Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Discussion with hunter X sniper...

We started talking about shooting for accuracy for 300 yards. He said one thing he learned in sniper school was to put his thumb on the same side of the rifle stock as his trigger finger. He said as he gets older just having it on top of the stock slightly to the right. If you have time to do this before you shoot you will have better trigger control because it isolates the trigger finger. I have tried this dry firing and two things stand out. One the trigger finger motion doesn't pull the rifle stock but you probably want some form of rest. Tree,limb something. Thoughts? I found him to be a wealth of knowledge because he is as much a hunter as a sniper.
It seems with me when I have my thumb opposed from my trigger finger it seems to compress and move the stock. This new technique will probably work great on the bench or a real good rest. It doesn't change too much for a 100 yard shot for me.
Buckfever 1

It's a good technique.

Fine triggers that don't require walnut crushing grips help quite a bit too.

I like that technique as well. With that thumb position (on top of the stock slightly to the right), you can take advantage of your natural pinch reflex. Rest your trigger finger firmly on the trigger, and slowly apply pressure to the stock with your thumb. Your trigger finger will proportionally move rearward without you even thinking about/attempting to pull/squeeze the trigger.

There are some in the benchrest crowd that simply pinch the tirgger and rear of the trigger guard. Likely, they too are dealing with ounces of less.