Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Shooting light weight rifles

I have a late 80's Remington mountain rifle in 280 rem that's been my most challenging rifle to shoot from the bench. It's like looking for hen's teeth to get a sub 1" 5 shot group with any load. I have done 1" 3 shot groups and yes fliers are an ever present possibility. Most of it is definitely technique. Haven't tried any of the cheater methods mentioned above but it may be worth looking into. I usually just try to do my best perfect-shot trigger breaks when shooting on sand bags. It netted me a good 1.5" cluster for 5 shots at 100yds with a new speedster load and I was happy ☺

Range time

Ha ha. Laughing my azz off. I'm glad you said it.. I'm trying to think of a way to tell these fuggers that they don't need 89 trick moves to shoot a light rifle well, just practice. I shoot my lightweight rifles no different than anything else.. They hit what I'm aiming at. I have a friend that has a hell of a time though. When I see these threads, I think of him. Here's how he shoots my superlite:


Believe it or not, that is a sub moa rifle. In the hands of a competent shooter. Here's how my other friend shoots the same rifle:

Coffee vs Caffeine-free!

Lots of good info here.


I will say that BSAs pics are absolutely true of lightweight rigs not held how they wanna be held. I am pretty convinced that's where the kimbers got their bad reputations. Sure they had other issues and what not. But I can shoot my montana off a front rest and bag and it looks like I'm slinging 00. Hold it right and it's sub moa.


I'm not the best at it. Evaluating groups and such is difficult for me. I find something that shoots well and consistent. Like others said, POA from a hunting position is what I'm after. That's why I own such guns. To hunt with.

They aren't bench rifles.

Someone mentioned prone. I've been wanting to try it. I just don't like my current range setup for prone shooting. I need to add a backer lower than it current sits. Otherwise, I feel like I'm shooting upward.

Well, maybe. It doesn't matter how much range time you get though, if you aren't developing good technique. And that is the key with shooting anything well.

I know from experience even a 14 lb smallbore match rifle will show up issues with your technique. Even as simple a thing as letting the buttplate drift out on your shoulder between shots will show on the target. Light rifles will tend to show the effect of technique more though, in my experience, and you are contending not only with the fact that they'll wobble more when you are trying to hold steady, but also the fact that they jump more. These are some of the reasons we'll usually shoot matches with something as heavy as the rules will allow.

For hunting though, I like a light rifle, and it has been my experience that there are specific aspects of technique, particularly the way you hold them, that have really quite a noticeable effect on accuracy with these light rifles. Get it right though and, like others, I've found that you can get really good accuracy and, more to the point, confidently reach out and kill critters.

I plan to try some of the techniques in this thread with my kimber this weekend. I'll report back.

Below is from an old post. Difference between holding the forend down vs free recoil with a Kimber Montana in .308,

From something I did a few years ago. Below are two 3-shot groups from the same rifle/same load from 100 yards. The first 3 shots are covered with tape and were shot letting the rifle recoil freely on the forend. The second 3 shots are holding the forend firmly into the bag. Big difference on this rifle (6.5 lbs scoped .308). I've had several other 6.5 lb (or less) scoped rifles that didn't require the same tight forend hold, but the same hold didn't seem to adversely affect them either. I've noticed on a few other lw's that the a tight forend hold helped a little but none as drastically as this one. Now I generally grip the forend tightly on lw's as a general practice.

I can tell you free recoil Does Not work with a Kimber Montana in 338 Federal. When shooting my Barrett Fieldcraft or Montana I’ve found that holding them exactly as I would shooting offhand or kneeling works well. At the bench a rear bag and front rest help with stability, but I still hold the rifle the same. A bonus is that once you sight in at the bench it translates to the field perfectly. I don’t think you’ll ever be quite as consistent with a very light rifle, but the difference is meaningless in terms of hunting accuracy out to the most common ranges. When you walk up to your dead elk do you really notice whether the bullet was an inch off?

