Improving rifle accuracy

Does that suppressor add a bunch of weight?

It's made out of titanium and adds a little over 12 ounces. You get used to the weight after using it for a while. It's on a dpms lr-10 in .243 and it shoots like a .22 lr. I was able to watch that buck fall over after the shot with such little recoil.
 
One other suggestion, Bull. Consider getting a shooting rest for sighting in and practicing. Something like a "lead sled"... takes away about 90-95% recoil and lets you work on trigger pull with a live round.
I use the lead sled to sight in. Works great on range for sure. Hearing protection as well. Hunting I don't use hearing protection

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It's made out of titanium and adds a little over 12 ounces. You get used to the weight after using it for a while. It's on a dpms lr-10 in .243 and it shoots like a .22 lr. I was able to watch that buck fall over after the shot with such little recoil.
Sounds very interesting
 
I am a finger shooter and tried a release only for a couple of deer and just didn't find it enjoyable. However the trigger on the bow is intended to be squeezed just like a finger shooter gently released as he pulls back. Then there is the follow thru. The rifle is the same deal. What is perceived to be after the shot counts.

I am not a great rifle shot but I do not usually have any flinching even though I shoot a big gun. How I manage it is by shooting a 22 and a BB gun a lot, a real lot. The BB gun is probably the best;it is cheap and can be done every day at home. And it requires good follow thru. But in addition getting back to the bow; it requires good follow thru and a relaxed release as well. Punching the trigger on a bow which is practiced a lot definitely will carry over to one's rifle shooting. It is surprising you get away with it with the bow.

And wear ear protection when shooting of course as the roar can make it easy to flinch as much as the kick can. Also we shoot heavy weighted guns equipped with muzzlebrakes.
I have learned to slowly move my bow pin to the area I want to hit then punch the release. Not a best practice but I don't get target panic and I am normally in the top 3 in 3D tournaments. Not perfect but my confidence with a bow is very high
 
You've gotten a lot of good advice, but just to reaffirm a couple that I have found with myself and my kids. 1) Hearing protection- I learned this the hard way with my son (9). He actually didn't take an easy shot, and when I asked him why he didn't he told me he was afraid how loud the shot would be. Sounds odd to many of us, but noise can be a major subconscious obstacle. He started wearing ear muffs as soon as we saw deer, and stone-cold dropped one with a perfect shot from a .223. 2) A bad trigger will make a good shooter worse. 3) Slow down. My brother is famous for missing deer because he rushes his shots, feeling like he won't get the shot if he doesn't take it within .1 seconds of seeing the deer. Take your time, breathe, focus on the hair you want to hit and let the rest be automatic. Most of the time we have more time to make the shot than our adrenaline tells us we do. 3) Shoot groundhogs in the summer with a gun that wouldn't break an egg with recoil. Muscle memory and confidence booster, with a requirement to focus small. I am no expert, and have to remind myself of these things often, but it's more about the basics and confidence than caliber.
 
I would simply shoot the heck out of the 22 and then use a lead sled or something when checking the zero on the 300. Practice with the 22 and when you shoot at a deer you won't have a problem. It will be like practicing with your bow when shooting the 22. If you still can't shoot the 300 after practicing a lot with the 22 then drop down to a 7mm-08, 243, 25-06 or something similar. And like others have said, use hearing protection.
 
1. HEARING PROTECTION! Once you lose it you can't get it back. Nobody should be shooting without it. I have lost a good range of my hearing from shooting without protection for the first 20 years of my life. If you have a flinch this will help there also.

2. Get a trigger job done by a competent gunsmith. 2.5-3lbs. A good trigger makes all the difference in shooting accurately.

