Don't drag/kiss a swivel stud,either fore or aft. Hint.................
Hold the fore-end and pull the front sling swivel. The bigger the caliber the more you'll have to figure how much grip and rearward pressure it takes to manage. I default to strong rearward pull with shooting hand and tight grip and mild rearward pressure with the support hand, but the harder the gun kicks the more rearward pull you'll need with both hands
I don't bother to shoot lightweight/hard kicking rifles off a bench anymore...they often shoot differently from field positions.
I just pull them in like they owe me money..
And mind the stud as mentioned. They'll root you out if you're having a bad day.
I just shoot them like I do any other rifle. Good advice on pulling them in tight. I'd say not too tight that it would add nerves to the equation any more than necessary.
Seems fitting, so I'll share a story about my trip to the range yesterday:
I shot a fairly lightweight rifle yesterday because my buddy from the local SWAT and one of his LEO friends were having issues with a "hunting" rifle he was trying to dial in.
Buddy called and asked if I could come and help, so I said hell yes. His LEO friend was shooting 4" groups with said rifle and they were both ready to send it back to the manufacture. Rifle in question was a Weatherby Back Country TI, chambered in 6.5 Creedmoor. When I got to the range, the LEO said he was ready to give up on this one. I asked if he had ever had it out of the stock, who installed the scope etc. etc.
Before even pulling the trigger on said rifle, I pulled the scope off, checked the mount screws. One was fairly loose, looked like whoever installed the bases, used blue loctite which was good, but they did not tighten them enough. I re-loctited the screws and tightened everything up after checking the usual offenders. Put the scope back on, even though it was not my first choice, checked the action screws, to make sure the action was not stressed.
As mentioned, the scope was not my first choice, but I wasn't ruling it out until I shot the rifle. Checked the parallax and that looked good. The scope was a Vortex 4-12 with longrange reticle of some sort. Glass was not even as good as my usual Burris FFII 3-9x40 with ballistic plex reticle scopes. I then proceeded to shoot one group with the cheap Winchester white box ammo he had. He said he had burned up 3 boxes of this already, trying to get it dialed in. The first group I fired was about 3" high and 2" to the right. I dialed to the bullet hole and fired another group. This group was on the orange, but about a 1 1/2" spread for 3 shots. I asked if this was the only ammo he and my buddy had tried. He said yeah, but he had some of his "hunting" ammo on hand for when they finally got the rifle close. I said, well it looks like it's fairly close now. Not sure how good your ammo is though. I told him I think it may be an ammo problem, not a rifle problem. Except for the rifle is very lightweight and I don't think the guy knows how to shoot. This rifle is advertised as being 4.7 pounds. Not sure how light it was exactly, but the guy said it was a "sub 5 pound rifle". I think when you couple that with poor ammo, and poor shooter, the problem with big groups only compounds itself.
I asked if he minded if I try some of my ammo, so I can rule out it being a rifle problem and see if his ammo was the culprit. He said, "sure I don't have anything to lose at this point". Fired off 3 shots and the group was a little low and to the right. Appeared to be about a 5/8" group, when looking through the spotter:
I made an adjustment of 3 clicks up and 2 to the left. Fired off another 3 shot group (measured about 3/4")^^^^ As you can see, the rifle was shooting pretty good with some good ammo. However, the scope tracked like schidt. It did not move as it should have. Not the first time I've seen this with a Vortex scope. He asked if I could dial the rifle in for his hunting ammo, and I said sure no problem. Here are the results:
First group:
Second group:
Before this group, I made a scope adjustment of 2 clicks to the right, knowing it had tracked wonky earlier. The group went down and a little to the right, which seemed odd.
3rd and final group for zero:
This was after adjusting the scope 2 clicks up. That's where I left it!!
I asked if the guy wanted to shoot it to see if it was zeroed good enough for his eyesight. He said, "no, you are a much better shooter than I am, that is the best it's ever shot, I'm leaving it right where it's at!!!"
The rifle is supposedly 4.7 pounds bare weight, and if I had to guess the scope probably weighs close to a pound. All up weight of 5.7 pounds. 2 guys that should have been able to shoot it, had issues. 1 not so much. Even though I didn't shoot it any different than I do anything else.
The pictures above are of actual shooting experience from yesterday. Experience and pictures trump couch sitting and speculation IMHO. If a guy is having issues shooting a lightweight rifle, magnum, or recurve bow, that generally means something is wrong with said rifle (mechanically), ammo, or you just need more practice/trigger time. Or let a different indian shoot it.
Put crosshairs on it and pull the trigger. Don't over think it. Shouldn't have to stand on your head to get a rifle to shoot.
Good post Coyote. That is how I see it. Somehow I get the feeling you've probably shot a little in your life. Some guys try to make this more complicated than it has to be. Shooting is shooting buddy..
Whatever you do……consistency is probably most important! memtb
Good post buddy. Add in practice and more practice, a lot of guys do not stress basic marksmanship anymore. Probably more guys develop bad habits and don't even realize it, so they have to make excuses and try to fix issues that shouldn't be issues. Develop good shooting skills and practices early in life and build on those. Pretty much moral of the story.