5 inside a dime - Finally I understand the Hard Hold :)

lapadat

lapadat

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I've always wondered why I shot tighter groups from the prone position vs. bench....until I read the "Hard Hold" article (link below). Since then I've been experimenting with various holds and have found a signficant improvement in group size and shape. I'm running a factory Savage 10 FCP and NF 5.5-22x50.

My Crown land shooting area is snowed-in, thus I've been playing with various holds while shooting off a bench with front/rear bags.

Load data is:
175 SMK
44.5 gr Varget
Win brass
Fed 210

I'm now holding the gun tight. The stock is pulled smartly into my shoulder, the tips of the fingers of my shooting hand lightly grasp the stock while the lower parts of my fingers (area under the first knuckle) pull the rifle towards me. My cheek is planted firmly on the stock. My thumb rests on the tang - slightly off-center of the gun. This combination seems to yield the best results. I think this Hard-hold style bench shooting is very similiar (in how the rifle recoils) as my prone style.

This is quite the opposite to my Savage 12 BVSS in 223 that acts like a prissy little BR gun and likes to nearly free-recoil to achieve best results. Now I know

Lapadat

**The dots are 3/4" and can be found at Walmart - cheap and easy targets**

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http://www.canadiangunnutz.com/forum/showthread.php?t=153237&highlight=hard+hold
 
Interesting. I recall reading an article about shoot springer airguns. The author felt that with all the bizarre vibrations coming from a spring gun, it worked better to not fight it at all, but recoil freely. He compared it to an artillery piece sliding back a long way on the rails.
 
Here is a 5 shot group i did today (31-Mar-12)at the 200m mark at poco range.Didn't do the measure but it's sub moa. I shoot prone only and all though this is not my very best, it is what i can do more than half the time at 200m. I only test my loads prone and at 200m. I find 100 meters just isn't enough to tell if the bullets are stable. I shoot heavier and slow bullets. I find my 100 meter groups to be way different so that's why i do 200m. I use the hard hold technique like OP mentioned. I pull the rifle into the shoulder, lean forward and load my harris bipod up, take my cheek and rest very hard on the cheek riser and grip it tight at the pistol grip and use a sandbag at the rear. i reference my scope level and acquire the target with both eyes open, take 3 breaths and on the third exhale hold, count 1, 2 and 3. On 1, i close my one eye and i begin to load up the first stage of the trigger, on 2 i have completed the first stage load up and ready for the 2nd stage. On "and 3" i began to squeeze. By the time 3 is finished, the round is down range and i am on follow up.I actually tried the free recoil technique today for a change. Where the rifle basically rests on the ground and very little shooter weight is behind the gun, similiar to those benchrest guys who use a rig to secure the rifle and just lightly touch the trigger. Can be equally as good but the problem i find with the free recoil technique is that your follow up shot suffers major. With the hard hold, i see the bullet hit with little muzzle jump almost instantly. I prefer the hardhold. I use a trg-22 with a nightforce nxs 8-32. This was a new load i was testing with the 185 berger bullets.Glad somebody did a post about this.

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Uniformity is the key. Competition benchrest shooters use the softest hold possible - basically apply no pressure or contact to the rifle - because it is easier to achieve absolute uniformity. It can be tricky to apply uniform load. Some rifles, particularly those with flexing stocks, do shoot better with load.
 
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