This is a duplicate of a post on the Med Bore Forum also... but I thought I'd pass this along...



Off Season Practice…

On another site, I was impressed with a couple of photos that a dad rook of his 12 yr old son, that he is taking out to the range and teaching him how to shoot. The Dad evidently was a former Marine, and is training his son to be able to shoot in a variety of positions, that he had been taught in the Corp…

Since my military experience was Army, despite being able to score as an expert on the M 16, M 60, M79, M203 and 45 ACP, my main MOS was that of a glorified BedPan Commando in the Medical Corp. I never had the advantage of being able to go thru Marine Rifle training.

Well taking a look at some of the positions that the pics of the young man was working with, I have decided to just go out in the woods, a couple of miles from my home, on Forest Service land and start working with those positions. The entire focus is to start working with shooting OFF HAND, instead of relying on a bench, or a bi pod off off the hood of a vehicle. Even for a varmint shooter, that does pretty darn well, shooting off hand is a real eye opener and real world assessment of your shooting skills. MINE SUCK!!!!

So recently I have gone out and posting a target on a small hunk of plywood, I can carry out there with me. I have set it up at 100 yds, and have tried my luck and started practicing with a Model 70 Featherweight in 223, shooting some loads that equal a 22 Hornet or 218 Bee load. I am using a 3 x 9 scope set on 4 power. So far I have shot off about 350 rounds in the last few weeks.

For economy, I am also starting to supplement that, with my CZ 452, with a 6 x 24 Tasco Target scope, with the power set on 6… and using Walmart 22 Ammo ( preference being Winchester 36 grain HP Lead, 500 count boxes..) I crank up the elevation, and set targets out to 100 yds with that also.. ONCE again, what a humbling experience that turned out to be. ONCE again, I SUCKED!!!!

The good news is though, surprisingly it doesn’t take a lot of this to start noticing that you can get better awfully quickly! I am shooting 100 rounds of 22 ammo a day. I am using 4 or 5 targets each session, that I run off the internet.

Surprisingly my challenge was not my trigger finger or my eye, the key to master is your breathing! A lot of trigger pulling and you really learn to start being able to not only control your breathing patterns, but actually learn to use it to your advantage. Just a short time and the results are really paying some excellent dividends! I am going to start moving the 223’s targets further out there, and start using smaller targets with the 22 LR, just to make it more challenging!

I sincerely believe doing this out in the woods where you hunt also helps in your mind, to be better at being a better shooter when hunting, as opposed to doing all of this at a contolled environment “at the rangeâ€â€¦. I have even been setting target up on this small piece of plywood, but where I am aiming in between trees and threading the shoots thru narrow “alleys†thru the brush…

Even for we adults, practicing with a good 22 Bolt action a lot during off season.. well in a short time, I am going from REALLY SUCKS… to actually turning in some impressive groups with that CZ and Featherweight.. from sitting positions, to using a tree for support etc…

Some of you gents oughta try this… it is paying some good dividends for me on improving my off hand shooting accuracy dramatically..!

Cheers
Seafire

That is a great idea! I am going to have to try that. I have heard of trying that, and know that some gentlemen shoot gophers and prairie dogs with their big game rifles to practice up.
Thanks, Seafire, you have helped once again.
Good shooting (offhand),
Graham

Same mechanics, big gun little gun. Great (and cheaper) way to stay in shooting "shape."

No question Seafire, I feel the same way about my off hand shooting. If you're not used to off hand shooting it is a real eye opener. Even in the Air Force we shot from several positions. I was in a mobile unit so we shot twice a year. I still practice that way at the range because it keeps my field shooting skills sharp. But I DON'T like off hand, at least for an actual shot on game. Generally speaking the field postions I've found most often are sitting or prone. Prone is a piece of cake. Practicing in a sitting position and controlling your breathing will give you very good accuracy and confidence. The only problem with off season practic is the cheapest shooter I've got is my trusty '06. Reloaded rounds aren't costly enough to care about how many I shoot. I was thinking of getting a 22LR just for practice purposes and now I might just have to do that. Thanks for the post and excellent observations.

Ken....

Yup, and a really top secret is you don't have to be an ex-marine (actually there's no such thing as a EX marine). There are a number of very good books on the subject of firing from the various field positions. Then all it takes is practice, practice, practice.
Bring along a buddy and you can play "horse".
It may not be "kewl" but a lot of good practice can be gained by practicing dry firing right in the house. As you said, a lot of it is breathing and trigger control.

Heat,

Picking up a CZ bolt action 22 or a Marlin or Savage bolt 22 can be had for relatively low investment...

I've also noticed it does not have to be a tack driver either, even poor accuracy 22 with poor ammo can still shoot better than most people can handle off hand...

in the bulk boxes of 22 ammo at Walmart.. 500 rounds can still be had for about $12 to $13 a box...

a hundred rounds per sessino close to home can show dramatically improved results in short order...

I shoot at 4 targets on a small hunk of plywood, that are 8 1/2 x 11... and each target gets 25 shots....

what you are checking for is group size first, how close to bulls eye second....

my first time trying this at 100 yds off hand, out of 75 rounds on 3 targets, I hit the targets 24 times total.. with no grouping at all...

a week later and only 300 rounds more.. the improvement was mind boggling...

