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Long range shooting requires a great deal of accuracy and with the help of a riflescope, it’s possible to hit targets dead on from a distance. But even then, you’ll still need to hone your shooting skills by practicing and learning how to calculate sight adjustments for long shots. Any experienced shooter will tell that taking shots from long range involves more than just mounting a scope. Setting up your first long range scope also requires you to zero it, test for vertical symmetry, verify click values, and account for bullet drop.

With all that in mind, the following post will explain this process to help you land your long shots accurately when in the field.

 

How to Zero Your Scope
Zeroing a riflescope is the process of adjusting your sights to enable you hit dead center at your point of aim from a given distance. Before starting the zeroing process, you’ll first need to focus your reticle by turning the eyepiece on your scope anti-clockwise until it reaches the upper adjustment limit. From there, point your rifle to the sky and look through the scope. The reticle should appear fuzzy at this point of time since it’s completely out of focus. Next, rotate the eyepiece or turn it ¼ way clockwise continuously and stop when the reticle appears sharp and crisp. You’re now ready to start the zeroing process. Just remember that it’s always best to zero high power rifles at 100yards or 100m. The reason for this is that the shorter the range, the fewer external variables that will affect your point of impact (POI).

You can eliminate shooter error by choosing to use a rifle rest. Ideally, a calm day would be best to go long-range shooting as this will reduce external variables that affect bullet path. In addition, make sure to bring along enough ammunition plus earplugs for noise protection.

To begin zeroing your scope, place a target at a predetermined distance, say 100 yards, and then get into position. If you’re using a bolt-action rifle, just remove the bolt and aim at your target while looking through the barrel. A good sight picture will appear when the breach and muzzle circle become concentric, allowing you to see the target centered squarely in the muzzle hole. If you cannot remove the bolt on your rifle, use a bore sight instead or align your sights at a shorter range such as 25yards.

Once you’ve aligned your sights, keep the scope steady and then make adjustments with the turrets to position the crosshair in the middle of the target. To establish your zero from 100yards, follow this simple method:

1. With the reticle centered on the target, fire your first shot. The bullet should hit somewhere in the target area.
2. Adjust the scope’s turrets until the reticle covers the hole of your first shot.
3. Repeat steps 1 and 2 to record your fist group of 3 shots. It’s paramount to keep the rifle steady throughout this process.
4. Your shots should form a group very close to the aimed point. All you have to do at this point is adjust the scope’s turret to position the crosshairs on the center of the group and your scope will be zeroed.

After zeroing your scope, reset the turrets. Resetting simply involves loosening the turret screws to allow the turret caps to rotate so that you can position the zero mark on the scope’s tube.

Testing Vertical Scope Symmetry and Verifying Click Value
If you want to get the best results from your long-range rifle system, it’s important to test scope vertical symmetry and verify click values. These parameters are both important when it comes to compensating for bullet drop and hence they should both be on point.

To verify vertical scope symmetry, first get a paper target that’s at least 50inches tall. Draw a vertical line along its entire height then add two 1-inch dots along the vertical line. The first dot should be 5 inches from the bottom while the other one spaced out 42 inches from the first dot and near top of the vertical line. After the paper target is ready, set it 100yards away to start shooting.

While keeping the scope reticle parallel to the vertical line, shoot at the bottom dot to verify the scope’s zero. Next, dial up to 40MOA on the elevation turret and fire three rounds while still aiming at the dot on the bottom and keeping the vertical crosshair parallel to the vertical line on the target.

If your click values are true and the scope is mounted perpendicularly, your shots should be centered along the vertical line and the mark you put at 42inches. Otherwise, you’ll have to adjust scope symmetry by rotating it clockwise or anti-clockwise if the group falls to the right or left respectively.

After obtaining a perfect vertical alignment, your rifle is finally ready for long range shooting. All that’s left to do is verify click values. To do this, simply measure the actual distance from each dot to the center of the group and use it as a reference for your true click value. Once you have this measurement, you just need to divide that distance for the number of clicks you dialed.

