This report covers:
- Tip 1. Relax!
- Tip 2. Find the power level and pellet your airgun likes
- Tip 3. Follow-through
- Summary
Today I will share some accuracy tips I’ve learned over the years. There are too many to recap in one report, but I’ll touch on several that cover all kinds of airguns.
Tip 1. Relax!
Don’t melt into a puddle—just relax before you take each shot. And not just you. Make sure the AIRGUN is relaxed, too! Make sure the gun is not being held in a cramped or forced position, that it’s free to move in any direction after the shot is fired.
This tip is especially good when shooting a spring rifle, but it also works for precharged pneumatics (PCP) and CO2 rifles and pistols.
Here’s a good way to ensure that you’re relaxed with a scoped rifle. After you are sighted on target, close your eyes and relax. Now, open your eyes. Where is the center of the crosshairs? That’s where your rifle wants to shoot! So, make some adjustments and try it again until when you open your eyes your sights remain on target.
When I want to make the best possible group, I always do the above, and go through the procedure as many times as it takes for each shot. I stop going through this drill when I open my eyes and the sights are still on target. It can take over a minute per shot, especially if I have to move the gun between shots to cock and load.
Tip 2. Find the power level and pellet your airgun likes
The first part of this tip applies to those airguns with variable or adjustable power, but all airguns will have a favorite pellet. In my experience each airgun with adjustable power has a spot or two where it performs really well—with a certain pellet. If you change pellets, the spot may change, too.
Find the power spot for your gun and keep it there for best results. Also, find the pellet that your gun likes best. I’ve covered that in several recent posts.
Shooters who are hung up on velocity have a hard time doing this. I have actually taken an inaccurate rifle and shot a group that was about one-quarter the size of the best groups the owner had been getting. I did it by shooting with less power.
Shooters tell me they only wanted to run their airgun on the maximum power setting. Fine—but don’t blame your airgun for your own failure to understand what it takes to be accurate. That’s like entering a draft horse in the Kentucky Derby or pulling a wagon with a thoroughbred!
Here is an actual incident that supports my story. A shooter wanted to get the most from his vintage Sheridan Blue Streak. He had the powerplant upgraded to allow as many as 14 pump strokes instead of the factory-recommended 8.
The shooter then loaded his rifle with super-heavyweight pellets that delivered over 20 foot-pounds when he pumped his gun as high as it would go. With this combination he shot 1-1/8-inch five-shot groups at 30 yards.
With the same rifle, I pumped just six times and shot five Crosman Premiers into 3/8-inches at 30 yards. That was with the upgraded rifle! The upgrade had increased the power, but the accuracy had always been there.
Tip 3. Follow-through
Follow-through means to continue to aim at the target after the shot has been fired. The opposite of follow-through is to lower your gun the instant you know the shot is off. I sometimes do this and I bet you do too.
Follow-through forces you to observe what happens AFTER the shot has been taken. After you practice it awhile, you will start seeing what takes place at the instant the shot is taken. This is the benefit of follow-through. The things you see will astonish you.
You will see your sights suddenly jump off the target just as the shot is fired! If you are shooting right-handed, they will jump to the left; if left-handed, vice-versa. Seeing this will make you concentrate on relaxing to the point that the sights no longer jump.
You will see the shot taken with the sights not properly aligned. Non-shooters have a fantasy that sights remain steady on a target the way they are shown in movies. Shooters know they don’t. The sights almost never stop moving, and follow-through forces you to watch in horror as the gun fires at the least opportune moment. This is key to calling the shots.
You may find yourself start dismounting the gun BEFORE the shot is fired! This is a REAL shock the first time you see it!
I have run pistol ranges where the shooters were kicking up dust six feet in front of where they were standing while shooting at a chest-high bullseye 25 yards away. This happened during rapid-fire exercises. Those shooters were pointing their pistols at the ground shot after shot, all the while thinking they were aiming at a distant bullseye! What they really did was dip the muzzle of the pistol as they jerked off the shot to counteract the anticipated recoil. It is so astounding that you have to see it to believe it.
