Hello all, i was just wondering what your routine is for shooting groups with your rimfires? Do you shoot 3-5 or 10 shot groups? How much wait time in between shots in individual groups as well as how long until you shoot a second,third fourth group? What do you do when switching ammo to try groups with them, start grouping right away,shoot a few rounds off and then start grouping or shoot a whole box off and then start grouping? What distance do you shoot most of your groups 25,50,100yds? Feel free to add any other tips, tricks or practices that you have in your grouping routines or any other important points i may have failed to mention, thanks Slayer
Grouping stratagies
- Thread starter 1duckslayer
- Start date
cz452shooter
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- Sparwood, BC
Hi there duckslayer,
I shoot mainly at 50 and 100 yards for benchrest and then I shoot at 50m for my position shooting. Most of my groups consist of 5 shots. However, I do shoot 10 shots when I shoot at 100 yards usually becasause that is our course of fire at the local shoots I do (8, 10 shot groups at 100 yards).
Waiting between shots is mainly dependent on wind. Unless you are shooting hundreds of rounds a minute you reallly don't have to worry about barrel heat with the rimfires. So for me if the wind is calm I will take shots fairly fast (but I try to get them fairly consistent as well in timing) or when shooting in wind I will wait for a consistent condition.
When I am seriously testing ammo I like to clean after every different type of ammunition (except in cases like Eley Match EPS and then swith to Eley Ultimate Match EPS or Lapua Midas to Lapua Master because the bullet is basically the exact same). Nothing too major just a wet patch followed by a couple dry ones. I then shoot 3 or 4 shots through the barrel to foul it with that type of ammo before starting my actual test For not too serious ammo testing I just shoot a couple shots with the new ammo to get the barrel settled in a bit.
Other than that the key is consistency. I think one of the most important factors for shooting good groups is the cant (how much you are tilting it) of your rilfle. Most people pay absolutely no attention to this. Just a degree or two of cant will move the shot a fair bit, especially with rifles with high scope set ups (higher the scope from the barrel the more cant effects it basically).
This is why Benchrest stocks are used with very wide forends - to keep a consistent cant. A spirit level on the scope can really help with this for sporting style guns, and a windage adjustable rest helps as well when shooting scoring shots (1 shot a target usually at 50 yards). When shooting on the rest make sure the rifle returns to the exact same spot after you are done as well - this is important.
I shoot mainly at 50 and 100 yards for benchrest and then I shoot at 50m for my position shooting. Most of my groups consist of 5 shots. However, I do shoot 10 shots when I shoot at 100 yards usually becasause that is our course of fire at the local shoots I do (8, 10 shot groups at 100 yards).
Waiting between shots is mainly dependent on wind. Unless you are shooting hundreds of rounds a minute you reallly don't have to worry about barrel heat with the rimfires. So for me if the wind is calm I will take shots fairly fast (but I try to get them fairly consistent as well in timing) or when shooting in wind I will wait for a consistent condition.
When I am seriously testing ammo I like to clean after every different type of ammunition (except in cases like Eley Match EPS and then swith to Eley Ultimate Match EPS or Lapua Midas to Lapua Master because the bullet is basically the exact same). Nothing too major just a wet patch followed by a couple dry ones. I then shoot 3 or 4 shots through the barrel to foul it with that type of ammo before starting my actual test For not too serious ammo testing I just shoot a couple shots with the new ammo to get the barrel settled in a bit.
Other than that the key is consistency. I think one of the most important factors for shooting good groups is the cant (how much you are tilting it) of your rilfle. Most people pay absolutely no attention to this. Just a degree or two of cant will move the shot a fair bit, especially with rifles with high scope set ups (higher the scope from the barrel the more cant effects it basically).
This is why Benchrest stocks are used with very wide forends - to keep a consistent cant. A spirit level on the scope can really help with this for sporting style guns, and a windage adjustable rest helps as well when shooting scoring shots (1 shot a target usually at 50 yards). When shooting on the rest make sure the rifle returns to the exact same spot after you are done as well - this is important.
When shooting my match rifle at 50 yards/50 meters, I fire 5 shots into the sighter target, then 4, 5 shot groups into the scoring targets, just like in a match. I single load with the rifle in the shoulder. When I shoot 100 yards 2-3 sighters is all I take then 2, 10 shot groups into the scoring targets. All of my smallbore competition is shot in the US, time limits are 22 minutes for unlimited sighters and 20 on score. The time limits will allow a minute of so break between strings of 10, but you don't want to spend too much time on the sighters if at all possible.
When switching ammo a few fouling shots and then straight to the groups.
When switching ammo a few fouling shots and then straight to the groups.