To find out how many click values you need to dial in order to compensate for bullet drop at distances longer than 100yards, simply use a ballistics calculator. For instance, the JBM Ballistics Calculator can generate a ballistics table for your particular shooting conditions. However, to generate a ballistics table, you need to use the following details:

• Bullet weight
• Caliber size
• Bullet make
• Ballistic coefficient

These details can be easily found on the ammo pack, so you don’t have to do any guesswork. Once fed into the online ballistics calculator, the software will generate tabulated data that can be used to calculate sight adjustments need to shoot at distances different from the zero range.

The history of hunting rifles goes way back to the 14th century when the use of the first firearm was recorded. Although no one can tell for sure who invented guns, these weapons were mostly developed during times of war. Once conflicts ended, rifles would later be used for recreational purposes such as hunting.

Early Firearms

The earliest firearms were quite different from the modern hunting rifles we know of today. For the most part, these rudimentary firearms had numerous problems that made hunting next to impossible. A great example is the matchlock gun designed in 1400s, which was much like a miniature canon. To fire a matchlock, you had to light a wick and hold it against a “touchhole” at the back of a rifle’s barrel. This would then ignite the gunpowder inside the barrel to fire a shot. Such guns were unreliable during wet weather and the cloud of smoke they would produce seriously obscured vision when hunting.

The next major advancement was the wheel lock gun. This 1509 invention made use of a striking flint against steel to produce sparks that would set off the gun. As a result, this mechanism avoided the problem of game smelling smoke from a lit match before a hunter could fire the gun.

In 1630, the first true flintlock gun was designed and reigned supreme for almost 2 centuries. The new addition in this firearm was a retractable flash pan, which was designed to either hide or expose gunpowder, making rifle hunting possible in wet conditions.

At around the same time when flintlock guns were being developed, rifling started to appear in firearms. Through this technique, accuracy was improved by cutting slow twisting helical grooves along the interior wall of a gun’s barrel. As a bullet hits these grooves, it left the barrel wheel spinning, a technique that gives projectiles gyroscopic stability to prevent tumbling over short distances.

Another drawback of early rifles was that gunpowder would build up inside the barrel, thus making cleaning difficult. The time it took to load a bullet was also rather slow. Even a trained shooter could only manage to fire three shots per minute and an archer could lose more arrows in the time it took a marksman to reload his musketeer.

Major Improvements in Hunting Rifles

Because of the problems that marksmen had to contend with when using flintlock systems, several improvements in firearms production were introduced over the years. For instance, double barrel shotguns were invented in an attempt to compensate for the slow load times of flintlock firearms. Shotguns soon become quite popular rifles for hunting duck and birds.

However, dramatic and rapid firearm advancements came after the introduction of percussion systems. A percussion cap was simply a small copper housing for chemicals needed to launch a projectile. By pulling a trigger, the gun’s hammer would strike the cap and ignite the chemicals in the main charge, hence firing the gun.

Further attempts to improve slow bullet load times saw the introduction of repeaters and breachloading systems in the early 19th century. By 1837, a handgun with multiple chambers and rotating cylinder was invented. This continues to be the basic mechanical system used in revolvers today. The percussion cap and ball revolver offered an effective repeating system, and it allowed shooters to fire five to six bullets consecutively (or as fast as the hammer could be cocked and trigger pulled).

A more advanced development that significantly reduced the time for loading rifles was the self-contained cartridge. With this system, one casing could house a bullet, primer, gunpowder and firing charge.

In the 1890s, the first rifles with magazine cartridges and bolt-action technology were invented. They were even used by foot soldiers in World War I because of their inherent accuracy. The bolt-action mechanism became the standard of many, if not all, military and sporting rifles. This technique of rifle making has remained unchanged since World War II when the Germans invented the first Sturmgewehr (loosely translated as assault rifle).

Telescopic sights for precision rifle shooting can be traced back to the civil war. However, it wasn’t until the 70s and 80s that scopes started to be used on hunting rifles. Modern hunting rifles use advanced sighting equipment such as laser aiming systems, electronic red dot sights and night vision scopes to improve hunting precision.

As you can see, the history of hunting rifles can be traced to a few centuries back. However, it all began when military technology was turned into practical pastime uses such as hunting.

When practicing to become a sharpshooter, one of the things you’ll need to master is trigger control. After sight alignment, this is the second most important technique of marksmanship. Whether you’re using a handgun or rifle, trigger control is critical for accurate shooting because it helps to alleviate flinching and jerking when you fire shots. Therefore, with good trigger control, you’ll be able to hit your targets dead on without disrupting the aiming process.