Follow-through forces you to evaluate each shot, and your own self-esteem takes it from there. Either that or you get out of the shooting sports altogether.
Summary
There are three things any shooter can do to improve their accuracy. I bet you guys have some tales to tell.
There are other things that we’ll look at in the future.
BB,
“Here’s a good way to ensure that you’re relaxed with a scoped rifle. After you are sighted on target, close your eyes and relax. Now, open your eyes. Where is the center of the crosshairs? That’s where your rifle wants to shoot! So, make some adjustments and try it again until when you open your eyes your sights remain on target.”
Natural point of aim is an important concept for beginners to learn. It should be pointed out though that “make some adjustments and try it again” doesn’t mean adjusting the position of the rifle, it means adjusting the position of your body. That ensures the rifle aims naturally at the target with the least amount of muscular tension required by the shooter.
Bob,
Yes. The position of the body. The rifle will follow.
BB
B.B.
On springers, “check your stock screws”, is one of the best accuracy lessons to be learned.
IMHO,
Yogi
Yogi,
Good point!
BB
Tom,
It is rather difficult to relax when your hand tenses up just so that you have enough strength to pull the lawyer dictated trigger though. Are there any ways to mitigate it? Especially for those that do not want to monkey around with their triggers.
Siraniko
Siraniko,
Yes! That one is extremely tough! I struggle with it many times.
BB
I can relate to this Siraniko. When using a red dot sight, I kept noticing the red dot would seem to shift slightly just before I shot. It took me a while to realize that the problem was not with the red dot sight, but was actually due to my squeezing the trigger a little sideways. If I concentrate on pulling the trigger straight back, this problem is minimized or sometimes actually disappears. Changing my grip slightly is sometimes necessary for me to be able to have better trigger control as described above.
What Elmer Fudd said, and a trigger shoe may help. Also experiment with a more purposefull trigger pull, like if you were shooting a self-defense pistol or a shotgun…always straight back and with follow-through.
BB
Excellent suggestions!
Hank
Thanks for the tips BB! These type of reports are some of my favorites and have helped me immensely. I could list a few more items but since you indicated this is part one of more to come, I will try to restrict comments to what has already been discussed.
Relaxing is a key as has been discussed. I am 71 years old and recently had my very first professional massage. I know this might not seem very manly to some folks. But all I can say is I am still amazed (several days later). Don’t knock it til you’ve tried it. We have a son-in-law who is big and strong enough to play a professional football lineman. He is addicted to massage.
Follow through is something I need to get better at. Thanks for the tips.
Elmer,
Please don’t hold back! BB is old and forgets, so he needs to be reminded. Constantly!
BB
I know the feeling BB! Okay, most of my shooting has been from a bench using a bag or rest at 10-meters or so. I have found that adding a rear support typically helps accuracy. I seem to get the best results when using a rear squeeze bag for a support.
Recently, I purchased a rifle sling to use when shooting. It is made for shooting and for carrying. It has a loop that can be positioned over the bicep of the support arm to add support and reduce the amount of muscle needed to support the rifle while shooting. If these types devices have been discussed here, I haven’t ran across the discussions. So if there are any tips people would like to suggest regarding using a sling, I am all ears. Thanks!
ElmerFudd,
Congratulations on getting a Shooting Sling instead of just a shoulder sling!
Find the spot high up on your arm that has the least amount of muscle and little or no pulse.
Think of the sling as a way to get three points for your body to hold up the rifle. You will need to change your stance and spend time learning what works for your body type. Start with minimum lift assistance and increase it incrementally until it starts getting less effective at providing stability to your hold.
You don’t want to use that arm loop as a tourniquet instead just tighten it to the point it doesn’t slip while in your shooting position. Shooting Slings aren’t just for standing but will also work for kneeling and sitting.
