Keep rifle in position for all 5 shots, or lower it between?

Jetmugg · Post by **Jetmugg** » Thu Oct 11, 2007 8:59 am

The vest thread brought something back into my mind... Do you keep your rifle in position and against your shoulder for the entire amount of time it takes to shoot 5 shots (up to 2.5 minutes), or do you lower the rifle to cycle the action between shots?

I guess this only applies to shooters using repeating actions, as single shots would be very difficult to keep in position while loading/cycling the action.

I noticed that our local Master Class shooter keeps his body and rifle in position for the entire duration of a string, working the action while the rifle is still in position.

However, most of the rest of us lower the rifle between shots (even a lot of guys shooting semi-autos).

Which method seems to work better for most of you on this site?

SteveM.

Innocent · Post by **Innocent** » Thu Oct 11, 2007 9:06 am

Hot topic. I lower the rifle each time, I have seen both by the same master depending on the rifle they were shooting at the time.

Being able to repeat your actions are most important.

Mary

genphideaux · Post by **genphideaux** » Thu Oct 11, 2007 9:22 am

Jetmugg,

For me it is all dependent on the conditions, if it is a calm day with little wind then I take the rifle down after every shot, if windy I will wait for the right conditions and fire without removing the rifle till the condition changes or I have completed the five shots, whichever comes first. If faced with a very windy day I do believe that this is when a very well built semi-auto has a definite advantage, provided you have spent enough time and practice with it.

papabear · Post by **papabear** » Thu Oct 11, 2007 11:16 am

I put down the rifle after every shot. I try my best not to move my feet. I relocate my feet only after I have the rifle in position and need to twist my foot.
Try your best to go through the same motion for every shot, i think they call it muscle memory.... not sure of term .....
I guess my mucles have alzheimer's disease because they can't remember to stay still.

Most of the advice I get is "Bottom line is do what works for you"

jneihouse · Post by **jneihouse** » Thu Oct 11, 2007 11:29 am

Work with keeping the rifle up for a series and you'll start to notice some things. For me the most interesting thing I picked up from keeping the rifle in the shooting position for a string of 5 is that after two shots I need to adjust my NPA. If I don't I start twisting (quit laughing, fat people can twist) my body to position the rifle inducing unwanted tension and movement in the rifle.

Kitty

Dee · Post by **Dee** » Thu Oct 11, 2007 1:51 pm

I unshoulder the rifle but try to keep my feet in place unless I am missing or fighting to relax on my NPA. Personally unshouldering and rifle and working the action is more of a way to pace myself and try to maintain a rythm. After making a shot, I take it down and open the bolt then I take a breath and do my tension releasing exercise if I feel I need it, close the bolt, re-shoulder and take another deep breath. Slowly exhaling to get my dot around the target then take one more breath and slowly ease into the shot.

I found I was shooting much to fast and developing a systematic routine has helped me to take my time more and focus on all the little things I need to remember for each shot, breathing, follow through etc. Using this technique I am able to usually finish with around 30 seconds remaining which gives me enough time to reset on a shot or two if I need to.

Dee

Irish764 · Post by **Irish764** » Thu Oct 11, 2007 3:09 pm

NPA????

National People's Army?

Nepalese People's Army?

National Potato Association (NO Irish jokes!!!)

Neanderthal Persons of America??

Any help on clarifying said acronym would be most appreciated.

Jason · Post by **Jason** » Thu Oct 11, 2007 3:10 pm

natural point of aim

Innocent · Post by **Innocent** » Thu Oct 11, 2007 5:58 pm

Irish,
Natural point of aim on a target is found by closing your eyes while placing the rifle in your shoulder, getting into a relaxed position, then opening your eyes to wee where you are pointing. The Natural point can then be adjusted by tuning your forward foot (left foot on fight handed shooter) to the right or left depending on which way you want your NPA to go. More drastic adjustments can be done by moving either entire foot.
Verticle adjustments can be made by adjusting the height of the stock as it is placed in your shoulder. These steps should be repeated until the rifle is pointing naturally where you want to shoot.
Several of my teammates used to compete for fun by finding the NPA and then actually firing the shot with eyes closed.

Hope this helps explain some of the comments on this thread.

Mary

Bob259 · Post by **Bob259** » Thu Oct 11, 2007 6:27 pm

With my 1827 (Fortner action) I tried staying in position as with that action it made it easy to do. What I found was I was shooting to quickly and forcing shots on the last one or two animals. I since have gone back to putting the rifle down between shots.

Irish764 · Post by **Irish764** » Fri Oct 12, 2007 7:50 am

Ahhh.....the veil is lifted!!

Now I've got something to do, today!! I'm going to go adjust my stance to bet a better NPA!!!

Thanks!!!

Bob Mc Alice · Post by **Bob Mc Alice** » Fri Oct 12, 2007 11:21 am

As a side note to this subject , we have a well known int. junior SB shooter in our group. He keeps his rifle shoulderd thru the relay. He can operate that 1712's buttter smooth bolt like a well oiled machine. I called a few relays recently and watched his performance. Usually gets his first shot off at the instant of the fire command. All five shots done in 30 to 35 seconds. He was on a bank of turkeys and hit 4 out of 5 in 25 seconds. His spotter rarely has time to relay the hit location before the next one is flying off the stand. He hit 8 of 10 in about 60 seconds combined time. All this with solid hits. His scores are about the same even when he slows down. He has been shooting this way for several years. We keep teasing him that he could cut his time down by using a tuned semi auto. He is master with both guns ( uses same rifle) and is always kicking our asses at the scoreboard. How can you argue, it works for him. I think he should look into joining the Sportsmans Team Challenge and cash in on that skill.

pistolero45 · Post by **pistolero45** » Fri Oct 12, 2007 12:44 pm

I have seen both methods used to good effect. Personally, I put the rifle down after every shot, even with a semiauto. There are two reasons for this. First of all, I have a bad back and can only stand to have the rifle to my shoulder for a few seconds. But mainly I like having a rythm where I take about 30 seconds to prepare for and take each shot. This leaves me with about 30 seconds to spare.

My suggestion would be to shoot multiple 5 shot practice rounds on paper using both methods and see which method gives you the higher score.

chardonnay · Post by **chardonnay** » Sat Oct 13, 2007 6:25 pm

I am one that generally keeps the rifle shouldered the entire time. For me this is a bit of a holdover from shooting 3 position years ago, where once you got into position with slings, jackets, butthooks and the like you didn't move. I have tried lowering the rifle between each shot and find it doesn't work for me very well. I do lower the rifle if I need to take a deep breath and mentally fuss at myself for doing something stupid like taking a shot that wasn't that great. Everyone that shoots this has reasons for shooting the ways that they do. I have learned to listen to all the suggestions and reasonings, try the different ones and incorporate the ones that work for me. You never know when a particular explanation of why someone does something a certain way is going to hit home.

BlauBear · Post by **BlauBear** » Sat Oct 13, 2007 8:41 pm

Innocent wrote:Several of my teammates used to compete for fun by finding the NPA and then actually firing the shot with eyes closed.

Hope this helps explain some of the comments on this thread.

Mary

During practice the other evening, I was doing NPA drills, had just shouldered the rifle, fired prematurely, and dropped the ram I was practicing on! Now, if I just could have done that at the match today!