Offhand Shooting Journal: Part 1 - Baseline

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mcoulter

mcoulter

Member
Dec 16, 2015
1,175
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Syracuse, NY, USA
I suck at shooting offhand but I want to get better. 

I'm hoping to post the progress I make here in the General forum as a way to track, motivate, and possibly shame myself into getting better! I figured 25 yards is a decent distance to start at so I wanted to zero the cricket at that distance with cheap pellets. I have a few tins of Crosman Premiere Hollow Points that seem perfect for this purpose - no need to waste expensive JSBs while I try to get better!

I shot a few targets to get zero'd from the bench. I'll probably need to further re-zero when I get off the bench but I still wanted to see how accurate these pellets would be (that's my baseline to shoot for). Here's my velocity testing with the CPHPs. 



All are 5-shot groups.

20210517_130611.1621274689.jpg




This one made me smile. (Because I KNOW this won't happen offhand!)

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Especially considering the quality of pellet I'm using!

20210517_131347.1621274949.jpg




I settled on a speed that seemed to work well (890-ish fps) and shot a bunch more:

20210517_131623.1621275000.jpg




And here are the number of threads exposed on my hammer spring at this setting:

20210517_130546.1621275020.jpg




Next up will be the embarrassing post of me actually shooting offhand.

😂
 
Just keep practicing and you'll get better and better. I'm not a bench shooter and do most of my shooting off hand. I only use the bench when sighting in or testing pellets.

On of my favourite targets for off hand shooting out to 25 yards with a rifle are playing cards. I use them out to 15 yards with pistol.

Like you I also shoot mostly crosman premiers hollow points for offhand practice and save the more expensive stuff for when I really need it. Nice groups BTW.
 
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The real value of PCP is affordable practice. The PCP air gun hobby is very expensive. Much more than powder burners to get in to, but this high upfront cost is offset over time with extensive practice. Shooting skill, even when finally achieved, is perishable and constant practice is required to maintain proficiency. Personally I shoot every day. You cannot do that affordably with the high cost of ammunition for powder burners or in your back yard, but it can be done with PCP. So, if shooting skill is your objective, the use of any support medium or sight medium is a band aid that defeats the objective. Sure everybody will shoot better using benches, support crutches and scopes, but they defeat my objective at least. 

However, the first rule of any shooting practice is knowing that your misses are yours, not the gun. In order to do that all other variables must be removed. That is where the bench, gun supports and scopes play their very important role. Once, you have your gun, pellet and tune dialed in to one hole groups, you can have that very important confidence in the gun to practice.
 
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I thought it would be a good idea to skip the candy shooting until I warmed up a bit. Here are today's targets. Target was at 25 yards and I was shooting from a seated position on the ground with the gun cradled in the crook of my elbow kind of resting on my knee. I forgot to turn down the magnification of my scope until a couple of targets in. For reference, the stickers I use are 1/2 inch.

Target 1:

I spent most of this target fidgeting around trying to find a comfortable position (yeah right...) Most groups are 5 shots (however being a 14 shot mag, there is a 4 shot group). Bottom right is a 10 shot group.

25 oh 1.1621359212.jpg
 



Target 2:

This felt better. I was fidgeting around less and found a semi-comfortable position. The two targets on the right made me smile :)

25 oh 2.1621359369.jpg




Cricket II :)

I may go through my box of rings and see if I have any higher ones that'll work. The scope height feels fine off the bench, but I feel kind of cramped shooting offhand (offknee?) with it.

cricket2.1621359517.jpg

 
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Maybe some definitions are in order. I consider off hand to be standing with no support. For me shooting off my knee or against a tree is not as easy as a bench with everything supported, but it's way easier than standing and shooting. Maybe I should expand my definition.
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No, I bet most folks would define offhand more strictly as you do. I'm the one misusing the term offhand here.

It must be a blue moon because I was able to get out TWICE to shoot today! It only made sense after seeing your comment to shoot some more and get my "baseline" for the correct definition of offhand shooting - standing unsupported holding the gun. All the stuff is the same; 25 yards, CPHP pellets and beautiful weather.

