Sporting Rife and Hunting Rifle - Shooting Federation of Canada

And here’s the Savage MkI FVT. I only shot a single series with it scoring 195x3.

This was my starter rifle… It’s accurate for sure. It’s biggest weakness is it’s stock. The down side is by the time you buy an aftermarket stock for it, you’re getting close the the $1k mark… and I think it might be tough to find a suitable stock that wouldn’t put you over the 4kg limit. For that money you might find a better rifle on the used market. The factory stock offers a chin weld only, and it’s but slips off my shoulder often while being shot, resulting in the the ugly 9’s here. The trigger has been set to 1.1kg same as the Anschutz above. The Anschutz has a two stage trigger that I prefer over the accu-trigger but I don’t think the savages trigger brings any disadvantage to someone shooting sporting rifle with it… The rear iris definitely benefits from being shaded by a visor and using a blinder for your non dominant eye. I put the visor on and a blinder for diagram 4 and really took my time producing what might be my best group off hand with this rifle…

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Did some shooting this morning at 20 yards prone with my CZ 457
Never counted score on these before, I know anything that touches the ring counts but you're not suppose to count the "cracks" caused by the shot right? haha
I find if I don't pull the trigger perfectly then it'll easily go right

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machohugeaxe said:
Did some shooting this morning at 20 yards prone with my CZ 457
Never counted score on these before, I know anything that touches the ring counts but you're not suppose to count the "cracks" caused by the shot right? haha
I find if I don't pull the trigger perfectly then it'll easily go right
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Well Done!!! Those are great targets! Yes if the bullet touches the line it counts. One way you can check, is take an unfired 22 and press it in center of the hole, you can typically tell if it touches the line or not. I hear you about the trigger press. That’s why I’ve found this sport to be the deepest dive into the fundamentals of rifle shooting I’ve ever taken. The slightest thing makes all the difference. That’s also why I figured if someone took up both this sport and CRPS or ORPS…. Well they’d likely get pretty darn good at shooting rifles... I’d like to see more precision series shooters try it.

Again, great shooting Mac!
 
@ Machohugeaxe, I updated and posted the scores in Post #1, please have a look when you get a chance and just let me know if it’s correct. Again well done!
 
machohugeaxe said:
Thanks, whats the number after the X? number of bullseyes?
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That number after the X Is your total amount of x-ring hits. X-ring hits are used to settle ties which happens often enough. I counted 14 in your pictures but it can be tough seeing them on the 20 yard target via the picture…. If you got more let me know and I will correct it. Keep at it!
 
I did another 3 sets today, 180, 182, 186, no significant improvement over last time. Lightened my trigger pull but I think i'm tightening my grip when I pull the trigger as well.
Not sure if I should be having a relaxed grip and focusing on just pulling with the finger, or should I go with a pre-tightened grip haha, going to experiment on Sunday.
 
machohugeaxe said:
I did another 3 sets today, 180, 182, 186, no significant improvement over last time. Lightened my trigger pull but I think i'm tightening my grip when I pull the trigger as well.
Not sure if I should be having a relaxed grip and focusing on just pulling with the finger, or should I go with a pre-tightened grip haha, going to experiment on Sunday.
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Well done! I’ll be shooting at 20yardd on an indoor range this Sunday for LSBA practice. I’ll post my results here.

As for grip, I’ve found for hunting rifle I do grip the rifle harder then for sporting rifle. I use the checkering for a little grip and almost push/pull apart much like you might do with a shotgun. Try splaying your elbows a little wider apart and settling in (still keep your forearms at least 30 degrees up off the ground). That’s how I find my stability for hunting rifle. And take lots of time.
 
Did 2 sessions of night time, no time limit practice and I think I made a breakthrough. Having the time to think about everything helps a lot. My results aren't too much better yet (547x10) but I feel like there's way less randomness and I'm responsible for where every shot goes.
I'm writing down the thoughts I had, just as a way of organizing them. Keep in mind I'm figuring out a lot of this stuff as a newbie, so its new to me but probably not to others.