3. Dry fire and work on a nice slow trigger squeeze. Best exercise you can do. If you want to see if you are flinching have someone load your rifle in between every shot at the range and rotate in the occasional empty chamber without you knowing whether a live round or an empty chamber is in the rifle. You won't know if there is a live round or not. Watch your cross hairs and see if they move off the bullseye when the trigger snaps on the empty chamber. If it moves you are manipulating the rifle during the shot, most likely some level of a flinch or trigger jerk. Your friend may actually be able to see you flinch just watching you if it is bad enough. You will probably start shooting better immediately during this exercise because you will focus on squeezing the trigger and not thinking about the gun going off.

4. Once you get a decent trigger squeeze and any flinching under control, shoot something that has no recoil and shoot it a lot. .22's are great for this. 17 Hornet is a great choice also, anything with no recoil. Again, use rifles with a decent trigger. Continue to dry fire periodically. Your shooting will get better.
 
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There are lots of things that will make you shoot better, but none of them matter until you teach yourself one important skill.

Train yourself to keep your concentration until 1/2 of a second after the gun fires instead of losing it 1/2 of a second before the gun fires. This is the main cause of bad shooting.

It all boils down to changing 1 second of your life ( 1/2 + 1/2 = 1)
 
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I think you already answered you own question. You shoot the 270 good, so drop the 300 for deer. Over kill anyway. But to shoot anything good, if you have to think about it, you are screwed. True with shooting or any sport. Should be automatic and you shouldn't have even remembered how you made the shot. As you said, wear out the 22, and use it on small game i.e. squirrel, rabbit, crow, groundhog. That will cure the problem. And like any talent, some people are just good damn shots, others not so much. Good luck.
 
I agree with Dogghr. Dump the 300.

Look, here's the thing. A lot of guys are hesitant to admit recoil bothers them. They see it as just not "manly" to admit it. So they muddle on shooting badly and don't change.

Recoil sensitivity is VERY common. Gun writer Craig Boddington put it best: "Like bad breath, it is also incredibly difficult to self-diagnose." I see it ALL THE TIME at my gun club. Guys shooting pie plate groups with rifles that I KNOW would do box-stock MOA groups except that the guy shooting them has the yips.

The reality is that nobody will judge you for dumping the 300. There's no shame in it. We can get into all the complicated reasons why recoil sensitivity happens, but the bottom line is that it is a reality that it seriously impacts shooting accuracy. Why try to fix a problem that you can just chuck overboard?

I've heard it over and over and over again from the African guides and outfitters. What rifle should I bring? The one you shoot best! A hit with a 270 does far more good than a miss or a bad hit with a 300.

One final note. In America we are VASTLY overgunned for modern deer hunting. The rifles that we shoot now for deer are elephant guns compared to what our forefathers very successfully used for over a century for deer. The idea that moving to a smaller caliber somehow is a "downgrade" is just silly.

Grouse
 
Easy way to test yourself. Make sure gun is empty, get set up and have someone balance a penny or dime out near the front of the barrel. Squeeze the trigger just as you would if you had a live round in the chamber. If the coin falls off you either have a problem with your trigger squeeze or the trigger itself. A smooth trigger release and the coin will not fall off.
 
i can shoot a shotgun and bow very well but a rifle... ugly

I called a local range for lessons. They don't offer them. I don't have an easy place to practice with my 270. The range is $800 to join!!!

I just ordered some snap caps practice blanks from Cabelas

Anyone have any advice for me. Breathing, tripper pull, etc. I think what i am doing is punching the trigger like I do my release on my bow. Also my Tika3 300 WSM has given me a flinch. I have a 270 and I seem to shoot this better

I was a struggling shooter but do OK now. Here was what worked for me--Switched to a single shot, always wear protective ear muffs when practicing or in a blind, Shoot for $ with a friend--nothing high but just something to make the shot matter in your mind, Practice with a bb gun or a 22 regularly, And the most important besides picking a spot is FOLLOW THRU! And that punching the release trigger while evidently gets you thru bow shooting with good results gives you/reinforces one poor rifle shooting habit.
 
