What was your biggest “aha!” Moment as a beginner?

[Swampcrawler65]

Getting a little frustrated with my shooting.

Trying to get through load development but having a hard time trusting my own shooting. I’ve shot .5 inch groups followed by 1.5 inch groups and vice versa with the same ammo.

Figured it would be interesting if the more experienced guys share those lightbulb moments. For me with pistol it was finally learning to focus on the front sight and ride the trigger reset. That big Dawson fiber bouncing from target to target was a beautiful thing once I learned how to do it.

So. Share away!

 

[Ric O'shay]

I spent many years being an ammo burner. A lot of 9mm and .223 flung down range because it was inexpensive and rather fun.
Then I fell in love with a good bolt action rifle and learned to slow EVERTHING down. Taking time to make each pull count, stop, consider, self teach and repeat. So for me it was a change in goals and slowing the entire process down.
Although I still enjoy ripping through a high capacity magazine now and then.

 

[toxic]

Getting a little frustrated with my shooting.

Trying to get through load development but having a hard time trusting my own shooting. I’ve shot .5 inch groups followed by 1.5 inch groups and vice versa with the same ammo.

I am feeling the same way. Can get .5" 3 shot groups but shots 4 and 5 make it 2"

 

[demolitionman]

A few newbie AHA moments of mine: the first time I ever heard a bullet hit long range steel and the first time I saw a "tac turret" on a scope and asked the guy why they were so big. He then explained to me drop compensating and how he could adjust them to make hits at different distances. At the time I had no idea. It was like magic to me. So fascinating. I never really stopped thinking about . I had always owned firearms.....but had never really loved firearms. The journey to learning dope, and dialing it to make hits seemed like, as Frank would say, Vudoo. But it wasn't. And I was able to learn it. Then my other memorable AHA was the first time I made my own reload, and shot it. That was f'n cool too. There is no hope for me now. Lifelong Bolt gun obsessed.

 

[STROP]

Importance of consistency. Just as important for pistols as rifles.

What do you mean by riding the trigger? Pinning?

 

[Badfinger]

With the rifle it was getting properly aligned behind the gun, loading the bipod, and breathing! Going to school on every group fired

 

[mercracing]

For me it was loading the bipod. Before that I would shoot and would always have to take time to find the target again. Once I learned how to load the bipod, and saw my first round hit the steel, it was magic!

 

[Raptor005]

Here are a couple things I learned:

1) The importance of a good read bag: I shot with a bag that was just a little smaller than I needed, and switching to a better bag made a huge difference.

2) Zero your scope after every stage: I know zero stops help, but it sucks to get to a stage and not even be able to see your hits because your a full revolution off with your dope...

3) Don't Rush: I realized this when I rushed a stage and ended up with 1 out of 10 points (10 poor shots), but had I taken my time, I could have probably gotten 5 solid shots off.

4) Have fun: you do worse when you get frustrated.

 

[Will Fennell]

When I realized that a 'mil equals a mil'......

 

[OzTRG]

The first time I was truely square behind the rifle and felt the good recoil that does straight back and the reticle comes back on target
The same with dry fire practice where the reticle doesn’t move on pressing the trigger

 

[hereinaz]

Recoil managment hands down.

When you control the beast, it is like a new world.

 

[Monk Medic]

For me it was natural point of aim.
When you’re not “muscling” the gun on target, but have it properly aligned with your natural bone structure. What an amazing difference it makes in accuracy and consistency.

 

[isofahunter]

Being relaxed behind the gun, learning to be relaxed eliminates a whole bunch of issues. I forget where I heard it "Be a piece of meat behind the rifle not a live animal." I think about being a Brisket when I get behind the rifle, just a big piece of meat.

 

[1J04]

This is a great topic. This can span it all. Equipment, form, units of measure, reloading, yada yada. I'd have to say finally having it sink in as well that a minute is a minute is a minute, as well as a mil being a mil. Then reloading. A consistent shoulder 'bump' and tools to measure it as well as CBTO. Still do some things old school how I started in the 70's, but been somewhat smart enough to evolve a tad and make things easier.

 

[Bender]

My favorite two moments were,

Recoil management: being able to spot splash

MIL equals a Mil: Miss by a Mil, adjust or hold a Mil, for some this is black magic, but when you finally understand that most way overthink the scope, and linear measurement adjustments are meaningless. It was definitely an epiphany....

