Originally Posted by comerade
Dry firing does replicate the actual thing really well imo.It costs nothing, has little effect on the rifle and will help any type of shooting.Also..I have never really understood how a longer, more balanced rifle helps much in awkward shooting positions. I do better with a carbine sized rifle everytime, a longer, heavier rifle is harder for me to stabilize and hold for a longer period of time.The effect of gravity is more of an issue as the weight is further from my body...Just me and I suppose shotgunners would say differently.Just putting it out there, folks.


I agree. I've shot a lot of shotgun and still agree with you. I like a rifle to feel well balanced in the hands, not front end heavy. Back in my trap shooting days, I had a terrible habit of dropping the barrel right before I called for the bird when using a heavy barreled trap gun. Thus, the reason I gave them up and went back to my old faithful left hand Remington 870 with a 28" barrel. I think it really depends on a persons shooting style, how much they've actually hunted, what rifles and shotguns they've used in the field and what they have become proficient with. The best "hunting" rifle I had for shooting offhand was a factory sporterized m1917 made by BSA in 1951. It was fairly heavy (9.5 pounds scoped), but balanced right. Best offhand group shot with that one (with the aide of a sling) was 1.057" for 5 shots. When I buy a rifle, that's one of the first things I do, is test it in the offhand position to see how it's going to handle in hunting situations. Here's a target fired with my left hand Remington 760. Not the best, but acceptable for a quick handling deer and elk rifle:

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Originally Posted by raybass
I try to stick with the basics, they do so well. Nothing fancy mind you, just plain jane will get it done with style.
Originally Posted by Pharmseller
You want to see an animal drop right now? Shoot him in the ear hole.

BSA MAGA