ice... a consistant 100 yard 2" gun is still shooting very, very well. It is more than sufficient for training purposes in any position... including bench. When that rifle starts shooting larger than "normal" then it is an indicator that there is some operator or mechanical error being introduced and you have the opportunity to diagnose and correct it.
That's good to know. So seems a savage bolt gun would be a decent beginner rifle. I like to think my body mechanics are fairly stable (not great i'm sure but not terrible) and I'm patient but i have no concept of reading wind or experience with bullet drop. I do have a decently logical train of thought and have an ok grasp of the concept of trajectory, etc. (physics engineering minor). I just moved from southern CA onto a rural 160acres in northern WA (800 yard longest shot) and thought this was the time to finally learn how to shoot now that i can practice as often as i feel like it or can afford the ammo. so i was hoping for something that i wouldn't outgrow in a few months.
Second example... from mrbig's photo... his scope is probably not calibrated properly (assuming MOA turrets) since he moved his windage 12 clicks (3") but his average point of impact shifted 3.5" - the fact that he strung two excellent groups together doesn't really matter because he was consistant and the same could've been deduced by 2 larger but equally consistant groups.
golden info. I would've been years from even thinking about looking for information like that. Now i will pay much closer attention to posted targets. I usually just breeze over that and read the details. That kind of mentality is exactly why i'm here to learn.
OT... I kinda think the same about the current political climate!!
meh, i've kinda given up on politics. In the words of a few poets
"Seems sick and it's hungry, it's tired and it's torn, It looks like it's dyin' and it's hardly been born" Bob Dylan
"It's the end of the world as we know it...and I feel fine." R.E.M.
no point in fighting against entropy...
If you are an absolute beginner then any rifle is better than no rifle.
been "shooting" for about 5 years but only pistol and AR type stuff at indoor and a few outdoors ranges, no long distance or precision shooting.
When you buy that cheap starter rifle begin at that moment to save your coin. Use your new rifle, shoot it often. Practice with motivation and intent. Save your coin. Shoot some competitions even if you can't be competitive. Honing shooting skills is like honing a knife, those you shoot against are the stone and you are the dull knife. As you compete against the harder competition it will sharpen your skills. Competing against yourself is like kissing your sister.
First off, kissing your sister? nasty. but i get what you're saying. Unfortunately I'm now pretty rural (outskirts of Chesaw, WA). i doubt there's many/any competitions within decent driving distance to me but I'll have to look around. I will say with the little bit of target shooting my wife and i did when we had time to try out some 3gun classes in southern CA, she did pretty well so maybe i can con her into being my competition
Now it's time to spend that coin you were told to save. Don't spend money on your old equipment in an effort to make it do something it won't do. Don't believe everything you read from guys that tinker incessantly with their equipment. A bedding job and a new barrel will not make a Savage an Anschutz, just like a new barrel and forend won't make a TC Contender outshoot an XP100. Don't waste your money. I bought a CZ452 and was happy with its accuracy. It would put me high in the running most months but never quite in the winners circle. I was loaned an Anschutz for a match and won, it was time to upgrade. I had spent almost enough to buy a new Anschutz fiddling and tinkering with that CZ in an effort to make it outshoot an Anschutz, wasted money.
Thats a shame. My dad and I run a small CNC aerospace machine shop. I was hoping i could take the opportunity and knowledge i get from learning about precision shooting to maybe learn a thing or two about gunsmithing and maybe even branch out a bit and make stuff for a sport i enjoy. My first attempt was going to be bedding the FV-SR savage and maybe putting it on pillars. I was hoping with time i could find inexpensive ways to turn a $250 gun into a "tack driver". (on a side note, the very term tack driver that i've read a zillion times online, after reading this thread and taking it to heart, seems like it's basically like hanging a big sign on my forhead that says "I have no idea what i'm talking about". lol a true "tack driver" would either have to be 25 yards away from the target or a super high end sub.5MOA @100yrds .22LR (if there is such a thing)
If you you shoot a competition learn to shut everything out until there is only you, your spotter(if you have one), the line commands and the target, NOT the TARGET(S) the target. One target at a time, or one shot at a time. Don't think about lunch, your cheating wife or GF, what the next episode of Honey Boo Boo will be like, what the other competitors scores are, none of that. Watch Bull Durham and The Legend of Bagger Vance and think about applying that to your shooting. You don't have to wear women's garters under your pants....though it may help
I was into sportbike racing in college, one of my favorite parts of a movie was in stallone's movie Driven. Not a great movie but the scene where he gets into his grove and everything but his line fuzzes out...priceless. i see exactly what you're saying. quiet "the mad monkey of the mind". Focus on your shot. check.
Buy within your budget, the best you can afford and save for later if need be. Don't scrimp on glass. Come to our match at 22TSC and you will see a pile of glass you wouldn't believe on 22 rifles. My MPR wears a MK4 16x Leupold, same as my big boy tactical rifle. There are at least 3 MPRs at our match that we have to have distinguishing marks to tell apart. Nothing wrong with $1600 glass on a $1200 rifle.
yeah....i think it's gonna take some time before i see myself spending that kind of cash on a scope, BUT i never say never.....but i am a cheap bastard.... the best glass i ever purchased was an ACOG with red dot. almost made my stomach hurt i still haven't figured out how better glass makes for a better shot. i can understand repeatability of the turrent movement, the ability to hold a zero, etc. but the clarity or color of the lenses? I still have a lot to learn...
Shoot whatever you get with purpose and learn the fundamentals.
that phrase is going on my gun case!
thanks for the wise words guys. probably the most informative enlightened thread for beginners i've read to date,