There is a lot of gun knowledge here at AR. How about shooting skills (ability)?

Question:
Which of the following would you pick to rank your skill at shooting over a rest, from the bench?

Choices:
Really quite good...in the top 25% of all shooters
Pretty decent, definitely above average
Just the average Joe skill-wise from the bench
A bit below average, maybe, but not really bad
Hate to admit it, but I'm still a rookie skill-wise...need to improve and am trying to

Question:
How would you rank your shooting skills at targets which wear hair....in the field from whatever position you can find, that is?

Choices:
Really quite good...in the top 25% of all shooters
Pretty decent, definitely above average
Just the average Joe skill-wise in the field
A bit below average, maybe, but not really bad
Hate to admit it, but I'm still a rookie skill-wise...need to improve and am trying to

 

Joe Average here and not ashamed to admit as much. I have some good days where I really shine...and other days not so much.

But I can say I enjoy EVERY day...and that says it all.

I think I am a good shot at animals, when I miss its usually the guns FAULT.

I'd say top ten percent. Not bragging, but I was lucky to have shot benchrest and Schuetzen for several years, and do an awful lot of long range live varmint shooting here in Idaho. It's like anything else; practice, practice, and more practice. This is where casting your own bullets is invaluable, you can shoot a lot more. The only game animal I've shot more than once was my Cape Buffalo last December. The PH said to keep shooting until he bellows.

Rich

I voted for better then average. Partly because I think I'm a fair shot at live game but mainly because I think you need to consider how many poor shots that hardly sight in their rifle, let alone practice with it are out there. I would be willing to guess that most of us here that take our sport so seriously to spend our time here "talking shop" are better shots then many of your "just opening weekend" hunters. For better or worse, those fellas are a huge portion of the hunting community.

Like Sharpshooter above...

practice preactice practice..

I use all the folks I see at our local range as a bench mark..

as I have always said:

I can outshoot 90 to 95 % of all the folks that use our range... however the 5 to 10% that out shoot me...well that is down right embarrassing...

and most of those are old WW 2 or Korea Vets... and a lot of former Marines...

I can hit the side of a barn as long as I'm inside and the door is shut
rob

quote:

Originally posted by robz:
I can hit the side of a barn as long as I'm inside and the door is shut
rob

I bet my barn's smaller than your barn.

Pretty decent for both.

I took it to be using Medium bores.

Cobra,
I'm using a shot gun with open chokes

I call myself average. I don't get to the range once a week like I used to and if you don't practice your skills erode.

quote:

Originally posted by robz:
Cobra,
I'm using a shot gun with open chokes

Ya got me.

Most of us older guys have hand and eye issues;
however with today's equipment those issues can be negated somewhat. As has been stated "practice" is the key to on-going sucess.
Most of the marginal shooters I know are marginal because they don't "take" the time to strive for proficiency. They don't shoot well so they don't shoot often.
GOOD LUCK and GOOD SHOOTING!!!

I do shoot pretty well. Result of lots of practice.

BUT ... I don't often see a lot of other folks shoot and the those I do see are friends that shoot pretty well. A couple of them shoot very well indeed (Yeah Rick R ... that includes you!) Therefore, I admitted to nothing more than being above average.

Pretty decent for both, BUT , I wanna be able to shoot as well as my buddy

I ranked myself as a greenhorn rookie off a bench or rest, simply because I've never gotten into that sort of thing. I agree with everyone stressing practice, practice, practice, and more practice. Which in my case is almost always done in hunting type conditions, for the very reason that is how I intend to use my skills. I'd say I'm slightly above your average joe blow in shooting at game.

i have won a share of money shoots and trophies.
on our league shoots i use my huntting rifle.
i don't do so well on the cooper but the 2-3 and 400 yd shoots i usually pull one out.
i thik if i used a target rifle like the other guys i could do better.
i have been using cast boolits at 200 yds [crows] lately but have only shot a 40 so far.
maybe something other than a 3x9 scope would help?
pushing 50 but i can still hold 4 shots under an inch at 100 with open sights.
maybe it's just the practice or something.

I shoot thousands of shots a year but I'm just Joe average but there seems to be quite a few here that are not quite as humble though.

