Tuning Hold sensitivity

[Khornet]

After reading comments here about hold sensitivity of various rifles, I revisited Warren Page's excellent little book The Accurate Rifle. I'd studied it 30 years ago when I was building my first centerfire, a .30-'06 on an old 1903A3 action. That rifle needed a firm shoulder pressure to get good accuracy and avoid scope eye. Page was a dedicated small caliber bench shooter, and I'd focused on his advice for hard-kicking rifles, but now reviewed what he had to say about guns with minimal recoil. I wasn't happy with my 100 yd performance with 23 gr H&N slugs in my MkII PP 700 mm Impact. So I compared my usual technique of minimal shoulder contact, avoiding gripping with my trigger hand, versus firmer shoulder pressure while still avoiding gripping. In both cases I avoided trying to "steer" the rifle, using the rear bag to align on the point of aim, while following through. Quite a difference:

 

[JohnnyPDX]

Wow, huge difference! 

Still learning, at least on my bench.

 

[Khornet]

Actually tried this yesterday with slight intermittent wind from 10:00 about 2 mph. Fired a 0.7" group but there were only 4 holes and I assumed I had cross-fired onto another bull. Now I wonder. I should specify that I wasn't pressing my shoulder forward against the rifle, just pulling it back to press my shoulder.

 

[JamesD.]

Good post Khornet. 


The term hold sensitive is much more relevant in AG's. Due to the relatively long amount of time a pellet or slug is in a AG barrel compared to chemical ignition & a slew of other variables. 

Springer pistols and rifles are notoriously hold sensitive but in your case, PCP's can literally have flex if shouldered differently or sighted in from a rest, then shot off hand, or a bag. 
I think you know this but many people don't realize that changing anything about the way they hold, grip, rest, apply pressure to break 2nd stage trigger sear, literally any slight change of pressure anywhere equates to a change in POI for a pellet or slug. 


Not bad shooting & glad you noticed the difference in the holds. You've motivated me to break out my 28 grain RBT slugs and give a go at 100. 

 

[Solo1]

I’m just getting back into pcps and while tuning my maverick i noticed that the closer i was to a good tune the less sensitive the hold was i still had to be careful but it seemed to be less. Anyone else notice this?

 

[dizzums]

i know it plays into it with any gun at all .. so does your level of fatigue, its quite remarkable how that affects many things .. im usually better after walking away and relaxing for awhile ..

 

[bandg]

Mod edit: derogatory or inflammatory comments removed per forum laws. 

 

[qball]

Yes, I too found the impact to be a little hold sensitive so I try to apply the same pressure every time with my left hand pushing the stock into my shoulder. 

 

[Zebra13]

Gents,

I too find the Impact hold sensitive. 

Another thing to consider is the front rest, be it a bag or a bipod. Rifles recoil smoothly on bags, so a lot of times you can get away with light, or no shoulder contact. Not so with bipods. Give the rifle a little room to run and those rubber feet are going to skip and bounce across the surface they're resting on, especially on something "grabby" like concrete. This does nothing positive for accuracy. Guns with bipods get held firmly by moi. I found this to be true in the PB rifle world, and as my PCP 25's definitely recoil a bit, I adhere to the above whilst shooting the air guns.

Also of consideration, if shooting a bipod on an Impact, is where the bipod is attached. If it's mounted by the trigger guard, that doesn't give you a very big "footprint", so to speak, and will be less stable than one mounted out on the bottle or at the end of an extended rail, and thus likely will be more difficult to shoot accurately.

OP: Warren Page was a helluva shooter and writer!

Justin

 

[Corvid_hunter]

I was out with my Impact today and noticed it's really sensitive to how much cheek pressure I have on it.