- You don't aim once you're in a position, that means randomness as it can be different every time, you aim WITH your position. Don't set yourself then move your aim to the target, shift yourself so that you're naturally on target without adjusting
- Related to above... I experimented with finding the best height for putting the target as well
- Once I got enough practice settling into a repeatable position that's naturally on target, next was the timing to the shot. Here I realized, don't tunnel vision. When I tried to precisely follow the crosshair and pull the trigger when it was over the center, I almost never hit the bullseye. I think because there's always a bit of a lag. Instead what worked better was keeping a loose focus around the bullseye instead
- Trying to do this, I also observed there is always going to be movement, my crosshair is never still, but once your position is repeatable, the motion around the bullseye is generally repetitive as well, my next step is to practice timing the shot while keeping this loose focus, and becoming familiar with this movement.
- There's the trigger pull mechanic as well. My last few times has been focused around trying to not make mistakes during trigger pull. Focusing on the finger and try not to grip whole hand etc... However I dropped in a timney trigger and that is a lot easier now.

Aiming for 570!
 
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machohugeaxe said:
Did 2 sessions of night time, no time limit practice and I think I made a breakthrough. Having the time to think about everything helps a lot. My results aren't too much better yet (547x10) but I feel like there's way less randomness and I'm responsible for where every shot goes.
I'm writing down the thoughts I had, just as a way of organizing them. Keep in mind I'm figuring out a lot of this stuff as a newbie, so its new to me but probably not to others.

- You don't aim once you're in a position, that means randomness as it can be different every time, you aim WITH your position. Don't set yourself then move your aim to the target, shift yourself so that you're naturally on target without adjusting
- Related to above... I experimented with finding the best height for putting the target as well
- Once I got enough practice settling into a repeatable position that's naturally on target, next was the timing to the shot. Here I realized, don't tunnel vision. When I tried to precisely follow the crosshair and pull the trigger when it was over the center, I almost never hit the bullseye. I think because there's always a bit of a lag. Instead what worked better was keeping a loose focus around the bullseye instead
- Trying to do this, I also observed there is always going to be movement, my crosshair is never still, but once your position is repeatable, the motion around the bullseye is generally repetitive as well, my next step is to practice timing the shot while keeping this loose focus, and becoming familiar with this movement.
- There's the trigger pull mechanic as well. My last few times has been focused around trying to not make mistakes during trigger pull. Focusing on the finger and try not to grip whole hand etc... However I dropped in a timney trigger and that is a lot easier now.

Aiming for 570!
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That’s awesome stuff mac. It’s a deep dive! And what’s cool is that it’s not about better equipment or buying performance to remove as much of you the shooter from the equation… it’s about honing your own skill and shooting as perfect as you possibly can, and repeating it. Looks like you’re doing awesome! Keep at it.

Natural point of aim is really important as you describe above. And yes repeatability in how you hold the rifle, everything down to exact finger placement on the trigger is really important for consistency. Look forward to you hitting that 570 goal!
 
Did another 3 sets of indoor prone 20 yards today. No revelations, was just working on my workflow.
1. Get in position, look at muzzle movement, if it's too large, adjust to better elbow position
2. Once elbows positioned for minimum muzzle movement, adjust buttstock slightly so that muzzle movement is centered around bullseye on full exhale
3. Take a few breaths and "expand" focus so I'm not tunnel visioning on the crosshair
4. Pull trigger when it feels right

Anyway I'm open to suggestions to changing what I'm doing

183x3
191x2
193x4

Total 567x9

Getting close!
 
CanuckCooper said:
Absolutely!!! What was it like back then? We’re there provincials and nationals for the sport then? Would be cool to hear about it and what people used/shot for it.
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I shot sporting rifle as a junior in the 70s. Silly Mike and I were not competitors but he knows the range where I spent one evening a week shooting winter league. I was good enough to qualify for the provincial development program. We had an issue of free ammo and lots of targets to shoot prone and 3P. There were not many clubs running junior programs, but each summer there were enough kids to run provincial summer games medal classes. The year I cleaned up (5 golds in the regionals and 3 in the finals) was the year everyone ranked above me were ineligible because they were competing at the Canada summer games!

I got a double thickness canvas shooting jacket out of the program - made by the mother of Tony at Tradex. My rifle was an Anschutz 1427 without the biathlon gear, and most of the others had either club or parent's-purchased CIL 190s. Somewhere I still have the kneeling roll my mom and I made from the leg of pair of jeans.
 
I started shooting SFC sporting rifle and match rifle in the mid 60's, and although I have not competed in registered shoots more many years, I still shoot a match rifle with sling'n'irons on a regular basis both smallbore and fullbore.
I regularly shoot smallbore at 100 meters as well as 50, but in the winter only shoot at 20 meters indoors .
I am the only one in our club that does however .
Cat
 
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