Pre Aiming in on Animals

[teetertotter]

Do you go left to right? Start at 12 o'clock? What do you find best when trying to settle in for the shot?

[Jeaux]

I take the rifle out of my shoulder after each shot and remount the gun for each shot. I find that when I first get the rifle up and find the target in the scope and make sure it is the correct target I am looking at (I hate when I crossfire on the wrong animal or bank) it usually takes a few seconds for things to really settle down. I keep breathing very lightly while things get really steady, not worrying too much about being on the animal. When things settle down, I try to move the dot onto the animal and hopefully break the shot while the dot is on him. That being said, I typically make my approach onto the animal from the top, as that is usually where I let the dot cruise around till it calms down. I do wait for things to settle down first though, like the ripples in a bowl of water after a drop hits the surface. I found earlier on that trying to move onto the animal too early before things settled down would cause what I call "target anxiety" and you find yourself fighting the dot trying to keep it on the animal. This shot routine is what works better for me, and I usually have between 1 minute and 45 seconds remaining when I shoot my 5th animal. It does not take long for things to settle down to a level that I feel comfortable going for the kill. If you are fairly new to silhouette, you need to try different things for a while to see how they work for you. Make notes of what works better than others and incorporate the things that work into your shot routine and discard the things that don't. I figured out my shot routine above mostly from dry firing practice with my 1712. That is the cheapest way to get lots of trigger time, and trigger time of any kind is always better than no trigger time on your quest to master class.

[Innocent]

teeter...depends on whether I am shooting flat range, uphill or down hill as to which way I come in on the target with. NPA is very improtant, in elevation as well as windage. Adjust elevation by moving stock up or down in your shoulder, based on angle of rifle to target.
Mary

[dave imas]

Are you shooting left handed or right handed?

[teetertotter]

I am left handed and using my Marlin39a as only rifle I have. I have decided to do some expermenting in the off season, with my right hand hold using flat knuckle concept yesterday, indoor. It seemed to give me more sturdiness and hold vs open palm. Today I will begin documenting performance of right hand hold technique.

I have been using the left to right movement to the animals. The Chickens we are shooting down, Pigs up a little more, Turkeys up a little more with Rams almost level. I bring down the rifle between shots with deep breathe. Just looking for other methods I might try.

2010, my second year, was only able to shoot twice a month due to traveling but made low class A at state in July. I plan to get more serious and practice in 2011. Maybe look for new rifle next summer too.

Comments welcomed. Gotta go pay 2010 property tax!

[jneihouse]

A valuable exercise is to establish your NPA (natural point of aim) and then simply watch the sight picture during your holding on target period. Example.

Establish your NPA. With your rifle (unloaded at this time) stand addressing the target as if you had just heard the "Ready" command. Close your eyes and bring the rifle to your shoulder and "aim" at the target. Open your eyes and see where your dot/crosshairs are in relationship to the target. Usually they will be high or low, left or right or a combination of some of the above. Adjust your stance by moving your "back" foot only to adjust the left/right and adjust the buttstock up or down in the shoulder pocket to correct for high or low. A little experimentation will get you to the point where your gun is relaxed on target. At this time it is important not to introduce any stresses into the rifle to correct the point of aim. Winding a spring will always result in the spring unwinding when pressure on the spring is released. Practice this until you are able to comfortably bring the rifle to your shoulder and be on your NPA.


Having established your NPA try this exercise. Raise the gun again from low ready to your firing position with the rifle on target and you at your NPA...in this exercise we still have the gun unloaded, we are observing and learning. You can set your timer if you wish but it is not necessary. If all is correct, ie stance, hold, basics mechanics you will begin to see through your scope a repeatable "wobble". Everyone's is a litle different, some larger, some smaller, some will describe an off center egg, some a flatter "circle"...what you are seeing is the result of your rifle being held in a relaxed manner on target and responding to subtle imputs from your body such as heartbeat/pulse, breathing and some natural, nearly imperceptable movements from your muscles...This is your "wobble area"....it should fall into a repeatable pattern. Time your trigger squeeze/break with the dot/crosshairs coming into an aiming poing on the animal. Nothing moves but your trigger finger..."Watch" the animal fall through the scope, which insures good follow through...Important note...DO NOT break the shot as the dot/crosshairs pass the aiming point and begin to leave the animal....this will result in a miss in most cases.


This is just one way to work at how to approach the shot. Others have other very valid methods....Try them all and use what works best.

Kitty

[Jerry G]

I'm having a little trouble with all the pre stuff we have. If you pre-board an airplane I guss you get on before you get on. So........ if you pre aim, you aime before you aim.

But back to the question. If you break your shot on the back line of an animal I suppose you should come in from the top of the animal. If you break on the body/leg junction you should come in from the bottom. You do want to jerk the trigger as you are comming into the animal, not going out. Please read 'squeeze' where I typed 'jerk'.

[teetertotter]

Pointers are very much appreciated by everyone and will get on it.

[lone ringer]

Pointers are very much appreciated by everyone and will get on it.

The most important part of it all is that you have to do your aiming and breaking the shot without thinking about it that is with your subconscious mind other wise if you do it with your conscious mind your are going to be late in your release and will be off target more than likely. How do you train your subconscious mind? With lots of practice and dry firing.

[ShootingStar]

Hello all,
Can one really dry fire a 1712? Is there something that should be done or used to keep the firing pin from peening the chamber breach? Do you use "snap caps" or fired shell? I need to start physical dry firing if it will not damage the gun or its parts.

Thanks,
Greg

[Bob259]

When I dry fire I use old brass on my rifles and snap caps in the center fire rifles.

[Jeaux]

I use old fired brass in my 1712 to dry fire with. I have heard that the 1712 won't peen the face of the chamber, but the metal to metal impact of the firing pin in the bolt will eventually cause some kind of damage if you dry fire practice often. If you only do it occasionally, you probably don't need to worry. I index the fired case after every two snaps and have become quite adept at feeding fired cases into the chamber so the pin will impact the case rim where I want it to. I get 10 snaps/shots per fired case (2 banks of animals) I have a piece of cardboard box lid with 5 turkeys cut out of white paper glued on it like a real bank of animals scaled correctly for 45 yards which is the distance from my front foyer to the back fence where I place the practice bank. Every two banks, I remove the beat up case, put the rifle down, take a break and come back after a while and do it again. 10 shots at a time. This forces me to re-establish my NPA each string to get practice doing that and also making the first cold shot count. Kitty is right about getting your NPA right and Lone Ringer also with his advice to practice a lot and dry fire when you can't shoot live ammo. The object of the exercise for my dry firing is to see the dot in the animal all the way through the shot breaking and follow through. When live firing, those types of shots are when you see the bullet hit the animal and you watch it fall. It doesn't get much better than that. I guess that is why I am so hooked on this sport.