Target 1

Each target was a full mag. I shot the left one first and then tried to adjust up for the right target. Interesting I grouped a bit better with that lower POI - things fell apart as I tried to aim higher.

oh standing 1.1621379855.jpg




Target 2

Pretty much the same except I shot groups of 5. Still trying to be mindful of keeping my POI higher.

oh standing 2.1621379980.jpg




Target 3

I hadn't shot traditional targets in a while so I wondered what going back to my stickers on cardboard would do. Well, by this time I was getting tired and the dinner I had eaten just before going out to shoot wasn't sitting well... I only shot the bottom left one standing and then I reverted back to a seated position.

oh standing and sitting.1621380127.jpg




Target 4:

All shot were taken from a seated position. I also lost track of my shots and the last group was shot WAAAY off regulator. I will say that it was pretty cool going back to a seated position here. Even though I was tired, it seemed easier to hold steady after shooting those standing targets.

oh sitting and off reg.1621380275.jpg




Sorry this is probably a pretty boring post, but it's helpful to write this information down somewhere!
 
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Shooting well any gun at a fixed distance is one thing, but far from all the skills necessary to be a competent shooter. In the real world target acquisition must be done usually in a rather limited time frame as well as distance to target, vertical angle and wind compensation. The shooter rarely has time to use distance measuring equipment, a wing gauge or a spirit level. All this must be done in a split second. It is a feel thing. These instantaneous compensations must be practiced extensively to be a good shooter and is the final step in acquiring real shooting skill.
 
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 I am no way a competitive shooter anymore, but I still can hold a 2 inch group at 25 yds. with my PP700SA pistol freehand. I have hit wood pigeons at 100 meters off hand with the same pistol. If I don't hit the pigeon at that distance, I'm still close enough to piss it off. Punching holes in a paper target at 25 yds. is just the beginning. 
 
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It's not a boring post at all. I find it interesting. I just did a tune on my hw50, my first ever tune-used the arh kit-, and I'm still working it in off the bench to be sure all is right. I think I'm there almost and soon I'm going to try some off hand too. I have a Beeman 97 but it's just too heavy for me to hold up with any steadiness.

If you want to see some good offhand shooting there's a lady in Florida shooting iguanas and she does a lot of offhand shooting. Her you tube channel is Iguana Solutions and the episodes where she does only shooting are Iguana snipers.
 
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Shooting well any gun at a fixed distance is one thing, but far from all the skills necessary to be a competent shooter. In the real world target acquisition must be done usually in a rather limited time frame as well as distance to target, vertical angle and wind compensation. The shooter rarely has time to use distance measuring equipment, a wing gauge or a spirit level. All this must be done in a split second. It is a feel thing. These instantaneous compensations must be practiced extensively to be a good shooter and is the final step in acquiring real shooting skill.
Click to expand...

Yes! That's certainly something to aspire to! I have achieved the "it is a feel thing" in some activities but definitely not in shooting yet. Like you indicated, there are many, many variables to be aware of.
 
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Not boring at all, to me. :)

I find 10 meter air rifle targets more than challenging enough shooting off hand.

Plus, I don't have a place to shoot 25 yards unless I go to one of the local ranges. In that case I shoot powder burners.





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Thanks! I am very fortunate to have a yard that allows me to shoot out to 70 yards. So this combination of a relatively close distance and cheap pellets is pretty fun. Sometime this summer I do hope try a local field target target competition.
 
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McCoulter I wouldn't say that this post is boring in any fashion. In fact, you have inspired me to get off the bench and start practicing off-hand techniques again. I might even try to shoot some FT competitions (if I can find any local ones).

I don't know if you have ever done any three position rifle shooting, so I apologize if you already know how to get into a stable standing position, but I am certain you can find videos and images on position techniques to help you out. I used to shoot small-bore 3 and 4 position when I was in my early teens. The knowledge is there, just have to knock the rust off!

Best of luck!
 
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