Really rather good...once upon a time! Certainly able to consistently hit a three foot wide target at 1,000 yards with iron sight from prone.

below average, benchrest, as compared to benchrest shooters .. probably an average joe, or slightly better, off the bench ...

in the field, not bad, so pretty decent

I rely on judgement, really, in the field... if i don't think I can 100% make the shot, i don't take it. Do i miss, heck yeah ..

I certainly am NOT a great shot .. i've shot with great shots.. Rob, MJines, Tom .. THOSE guys are great shots ..

As with so many things I'm not as good as I used to be.
In all honesty I used to be in in the top 10% at target. Tother day when sighting in I aimed at and managed to knock out a drawing pin which was holding the target to the frame. So perhaps my slide into decrepitude has slowed down a little. I do hope so!

I voted top 25% off a bench, but with game I'm still a rookie, I haven't shot very much big game at all! Smacking steel at 1k is a lot more enjoyable for me.

At the ranges I frequent, I'd say that at least 50% of the shooters use a poor quality rest, and at least that many don't even know that a rear bag is a very good idea.
I have always felt that my shooting improved when I used as good a rest as I could afford at both ends of the rifle. FS

how good a shot?? in thought in word or in deed?

quote:

Originally posted by butchloc:
how good a shot?? in thought in word or in deed?

Butch...whadaya tryin' to do to da t'read? Bring reality into it?

In truth, I find the poll really interesting so far. About 75% find themselves "better than average", i.e., in the top 50%.

Only 3% find themselves below average from the bench. At first that seems amazing....only 3% find themselves in the bottom 50%.

But actually, the figures may not be misleading OR untruthful. I think maybe "sevenxbjt" really put his finger on it in his post.

He said that those of us who gather here to discuss shooting, rifles, loads, etc., take the game more seriously and really work harder at becoming better shots than just any Joe Blow, who buys a rifle, buys a hunting tag (maybe), never practices (or even sights in) and then goes out once or twice a year to throw lead around the landscape.

I do particularly admire the introspect and frank honesty of the 5 folks (so far) answering the hunting-related question with themselves rated as either a rookie or below average at shooting in the field and expressing their hope to do better in the future. I wish them all the very best in their efforts, and assure them that it's strongly correlated to "rounds downrange". If they continue to practice in the field , they WILL get better, dramatically so. So, for that matter, will the already above average bench shooters who don't just stop at their bench work, but practice in the field too.

I put myself above average in both categories...simply because I always shoot well within my limits. I rarely shoot game beyond 150yds and most at half that distance.

i really believe that perhaps the best all around shooters are the prairie doggers. they learn how to estimate wind, range, and hit a small target by actually estimating wind range and shooting small targets. in all the years that i shot competitively while some of those guys were good shots, few were equally good when off the paper. i always remember one old guy that couldn't hit a piece of paper if it was taped to his barrel, but i watched him miss a target at the range, with his old swift, the bullet knocked a rock loose on the steep hill behind, and he racked the bolt and hit the falling rock before it hit the ground.

Many of the people on here most likely are in the top 50% off the bench. The poorer shooters aren't interested in chatting with knowledgeable folks to improve their shooting.

Judging by what I see at the range,and the CMP matches I've attended,better than average.

I guess everywhere is different, and I haven't shot at any formal competitions or at ranges all over the country, but I'm not at all impressed with the majority of the guys (average Joe) I see out shooting. There are certainly those who can do amazing things slinging chunks of metal through a pipe after an explosion, and my hat is off to them. However, I think those guys who shoot impressively are the top 5-10%, probably less than that. I put myself well above average, but I don't think that that really calls for anything extreme considering most of the people I see shooting.

I think those guys who you regularly see at the range, and who post on forums like this one, are the top level, but the range membership is full of guys who seldom shoot and don't know or care much about the technical aspects of shooting anyway.

Now saying that you are in the top 25% of the guys here, might be making a claim, but top 25% of shooters in general, that's like being the smartest monkey in the zoo.

I damned sure see claims of shooting ability on here, that I know I can't match. I'd probably be happy with a 6" 100 yd freehand, open sight group, and on my best day couldn't shoot under an inch, but I still think I'm way better than most.

