Marksmanship help. Rifle positioning while prone?
- Thread starter kykamo
- Start date
Mystic Precision
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Summerland, BC
Very good video and there have been a few updates to this... Jacob, guy shooting in the video, is awfully good at keeping his position right. Note that when he is cycling the action, the left arm isn't moving around, body still, head through the scope... awesome stuff. A proper working action helps a lot here too.
The right behind the rifle is actually tough for many shooters cause this is NOT their natural POA... add to this many combs are way too wide for many faces so it gets really uncomfortable to actually have your head and thus body where it should be.
The old style that the common wealth trained was actually an angled body to the boreline. The current trend is to have the barrel line up with the inside of the firing thigh... this means the shooter is "way" over vs tradition... why the simple answer is keep moving your hips right if RHS, left if LHS.
Look at how Jacob is lying down and from above, he looks like a Y with the rifle in the "middle". I assure you, this is NOT comfy for most traditional shooters. I don't bend enough to let both feets lie flat and have to pull my right foot up a bit... but this alignment and proper shooting method WILL allow the rifle to drive back without hopping one side or the other. The shooter is NOT muscling the rifle to say put... it simply will.
The rifle buttpad should move closer and closer to your ear and off the shoulder ball joint. Ball joint actually moves forward relative to the buttpad and suddenly LOP is way too SHORT.
My prone LOP is almost 2" longer then bench/positional.
If the stock has an adjustable comb, take the comb right off and it will allow you to move the rifle into a better position... Yes, it will feel like the chin is on the stock. The head turns to be more square to the scope eyepiece (it is angled right now more then likely). Take an overhead picture of your self and compare to Jacob. If you are getting left hop, I bet your head is not square to the boreline.
In short, the inline position is very uncomfortable with many stocks so we angle off to the side to compensate. Think about this... your eye should be centered on the center line of your scope BUT your eyes are inset relative to the cheekbone. So how can your cheek be on the outside of the stock and your eye inline with the scope?
When you get the ergonomics and set up right, even large amounts of recoil can be controlled and you can see the bullet impacts at distance.
I compete in F TR and giggle when many say the 230's cannot be controlled and gun becomes inconsistent. When I was using them, I could see my bullet impacts with reticle pretty much still on my "rock"... or in the 4 ring if talking paper target. With lighter bullets, I am pretty much still in the 5 ring.
With proper set up, a rifle will track like it is on rails... just don't expect this to happen with off the rack gear.
Jerry
Nothing but excellent advice so far. One thing that hasn't been brought up that has worked wonders for me is raising the height of the recoil pad. When I was in prone I found that only half of the recoil pad was in my shoulder pocket, raising it inline or even above the height of the cheek piece really firmed up my position. If your rifle can be adjusted that way give it a try.
Nothing but excellent advise is right. I'll have lots to practice! Thanks guys. Quite excited with this info. Really helps narrow down issues and cut through crap teaching.
I havnt visited every link y'all have shared yet, but I'd like an explanation about why the heels on the ground is important?
Also, where exactly is the shoulder pocket located? I'v heard many different ideas, I'm curious what the true answer is.
Thanks guys
I havnt visited every link y'all have shared yet, but I'd like an explanation about why the heels on the ground is important?
Also, where exactly is the shoulder pocket located? I'v heard many different ideas, I'm curious what the true answer is.
Thanks guys
I was at an F Class shoot this summer and someone had exactly the same problem. I told him to move his legs around to see if that helped, or look at the scope rings and re-torque them. Turned out the rings were loose. After he tightened them up he was spot on.
I will second this. Practicing Jacob's techniques has helped me more than anything else. Rifles Only is his company and they have tons of good info.
The first time my wife ever fired my rifle we set her up just like in the video and had her do several dry fires. Once the reticle was no longer moving on her from shot to shot she put the mag in and went for it. The result was one ragged hole in her target, blew us away.
Last edited:
RangerPark
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- Near Edmonton, AB
Somewhat late to this party but I used to have a problem with the rifle jumping left too. All tips mentioned in the thread are good. I'd like to add shoulder geometry to the mix. If prone or on the bench pay attention to where your elbows are in relation to each other. If your left elbow is ahead your shoulders are facing right and your rifle will tend to jump left. You can intentionally force your right elbow ahead as much as possible and see how it impacts jump. This will help you find your sweet spot.
