Folks

I missed a kudu, broadside from 50-yards or so, me inside a "hide" (looking at trash oranges @ 100 yds) with my PH. I was in a tight sling, hand rested on an extra glove in the corner of facing window. I shot high and behind him, somehow. Back at the lodge (Blaauwkrantz) two experienced hunters, one Afrikaans and the other from Nevada, offered differing opinions on how to manage big caliber rifles such as my .416 Rigby "Bruno".

Nick says, "You must start at the back of the animal, swing towards the front and shoot as you reach the shoulder." Dan says, "I just hold where I'm gonna shoot!"

Input?

Thanx!

BNagel

IMO if the target is stationary I like to hold and squeeze......however if it's running the come from behind approach is a good suggestion. In that manner the rifle is moving with the target and there's no lead to consider.
I normally have shot at the front of the animal to a foot ahead however.

You must of had one hell of a flinch to miss a kudu at 50 yards.

Is the first guy talking about shooting at running game.

I always aim where I want to hit except at running game or in the wind where you have to allow for it.

Swinging your rifle on standing still game is asking for trouble.

It sounds to me like you probably closed your eyes right before the trigger pull. If you flinch and close your eyes you'll often miss by a wide margin. Sorry but I can't think of another cause.

I would spend a lot of time at the range getting used to the recoil. Go with a friend who loads the rifle for you, intentionally handing you an empty gun (unkown to you when) to see how you are improving your flinch.

Stationary target, but rested vs. off-hand.

Anything's possible, but I'm not afraid of it..

BNagel

Assuming you don't have problems with the recoil, it could just be a case of kudu fever.

My most imbarrassing miss was a spruce hen at about 10 yds away. The thing just stood there as I proceded to empty a 22 pistol at it, and missed every single shot.

BNagel,

Were you using open sights? In the heat of the moment it is common to take a "course bead" or not bring the front bead-post to the bottom of the "V". This will cause you to overshoot.

The old guys I grew up hunting will always said "hold low on deer" for that reason. The real answer is to 1) slow down and put the bead in the bottom of the bead or 2) use a "gost ring" type sight or 3) use a scope.

If using a scope flinch was probably the problem. At 50yd.s offhand vs. rest makes very little difference. The only no-no is resting the BARREL on a hard surface.

To rid yourself of a flinch, 1)use a good recoil pad 2) straight stock 3) practice in the manner the poster above described.

If someone else hands you the gun from behind you will not know if it is loaded or not. This will always expose a flinch. Good way to identify a flinch and to cure yourself of one.

Good luck;
Brett

BNagel,

How much have you shot your Rigby?

How much of it was NOT from a shooting range bench?

How good was your shooting with the Rigby, before you left on safari?

How well do you shoot with smaller and lighter calibers, under the same conditions?


How much hunting have you done in the past?

Hog Killer

I can't say much, I missed a big-assed steel plate with fla3006's 510 Wells the other day at about 20 yds by doing the same thing. Lucky for me, steel plates hold still and you get a second chance!

tigger,

You have a great excuse for your flinch, jeffe's 550Exp.

Hog Killer

Gee, and I thought it was just the anticipation of a 650 gr API ricochet

Do not use a tight sling, as you indicated you did, or otherwise attempt to tie yourself to your rifle. Especially if your sling is attached to a barrel band, as it undoubtedly is with your Rigby. POI will change radically from shot to shot. Forget everything you were ever taught about shooting smallbore military rifles.

Barry,If you where in a tight sling at 50 yards from a hide with a good rest sounds like you just wanted that kudu too much.Kudu fever would be my guess.How big was it?

Something that few hunters ever realize is that a miss like that is not always a flinch, what happens and I have seen it many times and it has happened to me on more than a few ocassions.. It is anticipating the hit, and looking up over the scope to see if you hit the animal, BEFORE you pull the trigger...It is so close that its hard to call but it happens more than many think.....In fact its very common.

Good point Ray,

I've caught myself doing this on close range targets several times. It's a bad vice but I've sure seen guys do it on close range targets.

I went muzzle loader hunting last week and caught my self trying to look around the smoke.

The way I caught myself was on one shot my rifle capped but didn't fire I realized that I'd pulled my head off the stock to watch the hit.

Bad, bad, bad shooting vice but it happens. And Ray is correct it's not a flinch

Practice, practice, practice.

Superb input, all of y'all. Okay, here goes --

To review / respond :

1. No running game, and BTW it's a CZ 550 Safari Magnum I've steel-bedded (snug fit). It also fits me well; I like the stock conformation of the "non-American" style just fine.

2. What I'm asking foremost concerns rest vs. no rest shooting of a big caliber rifle.

3. p dog shooter + tiggertate
I probably do flinch as evidenced by my trip performance with .300 H&H bolt gun off stix. The kudu was a twin to one already taken, so any "fever" may be due to wanting one with the .416 Rigby "too badly"?

