You don’t need to be a world-class marksman to become a great rifle shooter. All you need is the right mix of practice, patience, and persistence. To get started, you’ll just need a little guidance from experts. From there, your dedication will do the rest of the work for you. To shoot like an expert, you need to train like an expert. Even if you have shooting down perfectly already, there are ways to make it even better. Whether you’re working on your shooting fundamentals or trying new techniques for ultimate efficiency, these eight tips can help take your rifle shooting to the next level.
Don’t try to shoot fast
There’s a misconception that great shooters shoot fast. In reality, though, they don’t shoot fast at all. They just make every single shot count. For that reason, you need to focus on quality, not quantity. When you try to shoot faster than you should, you will start to run into all sorts of issues. You might get bad breath control. You might start to tense up. You might begin to rush your shots. All of these things will make you less accurate. In order to become a better rifle shooter, slow down. Take your time. Make each shot the best shot you can. Don’t try to fit too many into a single target time. You’ll end up with a lot more misses than if you had taken your time.
Don’t reload until you have to
If you’re in a competition, that is a different story. But for most people, it’ll make more sense to just reload when you want to instead of when you have to. When you reload your rifle before you have to, you force yourself to do something before you’re ready. That creates unnecessary tension and can cause you to miss your next shots. You should reload your rifle when you actually need to. That way, you’ll only have to worry about reloading when you’re ready for it. You can practice this by timing yourself with a stopwatch. Find a target, start the timer, and make your shots for a certain amount of time. Once you run out of bullets, you’ll know when you should reload your rifle.
Stay calm and breathe correctly
When you’re in a competition or just shooting for fun, you’re going to have a lot of pressure on your shoulders. You need to stay calm and collected to overcome that pressure. If you’re not used to dealing with this pressure, it can quickly cause you to tense up. This will make it harder to breathe correctly and improve your accuracy. If you want to stay calm, you need to breathe correctly. Inhale fully, and then exhale completely. Avoid holding your breath. Once you’ve fully exhaled, take another full, deep breath. Repeat this breathing pattern as often as necessary until you feel calm and ready to shoot.
Learn how your rifle responds to different stances
All rifles are different. There are so many different models out there that it would be impossible to find two that are exactly the same. Each one will have a slightly different weight, length, and feel to it. You can maximize the effectiveness of your rifle by learning how it responds to different stances. This can vary from rifle to rifle, and even from shooter to shooter. You can learn more about your rifle’s preferences by shooting from different stances. Try standing with a wide stance and bent knees, as well as keeping your knees straight and your legs close together. Try leaning forward and backward, too.
Be consistent with your fundamentals
Rifle shooting is all about consistency. You can’t just be consistent with where you’re aiming, though. You also need to be consistent with your breathing, your trigger finger placement, your stance, and more. If you’re not consistent with these fundamentals, you’re not going to be able to shoot accurately. When you’re practicing your rifle shooting, you need to be consistent. You need to make sure you’re doing everything the exact same way every single time. This will allow you to better see what needs to be improved. These fundamentals are what make up a great rifle shooter. You can’t just excel in one area and ignore others. You need to be consistent with everything.
Establish a trigger-hand position that works for you
Some people like to put the barrel of their rifle in their palm and have the trigger finger rest on the trigger itself. Other people like to put their finger underneath the barrel and have their hand sit on top of it. And still others have their trigger finger resting on the side of the stock. Depending on what works best for you, you can choose any of these three trigger-hand positions. Each one has both pros and cons, so it’s up to you to decide which one sounds like the best fit.
Take care of your equipment
Like everything else, your rifle will wear out with time and use. You can help extend its life and improve your shooting by taking care of it. You can clean your barrel between shots with a cleaning rod and a solvent of your choice, and you can wipe down the rest of your rifle when you’re done shooting. For many people, shooting a rifle is a hobby or sport. You might also be in a position where you need to know how to shoot a rifle properly. If that’s the case, you need to make sure your equipment is in the best shape possible. Your rifle isn’t going to last very long if you don’t take care of it properly.
Conclusion
Rifle shooting is a sport that challenges you on both a physical and mental level. Like many other sports, there are a few tips and tricks that can help you improve your skills and become better at it. If you want to increase your accuracy, make sure that you are calm, focused and are breathing correctly. If you want to increase your speed, make sure that you are relaxed and have a proper grip on your rifle. If you want to make sure that you don’t miss a shot, make sure that you are consistent with your fundamentals and are well rested.
