Want to improve your rifle shooting? Then check out the basic marksmanship principles, it is amazing how quickly bad habits can trickle into your shooting. These principles work and have been taught for years!
1.The shooting position and hold must be firm enough to support the rifle.
Wrong Position: I am sure this hunter does not plan to fire from this stance but if he did this would represent a massive failure of the first marksman principle!
Correct Position: This shooter has adopted a sitting position and is using the insides of his legs to support the rifle. Note he is not resting his elbows on his knees. This is because joints are not as stable, they sort of roll around.(floating joints) He also using a sling to try and stabilize the firing position as best he can.
https://everydaymarksman.files.wordpress.com/2015/02/dsc_0422.jpg?w=584&h=391
2.The rifle must point naturally at the target without any undue physical effort.
Wrong Position: This soldier is trying to aim a rifle weighing 13.5 kg from a standing position. There will be nothing natural about his stance as it will be requiring a lot of physical effort to hold that rifle on target!
http://i2.ytimg.com/vi/Gyjo5BObCPE/0.jpg
Correct Position: Here we have an example of the rifle naturally pointing down range with the rifleman using minimum effort to support of the butt of the rifle in order to bring it on target. His chances of hitting the target are greatly increased!
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3. Sight alignment and sight picture must be correct.
Wrong Position:Here we have a prime example of incorrect eye relief while using a scope. The error is represented by the thick black boarder around the inside of the scope. This would be solved by the shooter adjusting his head position or adjusting the position of his/her scope on the rifle.
http://www.anstonftc.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/incorrect-eye-relief.jpg
Correct Position: With a clear crisp boarder around the edge of the image and the crosshair in perfect focus this image represents a correct sight picture. Regarding sight alignment this is normally discussed when looking through iron sights as it important for the shooter to understand how the sights should appear when looking through them and where to position the foresight on the target.
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4. The shot must be released and followed through without undue disturbance to the position
Wrong Position: Lets assume this rifleman has literally just fired his rifle. It is important to make sure that the trigger is kept to the rear for a few moments. The purpose of this is to minimise the chances of disturbing the rifle during the firing cycle.
https://i.ytimg.com/vi/MwCqiMj3XYY/maxresdefault.jpg
Correct Position: In this picture you can see the trigger of the pistol is still to the rear. The shooter should keep it like that for a few moments. This process is all part of the entire firing cycle and is designed to maintain concentration throughout. A good example is golf, anyone who has played will know that when sending a ball down the fairway it is critical to follow through with the swing if you want any sort of consistency in your game.
http://cdn2.hubspot.net/hub/302700/file-2223818498-jpg/trigger-control.jpg
5. Finally, here we have a few examples of what not to do!
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