First off, don't be intimidated or discouraged because other people appear to be able to shoot better. Far too often a novice believes that shooting is simply beyond his ability when he compares his scores to those around him. Shooting is a learned endeavor, and the individual who can simply pick up a rifle without previous exposure, and shoot it well, is in the minority. The fellow who fired 1.5" groups with his handloads in your rifle had you at a disadvantage through both his ammunition and his experience.
The steps to making a good shot can be covered by the Acronym BRASS which is as follows . . .
Breath -
Breath for each shot, don't hold your breath for more than one shot. Breath deeply and slowly, and when you feel relaxed, hold your breath at the natural reparatory pause to break the shot. Some teach that it is better to shoot when all the air is forced from the lungs, but this takes more time, reduces the amount of time you can keep the sights in focus, and produces tremors in your hold more rapidly. The natural respiratory pause is very consistent from shot to shot, and it doesn't have to be forced. If you have held your breath so long that you feel the need to rush the shot, or that your vision is loosing focus, simply take the weight off the trigger, breath again, and try again.
Relax,
Don't tense up, keep your muscles relaxed, use your breathing to help relax.
Aim,
Make sure you have the correct eye relief so that you have a full round image in the scope. If you see a shadow on one side of the image in the scope, your eye relief must be adjusted. The scope might have to be moved ahead or back, your head might have to move ahead or back, or you may have to adjust the magnification if your scope is a variable power model. Make sure your eye is directly behind the scope. If you can, shoot with both eyes open.
Slack,
Doesn't apply to sporting rifles with single stage triggers, but military style triggers have slack which must be taken up until the sear is engaged.
Squeeze,
Everyone says squeeze the trigger, but it is not what we mean. When a baby grabs your finger and squeezes it, the squeeze is with the entire hand. When shooting a rifle, you should acquire a firm handshake grip on the stock, place the first pad of your trigger finger on the face of the trigger and press the trigger, gradually adding weight until the trigger breaks. Only your finger should move, the amount of grip tension you have on the stock should remain unchanged. There should be a space between your trigger finger and the stock, any pressure exerted to the side of the stock as you press the trigger will send the bullet wide of its mark. The thumb of the shooting hand I prefer to have pointed straight forward rather than over the top, as this helps prevent you from being bumped in the nose when the rifle recoils, particularly if the stock is on the short side.
Speaking of which most people shoot better with the correct length of pull, and most people do better when the stock is a tad too short compared to if the stock is a tad too long. If you think you need to have a good recoil pad installed, take the opportunity to have the stock adjusted to fit you correctly. Most adults do best with a stock that is 13"-13.5" inches long from the face of the trigger to the center of the butt plate, although some people measure to the toe of the stock.
Natural Point of Aim,
A string of shots will hit the target in a more uniform manner if the shooter first acquires a natural point of aim. When the rifle is on target, simply adjust your position until your eye and the sight is is alignment. This prevents muscling the rifle over when position shooting. Check ing the natural point of aim can be done simply by aiming the rifle at the target, then closing your eyes and allowing your muscles to go limp, when you open you eyes, if the rifle has swung off target, your position needs adjustment.
Trigger control exercise,
Place a coin on the top of the rifle barrel near the muzzle, then attempt to dry fire the rifle without disturbing it. Begin with a quarter, then try a dime. If you can press the trigger of your rifle without the dime falling off the barrel, you've got it, until then you need to work at it.
Don't spend all you time on the bench. Marksmanship is the test of shooting without removing all the wiggles and wobbles that are associated with human physiology, where the purpose of the bench is to remove to the extent possible the weakness of using the human body as a gun platform. Once a baseline of accuracy has been established for the rifle and ammunition, and the sight-in process has been completed, start shooting from field positions, with a sling if you have one. The use of a shooting sling can improve your ability to hit from supported positions by as much as 30%.
Hope this helps.
