7 Ways to Sharpen Your Rifle Shooting Skills
The offseason is the perfect time to sharpen your rifle shooting skills.
7 Ways to Sharpen Your Rifle Shooting Skills Far too often we fail to recognize that properly and accurately shooting a rifle is a perishable skillset. If you’ve been at it for a while, consistently putting rounds down range, consider taking along someone who is new to the sport. You’ll quickly remember how steep the learning curve is.
Ways to Sharpen Your Rifle Shooting Skills
While learning to shoot is hard enough on its own, maintaining that skillset throughout the year is a whole different topic. All shooters have an off-season. For hunters it’s definitely the summer while competition shooters may have some lag time at the end of the circuit.
Whenever your offseason, it is the perfect time to regroup and reorganize your processes. See below for seven ways to keep your rifle shooting skills razor sharp.
Varmint Hunting
Hunters in the summer or competition shooters in between a match can both benefit from varmint hunting. In both scenarios, shooters can more realistically simulate and practice one of the most difficult things to duplicate - firing under pressure.
Nothing compares to the feeling of a big buck in the crosshairs or making the winning shot in a 3-Gun competition. Varmint hunting, however, is a considerably better way to simulate that moment than shooting from a bench. Moreover, most states do not regulate bag limits or season dates. And varmint ammunition is usually relatively cheap and readily available.
Enter a Shooting Competition
If you have ever entered a shooting competition, then you know they can be a lot of fun. While it can seem intimidating, the goal should be to have a good time and learn. Most competition shooters are very welcoming to newcomers. The process will introduce a participant to new platforms and shot angles that will challenge and expand their comfort zones.
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Very few shots in the woods or on the shooting sports circuit are from an easy shooting position. Local competitions are a great way to highlight where you can improve while introducing you to nuances you might be unfamiliar with.
Build Your Own Range
Building your own private gun range can be as rewarding as it is fun. While public ranges are extremely useful, shooters with access to land can see tremendous benefit to customizing a range that best fits their shooting needs and desires.
Shooters wanting to develop a long-range skillset might especially benefit from a private range since most public ranges top out after a couple hundred yards. With the proper safety considerations, being able to shoot on your own terms can really pay dividends.
Take a Class
If you want to make big strides quickly or add to your shooting repertoire, go to shooting school. Classes are available on a wide range of topics from extreme long-range shooting to urban combat. Instructors will teach proper technique and fundamentals and help you take big jumps in your abilities.
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Many local shooting ranges offer a variety of training classes. Going to an overnight shooting “camp” is also great way to improve your skillset while spending quality time with friends.
Earn a “PhD”
While most shooters are “hobbyists,” others would be considered “enthusiasts.” For those who fall in the latter category, the academic portion of shooting sports is particularly appealing. Academic knowledge requires more time and dedication than an afternoon at the range. But the tradeoff is a deeper understanding of all topics surrounding the gun and the bullet.
Possible topics for your “PhD” might include reloading, milliradians vs. minutes of angle or gunsmithing, just to name a few. While none directly impact how a bullet flies or how your trigger feels, academic knowledge converts to applied knowledge in unexpected ways.
Drill, Drill, Drill
Shooting drills aren’t the most exciting way to spend an afternoon. However, the good news is you don’t have to spend a whole afternoon. In many cases certain drills can be done at home without firing a shot or in small segments throughout the day.
Some of the more common drills center around target acquisition and trigger control. If it’s safe, try dry firing your rifle. Practicing a crisp, straight trigger pull and follow through are important aspects to long-range rifle shooting skills that can be practiced from your living room. The lack of recoil can help iron out a jerk if you’ve developed one.
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Test Out New Loads
Most ammunition looks the same. But the nuts and bolts can vary under the hood. Those differences can be very subtle and every rifle prefers a certain ammunition brand, bullet, and weight.
Hunting season or competition-shooting season is not the best time to experiment with new loads. The offseason is though. When you can perfect your platform and find out which ammo your rifle likes best. Additionally, testing out new loads will most likely force you to focus and every shot count. This in turn will improve your overall shooting fundamentals.
To maximize performance, shooters should implement each of these practices. If your time or resources are limited, just pick a couple that you think fit the most with your setup. Whatever the case, don’t let your skills erode whenever your offseason approaches.