It takes some amount of time and experimentation to get the benefit to become obvious.
shootski
Elmer Fudd,
https://www.rumbleroller.com
Although i have had Sports Massages for most of my life i also use Rumble Roller, tennis balls, hand balls, and beastie balls to get Myofascial Release:
https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/treatments/24011-myofascial-release-therapy
I dated a professional massage therapist while i was attending college as a D1 swimmer so i didn’t need to pay the money to get massages. They work on getting your body to feel great and perform at top level. They are worth it but can get EXPENSIVE.
shootski
Yes, the massages were definitely a luxury experience and a rare splurge for us. We opted for one of the more expensive massages where they use warmed stones to massage with. It was truly amazing.
Thanks for the information on the self massage stuff and the sling use.
Elmer Fudd,
I have any number of slings to include IBU Regulation BIATHLON slings and the heavy leather military double claw types.
Currently the slings i use are from this outfit: https://www.tabgear.com/collections/slings
I have their BIATHLON 1.0 on my .22 caliber synthetic stock SIG ASP20 using the QD Cups on the airgun and QD fittings provided by the 1.0 sling. The TAB GEAR 1.0 sling had a arm cuff and i selected the optional COBRA® Quick Release Buckles from: https://austrialpin.net that they don’t seem to be carrying any longer. Those are similar to the Koch Fittings https://www.flighthelmet.com/info/koch.htm
from my Navy flying days that will not fail to release even when under extreme loading.
Getting out of a rifle Sling promptly can become a lifesaving measure on occasion.
Yes you knife, seatbelt/harness, or shroud line cutter works; but that is as Backup only.
You Every Day Carry at least one of those…right?
shootski
The biathlon sling looks great, especially for long distance carrying. I looked at several different slings and ended up with this one:
https://tacticalintervention.com/Slip-Cuff-Quick-Release-Rifle-Sling-p132892184
I attached it to my Marauder and will attempt to learn how to use it for aiding in shooting.
Elmer Fudd,
VERY Nice Sling. It will be interesting to hear how you like it and how much benefit you feel you are getting from it as you “grow” into it.
I have used one of their other products: https://tacticalintervention.com/Quick-Cuff-Precision-Rifle-Sling-p132574075
The TAB gear BIATHLON sling allows me to have both arms free and use my poles for both skiing as well as with snowshoes. It also can be adjusted to carry a rifle high enough on the back that i can wear the bottom harness for my Ski Pulk: https://skipulk.com for backcountry trips in the snow.
I am always amazed at the folks that travel on the snow with BIG HEAVY backpacks. You can carry so much more in a Pulk or a sled for that matter doing way less work. On the really steep hills you can just line them up or down with a simple block & tackle even when the Pulk is loaded with 100 Lbs (45 Kg) of gear.
Once more good luck learning with your sling and do share your experience with us.
shootski
Thanks Shootski, I can tell, right from the start, that it should help support and steady the shots. Also, since I shoot left handed, I think that I will need to swap the bolt to the left side of the rifle. The arm cuff limits the movement of the support arm (my right arm) relative to the rifle such that operating the bolt with that arm isn’t going to happen. This wasn’t a significant problem without the sling. Now I need to find a good video or other instructions on swapping the bolt on the Marauder rifle.
Elmer Fudd,
Not a video but it is a very accurate verbal description of the steps.
https://www.gatewaytoairguns.org/GTA/index.php?topic=108260.0
You can print it out and use it to verify/supplement any videos you watch.
shootski
Thanks Shootski, that appears to be reasonably well written. Hopefully I can use that and get it done successfully.
Very helpful advice here; FM again learns a couple of things that should be obvious when attempting to shoot accurately but which are not obvious until they are pointed out by those who shoot accurately. Thank you for that Tom, and the rest of the Airgun Band here, says FM AKA Mr. Magoo The Sniper. That is today’s oxymoron, free of charge.
Pooky! Everything sorta locked up and lost it all again!
Throughout time, I have made all of these mistakes. Perhaps the hardest one is finding my natural shooting position. Correct follow through is another biggie.