 

[ARobinson]

1) Getting off the bench and realizing how much BETTER i can shoot prone.

2) Getting off my belly and realizing how much there is so much to learn from alternate positions. I love getting in the back yard and building positions on stuff around the house and watching my wobble decrease every time I practice.

One of the shooters in my squad this weekend said made a comment that i thought was really funny but I totally understood "The left side of the PRS barricade is the exact height as my microwave"

 

[Mike 556]

You guys rock! As a beginning long range shooter this thread has been extremely helpful and eye opening. When you venture into a new and unfamiliar field, I've always strived to learn and practice the basics - fundamentals, and build from there. The information in this thread alone has saved me years of trial and error. Kudos to Swampcrawler for starting this thread! And Thanks to all who shared their knowledge.
Mike

 

[Rogerthatout]

Canting causes a POI shift

 

[Rogerthatout]

My favorite two moments were,

Recoil management: being able to spot splash

MIL equals a Mil: Miss by a Mil, adjust or hold a Mil, for some this is black magic, but when you finally understand that most way overthink the scope, and linear measurement adjustments are meaningless. It was definitely an epiphany....

Splash?

 

[Bender]

Splash?

Bullet splash in the dirt.

 

[uncoffeed]

My biggest "aha!" is every time I stop rushing and remember to actually execute proper follow through. It's amazing. .22s, 6.5, .308, 9mm, .45acp, whatever. Follow through, man.

 

[Carl_Ross]

That I was flinching badly and needed to stop. My rifle shooting at that point was shooting a sporter weight 30-06 with an iffy recoil pad at groundhogs from the prone. The more I did, the more easy shots I was missing, and I finally admitted to myself that I was flinching and needed to fix it. Getting scoped badly several times probably helped send the message as well!

I wouldn’t recommend this method today, but I fixed it by shooting many bricks of 22LR (which I was also flinching with!). That 30-06 was my first centerfire, and 15 years later, it’s been the biggest “kicker” I’ve owned. My big game rifle today has less than half the recoil it did, and my Dasher comp rifles with brakes have probably 1/10th as much.

 

[Ric O'shay]

Hi Carl, just curious as to why you would not recommend a 22LR as a trainer. I spend a great deal of time behind my CZ 455, and find it to be a great way to get in low cost practice, in particular when I am limited to shorter ranges.

 

[Carl_Ross]

I would absolutely recommend a 22LR as a trainer, I'm more specifically referencing training out a flinch. While what I did worked for me, much better trainers than I have suggested that ball and dummy drills will produce quicker results. You could always ball and dummy a 22LR to start with I suppose...

 

[Gray Squirrel]

Not really a long range aha moment (unless you consider out to 300 meters long range). I never really shot guns until I joined the Army. I barely qualified on the rifle in basic training (24/40). Honestly, the rifle instruction there is rudimentary at best and all they cared about was a passing score regardless of what it was. Infantry school was a little better, but still too many people for any kind of real shooter development.

My aha moment was right after basic and infantry school at my first unit. I got a better crash course in shooting the M4 from our battalion snipers right before my first rifle qual out of BCT/AIT. It was simple stuff, how to get a more stable position, how to brace the rifle against your body and the ground, etc. I went out on the range and scored expert (38/40). It was at that moment I wanted to be a sniper, which I did a short while later.

Sometimes its the small things that have the greatest impact.

 

[Mike_Honcho]

- First time I got it to all come together where I called the shot, and was able watch impact through the optic all the way through the settling of recoil.

- Learning to read wind

- Reminding myself NPA means using big muscles and good position vs little muscles that tire quickly

- Understanding the importance of a straight trigger pull so as not induce a lateral force / importance of body positioning so to allow the forces of recoil to move in straight line with the bore and POA

 

[tnichols]

Others have already stated it, but recoil management. I shot alone 99% of the time, and still do. The ability to see splash or impact is knowledge.

Another bit of helpful advice is collect hard data. Right down everything from atmospheric conditions to a self critique of how YOU did and be honest with yourself.

 

[19Scout77]

The moment I used a Giraud trimmer!

 

[steve123]

That long range is relative, air rifles at 150Y, 22rf's at 400Y, - - - 375CT to 2500Y. They are all just as fun but some are cheaper to shoot and much easier on the hearing.