4. Brett
1.5 to 5x Vari-X III scope in Talley detachable mounts, not open sights.

5.Hog Killer
Some shooting away from bench, incl. off stix, seated, tight sling. All results reasonable / comparable to concurrent .300 H&H practicing. And, I've had several hundreds of rounds through my .375 WeM "Bruno" since 1998 when I met Mark Wills at the Greenwood Gun Club range, Brazoria, Texas.
All other hunting is out the window of a Texas deer blind.
Not as much hunting as I'd like! :-)

6. Interboat
Tight sling, but no barrelband. (I'd been warned of what you point out.) Will change.

7. Mark, he'd be a 45" Eastern Cape greater kudu

8. Mr. Atkinson
I find myself "raising up" to prepare for a reload and second shot. We're on to something there now (I hope).

9. 500 grains
I need to (oops!) I must practice, practice, practice (but I must p, p, p correctly, eh?)
My pants are getting baggy with the organic grapefruit and apples + pure water thing, BTW.

Let 'er rip, fellas.

BNagel

Harry,
I told you compared the 550exp, the 500 is a breeze!!!

Myself, I am mentally conditioned to avoid scopes on anything bigger than 375... why? double scope cut in a WEEK on a short stocked 416 rem.


Why did you miss? Got 3 choices
1: gun doesn't shoot consistently
2: bad ammo
3: user error

When I miss, it's generally user error.. blood up, wanting to see impact, etc... so, when it's important and i just gotta see, I make certain to leave the left eye open, just long enough to annoy me, close it, shoot critter



jeffe

That's a really nice range, BNagel. I belonged for a couple of years in the early 90s and got so busy I let it drop. Sure wish I hadn't now. I belong to the little one on 2004 (Accuracy Inc.) just north of Lake Jackson now but it only has 100 yd & 25 yd ranges. The plus is privacy and availablity. If you're in the area sometime let's shoot!

I think Ray has it, I once missed a doe at 10 yards with a scoped TC contender and another time a doe at less than 20 with a scoped 7mm08 rifle. Seemed inexplicable to me but in retrospect I think I was looking at the deer expecting it to fall down and not "executing the shot" as if it were 100 yards away. Fundamentals still count even on "easy" shots.

Mossberg 3&1/2" pump gun + 3.5" loads and enjoy turkeying, wildfowling, or clay target shooting.
Clay shooting in a T-shirt would be great practice, but some fellow shooters might think you're a
Personally, I would get rid of this .416 cannone and get something I can hunt with.

I too have done what Ray and Surestrike describe; trying to look around the smoke. I've even caught myself doing it with a blackpowder revolver.

JPK

I missed a 35 inch Mule Deer once, by lifting my head to see if I hit him..He was bedded at 200 yards, I knew what I had done, so guess what I did it again on the second shot and he and his 40 inch buddy that I had not seen walked over the top and out of sight and I never found them again....I still have cold sweats, gilflurtations ans bokwabbles over those two shots...

What do you folks recommend for technique for shooting big bores off a rest at the range when sighting them in?

Front hand holding the stock in the normal manner, front hand rested over a stack of sand bags, folded towel between the butt and shoulder, lower the seat so that your upper torso is as erect as possible ie. not hunched over, fire three shots, get up walk around, drink some water, chat with other shooters, look at the clouds, go back and shoot three more shots, repeat until shoulder starts to hurt and quit for the day. Do not continue to shoot after something starts hurting. That is guarenteed to cause a flinch.

Use a STANDING benchrest, not a SITTING one.

Snowwolfe,
For sighting in big bores off a bench, a Caldwell Lead Sled will be the best 100 bucks you ever spend.

Regards, Wayne E.

tiggertate

I have lease work week / weekend this go-round, for my 7-day break. I AM interested in shooting with you at Accuracy, Inc. Or, come along to Greenwood. Maybe around October 21, 22?

Barry

retreever

The shock absorber approach works for me. At 50 yards all shots (.416 Rigby) in lower half of oval Chinette plate over kudu target, placed over vitals. Thanks a bunch!!

BNagel

Your most likely taking your head off the stock and looking at the target. Try shooting a shotgun at clay birds and have someone watch you when you miss. I'll bet thats whats going on. Offhand at 50 yrds with a .416 Rigby or Rem you should be easily capable of CONSISTENT 2 inch groups. Try off hand shooting at 50, 100 and 150 yrds at PIE PLATES. The distance at which you can't keep all your shots on a PIE PLATE Offhand is your maximum hunting distance. Don't do this from a rest, it means nothing that way. EVERYBODY can shoot well from a rest. By the way, for Big Bores a sling is for carrying not for shooting. On many guns it will cause fliers. Don't use it for that purpose.

I use folding chair as support on top of the bench to be able to stand while shooting my 416 Rigby CZ Safari. I developed flinch when I first shot it. I shot more than 50 rounds from the rest and flinch was hard to cure. Now I shoot it only in this matter and no more than 10 to 15 rounds.

450 RIGBY

Try putting a good recoil pad on your 416. Try out the Pachmayr F990 and you will find the anticipation of the shot largely reduced. You will shoot your rifle a lot better with a lot more confidence.
Take care,
Dave

Ray, I know it isn't gun related but I missed the buck of a lifetime with my BOW by looking where the shot was going. It's a hard habit to break.

the chef