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Improving the standing shot.


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Hi all again. Does anyone have any tips on how to improve the standing shot? I have shot since a youngn, unfortunately, my standing shot is just terrible and I still lack the confidence to take out long range bunnies with my .22lr past about 35 yards. I have tried a monopod, which has helped slightly, but I still seem to suffer from terrible groupings.

 

Apart from putting boxes and boxes down the range, what other tips do you have? My permission needs me to take the odd standing, does anyone have any tips? I have a sling, but haven't quite grasped how to use it to improve my standing tshooting technique

 

Quite embarrassing as I am in the military and I'm just as bad with 30 rounds of 5.56 on semi auto at a man sized target.

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I have used monopod and bipod shooting sticks, but the best I have now is the HSF tripod from Sportsmanguncentre. This product is also available from another supplier a few pounds cheaper, but I'm not sure which one. The tripod is very light but sturdy, and helps keep your rifle still while you take the shot. I sent one to my mate, 'cocker3' on here,who does a lot of stalking, and he agrees that this product is excellent value for money. If you did order from Sportsman, there is a six pound delivery charge.

 

Steve.

 

 

http://www.sportsman...Shooting Stick/

 

EDIT: The other supplier is greanadiersupplies.co.uk.

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I have to agree with what steve-b-wales says. A set of shooting sticks sounds like the way forwards for you mate!

If you are on a tight budget why not try making a lightweight set yourself. There are plenty of videos showing howw to make a good set on youtube.

These are quite good, cheap and easy to make:

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Two things that work well for me.

First is speed. I shoot rabbits standing or kneeling but I have to shoot in about the time it takes me to say spot, acquire, fire. So I see the rabbit, bring the scope on to the eye and fire. If I hold for longer I just wobble and it all goes to pot. So I lower the gun and if the bunny is still there I go through it again.

Second is to see where I'm aiming after I take the shot. Set up a target, take the shot and then relax, but with gun still in the firing position. If you look through scope and you're off target it suggests you were adding tension in your body to bring the scope on target. It's a little like practising your shotgun mount.

 

Anyway, both of the above help me and might be worth a try.

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As has been said above - the longer you try and hold the rifle steady the more movement you will have!

 

Also worth lowering the magnification on your scope, higher magnification exaggerates the movement.

 

Practice is the key, control your breathing, lift the rifle, aim as it is coming up through the target, acquire the target and squeeze off the shot. Only practice in 3-5 shot strings as it gets tiring.

 

Sticks are great, but there will be times when you need to shoot off hand - practice is the key.

 

Mike

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Two things that work well for me.

First is speed. I shoot rabbits standing or kneeling but I have to shoot in about the time it takes me to say spot, acquire, fire. So I see the rabbit, bring the scope on to the eye and fire. If I hold for longer I just wobble and it all goes to pot. So I lower the gun and if the bunny is still there I go through it again.

Second is to see where I'm aiming after I take the shot. Set up a target, take the shot and then relax, but with gun still in the firing position. If you look through scope and you're off target it suggests you were adding tension in your body to bring the scope on target. It's a little like practising your shotgun mount.

 

Anyway, both of the above help me and might be worth a try.

 

This is excellent advice IMO :good:

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i agree with gerry31,i have made and tried monopods,bipods,tripods but the best i have come across are quad sticks,a bit hard to use at first but once you get the hang of them there excellent,absolutely solid,see mark gilchrists video how to make cheap shooting sticks you can even zero off them,strongly recommend them

atb dave

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I find using my sling helps steady my rifle so i can take a standing shot,but i never hold the rifle up for to long,usually up , acquire, shoot,then lower slightly,so your muscle doesn't start to fatigue.

Here's what i do with my sling,sorry about the boring intro,just skip through until you see him using the sling from 1.01

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Two things that work well for me.

