Advanced Marksmanship Hoping rifle when shooting with a bipod...

Been reading through this thread and others on prone position and have been getting some ideas where I'm going wrong.....been shooting off a bench too much and my prone position is causing me problems now. I attached a picture of my prone position.... I plan on videoing myself later this week, to get a better idea if how things are when I'm shooting. Any tips on how I can fix my position are appreciated.

You are canted left behind the rifle, which makes your spine and rifle barrel not even close to parallel. From that position, move your body to the right. I have to move enough so that I feel like I'm actually right of the rifle (I'm a right handed shooter as well). Getting straight behind the rifle has helped the hopping immensely. And I get instant feedback when I'm not straight behind the rifle.

Hope that helps. Graham and Cory point it out really well on page 1 of this thread.
 
You are canted left behind the rifle, which makes your spine and rifle barrel not even close to parallel. From that position, move your body to the right. I have to move enough so that I feel like I'm actually right of the rifle (I'm a right handed shooter as well). Getting straight behind the rifle has helped the hopping immensely. And I get instant feedback when I'm not straight behind the rifle.

Hope that helps. Graham and Cory point it out really well on page 1 of this thread.

Thanks, that helped alot, so did reading what the others said....went out today and tried to put some of that to use....
....I still need work, but there was a bunch of improvement.....now it's making sure I get all lined up on my shooting mat.....I think not getting that positioned right threw me off a little today....videoed the shooting, there was a lot less hopping already
 
There are probably enough people "tagging" this thread that perhaps we could consider a sticky if we felt that there was enough pertinent and correct information in here.
 
And you posting about your elbows made me realize my left elbow is super wonky now that I look at that picture. Thanks!

This photo posted by Lowlight is what did the trick for me. I had my left elbow WAY out in front. Keeping my body straight behind the rifle wasn't enough because my shoulders weren't even close to square. Pulling my elbow back to get my shoulders square and having my body straight back made instant improvements.

Thanks.
 
image.jpg

Could you please give me a advice, whats wrong with my prone?
I have the Same Problems with bipod hop.
I've Seen the Day one DVD, read the posts but cant solve the Problem.
Regards Daniel
 
I tried it the last few weeks / months and it seems that i have a solution for my Problem.
My rifle always go left and high.
Recoil is linear and the only force i apply to rifle right and down at the back of my rifle is my cheekweld.
I squeeze the bag with my left hand with muscle tension to get the proper hight for the target and go right and down with my head to see the target.
In the Magpul Video they said that the applied force on the cheekweld should be the weight of the head, and i did it that way.
I didn´t noticed that i fight again that pressure with my shoulder and my shooting hand and when the shot breaks i ended left and high because i relax.

I am still not perfect with this but it really makes a difference.
So now i know what i have to do: work on my cheekweld.
 
I tried it the last few weeks / months and it seems that i have a solution for my Problem.
My rifle always go left and high.
Recoil is linear and the only force i apply to rifle right and down at the back of my rifle is my cheekweld.
I squeeze the bag with my left hand with muscle tension to get the proper hight for the target and go right and down with my head to see the target.
In the Magpul Video they said that the applied force on the cheekweld should be the weight of the head, and i did it that way.
I didn´t noticed that i fight again that pressure with my shoulder and my shooting hand and when the shot breaks i ended left and high because i relax.

I am still not perfect with this but it really makes a difference.
So now i know what i have to do: work on my cheekweld.

You say you squeeze the bag, that's using muscle to steer the rifle on to the target. You want to adjust NPA to get sight on target using bone and artificial support rather than muscle to maintain aim. Drop the bag. It is distracting you. You are using it as a substitute to marksmanship concepts which you do not yet comprehend. Only by dropping the bag will you understand the importance of NPA and how solid your position can be when it is adjusted properly. Build the position without the bag. And begin building the position by bringing the butt stock to your head, not the head to the stock.
 
Here is a 20" 338LM with no hop and very little movement on recoil and I weight all of 130lbs

Your rifle technique is immpecable but what really astounded me was the above revelation.

Sadly I havent weighed 130 pounds since 7th grade. 32 years of being a fat body.
 