But how does one go about mastering excellent control on the trigger? Well, this article offers you a few effective tips that will help improve your touch and precision on the trigger and make every shot count.

Develop Good Holding Ability

Developing good trigger control is quite impossible if you cannot hold a gun correctly in the first place. So, the best place to begin when you are looking to improve your trigger control is to develop a good holding ability. A proper grip on the gun helps in a variety of ways. These include:

1. Providing the index finger with the support it needs to overcome trigger tension
2. Reducing your group size (that is the main measurement of one’s shooting abilities)
3. Minimizing flinching and jerking

In the case of a rifle, developing a good grip can be done in the following steps:

• Firmly grasp the pistol grip/stock firmly with your right hand. The forefinger should be placed on the trigger while the rest of the fingers should be wrapped around the pistol grip.

• Ensure that your right elbow is positioned naturally and then bring the butt of the rifle to rest in the pocket formed in your right shoulder. This helps reduce the effects of recoil and prevents the riffle from sliding when you fire shots.

• With the rifle resting on the heel of your left hand, wrap your fingers on the riffle guard and ensure that the left wrist is straight.

• Make sure that the left elbow is positioned under the riffle. This helps to provide adequate bone support and consistent resistance to recoil.

After practicing these steps several times, you’ll be able to develop an automatic good holding ability and thus increase your control over the trigger.

Practice through Dry Firing
Widely practiced and strongly recommended by law enforcement officers, dry firing is one of the best training methods when it comes to improving trigger control. Therefore, incorporating it into your training routine will help you to master flawless control on the trigger. Dry firing entails pulling the trigger and allowing the gun’s hammer/striker to drop on an empty chamber, or what is better known as “firing blanks”. It may also involve shooting a rifle filled with plastic bullets. This helps develop a natural trigger pulling instinct as well as proper sight alignment without having to waste ammunition. Therefore, you can train with this method for hours on end until you develop the trigger control needed to become a proficient shooter.

To dry fire, simply find a target, line up your sights, and slowly pull the trigger. You can dry fire as many shots as you desire in any given training session.

 

Learn How to Exert the Right Amount of Pressure
Jerking or slapping the trigger when firing shots can alter the position of your sight on the target at the most crucial part of the firing cycle. Therefore, it’s highly important that you practice exerting the right amount of pressure if you want to master good trigger control. When it comes to exerting the right amount of trigger pressure, you have two options. These include:

1. The Uninterrupted Trigger Pressure
This method of manipulating the trigger is the most common for the majority of shooters since it provides great control. Just as the name implies, this method requires you to stick to a consistent rate of pressure after pulling the trigger. This means that there is no need to slow down or speed up until you break the shot.

During the initial rounds after initiating an uninterrupted trigger pressure, most of the weight is applied on the trigger. Once the rifle barrel settles into the ideal aim of point, the trigger pressure is alleviated and you continue taking the shot without disrupting sight alignment.

2. The Interrupted Application of Trigger Pressure
When using a rifle in extremely windy conditions or while aiming at a moving object that forces the shooter to fire when the target comes into sight, the interrupted trigger control approach would be ideal.

With this approach, you would simply begin with normal trigger finger placement and sight alignment, and then hold your position and pull the trigger until the shot breaks. During this shooting method, you can also apply consistent pressure on the trigger if the gun is moving toward the target continuously.

 

Maintain Proper Trigger Finger Placement
It’s important to place your finger on the trigger properly when firing a rifle as this has a large impact on the level of control you’ll have. Every shooter is different since the way a left-handed person would hold a rifle is slightly different from a right-handed shooter.
The most common finger placement most shooters prefer is placing the index finger on the trigger, as this feels more natural. However, you will always have the freedom to use whichever finger trigger placement you prefer since this is an individual choice that ultimately depends on the size of your hands and desired grip.

Common Trigger Control Pitfalls to Avoid
Flawless trigger control is the most difficult marksmanship skill to master. As such, it doesn’t come as a surprise that most shooting errors stem from incorrect manipulation or poor control of the trigger. Some of the major mistakes that shooters make when controlling the trigger include:

1. Flinching
Flinching is one of the most common pitfalls that novice shooters make when firing multiple rounds. Shooters flinch as a natural reaction to the anticipated reaction of the gun going off. Flinching reflexes are varied and may involve moving shoulders or head backward, tensing the left arm, shutting eyes, or a combination of these movements.

