It’s absolutely amazing how accurate you can get using this method with a little practice ,even though your wobbling your brain knows when to tell your finger to squeeze the trigger when near the centre of the target,there’s that old saying you got to give up control to gain control and that’s true here,remember boys keep your powder dry and shoot low there riding shetlands !!! Lol
I remember getting similar advice when I was doing youth shooting competitions. I was so focused on trying to be perfect I would shoot horribly till I was told "Don't think, Shoot" it was amazing how quickly your accuracy improves when you aren't overthinking
Pro tip: squeeze your crosshairs into perfection with your trigger finger. The gun going off should never surprise you, and you should always subconsciously be focused on follow through.
This is all in his book, Long Range Shooting Handbook for beginners. AMAZING book. I've been shooting all my life and served in the Army and it reminded me of stuff I forgot, taught me stuff I didn't know and cleared up stuff I found confusing.
Went back to the range yesterday. Did all his recommendations.. this one. Made a rear bag with air soft pellets and a “clean” sock. Did some dry fire drills with snap caps…. My best day ever…!!! Solid tips from a solid pro.
I have been teaching my daughter the same method since she started shooting. When your deer hunting you’re not trying to shoot a ping-pong ball so it’s OK for your radical to float slightly as long as you stay within the target area slowly squeezing the trigger. This is so much more important when you’re trying to shoot free handed.
This is so very true. I learned the concept when shooting competitive compound archery. Forcing (slapping) the shot is a very good way to end up with some form of target panic. Just allowing the reticle to float while subconsciously applying increasing pressure to the trigger will get you those smooth and very accurate shots you're looking for.
Great advice 👍 Thanks Ryan. I’ve watched and put into practice so many things from your videos and I haven’t went wrong yet. I appreciate your time and effort making these videos for us. Ash 🏴
DAM. You make it seem so simple. It took me a couple shots to figure out I was losing my trigger control by trying to time my swaying while at the range.
Great video. Rifles always shoot better than we do. We can see what a rifle can do from a bench rest but when we shoot the rifle human error comes into play and stability has a lot to do with that. Off hand and using the four shooting positions with no shooting aids really shows our errors and how much practice we need. We are not going to be able to stabilize the rifle as good as the rest can so we need to settle on acceptable accuracy and like you said, not worry about being more precise than we are able to be. Anticipation is a bad thing when shooting. It goes back to fire control first rather than aiming. Its the same with any gun. Hold the gun tight, point the gun at the target (do not aim), and pull the trigger without moving the gun. If we move the gun off target before the shot then aiming is useless and won't matter. After fire control then we can worry about aiming. Thanks for sharing.
Another great shooting tip. I just purchased your book Long Range Shooting Handbook. Thanks. Very easy to digest and not be overwhelmed. Keep it simple and have fun. Looking forward to shooting long range soon. Once I save enough money 💵 I know what long range bolt action rifle I want to get.
was that in basic? It may have changed with the addition of ACOG's in basic since I was there in " '94" but with Iron sights it was 2, 3 and 500 with standing only at the 200.
Good shit! I did this in M4 quals for speed and just hitting the damn target and my best is 40/40. Yet when I play SF sniper as a civilian/ hunter I would totally make that mistake and aim for the fly at 400 yards just because I’m looking through a scope. It all makes since now. Thank you sir.
That's what you eventually figure out when you shot competition matches enough times. But I've found it's better to train/practice the opposite, that is to force yourself to aim smaller, miss smaller, and at longer ranges than you need to be because while under the stress of having to perform on demand with no reset button during a competition match your proficiency drops as much as 50% compared to when merely practicing. By forcing yourself to relax more and settle down the wobble of the rifle to the point it actually stops for a few seconds for smaller targets at longer ranges during practice will make the competition match feel much more easy under the stress. Actually what causes pulling the rifle when pulling the trigger is due to not having both hands pulling the butstock tight into the shoulder and your cheek tight on the comb of the butstock; this both psychologically and physically allows you to relax your trigger finger to calmly squeeze with out rushing or jurking the trigger, or the fear of moving/pulling the rifle. I had to learn all that the hard way competing in alot of CMP and Silhouette matches decades ago.
I am a huge fan of the figure 8. If you are not shooting under duress.... Slow down. Relax. Let the rifle get in tune with your breathing. You should have nothing but an up-and-down motion in your reticle. But if you have side to side wiggles...do a little figure 8 over your intended impact point. Close your eyes for a second and center yourself... See the shot. Open your eyes hold your breath... And on your exhale take your shot. Slow exhale and trigger squeeze. Don't think of it as throwing a gun up to your shoulder to make a shot. Think of the rifle as an extension of yourself. It takes years and a lot of practice to learn... At least it did for me. The tendency for new shooters is to overstress the shot. Because there are so many variables in shooting it's easy to do. Eventually it becomes like pouring a glass of milk. Your body knows exactly what to do without spilling a drop.
This applies to handguns as well. When shooting at B8 targets at 25 yards, it's better to let the wobble on the dot or front sight happen, otherwise that "NOW!" trigger pull will mess people up.
Damn, I Had The Same Thing While I Shot The Targeted Rats Recently With My Dad's Brand New Air Rifle. #IJustShareTheStory UPDATE: The Next Morning After The Moment. The Target Down, And That's Kill Confirmed.
it sounds counter intuitive but aim small doesnt mean aim at a smaller target, it means aim at a larger less critical target such as center body mass as opposed to aiming for a head shot. Basically take the easy shot with more chance of a successful hit.
Don’t think about missing at all, that’s bad mental management. A miss is a miss no matter how small it is! If you think about missing, you’ll get misses.
Buuuut, you have to know well how precise your system is before you can define acceptable accuracy (ie: stop watching RU-vid videos and go throw some pebbles already!)
