Bench vertical stringing
- Thread starter tattooo
- Start date
How much vertical stringing are you getting? At what distance? This could be due to several possible problems - from rifle bedding to inconsistent pressures applied to the rifle.
My first go at a bench with my very first McMillan A-5 resulted in the same problem - just not comfortable behind the rifle, trying to settle on one position.
Try and not move you head at all between shots and see if that helps.
Try and not move you head at all between shots and see if that helps.
Are you saying you're involved (or planning to be) in some type of bench rest competition shooting? Or that you're simply shooting off a bench?
If it's the second of the two, I would suggest that you buy yourself a shooting mat and shoot from prone position. That may do a lot to help you. In either case, I will also point out that your rear bag to me looks a little unstable. Depending on what you're trying to accomplish, there may be better options. Finally, there was a recent thread here regarding the ammunition shown in your picture. It was reported that it has a tendency to show very high velocity extreme spreads (up to 100 fps). You might also think about trying something like Federal Gold Medal Match 168s/175s, or Black Hills Match 168s/175s to see if your rifle likes one of those better.
Finally, some personal instruction from a professional, or simply a more experienced shooter may help your shooting and/or identify what you may be doing incorrectly. Better to do it early than to possibly have to "unlearn" bad habits later.
If it's the second of the two, I would suggest that you buy yourself a shooting mat and shoot from prone position. That may do a lot to help you. In either case, I will also point out that your rear bag to me looks a little unstable. Depending on what you're trying to accomplish, there may be better options. Finally, there was a recent thread here regarding the ammunition shown in your picture. It was reported that it has a tendency to show very high velocity extreme spreads (up to 100 fps). You might also think about trying something like Federal Gold Medal Match 168s/175s, or Black Hills Match 168s/175s to see if your rifle likes one of those better.
Finally, some personal instruction from a professional, or simply a more experienced shooter may help your shooting and/or identify what you may be doing incorrectly. Better to do it early than to possibly have to "unlearn" bad habits later.
+1 on the rear bag. the one shown is ok for "grab and run scenarios" but for accuracy work you need a heavier, more solid model.
Thanks guys for the advice....I am just shooting from the bench not in competition...I also have remington premier match 175 grain & Winchester supreme match 168 grain but my rifle feeds the atomic like butter, I am vertically stringing with all 3.......I agree 1000% that my rear bag is too small and unstable. ....I will look into a better version and get some help from seasoned guys at the range
Sent from my SPH-L720 using Tapatalk
Sent from my SPH-L720 using Tapatalk
Yeah, on that note, I rarely shoot from the bench anymore. These "tactical" style stocks are designed with prone shooting in mind. Any rifle I shoot in competition or in the field prone, gets shot prone at the square range during practice or just zeroing.
I've often joked, a really challenging stage in a comp would be "shoot from the bench at a tiny dot". I'd probably be WAY off and have to walk the shots in.
I've often joked, a really challenging stage in a comp would be "shoot from the bench at a tiny dot". I'd probably be WAY off and have to walk the shots in.
If you're accustomed to shooting off a bench, prone may feel a little uncomfortable at first, but stick with it and your shooting should improve.
Change one thing at a time so you can figure it out. Start with the rear bag as suggested by others. When I shot hunter benchrest, two things caused vertical in my setup. The rear stock not resting on the top of the rear bag was the main one. The gun would tend to ride up off the top of the bag and be resting between the ears rather than the top of the bag when I pushed it forward after a shot. I would have to tap it back down between shots. We're talking fractions of an inch. Your unstable, rocking rear bag may be the culprit here. The other thing was inconsistent grip pressure on the pistol grip, mainly if I was thumbing the top of the stock. You could see the crosshair move up and down by applying thumb pressure on the top of the stock behind the tang. This is not likely to be your issue with the vertical style grip, but grip pressure does matter, especially if your trigger control and follow through is not good.
Seeing some improvement is always nice. Keep working at it and try not to get discouraged.
Sometimes when I go out I'll do some dry fire practice first. Part of the dry practice will be making a point to check NPA and sight picture, then concentrate on breathing, trigger control, and follow through. Then do the same thing with a live round.
Sometimes when I go out I'll do some dry fire practice first. Part of the dry practice will be making a point to check NPA and sight picture, then concentrate on breathing, trigger control, and follow through. Then do the same thing with a live round.
You might need to ease up a bit. I think too much concentration can effect your result. If you do enough dry fire practice mixed with live fire, it becomes a matter of just checking things off during the shot cycle. Like natural point of aim ... check, sight picture, (scope adjustment) .... check, breathing ..... check, trigger control ..... check, follow thorough .... check. Then repeat the cycle for the next shot.
There are a few little tricks.
I use a piece of tape on the stock so my face is always in the same place.
I know that butt placement is important, I don't have a trick for that ... anyone? Buehler? I'm okay at this but I know that I could be better and I need a clever indexing method.
In my case, thumbing the tang screws me up so I make a fist with my thumb on top, rest it alongside the stock, hook fingers 2, 3, and 4 in front of the pistol grip and pull back a little, and lay my trigger finger straight out alongside the stock above the trigger.
I have gotten better at checking the scope parallax. If you have it right then don't worry. In my case, I sometimes forget to set it so when I put my head down on the stock, I wiggle my head around a little to see if the cross hairs move on the target. If they do then I unwind, reach up with my left hand and fiddle with the parallax while wiggling my head. When the cross hairs stop moving, the parallax is right.
Left hand is important. I am a bag squeezer so I either squeeze the bag for my vertical or I just lay my hand flat on the bench under the butt stock just in front of the rear bag.
Breathing is also important. Do not hold your breath too long before taking the shot. If you find yourself feeling rushed or short of breath, disengage, get your breathing under control, and reacquire. Many 4-and-1 targets come from "just a couple more seconds!!!"
If you start reloading, some specific charge amounts will show vertical. You may have to change powder type, increase or decrease the charge amount, or change seating depth -- usually increase the charge but that doesn't always work.
If your weapon recoils a lot, you may develop a variety of mechanical issues. Consider installing a brake - talk to Harrell.
I use a piece of tape on the stock so my face is always in the same place.
I know that butt placement is important, I don't have a trick for that ... anyone? Buehler? I'm okay at this but I know that I could be better and I need a clever indexing method.
In my case, thumbing the tang screws me up so I make a fist with my thumb on top, rest it alongside the stock, hook fingers 2, 3, and 4 in front of the pistol grip and pull back a little, and lay my trigger finger straight out alongside the stock above the trigger.
I have gotten better at checking the scope parallax. If you have it right then don't worry. In my case, I sometimes forget to set it so when I put my head down on the stock, I wiggle my head around a little to see if the cross hairs move on the target. If they do then I unwind, reach up with my left hand and fiddle with the parallax while wiggling my head. When the cross hairs stop moving, the parallax is right.
Left hand is important. I am a bag squeezer so I either squeeze the bag for my vertical or I just lay my hand flat on the bench under the butt stock just in front of the rear bag.
Breathing is also important. Do not hold your breath too long before taking the shot. If you find yourself feeling rushed or short of breath, disengage, get your breathing under control, and reacquire. Many 4-and-1 targets come from "just a couple more seconds!!!"
If you start reloading, some specific charge amounts will show vertical. You may have to change powder type, increase or decrease the charge amount, or change seating depth -- usually increase the charge but that doesn't always work.
If your weapon recoils a lot, you may develop a variety of mechanical issues. Consider installing a brake - talk to Harrell.
