Long range rifles

I'll second the APA fat bastard. That is by far one of the best muzzle brakes on the market. I had one on a 300 WM HMR Bergara and it recoiled less than my 308 bolt guns. Swapped it to a 300WM RPR and it's far better than the factory Ruger brake.

Makes a 50 round 300WM day banging steel something to look forward to...

 

What’s your position behind the gun?
Shootin from the bench?
Prone?
Ifen yer shootin prone are you straight behind the gun?

 

This is great advice. I had what I thought was a dream retirement job, part time on a gun counter. I can’t count the number of guys that wanted to start shooting with a 300wm or 338. Many wouldn’t listen to the bad habits argument and insisted on a big gun and even a NF scope. More money (or debt) then sense.

Not a dig you @broke_down. At least you shot as a kid and seemed to have done the research.

If I were you and not wanting or being able to invest in a smaller caliber to warm up to something bigger;

I would try bench shooting for a bit. Put the gun on a good sled with lots of weight to hold it place.

Prone? Get a bipod, doesn’t have to be a super expensive one. I always liked Harris for its reasonable price and durability. Put sand bags in front and behind the bipod to help stabilize it. It won’t give you the greatest articulation with the gun but it should help “hold” it in place. You should be working on the flinch so shorter range shots are ok just to put some shots on paper or even just down range.

The sled would be the most effective. You can make a decent bench if you don’t want to buy one. The key to all of it is getting weight to hold the gun for you.

 

Ive mainly been shooting from a bench using a rest. A couple things Ive been playing with have made a huge difference. First is dropped my seat low enough that the stock of the rifle is now resting on muscle; instead of leaning/hunching over so the rifle is on the upper part of my shoulder, and the stock resting on the bones in my upper shoulder. That helps a lot. The second is I bought a little air-recoil pad. Now it just feels like someone is pushing against my shoulder, and its not painful and my shoulder no longer gets bruised.

This is the recoil pad:

$33 LimbSaver AirTech Slip-On Recoil Pad, Large, Black

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00KCS69IM/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

The pain is gone, I shoot comfortably. Putting 30 rounds through the rifle is fun, and now that I bought electronic hearing protection its quite relaxing. However, I still tense up ever so slightly as I pass the point on my trigger that I know the rifle is going to fire. Maybe I'm just being impatient... clearly I am being impatient. This will take dedicated time and deliberate focus to get over. Do you have any recommendations on techniques for this?

 

That was literally the logic I had when buying the rifle. Also, Ive been wanting to get into big game, like elk.

 

Practice is key; if you're shooting a rifle that requires expensive ammo, has tons of recoil, and burns out barrels quickly, you've already put yourself at a serious disadvantage. Especially to a newbie.
The top shooters can be found at the range more than once a week, usually shooting a smaller/cheaper round. In my experience anyway.


I always use this quote, it's from my CCW course instructor a decade and a half ago. He was a hard ass old retired city police officer.
To me, this applies to not just self defense, but hunting, and precision shooting as well.

It doesn't matter what size bullet you miss with...

 

The brand name is “Limbsaver,” for a reason.

Comfort is one of the biggest things about shooting. I’ve seen guys that just look awkward and wonder how they hit anything. What’s works for you might not work for someone else.

Personally I like shooting in underwear and a fur cap.

 

Like this?

$10 MuscleMate Hot Men's Thong Underwear, Men's Butt-Flaunting Thong Undie, Mens Underwear Showing Of Bubble Butt (M, Navy Blue)

https://www.amazon.com/MuscleMate-U...ds=mens+thong&qid=1569938947&s=gateway&sr=8-4

and this?

YESURPRISE Trapper Warm Russian Trooper Fur Earflap Winter Skiing Warm Hat Cap Women Men Unisex Windproof Army Black

https://www.amazon.com/Yesurprise-T...words=fur+hat&qid=1569938979&s=gateway&sr=8-6


heeheehee

 

So you’ve seen me? Quit stalking and come check out my prone shooting.

 

I spent a frustrating year stuck in the same level in USPSA and our local steal matches. Picked up a membership at a private range near me and had my eyes opened. A ton of the people shooting at the top levels were out at this private range, in a private bay, hammering the classifiers and practicing over and over and over. I thought shooting a few matches a month was enough... The big names you recognize are still getting after it on a regular basis.

 

Shooting is a perishable skill...and it perishes quickly.

 

To summarize all the feedback Ive gotten so far, I need more guns in diverse calibers, I need more range time, and according to @shane100700 I need a man thong and fur hat? That is going to fix my flinch?

Common fellas. Someone must have gone through this too. Anyone work on mediation? Have a good dry fire routine? I know someone people bring a friend and have them load the magazine with blanks or live rounds... what worked for you? What is your shooting routine? I gotta build habits beyond spending money.

 

I reload a ridiculous number of calibers, hunting, plinking and match ammo. 300WM is one that I just stopped reloading match ammo for. Brunos runs sales and I've gotten the 300WM 230g OTM for under $2/round. ($35/box I think) That's a 50 to 60 center Berger bullet, a $1 piece of Norma brass and a hefty charge of VV powder. At least now, while this rifle's at a low round count, it's shooting crazy well with the factory ammo. I'll shoot a couple hundred more rounds of this before I'm having to reload to get the jump to the lands I want. But by that time, I'll have a mountain of decent Normal once fired brass to work with.

If you're doing the math at home, that's a .368(B7) BC bullet doing 2800fps. It's like cheating.

 

Outside of what you're already saying about using a blank/dummy round, get a coach to watch you. I did my first long range training with almost a 1:1 ratio of students to instructors. What they were able to do, was make sure the things I couldn't see were right. It won't take long and you'll know when you shank a shot with a bad trigger pull. But you'll have shots that feel right but don't land where you think they should have. That's likely ergonomics getting in the way. Are you at your natural point of aim? Are you getting the exact same head position behind the scope with each shot? (And unless your cheek rest is right, you'll chase this a lot.) Those are the things an experienced coach can see and help you work on but are harder to do yourself.

 

I just watched a youtube video on this last night. I think I'm not. Sometimes I see shadow in my scope and sometimes I dont, so clearly I'm not putting my face in the same spot. The tip I learned from the video was to put a piece of foam tape in the spot I want my cheek to rest, so every time I establish a cheek weld, I can position my face based on that piece of foam. Foam tape is in the mail.

 

@broke_down mentioned dry firing. That helps tremendously with your fundamentals - make sure your cross hairs stay on target when it goes click, and practice your follow through so you don't have to think about it any more. I spend 10-20 minutes dry firing a few times a week.

 

Do you work in dry firing into your range time?

 

I was mostly do it at home from a practice standpoint. Although, at the range I will dry fire a few times before firing any live ammunition. I'll lay down, check my natural point of aim and dry fire a few times before shooting. I've noticed when I do that there isn't any "cold bore flier," even though it was a cold bore.

I'll also do it when practicing different positions (not from a bench) before actually shooting in that position. If you can't get stable, pull the trigger, and maintain your follow through, there is no sense in sending a bullet down range because its not going to hit the target.

 

That guy showed up at one of our LRP rifle clinics, still had the price tags hanging from his kit. Dude was a total soup sandwich