First is speed. I shoot rabbits standing or kneeling but I have to shoot in about the time it takes me to say spot, acquire, fire. So I see the rabbit, bring the scope on to the eye and fire. If I hold for longer I just wobble and it all goes to pot. So I lower the gun and if the bunny is still there I go through it again.

As above,second thing which works well for me is the use of the sling to introduce just the right amount of tension between the shoulder the rifle is mounted in,and the forearm holding the rifle.This is how we were taught in the cadets,and although I haven't seen the posted video,I'm assuming it's something very similar.

Tension your arm through the sling,up with the gun,aquire target and bang.All in the space of less than 5 seconds;longer than that and wobble setrs in!

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Hi all again. Does anyone have any tips on how to improve the standing shot? I have shot since a youngn, unfortunately, my standing shot is just terrible and I still lack the confidence to take out long range bunnies with my .22lr past about 35 yards. I have tried a monopod, which has helped slightly, but I still seem to suffer from terrible groupings.

 

Apart from putting boxes and boxes down the range, what other tips do you have? My permission needs me to take the odd standing, does anyone have any tips? I have a sling, but haven't quite grasped how to use it to improve my standing tshooting technique

 

Quite embarrassing as I am in the military and I'm just as bad with 30 rounds of 5.56 on semi auto at a man sized target.

 

Make your self a set of quad sticks, take your time with them and you wont look back.

I use mine on my rifle for foxes and very successful. A good tool as also very usfull when walking through rough ground etc.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8L2Kgmvs_PY

 

 

TEH

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10m standing air rifle was what I really excelled at when I was with the squad. There's a huge amount to try to explain to you but I'll try to give some helpful hints;

 

60% of your weight on your front foot

 

Imagine a line straight from the target to you, put your feet at more or less 90 degrees on that line with the line running through about the middle of your feet but put the rear foot an inch or so further forward.

 

Lean back slightly

 

Stick your front hip out and rest your left (if right handed) elbow on it or on your belly slightly above it- the key is to have bone from the rifle to the ground.

 

Relax - with everything slumped, you only have the bone (mentioned above) supporting the rifle so no involuntary muscle movements as the rifle fires.

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Take a look at this video series:

 

There are a few of them, take a few minutes to watch them all, they're better than just reading how to do something.

 

The best bet would be to get a set of shooting sticks, I have some 3 legged sticks that are fine for kneeling, sitting or standing shots, and being 3 legged they are very stable.

 

For times when you have to shoot standing without support, hold the rifle so that the left hand (if you shoot from the right) is taking all the weight, with your elbow pressed into your chest. Don't breathe while doing this, and then aim just above the target and gently lower the rifle through it, and squeeze the shot off as the cross-hairs reach the correct point.

If you try to hold the rifle on target, you will wander everywhere, the longer you try to hold it steady the worse it gets.

Using muscle to support the rifle will lead to fatigue and shakes, which is why you need to support yourself in such a way that the weight is resting through your joints on a bone to bone link.

Have the magnification as low as possible for all shooting, it makes everything look much more steady. Not seeing your aim wandering round is a great help psychologically.

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The rifle will move when you breathe, if you try to stop this you'll be constantly correcting yourself. Allow the rifle to move, for me as a left hander it moves down and right when I breathe in. Position yourself so that as you exhale the crosshairs come up to the target. To take the shot, exhale and stop, then squeeze the trigger within a few seconds. This works for me.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Make your self a set of quad sticks, take your time with them and you wont look back.

I use mine on my rifle for foxes and very successful. A good tool as also very usfull when walking through rough ground etc.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8L2Kgmvs_PY

 

 

TEH

 

Just made myself a set of these and I'm pretty happy with the way they've turned out......... and they're not as hard to set up as they look. :good:

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If you have decent eye sight ,then have a go with open sights . you may be pleasenty surprised .

 

Harnser .

 

I agree - standing with open sights is well worth trying.

.38 cal gallery shooting at 25m is a cracking way to practice and improve your standing / sporting shot.

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