Good advice guys

I got my snap caps. I've been practicing my trigger pull and follow through. I don't have any flinch

I am going to make this part of my work out routine. Hopefully form a new habit
 
Agree with everything in this thread. All our rifles are chambered in 7mm-08 and the teenagers shoot reduced loads.

I will just add one thing from my experience. Several years ago when I got into the hobby of reloading, I started spending more time on the bench attempting to shoot the smallest groups possible as I worked up loads for my rifles. The more I did this the better I got. Now I've heard the conventional wisdom many times that punching holes in paper from a rest only measures the accuracy of the rifle, but will not improve your shooting. To improve your shooting you must practice in different hunting positions; prone, kneeling, off-hand, sitting, ect. Not true in my experience. I found that all the technique and muscle memory I acquired from the bench translated into the field just fine.
 
I used to shoot a .300wm. Not any more. I love big handguns, but big rifles i dont shoot well. Now i shoot .308 for big game and have become a better shooter. What do you need a .300wm for anyway? Hunting grizzlies?
Its okay to admit that you dont shoot big magnums well. A lot of guys seem to think their penis will fall off if they admit that. It wont.
Id say for every 10 guys who claim they shoot .300wm, .338 etc with no problems, maybe one or two are telling the truth. The rest are lying to themselves because they feel their manhood is on the line.
Ditch that .300wsm. Its not helping you.
Ive noticed a common trend on hunting site classifieds. Seems like the vast majority of rifles being sold are .300wm +. Should tell you something.
 
When you say you don't shoot well, what do you mean? At paper targets? At deer? With or without a rest?
If it comes down to jerking the trigger three things come to mind to help correct your issues.
One, get one of those laser bore sighters in the cartridge/caliber your shooting. You can do this in your house. Activate the laser, aim through your scope, and squeeze the trigger. If the laser comes off the target or moves it will indicate your problem and practice will help.
Two, as mentioned previously the trigger can make or break accuracy. Too heavy a trigger will cause a myriad of problems from jerking, to to tightly gripping the stock pulling shots to the right, pushing forward with your shoulder forward during the squeezing part pushing rounds down and to the left.
Three, since I am not certain of your real issues it could be your equipment. Whether the scope is malfunctioning, or maybe the alignment of the scope or positioning of your head when the rifle is shouldered. You should have a clean and precise scope picture every time you shoulder your rifle. No moving of the head to clear the picture, should be automatic.

If it turns out you are flinching from recoil from your .270 buy some of the Managed Recoil rounds from Remington. My daughter shots these with no issue. They drop deer, have a better ballistics than a .243 and you don't have to buy a new rifle.

Most guys who miss deer with bow or gun generally do so because the don't follow through. They peek to see the results. With guns they generally look over the scope looking for impact either hitting low or high all determined by if they drop the rifle or move their head up to see. Good luck
 
The angle of the stock can be incorrect too. A couple of degrees down and it will dig into your shoulder causing pain, which in turn causes a flinch. I won a .270 at a local NWTF banquet and it would absolutely pound your shoulder with 130gr factory ammo. I sold it to a friend of mine and he ended up selling it to a friend of his. I have a .300Wby that I think is a pussy cat for the caliber. I really enjoy shooting it. Another friend had one and said it was the hardest kicking rifle he ever owned. He has since bought another one and said it shoot s nice and soft, for the caliber.
 
Best thing I ever did for my shooting was to put a Timney trigger @ 2lbs on the old Remington 700 30-06 I hunt with.The rifle pretty much fires as soon as I think about pulling the trigger. I had no idea how bad the old trigger was and it has made a substantial positive difference in my shooting.
 
Best thing I ever did for my shooting was to put a Timney trigger @ 2lbs on the old Remington 700 30-06 I hunt with.The rifle pretty much fires as soon as I think about pulling the trigger. I had no idea how bad the old trigger was and it has made a substantial positive difference in my shooting.


Your right, the best thing ever if you only own one rifle. I had a timney put in a custom 450 marlin that I had built, and now I need to change triggers in my other guns, it makes a huge difference.
 
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