Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Freehand shooting

When shooting freehand from a standing position do you find your point of impact change,s much say as compared to brenchrest shooting?

Yea the bullets hit the edges of the target from offhand and the center from the bench.

I have shot offhand in competition for a long time and have done very well. Sometimes I adjust the sights when in standing. That's because of the way I control the trigger as the rifle is moving when I fire it offhand.

Thread called "Practice shooting in the field" from the Big Game board covers some of this too.

Regards, sse

I do a lot of competitive shooting, including offhand at 200 yards.

If your rifle is correctly bedded, the point of impact itself should not change noticeably. Of course, the groups will be much bigger. If the rifle is not floated, bench shots may group a little higher, depending what you are using for a rest.

But sometimes you hold or release the trigger differently. For instance, I cant my match rifle about 30 degrees one way offhand, and the other way sitting. The difference is 4" at 200 yards. I do not cant hunting rifles.

Many people will not take the time to get their natural point of aim correct, or don't know how to do this, which will cause your offhand shots not to be zeroed. In such a case, the group may be off in any direction. Also, lack of follow through will cause shots to print low, or at 4:00 O'clock, as you mentally drop the rifle before the shot is gone.

Another problem is caused if your trigger finger "drags wood," or touches anything but the trigger. In general, shooting offhand magnifies any errors in position or let-off.

I have seen fairly new shooters print offhand groups at 200 yards which deviate a foot or more to the right or left (in addition to being large) due solely to their position or letoff. They think this is a sight adjustment problem. It isn't.

No. But they can. I always check. I shoot bench, off hand (standing), siting and sitting with a sling regularly to test this. Sometimes I practice from prone over my pack as well. Your rifle has to shoot where it needs to from a field position. Luckly, mine do. I must be doing something right. Like the man said, pay attention to the details. I have been known to get sloppy. E

When shooting from the bench, always have a soft material beneath the firearm. Your hand works best. Never rest it on a hard object, such as those carpeted V blocks you always see at the range.

If you are resting on a hard object, the firearm will "bounce" away from it, giving you a different point of impact than you will have offhand.

Only with my Savage 99, for some reason.

I keep mentioning this in the hope that someone will tell me why. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

John