2. Bucking
Shooters tend to buck when taking up recoil prior to firing a weapon. The reflex involved when a shooter bucks is to tense the shoulders and move slightly forward.

3. Jerking
When you attempt to fire a rifle at a specific time using the uninterrupted trigger control technique, this is often referred to as jerking.

It’s important to avoid the trigger control errors explained above since they often disrupt the alignment of your rifle with respect to the target. This can be achieved mostly by applying a solid stance after firing each shot.

 

Master Follow Through
Once you’ve started to practice the various trigger control techniques explained above, the next step is to master follow through. This is simply defined as the continued application of the various marksmanship fundamentals after firing each round.

As a general rule of thumb, good follow-through involves not lifting your position, moving the head, or letting the muzzle drop until a few seconds after firing the rifle. Sticking to these simple steps will ensure excellent trigger control and undue movement of your firearm until the final round has been fired.

When it comes to honing your firearm-shooting skills, you’ll often hear experts talk about proper grip, stance, sight alignment, as well as hold and trigger control. However, an important yet overlooked part of a shooter’s skill is mastering one’s breathing control. While this may sound insignificant, the fact is your breathing pattern can make a huge difference between an accurate shot versus missing the target, especially at intermediate and distance range. Excellent marksmanship depends on the shooter’s ability to remain as steady as possible when taking a shot, and to do that, proper breathing techniques play a big role.

How Breathing Affects Shooting Accuracy
You may be wondering how breathing can affect accuracy when shooting a firearm. Well, taking breaths can indeed compromise accuracy since thinats causes body movements. When you inhale, your diaphragm tightens and moves downward causing the chest cavity to expand outward and rise along with your shoulders. Upon exhaling, the diaphragm relaxes and pushes up to force air out of the lungs, thus causing your chest area and shoulders to fall slightly.

If you’re lying down face first when using long range rifle, each breath taken raises the body off the ground a little bit. In the same way, a shooter holding a pistol while standing or sitting will experience some lateral horizontal and front-to-back variance movement caused by the diaphragm during various breathing cycles. All of these breathing reflexes are transferred to the rifle, which then disrupts your sight alignment.

The motion generated as the lungs expand and contract between breaths during a shot could easily throw your aim off. Since the pointing direction of a barrel largely determines shot placement as indicated by aligned sights upon pressing the trigger, it’s vital to minimize or cancel any movement that compromises your natural aim of point. So, how do you achieve this goal through breathing control? The answer lies in taking a natural respiratory pause.

What is the Natural Respiratory Pause?
The natural respiratory pause (NRP) is the brief moment when breathing ceases in between inhalation and exhalation. This pause typically lasts between two to five seconds for a healthy person with no respiratory health conditions. By training the body to stop breathing slightly longer during the natural pause, you can eliminate breathing motions that could otherwise distort your line of sight. In other words, your chances of hitting a target are much better when the body is motionless.

However, there’s more to this technique than simply holding your breathe in a bid to eliminate breathing movements or keep them at a minimum. In order to make the most of that short natural respiratory pause, here are a few tips you will find helpful:

1. Always clear your thoughts, focus on the target, and take a few deep breaths before taking a shot. Remember that more breathing equals more oxygen in your blood, and this could very well prolong your respiratory pause.

2. As you approach taking the shot, exhale slowly then pause, settle into the final aiming point, and then apply trigger pressure at the end of that breath. In order to master this technique, you can picture your breath like a weight that’s being lowered gradually on the trigger. The lower it gets, the more pressure to apply on the trigger using your finger. Once you exhale, that’s where you stop breathing and finish the squeeze.

Although this means you could also choose to fire shots when your lungs are full of air, most people find it easier to control movements by following a respiratory pause after exhaling. This is due to the fact that your lungs and diaphragm are in a relaxed state after exhaling.

Some people may have difficulty when trying to expand their natural respiratory pause. In such cases, one may find the decreased breathing control technique to be a better alternative. With this approach, you would decrease the breathing rate slowly to a pause, achieve your final aiming point, then apply continual pressure on the trigger until the shot breaks. In this case, shallow breathing allows you to maintain a better sight picture because movement is minimized.