I seriously doubt that I could, today, pull off some of the shots I pulled off as a younger man. Don't know for sure but I doubt it, but I'm still not all that bad. roger

This "poll" reminds me of something I read many years ago; "Ninety percent of the population are convienced they are well above average in intelligence." Most every shooter I know is sure he is an above average shot.

My ego does not allow me to participate in a poll where I would be classed with other mere mortals.

But, honestly....

quote:

Originally posted by Jim C. <><:
This "poll" reminds me of something I read many years ago; "Ninety percent of the population are convienced they are well above average in intelligence." Most every shooter I know is sure he is an above average shot.

This is a good thought 90% of the people think they are 100% better than the other guy. Me, I don't measure myself against anyone else.

I cheat, I use a rangefinder on the Rock Chuck shooting here in Idaho, have for nearly twenty years. Same with big game. It is amazing how good you can be with good equipment if you practice. I found out when I started shooting Hunter Class Bench Rest about twenty years ago how much better a shot I became. I started reading Precision Shooting Magazine in 1988, started writing for them a year later, and took lots of notes. A gunsmith named Steve Kostanich in Chehelis, WA, built me a .308 tight neck 700 that would stick five Sierra 150gr MKs under an inch. Things took off from there. I shot HBR for six years, and then got into Schuetzen. Every spring and early summer I shoot lots of Rock Chucks here in Idaho and Prairie Dogs at the family ranch up in Montana.
Shooting, hunting, and motorcycles have been been my lifelong passion. I don't do a lot else these days, and I moved to Idaho over thirty years ago just for the hunting. It's not too hard to be a good shot, you just have to want to; that's all. I always wanted to.
I hope I don't come off as bragging, it's just who I am and what I do...

Rich
shooter & hunter

MOA .22x . . . even out to 1000 metres.

Would suggest that if you want to rate yourself and your equipment (rifle,sights,& loads) and how good of a marksman you are, locate a rifle club in your area that conducts High Power XC (Across the Course) matches. You will have the opportunity to shoot at ranges from 200yds Offhand, 10shots, 200yds sitting/kneeling 10shots rapid fire, 300yds prone/rapid 10 shots, and finally 600yds prone 20 shots. Total shots for record 50 and possible score of 500. Add your score and divide by 500 and you have a numerical value assigned to your skill/performance. Whatever X count you have determines winners in the event of equal scores between shooters. Your scores will classify you as a marksman unclassified, sharpshooter, expert, master or high master determined by the perentage score. Personally I think it is an excellent training program and develops a lot of skills for the shooter whether for hunting or just skill with a rifle. Leave the ego home and no benches allowed, just you and your rifle and sling. Just one match will reveal a great deal of feedback where you need to improve or where you excell.
After you master all of the above, go to a Long Range prone match and try your favorite rifle at ranges starting at 600yds and on out to 1000yds. You can now do this in F class, or Supported Fire, but suggest you do it the old fashion way, sling only. All of the above will test your determination and shouldn't take you more than 35-40 years to accomplish. Couple of these matches will leave no question in your mind as to how good a shooter you are.

Just an average guy here trying to improve every time I go to the range. I'm always trying to improve in the field as well making sure the game I hunt is taken cleanly and quickly.

quote:

Originally posted by Idaho Sharpshooter:
Shooting, hunting, and motorcycles have been been my lifelong passion.

Ditto. I used to ride observed trials competitively for 12 years, had a go at club motocross for a few years, and I have been shooting since I was 10 (now 50). I am a reasonable field shot, I have taken a few crows from the sitting position out past 200 yards, I usually place well in the big game rifle comps, I have even won a couple, but I think I add about 1/4 inch to my groups off the bench, so I can't hold a candle to the pro benchresters. I find it quite hard to get consistent groups from the bench with the 338 Win Mag. (ps. I don't intend to try the 505 Gibbs from the bench.)

I'm fortunate to have access to a 1000 yard range in south Georgia so I get regular practice shooting long range bench rest. Some days are better than others. Every range cession is a learning experience and tests my loading abilities.