Shooting of hand

[swiftman]

How much does it affect point of aim by sighting in with sand bag under hinge pin then shooting  of hand by gripping foreend? will it stillbe on or is each handi diferent in this reguard?

[Fred M]

swiftman
To start with I do not believe in sighting in  a Handi resting on the hinge pin. I fully bed the forearm and have a tight forearm connection to the action. This allows me to rest the rifle anywhere on the forearm.

When my arms get tired turn to six foot shooting sticks. In certain terrain I also use the Harris bi-pod in sitting length. This bi-pod attaches to the forearm sling swivel. Here again hinge pin sight in works poorly with a bi-pod attached near the end of the forearm.

But if you believe in hinge pin sighting in then that is what you also do when shooting off hand.

This is by the way the most steady position for off hand shooting placing your hand under the hinge pin and jamming your elbow against your body curling your upper body back. I actually rest my palm under the trigger guard with my fingers pointing forward. Both hands are nearly in the same position. My right elbow is up to tighten the shoulder and chest muscles.

Feet are shoulder width and the left foot slightly ahead of the right one if you are right handed.

In the summer I do a lot of off hand shooting when hunting gophers.
To have the most success you should have a very light trigger, mine is 24oz. I do like a sporter weight barrel best for this type of shooting.

Perhaps this is more than you wanted to know. :-)

[ajj]

Fred gives good advice. Offhand shooting is an acquired skill...nobody is born knowing how to do it. Truth is that there is only one way to find out where YOU will shoot YOUR rifle offhand. Give it a try. Some will tell you that if it shoots to a different elevation offhand, you're doing something wrong. If you can shoot well enough to "call" your shots at the trigger break and good shots are going lower than you think they should, you're probably failing to follow through. But get out and try it...it's fun. Good luck and good shooting.

[Fred M]

ajj.
You are right. Trigger control and timing your pull is most important since the x-hair never stays still. Although a good standing position will decrease the x-hairs motion. Yes you have to be able to call your shots, or else you will never get good at off hand shooting.

Yanking the trigger will not do it, resulting in a miss or a badly placed shot at best.

Off hand shooting is a great confidence builder. The moose I dropped last week was an off hand shot with the moose trotting in the direction of the woods.

A shot like that has three components. Trigger control, forward allowance,
at the same time keeping your rifle moving the same speed as the target.
If you stop the rifle when you pull the trigger you miss or end up with a gut shot animal.

[Awf Hand]

As my handle would indicate, I've stood on my hind legs and shot a rifle a few times.

The Handi presents unique conditions for good Awf Hand shooting.  Last summer I put about 3000 rounds of .357 ammo through mine.  All of this was standing position, elbow on hip, carefully aimed shooting.  While that rifle was resting, I was doing the same with my .22 rimfire or the .308 I use for silouette.

I took careful notes about any issues that I encountered while I was shooting.  I would often find my groups migrating off to one side of the target.  These would still be nice groups, just not where I wanted them.

The Handi is light.  The trigger pulls are somewhat heavy.  The lock time is not the fastest out there, this further impeded by the addition of the hammer extension.  All of these factors were minimal compared to the jerk behind the trigger.

Noting the difference between accuracy and precision...

I found the following to be influences in accuracy:
Uniformity of grip on the stock
Uniformity of cheek pressure on the stock
Uniformity of cant on the rifle
Consistent placement of the butt against the same spot on your shoulder
Feet placed in the same spot time and time again

All above are matters of repetition


While the following affect precision:
Anticipating of conditions which will affect the shooter -read the wind before it's there by watching leaves/trees upwind, so you're not trying to pull through while your body is slapped by wind-
Anticipation of recoil, i.e. tensing or pushing forward of the support shoulder
Fatigue -don't get overtired, you'll just practice doing it badly

All of the above are true to benchrest shooting, as well.  I've found different groups (still precise, but not accurate) occur from BR to OH shooting.  This has been about 2-2.5" at 50 yards and (with the 7-08 and 308) about 5-7" at 200 yards.  
I've assumed this to be due to:
The different postions from which the shoulder has to accomodate recoil
The differently applied direction and amount of cheek pressure
The forearm being supported in a different place
and
The fact that on the bench, I try to hold the rifle down, whereas, while standing, I'm trying to hold the rifle up.



I guess I'm just in a list making mood today.  
This is due to the following influences:

 :grin:  :grin:  :grin: