Why am I such a terrible shot?

[Cant-hit-sh!t]

So I just got into shooting...bought a sks and m305 and some cheap ammo and go out to the range. I sight them in at 25m the best I can then head over to 100m and can't hit the broad side of a barn!!
I've seen guys talking of 4" or 3" or whatever groups at 100m with iron sights, Im lucky if i hit 12" X 12" target much less groups of anything!!!
What should my expectations be sitting using a bag rest??
Let me have it........

[surfclod]

If you just got into shooting an SKS and m305 are not the best choices for confidence building.

Get yourself a decent bolt action .22 LR and put in lots of time at short ranges, 25 meters and therabouts.

I would recomend getting a decent scope then you will learn the effect of trigger control, cheek weld, controlling your breathing, etc. Some might recomend you stick with irons, but I like the magnification to help build confidence.

[sdlonyer]

Could be equipment, ammunition or you..or some combination of all 3.
Ask an experienced shooter at your range to look at your technique and maybe try shooting the rifle to see if it works for him.
Stick with it.

[bobbynewmark]

You don't have the easiest two rifles to shoot with iron sights... my chinese sks and m305 both have poor iron sights, and the sks by design has a short sight radius making it more difficult to be accurate..

Try a scope on one or both and see how you improve.. Trigger jobs are usually the easiest way to the start of better accuracy as well, and you can go crazy with bedding, crowning, and a whole lot more.. especially on the m305 (lots of info out there, and people who can tell you about that).

Start with the fundamentals of rifle shooting like breathing, trigger control, seating position, rifle rests, decent ammo, etc.. and go from there.

good luck and welcome to CGN

EDIT: By the time I typed this, several others had said the same thing... but faster Lots of good advice here

[dand883]

Well, it sounds like you're compounding errors, or inaccuracies to start off. Cheap surplus ammo isn't accurate, any off the shelf SKS or M305 MAY be decently accurate, but may not be, it's a gamble.

Are you using a scope? The front sight post on an sks will sometime cover up your target completely, which makes it tought to aim.

How much practise do you have with what you are shooting? With a scoped bolt action rifle and a bipodor front rest i can consistently keep my shots inside a 6" circle at 200m. For me that's good enough for hunting accuracy for where i hunt.

With open sights such as on an sks, forget a 6" circle, i'm more like you, if i keep them all inside 12"x12" att 100m it's a good day. I don't shoot much with open sights, so i'm not that great with them.

How used to shooting are you? You may be flinching and throwing things off as well. If i go 6 or 8 months without shooting i catch myself flinching the first few shots, and i have been shooting for quite a few years now, so it can happen.

How do you pull the trigger? A nice smooth pull, a jerky quick pull, etc. Lots of things can be throwing you off.

How quick do you shoot? If i have a bolt action i take more time and am more careful with my shots, with a semi i tend to rush it more and throw more shots downrange.

A cheaper way to really practise and get your trigger pull, breathing, etc really down is to get a .22 and really make sure you do things consistently and thenmove up to the bigger guns.

[Gunexpert007]

If you just got into shooting an SKS and m305 are not the best choices for confidence building.

Get yourself a decent bolt action .22 LR and put in lots of time at short ranges, 25 meters and therabouts.

I would recomend getting a decent scope then you will learn the effect of trigger control, cheek weld, controlling your breathing, etc. Some might recomend you stick with irons, but I like the magnification to help build confidence.

That pretty much sums it up.......new shooters should always start with a 22 cal. to avoid flinching . I have seen many new people to the shooting sports over the years start with bigger cal. guns , and they start to develope a flinch due to the recoil . Get a 22 , they have no recoil to speak of , and ammo is cheap , so you can get lots of practise while spending very little money . If you are looking to get into long range shooting , mount a scope on your rifle as there is only so much you can do with iron sights in long distance shooting......and enjoy the sport....

[new and novice]

If I were you, I'd head back out to the store and get a bolt action .22. 100 yards IMO is far to start. Max out at 50 yards, and go nuts for a few hundred rounds.

I did the same thing that you did. I started with a 303 British and a shotgun with slugs. I wasted a lot of ammo, but had targets that I could use in two trips to the range.

Have fun and welcome to the site.

[Stevebot-7]

Part of it is that accuracy opens up exponentially as you go further out. What is a 3" group at 25m might open up to a 12" group at 100m.

Sitting, using a bag rest like you are is a pretty stable shooting platform so there's no real problems there.

Ammunition used is a huge consideration, especially if you are shooting surplus ammo. There can be massive discrepancies between cartridges. If you have some reloading gear, one thing you can do is make some "Mexican Match" ammo by pulling out bullets and powder, measuring each one until you figure out what the "load" is supposed to be and then separating them by bullet weight and re-measuring a precise powder charge in them. If one cartridge has a 145gr bullet and 41 grains of powder, and the other has a 149gr bullet and 38.5 grains of powder they're not really going to give you the most reliable results.

Another important factor is shooting technique, I'm no expert, but I can say that slow is smooth and smooth is fast. Don't rush it.

[stampede]

If I were you, I'd head back out to the store and get a bolt action .22. 100 yards IMO is far to start. Max out at 50 yards, and go nuts for a few hundred rounds.

I did the same thing that you did. I started with a 303 British and a shotgun with slugs. I wasted a lot of ammo, but had targets that I could use in two trips to the range.

Have fun and welcome to the site.

^ this

And you will also end up with a 22 in your gun cabinet. Everyone should have at least one 22.

[sunray]

It's almost impossible to say what's happening without seeing how you shoot. The cheap ammo(don't expect great accuracy out of an SKS. They weren't made for it.) can be one, but trigger control, sight picture and breathing are far more important. The other thing is how you're using your bag rest and where you put the rifle on it. The rifle should sit on the bag on the stock at its balance point.
There are some books that will tell you how that is done. Check your public library first then ask in your local gun shop.
Using a .22 to learn on(techniques are the same) will cost you considerably less than either 7.62 x 39 or .308. Doesn't have to be a bolt action or a single shot though. Then you'll have to try a box of as many brands as you can to find the ammo your .22 shoots best.
A scope won't help much. They just let you see the target better and they do not make a rifle shoot better.