How Long Should a Natural Respiratory Pause Last?
To continue shooting accurately, especially when firing multiple rounds, one must be able to resume breathing normally even after taking a brief respiratory pause. So, if you find yourself struggling to catch your breath after shooting, then you’re holding your respiratory pause for too long. This is a common mistake that novice shooters make.

If a breath is held longer than it’s comfortable for you to do so, this triggers a chain of physiological effects.

• Your mind starts to think about the breath being held and this distracts you from focusing on the important tasks at hand such as aiming and keeping an eye on the sights.

• Lack of oxygen starts to build up at the cell level, signaling your body to inhale. Without enough oxygen, your vision starts to deteriorate which further compromises the ability to focus on the target.

• As soon as you begin to breathe, the body’s shifts its focus to drawing in as much air as possible into the lungs while quickly expelling all that pent up CO2 into the blood. In the process, involuntary diaphragm movements occur to interfere with your line of sight and level of concentration.

As mentioned earlier, a natural respiratory pause for any healthy individual naturally lasts a maximum of 5 seconds before your brain signals “it’s time to breathe”. However, this pause can be extended to 15 seconds with practice. Aspects such as one’s physical condition, lung capacity, medical limitations, physiological factors, and situational scenario all affect the duration of the NRP.

That said though, this brief pause or holding of the breath should not cause undue strain. Instead, it should last for as long as you feel comfortable. Therefore, how long a natural respiratory pause spans is a very personal factor that should not be dictated by anyone but you. Most expert shooters recommend a pause of 10 to 15 seconds as being ample time to take a good shot.

Many shooters fail to realize that when their accuracy is wanting, they very well could be failing at controlling their breathing. Hence, it’s important to point out the importance of regular breathing while taking shots with a firearm. Keeping your breathing steady and regular after every shot will go a long way in maintaining sharp focus.

In conclusion, breathing control is a fundamental aspect of improving marksmanship. All breath control does is pause your respiration briefly while delivering a shot, thus enabling you to reduce movements that spoils aim.

Remember also that over holding your breath for too long until you’re blue in the face doesn’t help either. It only starves your brain from the much needed oxygen that enhances your vision, reflexes, reaction time, muscle control, and ultimately accuracy. Training yourself to become accustomed to holding your breath for ten to fifteen seconds will help you resume breathing after the brief natural respiratory pause.

Lastly, remember to breathe naturally and rehearse this technique regularly when spot shooting because practice makes perfect.

You can check this video to get additional info about breath control when shooting.

 

They say a bad workman blames his tools, but to be fair in some cases it is the equipment that’s the issue.

If you’re struggling with shooting small groups, it could be your rifle but it’s quite possible that there’s something wrong with your set-up or execution. Perhaps your rifle is fine. You are just making a very common mistake that most begginers make.

 

 

Below are some common examples of mistakes you may be making that could cost you your accuracy. If you make sure to address each of these, you’ll be able to test your skills much more fairly and avoid being hampered by other avoidable factors.

 

The Scope Isn’t Mounted Properly

Mounting a scope is a lot more of a precise process than a lot of people think and if you’re not taking the time to do it properly then you will be shooting yourself in the foot (probably not literally but you never know!). It all starts with getting the right bases and rings and then leveling the scope. You can find much more detailed guidance on the web though.

 

Uneven Shoulder Pressure

The right amount of pressure will vary from shooter to shooter but it’s important to make sure you are applying the right amount for you. Either way, you need to ensure your shoulder pressure is consistent between shots.

 

Lack of Follow-Through

Remember, the shot is not ‘over’ until the point of impact. Visualize the trajectory of each bullet and make sure you are physically and mentally in-tune with the trigger until it breaks. Keep your head down and married to the stock.

 

Inconsistent Trigger Pull

Ideally you should be ‘pressing’ the trigger rather than pulling it. This might sound like a subtle difference but it can have a big impact on your accuracy.

 

Incorrect Ammo

Choosing the right ammo also has a big impact on your accuracy. If you are shooting with a factory rifle then make sure to test several loads to see what works best for your gun.

 

Poor Conditions

If you’ve ever read The Art of War, you’ll know how important it is to choose the right weather conditions and environment when taking on a challenge. Shooting early in the morning on calm days could mean low temperatures and minimal mirage.