With the advice of the advanced shooters posts I saw a noticeable improvement. It wasn't until I had a few instructors pound the fundimentals listed by Lowlight and RO into my pea brain to bring this hop to a minimum. Practice is going to bring me closer to a complete resolution. I can see all splashes and correct with accurate adjustments "If my fundamentals" are adhered to. Happy shooter now!
 
Is it just tall guys, or am I the only one who has trouble figuring out the correct amount of pressure to place into the butt of the rifle?

It seems like either I'm hopping or I push the bipod forward, and i'm hopping... thoughts?

you shouldn't push into the stock at all as addressed by someone else you should lay down and pull the rifle into the shoulder with your middle-pinky of the shooting hand and just snug it up and keep your shoulders relaxed I used to shoot lr all wrong before I read here I used to be angled to the left and used my shooting arm as a leveler and just have my none shooting hand off in space I did the same thing with a 270 and it was my first and last scope bite now I shoot 308,338wm,270 no problem and I'm 140-145soaking wet xD
 
Seems almost all the Right handed shooters have scope jump Up and Left.. I actually experience Up and to the RIGHT.. wth?

Also, there was another thread I saw once upon a time here, about chasing the jump with the butt of the rifle? Anyone know what that means, or knows where that thread is hiding?
 
Just an Other question:
Bipod prone with rearbag:
How do u bring/hold your shoulders/body to the required height?
-You always say relax your body relax your shoulders... If i use a High prone and Hold my body up with my shoulders/Arms (bone support) my shoulders are Not relaxed and leveled.
-If i Set my bipod low and Rest my body on my chest i am able to relax my shoulders but have to use the muscles of my back to bring my chest up a Bit to align the Gun and the target.
What is the correct Way for this? Rest the body weight on the Arms or on the chest and Belly?
Regards Daniel
 
I'll keep working on this till I get it right... I can occasionally spot my hit's and misses at 400 with a couple of unbraked "kickers" , but not at all on a consistent basis yet. I think I'm tensing up anticipating the recoil... it's a work in progress1
 
Last edited:
I have no problem with hop in the prone get straight back with square shoulders take out the slack of the bipod and u can shoot round after round without readjustment!! On the bench if I use a death grip n I mean so tight the muscles cause the reticle to tremble then I can spot my hits otherwise it goes left if I relax it
 
Just an Other question:
Bipod prone with rearbag:
How do u bring/hold your shoulders/body to the required height?
-You always say relax your body relax your shoulders... If i use a High prone and Hold my body up with my shoulders/Arms (bone support) my shoulders are Not relaxed and leveled.
-If i Set my bipod low and Rest my body on my chest i am able to relax my shoulders but have to use the muscles of my back to bring my chest up a Bit to align the Gun and the target.
What is the correct Way for this? Rest the body weight on the Arms or on the chest and Belly?
Regards Daniel

Resurrecting this thread.... I have asked and seen this question asked a ton and have never seen anyone actually answer it. Being fit with zero body fat or belly, laying prone leaves my head and shoulders about 4 inches off the ground. I have long arms so to be relaxed with bone support i would have to prop all of the way up the length of my upper arms. Doing this shrugs my relaxed shoulders way up and would seem to be the full retard way to shoot prone.... I can put a large sand bag under my upper belly/lower chest to simulate having extra LBs and then I can relax at a comfortable height to shoot from. I cant imagine this being the answer though. The whole reason I want to work on prone is to do away with bags! Can someone answer this once and for all? Exactly where should the weight be supported while staying relaxed? This seems to be an especially important question for fit people who can't just "lay down and relax" because that leaves about 4" off the ground!
 
Having learned a few things since my OP, I may be able to offer some help:

If you shoot from a bipod, you need a rear bag to do so effectively. It's a PITA to find the correct size (I now have half a dozen), but when you do, the rifle will barely move. One of the things that seems to me to be important is that the rifle be horizontal so that recoil comes straight back. If you have a high bipod and low bag, the barrel is inclined and the muzzle tends to rise up. So get a bag that matches the lowest setting on your bipod, or the one you normally use.

The long arms can be mitigated by extending elbows farther to the side which will drop your shoulders into a more relaxed position. I had to work at that as it's more natural to have the elbows close to the body. But again, once you get used to it, you'll find a relaxed position despite your fit frame.

Hope this helps--

Dave
 
  • Like
Reactions: Thepopo