22LR off hand shooting tips

[elmacgyver0]

When I was in 4H, all we did was raise pigs and calves.

[country gent]

If theres a CMP/DCM club near you consider the beginners match if they put one on. Check with your state rifle pistol association for it. Ohios was a weekend event saturday was 4 hours class room and a practice match with coaches sunday was a actual match. Rifles and ammo were supplied at ours. Only personal gear was needed. This was a high power event garands and a fee ar15/m16s were the rifles.

Our match filled up early father son teams boy scouts some mother daughter and girl scouts, and friends it was a 2 man team event. It was a fun event for the competitors and people putting it on.

[brokeasajoke]

Last practice he done well. Practice is definitely improving his skill.

[jsizemore]

Dry fire and live fire practice is the way to go. Natural point of aim leads the way.

[country gent]

Improvement will come fast in the beginning then slow thats when it gets hard.

[brokeasajoke]

Dry fire and live fire practice is the way to go. Natural point of aim leads the way.

Any suggestions for dry firing a rim fire?

[jsizemore]

Depends on the gun. Old brass from live fire, wall anchors, snap caps. I have no problem with leaving the chamber empty on my Anschutz or Suhl.

[Rapier]

Do not dry fire a 22 rimfire without an empty case in the chamber. I get them in frequently that hang when loading and firing and need the chamber dressed with a reamer due to dry firing Just putting an empty case and rotating it, stops all of that from happening.

[303Guy]

My great uncles taught me to shoot offhand. Both were skilled target shots in Schuetzen style competitions. They always said no live person can hold perfectly still so you have to intentionally move in a controlled manner. For them, that meant making small circles with the barrel while aiming (this was with iron sights). They shot while the front sight was coming up to meet the target; if the view was wrong then make another circle until it was right, then trip the trigger. As mentioned, practice makes perfect - they generally shot 100 rounds every Sunday during those months when matches were held. The real match just became another practice session.

Interesting. This is the exact technique I developed on my own. My trigger was 'tripable' so I could. I would hold my finger straight ahead outside the trigger guard then time the swing through so that I would fire the 'trip (or twitch) signal' in my brain so that the shot went off on target. I got pretty good at it. I've lost my touch now though.

But - practice, practice, practice.

[brokeasajoke]

Competition shoot was last sat. While he didn't place top 3, he done well and shot all 10s and several 10x in prone. That's his strong position. He lost a lot of points standing position. I'm proud of him.

[country gent]

Off hand takes the most practice and work to master. Dry fire 20 rounds every evening. Place the rifle high on the pocket of the shoulder and lightly cant the rifle over so sights are at the eye. keep the elbow in a comfortable position and use the trigger finger, on heavier triggers you can "load the trigger with about half the pull weight.On the forward arm bring the hand back so the elbow is supported on the hip ribs tight. Adjust feet to a natural point of aim now its hold the rifle up and relax the body down into the solid bone supported position.The forward hand is under or just ahead of or at the action mag well. BY canting the rifle over you keep the ears level helping to maintain your sense of balance.
A black dot on the wall and dry fire calling each shot as it breaks will get the mind to fingers connection almost instant.

[brokeasajoke]

Well off to Polk county gun range today for regionals. He's doing great prone and losing most points standing.

[popper]

Just put a small spongy pad behind the trigger. You really don't care when the trigger breaks. There is a free on-line Candian rifle shooting book, shows proper stance for standing shooting, foot placement and body about 90 deg to target. The is a 'offhanddrillrifle.pdf' by Troy Lawton that is pretty good.
edit: Get a bushnell type laser boresight tool. Put the pad behind the trigger. Practice trigger control by watching the 'dot' movement when operating trigger. Get a 3# barbell - lift with extended support arm. It's shoulder muscle needed, not biceps. Most kids don't have muscular shoulders. The Lawton article stresses using and 'area' target. As you get better at holding the 'dot' in the area, use a smaller area. I used this technique for 40sw pistol shooting, wow that dot moves a lot when pulling the trigger.

[brokeasajoke]

Just put a small spongy pad behind the trigger. You really don't care when the trigger breaks. There is a free on-line Candian rifle shooting book, shows proper stance for standing shooting, foot placement and body about 90 deg to target. The is a 'offhanddrillrifle.pdf' by Troy Lawton that is pretty good.
edit: Get a bushnell type laser boresight tool. Put the pad behind the trigger. Practice trigger control by watching the 'dot' movement when operating trigger. Get a 3# barbell - lift with extended support arm. It's shoulder muscle needed, not biceps. Most kids don't have muscular shoulders. The Lawton article stresses using and 'area' target. As you get better at holding the 'dot' in the area, use a smaller area. I used this technique for 40sw pistol shooting, wow that dot moves a lot when pulling the trigger.

Thanks.

[Forrest r]

Sit in a chair and shoot/practice.

This isolates the lower 1/2 of your body taking it out of play. It also lets you find the best forearm position, ability to lock your back and trigger control.

Pellet guns are fantastic for this but keep in mind break bbl pellet guns do better with an artillery hold.

Once you've gotten proficient sitting work on a full offhand stance. Keep in mind back wraps/braces along with 8/10 lace lace high boot to lock/tighten any ancle movement aid in diagnosing any issues with the lower body.

Once you find what wrong you can work on fixing it. It's extremely hard for young shooter to put all the pieces and parts together at 1 time to be consistent in offhand shooting. It's also very frustrating for them, separating everything is a lot easier for them.

In this day and age I'd get a laser for the side of that pellet gun. The laser is not to aim with. It's to track the rifles movement, any trigger jerking, etc.

[elmacgyver0]

Mantis X is a great tool for this, and it is not all that expensive.

[brokeasajoke]

Shot 218 out of 300. He's definitely improved the last few months. I wasn't first but he wasn't last.

[Bigslug]

My personal "weird quirk" for offhand was to hold the rifle with the thumb and pinky of the left hand on the right side of the forend, and the index, middle, and ring fingers on the left. Triceps braced on the upper chest as usual. This allowed me to effectively support the rifle with the bones of my forearm without stress/tension on the wrist muscles.

For dry fire practice, I'd just make a habit of scooping up your once-fired brass and use 'em till they quit, making sure that you have a rod handy to punch them out with if they get too deformed to reliably extract. Most likely, if you keep the deformed bits away from the 9:00 and 3:00 positions, they'll come out fine. One session, and retire the case - probably a decent strategy.

[country gent]

Off hand with a 22 lr is tough. Its the barrel time slow round long barrel. He needs to hold after the break follow thru has to be consistent. Another is the consistent control of the recoil, here you need the rifle to recoil the same every time, a good relaxed hold allows this. Pellet rifles are rough this way also.

One thing that might help is have him practice with 22 shorts or cb caps (even longer barrel time)