Follow through, you just don't realize the significance until you don't do it with a PCP air rifle, and for whatever reason don't feel the need with a centerfire, but effectually still has the same consequences.

 

[G5guy]

My Aha moment,,,realizing that I suck at follow through.

 

[Jefe's Dope]

Great info.

 

[CrazyHorse_mk14]

I think my biggest is taking notes. I don’t get all too technical with it but do plot my shots now and also critique my results. Don’t use anything fancy just a little notebook , it’s coded so nobody can steal my dope, it looks like the shorthand of a doctor whilst being attacked by baboons. Sometimes I can’t even read my own writing so I doodle little pics of poa and poi .

I write things like “scope almost hit me in the face, don’t do that again” “body wasn’t behind rifle and it jumped naked on me” “stringing shots up and down like a hooker on dollar night” “ammo sucks” “I suck”..

It’s comical but seriously has been a huge part of discovering my other Aha moments

 

[Swampcrawler65]

Being relaxed behind the gun, learning to be relaxed eliminates a whole bunch of issues. I forget where I heard it "Be a piece of meat behind the rifle not a live animal." I think about being a Brisket when I get behind the rifle, just a big piece of meat.

“I think about being a Brisket when I get behind the rifle”. This made my day for some reason.

I totally get what you’re saying though and it’s something I’m fighting with reminding myself to do.

it looks like the shorthand of a doctor whilst being attacked by baboons

As someone with handwriting apparently comparable to yours, this is great! I’ve been writing EVERYTHING in a little composition book and kind of refining things as I go along. It’s come in handy a few times already!

Thanks for everyone’s input. I see a definite trend of recoil control and follow through being big lightbulb moments. Maybe us beginners should take that hint and focus on those areas early on!

 

[MikeInUtah]

Implementing proper technique and seeing the bullet trace and impact through the scope from the rifle that fired it. Still gets me every time.

 

[FUNCTIONAL]

1) not all guns like to have their bipod loaded. Starting out I struggled with a savage and everything I read said to load bipod. Stopped doing it one day and boom...it all came together and cut my groups in half.

2) like above I like to leave myself little love notes in my data books and COF papers. "Why the hell would you not add height to your bipod on a slope" , "learn to read dumbass" (skipped a line of dope, read half of one line and half of another on a recheck) I find these special notes help me remember what caused me to think of them in the first place.

3)advice from other shooters can be correct, wrong and most importantly....right for them but wrong for you. Ex. A guy whos 6'4 is going to hit a stage different than my 5'7 frame. A 5'7 200lb guy will hit it different than my 5'7 150lb body can.

 

[pineoak]

turning down the magnification... once I did that I was able to spot my misses more easily, keep my reticle on target, less reticle bounce

I still prefer higher mag scopes for double duty as a spotting scope when shooting with others, but shooting at a lower mag and focusing intently on the target area only helped a lot

 

[usmcmad]

Don't believe everything you read on Sniper's Hide.

 

[Nomad_chew]

As others have said when someone told me, a mil’s a mil’s a mil. It just clicked, and I was like holy shit.

 

[C_Mack]

My biggest "aha" moment was the first time I put my Daniel Defense AR-15 in my buddy's Hog Saddle and fired at a 3 moa plate at 600 yds. Immediately I turned to him and said "missed it".....0.5 seconds later I heard the bell ring. I was hooked immediately. Unfortunately not every subsequent shot has been so well placed.

 

[jb41291]

When i called in a coyote within 50 meters of me when i started to get up and find a new spot and had my scope on 20 power, once he started to run i knew it was over. Lesson learned, dump dope, and magnification. I was so set that i was going to take 1 from over 300 meters.

 

[supercorndogs]

When i called in a coyote within 50 meters of me when i started to get up and find a new spot and had my scope on 20 power, once he started to run i knew it was over. Lesson learned, dump dope, and magnification. I was so set that i was going to take 1 from over 300 meters.

LOL. They just appear out of no where don't they. Sometimes you swear that had to be teleported to get that close without being seen. I mean like 5 or 10 feet sometimes.

 

[davsco]

learned the hard way at a prone match a few weekends ago, setup matters. i missed my ass off on the first stage that i had cleaned the match before. day after the match, my neck was really sore. saw a pic and i wasn't even close to being lined up right. wasn't seeing my hits as i didn't have the gun tucked in and pressure on the bipod. basically, all the simple basic setup stuff i did wrong. i'll blame it on the cold, mud, heavy winter coat but still i just forgot the basics, and they matter.