I appreciate everyone's input here. I agree range time will help, but my frustration is in trying to work up good loads for this new rifle. It's sometimes hard to know if that 1 1/2 or 2" group is the load, or the shooter. I'm not new to shooting or reloading, and as a general rule I won't keep a gun that I can't get consistent 1" or less groups with. There have been very few though that have gone down the road for that particular reason. The last one was a 742 for example. And I have 2 safes full of rifles that will shoot that well from 17 Remington through 7RM.

I'm defiantly going to try some of these ideas though so thank you.

This sums it up a slug gun and light weight rife use same technique....slug guns are low velocity 1400-1900fps so you can't have muzzle jump or you will verticle string groups


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bEaTjNTzbxQ&t=186s

This is one of the better informative threads I've read on here in awhile. Good stuff!

EZ, your not holding your mouth right!

Which is all stuff you learn with range time.

If I hold my Kimber 7-08 very firm from the bench, it groups close to the factory target sheets. Out hunting, I often use sticks.

Shooting pencil barrel rifles at long range really improved my shooting. I usually go bipod and rear bag and a light trigger and consistent hold are critical. I always hold the forearm and don't just leave that hand free or put it back by the bag. Also make sure the sling stud isn't dragging on the rear bag. The light trigger is a must or you will move the light gun when you fire. Nothing worse than a 6 pound trigger on a 5 pound rifle.

Load development with lighter barrels is more critical too. You have to find that node with a temp stable powder and then find the center of it because the node isn't usually very wide with a light whippy barrel. Shorter barrels are better when light.

I had an Fclass shooter next to me at the range last fall as I was finishing up load work up with a Barrett Fieldcraft in 6mm Creedmoor just before the deer hunt. He couldn't believe it when he saw my last 3 groups at 100 yards with a 5 pound rifle off of a Harris bipod and rear bag. Two groups of 3 were right at 1/4 moa and the third was just under 1/2. He said that last group sure went to crap. I said yes round 9 started to walk up a bit, I guess I should have let it cool between groups a bit more.

I don't always shoot that well with light rifles but I was in the zone that day. I killed a little buck with it at 450 the next day. Bullet went exactly where I wanted it even though I was resting on a big flat top rr tie sized fence post.

My old first gen 700 Ti in 30-06 taught me to shoot light rifles.

Bb

Tag great info
Hank

I got quite an education in proper bench technique after working with a NULA .308 some years ago. These will shoot with incredible accuracy just like many far heavier rifles will but you must have a good, consistent benchrest technique and use a good rest. I prefer a Hart pedestal rest and leather Protektor front bag and a Protektor leather bunny bag in the back. I tried the often-suggested trick of holding the forearm with my left hand and found it didn't work as well as the conventional method, but that may vary from one shooter to another. Shoot a lot.

Skinny forearms are a big problem if shooting off bags regardless of weight. Lots of light rifles also come with skinny forearms. They tend to want to roll to the right due to your face pushing to the right, and your hand pulling to the right on the trigger. Shooting a pistol really helps with trigger technique of pulling straight back.

One solution is a bipod to stop the roll, but light guns tend to bounce more during the shot, so so you have to reset between shots. On my light guns I'll often run two front sandbags in front to stop the roll.

My input. Worth what you paid for it. Based on one Kimber Ascent in .270 that ended up just under 6 lbs scoped:

1) Two shot groups from a cold barrel. More than two shots, a skinny barrel starts to get hot. Besides, if you need more than two shots on a game animal, you done screwed up.
2) Well supported on front and rear bags. No sling. Bags and/or rests arranged so that sling studs do not contact bags during recoil.
3) Use the non-trigger hand to pull down on stock, between the bags, ahead of the trigger guard.
4) Trigger pull in the 2.5 lb range for a hunting rifle.

After sight in, practice, practice, practice... Standing, sitting, off a backpack...