This past weekend I had the “pleasure” of shooting an Umarex Markpoint air pistol. Talk about lawyer triggers. If it had been mine, I would have tried to do something about it. Despite that, I found it to be surprisingly accurate. I still prefer the Diana p-five, but this is one that is not too bad. I still prefer Izzy though. 😉
RR,
We, responders to the blog, talked about the Diana P-Five fairly recently and I’m a bit interested. I see that P/AIR sells them as a Diana product and the same item is produced and sold under Snowpeak’s name (for less $$ somewhere else). I’m certain that both items originate from Snowpeak. Be that as it may, Do you recommend the modern P-Five as a decent and fun breakbarrel pistol, or is it so much better to find a vintage one…maybe some day? I don’t NEED one, but I am hooked on this hobby and do love my breakbarrels.
Enjoy,
Will
Will,
I am pretty sure the one I had for a brief time was a “modern” p-five. The MarkPoint is a study in plastic. What I mean is somewhere in there is some metal, but it is almost impossible to find. The grips are also kind of squarish. Having a big paw, that was not a problem, but I could easily see where it would be a handful for someone with a small hand.
Yes, both are made by Uncle Xi’s buddies. Of the two, I would prefer to own the p-five, though it is more expensive than the MarkPoint. It is much better built IMMHO, and it also has the better trigger of the two.
Have I ever had the pleasure of handling and shooting a “vintage” P-Five? No, I have not. I myself would prefer to own an original Diana, but even finding one is likely to be nigh on impossible. Those that may own one are not likely to sell them and there were not really that many of them to begin with.
RR,
Thanks for responding. Some day, a vintage P-Five and I may cross paths. But until then, a modern one may be fun to try. I’ll have to figure out a “good reason” to buy one, if I do ;).
Thanks for the tips, B.B. and all!
I can attest to the relaxation tip. When I was first shooting my Crosman 362 (the trigger is NOT superb by any stretch of the imagination, and I was getting a workout from pumping between shots), I found that the relaxation technique was the only way to get consistent accuracy for testing pellets.
Also when testing pellets on Crosman Mark I and IIs I found that the best pellet could be made better by incremental adjustments in the hammer tension screw. The cool thing was that as I turned the screw in 1/8 turn increments, the groups would sort of cycle between growing larger and growing smaller, so that there were at least two spots where the groups were the smallest. I found that to be very interesting.
BB
The subject of today’s report is one I never tire of. We know or should remember the tips but sometimes forget or are unaware we are making mistakes.
Here is another tip I think is useful. Find a hold for each gun that is both relaxed and EASY TO REPEAT that lets the crosshairs be in the same place after the follow through. If I want to drive this into my thick head, I can compare the POI holding my left hand under the forend vs holding left hand back to the trigger guard. On some accurate guns the POI difference is quite dramatic.
BB, I hope there are many parts to this series.
Deck
B.B.,
“It is so astounding that you have to see it to believe it.”
Böblingen Barracks, just outside of Stuttgart, in the late 1980’s was the first time i saw it when HQ USEUCOM folks were trying to requalify with 1911s. Didn’t see nearly as much with the 9mm Service Pistols. `H
As you know if they had follow through for Slow Fire it was the first thing to leave the building on the SELF IMPOSED rushing for rapid-fire.
I think this series will be very enjoyable and one of your more informative types for all of your readership.
I think a review on the ways to avoid canting with and without a scope/sight level is something for you to consider for inclusion.
shootski
shootski,
Wow! Canting! It’s now on the list.
BB
I just Cant wait for that blog. Orrv
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
RidgeRunner,
Laugh all you want…it must be the HEAT getting to you ;^)
shootski
Hoppalong Doc,
You may in fact find it very useful Orv.
Tom has done blogs on CANT (TILT) in the past and not about Pin Ball.
If you ever played the electro mechanical Pin Ball machines you might know that when the TILT lights up it is GAME OVER. Lol!
shootski
One of the best blog posts ever