impact on accuracy. If you don't flinch it'll just be a dud round.

Dry firing is a great way to improve your shooting, with the proviso that you remember practice doesn't make perfect...it makes permanent. Perfect practice makes perfect.

Just remember to pay attention to all your shooting fundamentals as you dry fire. Build your position with good bone support, ensure you have a good natural point of aim (and have something to aim at - like a scaled down target on the far wall). Concentrate on your breathing. Squeeze the trigger during the natural respiratory pause, focus on the front site post (or reticle) and not the target behind it...and consciously follow through on your shot (yes, even when you're dry firing).

One last tip about dry firing..UNLESS you're dry firing a rimfire, don't worry about hurting the rifle. Snap caps are fine and not a bad idea if you're also practicing things like a brass check, but are not needed for protecting centerfire rifles.

I've never damaged a centerfire from dry firing...and I've spent many many many hours dry firing. Never dry fire a rimfire repetitively without a snap cap.

 

[ScottR]

How close is the Eye Relief on the optic on this particular rifle? maybe you're subconsciously flinching/closing your eye because the scope is too close

 

[Blaster229]

Trigger control and placing a quarter trick has nothing to do with is eye flinching. It does have to do with a nice trigger press and steadiness. I don't see where there is sympathetic reaction between the trigger finger causing the eye to blink.
Recoil makes people blink. Shooting and getting used to it alleviates the issue. Granted you can make the correlation that pressing the trigger makes the gun go boom thus making the eye flinch.
Dry firing does not simulate the recoil and boom which is the stimulus.

 

[rtodd1586]

How close is the Eye Relief on the optic on this particular rifle? maybe you're subconsciously flinching/closing your eye because the scope is too close

Its the nikon p223 scope. Specs say 3.4 inches. Im going this Saturday to take all this advice into account and hope some of it works.

 

[Blaster229]

Seems you just might be worried about a little "scope eye".


Sent from somewhere in the world.

 

[ScottR]

Its the nikon p223 scope. Specs say 3.4 inches. Im going this Saturday to take all this advice into account and hope some of it works.

Seems you just might be worried about a little "scope eye".


Sent from somewhere in the world.

 

[breimer273]

You should keep both eyes open because the same amount light falling on both eyes improves your balance and your visual acuity. Some people get a double image with both eyes open if you do use a blinder on your non dominate eye. You should be shooting from your dominate eye regardless of your hand dominance. The blinder can be as simple as a small piece of masking tape on your shooting glasses in line with the center of your eye. You just need to block the image in one eye to get a single image with both eyes open.

I am cross eye dominant...I'd love to know how I could aim down the sights on my AR with my left eye whilst shooting right handed...

Interesting that it doesn't happen with your other optics. I suppose it could be too short of eye relief on the scope or the issue of having one eye closed. I'd go down the route of trying a blinder on your non-sighting eye and shooting with both eyes open. See it all the time in competition shooting.

 

[Blacksmith101]

I am cross eye dominant...I'd love to know how I could aim down the sights on my AR with my left eye whilst shooting right handed...
QUOTE]

If you are left eye dominant and you want to become the best shooter you can be learn to shoot left handed. That is the advice the experts give. IIRC Lanny Bassham Olympic Gold Medal shooter had to virtually start over part way through his career so he could shoot from his dominate eye. YMMV

 

[photoracer]

I am cross eye dominant...I'd love to know how I could aim down the sights on my AR with my left eye whilst shooting right handed...
QUOTE]

If you are left eye dominant and you want to become the best shooter you can be learn to shoot left handed. That is the advice the experts give. IIRC Lanny Bassham Olympic Gold Medal shooter had to virtually start over part way through his career so he could shoot from his dominate eye. YMMV

I agree totally. As a right eye dominant lefty I shot pistol LH for 45 years and rifle RH because my father would not let me use any LH rifles. So in 2010 when the arthritis in my left hand started affecting me I went cold turkey right handed with the pistols at that point. Took only about 6 months to start out shooting my left handed scores. I can still shoot lefty and in fact Bullseye shooting I still shoot lefty because my left hand is stronger.