I do this sitting down, because my neck does not have enough range of motion for me to be able to shoot prone.... If I lay on the floor on my back, my head won't go back far enough to touch the floor.. I have about 50% of what most folks have for range of motion...

so the standing or sitting positions are what I have to physcially work with...

it sure builds confidence, and also being a 22, at least doesn't make enough noise in a semi surburban area for some lefty liberal soccer mom to be calling the cops and claiming that some 'militia surivialist' is shooting right near her house...

I may live in Oregon, but we are infested locally with tons of southern Califoria and San Fran Bay Area retirees here...and about 99.99 % of them freak out over firearms period....
a friend last season was gutting a deer in his garage with the door open and one of his neighbors called the cops on him, saying that some guy was skinning a big dog in his garage that he had just killed in the neighborhood...

you even see plenty of them hiking down trails the opening weekends of deer season and elk season, clueless to the danger that they are placing themselves in....being oblivious to it being hunting season...

I just reread this thread, and had to reply. I can heartily attest to the .22 practice helping your offhand shooting. My little brother has a steel silhouette of a prairie dog that swings when hit. I put that thing at 50 yards, much to his chagrin, and try to hit it off hand. it is about 1.5 inches wide and about 8 inches tall. Yesterday I was shooting at it again, and hit so many times in 50 shots it was easier to count misses. Too bad the local range does not allow offhand shooting. I'd love to see what I could do with my -06!
Good shooting,
Graham

Every veteran hunter/shooter I've ever had the pleasure to learn something from has said the best thing anyone can do to build shooting skills, and keep them honed, is to shoot the .22LR religiously, much in the ways you describe, Seafire. Good jobbie spreading the gospel, guy.

KG

P.S. I own a CZ 452 as well, and that little thing can shoot!

Thanks for the info.
That fuels my idea to put a rimfire barrell on my Encore, to go along with my muzzleloader, and .300 Win mag.
W.

It's all about practice.

Although I don't do it alot, I find dry firing boring.

Several years ago I bought a Remington 541-T bolt action .22 rimfire rifle. I put a simmons 3-9x scope on it and a 1" recoil pad to get the stock length closer to that of my hunting rifles.

I go to our local gun range every Wednesday evening to shoot skeet and trap. A few months before my South African hunt last September, I started taking my 541-T .22 and my .375 Ultra Mag with me to the range each Wednesday for about a half hour's rifle practice before shooting the shotguns.

I had also made some African style shooting sticks and developed a reduced cast bullet load for my .375 Ultra Mag. Each week I would practice with the .22, the cast bullet loads, and full power .375 Ultra loads at steel gongs. I would alternate practicing off the sticks, offhand, and sitting with a tight sling. I would limit the .22 and cast bullet shots to the 100 yd gong, but would shoot the full power loads at the gongs out to 450 yds.

This practice rewarded me with 13 one shot kills on my Eastern Cape hunt on animals from Grysbok to Eland at ranges of 30 to 348 yds, and halfway through my hunt I overheard my PH tell our Tracker "we have a sniper here."

Although that trip to Africa has past, I still take my .22 to the range with me every week and shoot a few clips offhand at the 100 yd gong.

Did they name you "Bwana Sniper" or something like that? Practice like that is fun and highly productive. Congrats on the successful hunt.
Good shooting,
Graham

They didn't give me any names that I know of , but both my PH and Tracker appreciated my shooting abilities for making their jobs easier. We saw all of the animals fall, and most fell and died within 10 yds of where they were standing when I shot them. And it made me feel good that after they worked to put me on an animal, I was able to do my part and put the animal down quickly and cleanly.

I have all ways enjoyed practing with my 22 during the off season. It is way less expensive than shooting my other rifles. Also, need to keep in practice to be ready for any hunting trip at a moments notice.

I've always been a fan of using a 22 LR as a practise tool for your big game rifle.

The guys who do the "Best of The West" TV show like to use scoped 22 handguns.They claim it will teach you more about trigger control than using a rifle.

WB.

i have gotten into the habit of trying to shoot close to 100 rounds of 22 from standing position every time i go to the range. i pick out rocks or fragments of clay pigeon on the 50 yard berm and try a different target with each cartridge. have noticed a good improvment over the past few months. i force the shots to go kind of quick and my brain is starting to catch up and get with the program.

I love to hunt Jackrabbits with one of my Win. M-63s in our Idaho Sage brush..Lots of fast and furiuos shooting at running elusive targets, and if there is any better practice I can't imagine what it would be...fun to with a 06 or whatever, even with my 416 its a hoot!

Certainly I join in the universal praise of the 22 LR. (Heck! It was the first caliber bullet this old man fired {actually a 22 short at a chipmunk on a stone wall -back when dinosaurs roamed the earth) However, I do have one reservation. I never saw a 22 rifle (and I have owned a number of them, the last, a Rem.513T) that approached the weight or the kind of trigger pull of a heavier caliber rifle. This may be just me and others have gotten a lot out of shooting a 22 as some kind of "practice" for heavier calibers. I never did. I will make one exception. My first pistol at age 18 was a S&W K-22. (In those days, age 18 was the minimum for a New Yorker to possess a pistol. Today I think it's 21) That pistol, built on a heavy frame, was excellent practice for the K-38 to which I graduated about a year later. Even then, the recoil of the K-38 startled me at first. I suspect that "graduating" to a heavy caliber rifle from "practice" with a 22 LR will provide the same surprise - and if the 22 is just to "refresh" the memory about trigger pull and off hand shooting, I think it merely postpones the time for handling the "bigger" rifle. Just my thoughts.