 

[jb41291]

LOL. They just appear out of no where don't they. Sometimes you swear that had to be teleported to get that close without being seen. I mean like 5 or 10 feet sometimes.

Funny thing is when i noticed him i stopped he sat and just looked at me while i tried to set up and as soon as i racked a round he booked it. Its like he knew hahaha

 

[Rerun7]

When I finally stopped buying crappy “it’s good enough” gear and my groups shrank by 50%.

You don’t have to buy the best but you get what you pay for and there are certain levels at which quality gear makes a big difference.

 

[TripleBull]

That moment when I started to understand ballistics.

 

[coach4christ]

My aha moment was when I realized that I didn't need a lot of useless crap to be a good shooter.when I started out, it wasn't uncommon for me to have 2 or 3 different bags strapped to my pack. I now only carry 1.

 

[JoeBUtah]

Trigger control on a pistol: I was brand new, and shooting horribly. The gentleman in the lane at the range asked if he could take a look at my pistol: he handed it back and I assumed the position. As I squeezed the trigger (mashed) no round discharged. He had taken the round out of the chamber and handed it back 'empty'. My flinch down and to the left was so apparent it made me laugh. I still shoot with that guy at the the same range all these years later.

That translated to rifle shooting as well: my mantra has been trigger, barrel, glass. I had a factory trigger in my Remington MilSpec. Dropped a Timeny in it one day. That was a few thousand rounds ago in that gun. I still still say AHA when I shoot it!

 

[Greg Langelius *]

The first time was when I shot at 1000yd, and it was in competition. I had been shooting to the limit of my previous range which was 300 yards. It was one of those once-in-a-lifetime calm days at 1000yd, and I couldn't stop asking myself, "Is it really just this simple?". Well that day it was, but it has never been since.

It was the second day on the line that gave me the Ah-Hah! I was eyeballs to eyeballs with the wind. Let me say that again, THE WIND!

That was the day that I finally, rightly, recognized that the wind is neither an ally nor an enemy, and that it is best considered as a tool. It is a fact of life, a constant companion, and one learns that one can either let it blow your round off target, or let it be a tool that you use to blow your round ONTO the target.

I found that in order to understand what the wind was doing, one needed to practice observing it while observing its effects. Once establishing a zero with sighters under the prevailing wind, keep shooting without further adjustment, observing the range for wind tells, and watching the fall of the shot on the target. X set of conditions renders X POI shift, and Y set of conditions renders Y POI shift.

Once you think that you can start making a prediction, modify your POA (still not adjusting sights) and see how close you come to POI Z under Z conditions. In essence you are aiming off the desired POI and letting the wind blow your round back onto the desired POI.

This was the beginning of my continuing improvement in LR shooting. A couple of years shooting F Open in a 1000yd F Class League (when it was active at Bodines in PA) solidified the lessons learned, and the wind was only the first one of them. But without the wind, the others are not going to get you anywhere near where you want/need to be.

And then; there is the dance...

Learning to shoot the wind is like learning to dance. In order to dance well, we need to find that dance partner and dance, dance, and yes, dance some more. Seek her out, grasp her with confidence, learn her every step, and meld yourself with her most intricate motions.

So let it be with the wind as well. Seek out the wind, glory in her presence, make her your partner in all her guises.

Fear it not, resent it not. It's there to teach and guide you, to be your better half.

Embrace the wind.

Greg

 

[Deleted member 10043]

WTF, we need a 12 Step program for this shit too?

 

[Greg Langelius *]

For me, precision shooting is an exercise in applied physics.

It's all causes and effects, forces and vectors, influences and redefinitions to include added complexities. As the complexities shake out, simplicity reemerges. I was taught to learn a thing by "see, say, speak, and write", so all of the senses and facets of the learning process are involved in the acquired memory; and that the lesson is not truly, completely learned until it is taught to another.

For me, that occurs when I write it here, because the understanding is that the comprehension is not complete until one can put it into words that can allow another to grasp it in its entirety.

Over time, folks here will see me describing the same things differently, sizing them up and reporting from the viewpoint of a new and different angle. That's just me learning the subject a bit more clearly as I go along.

...and 'corny' has it's place there, too.

Greg