As a retired LAPD detective and world record-holding shooter, I have years of experience perfecting precision in target acquisition.
But, precision and accuracy in shooting with your rifle are about more than practice. Once bad habits are established, breaking them is tough.
A solid foundation begins with the proper equipment and accessories. Combined with a methodical approach to perfecting your technique, each practice session can bring you one shot closer to mastery in target acquisition.
Let’s delve deeper into each tip to help you achieve dead-on consistency in your rifle shooting.
1. Clean Your Rifle
This is an obvious and often overlooked aspect of consistently achieving accuracy. You must properly clean your rifle after each shooting session or hunting trip. A clean rifle can impact the bullet’s trajectory and precision.
How Often To Clean Your Rifle
Your rifle is exposed to the elements in the field, including dust, debris, and weather conditions. Maintenance of your weapon system is critical, especially if it comes into contact with these external factors.
While the elements are less of a concern at the range, you should still get into the habit of at least doing a light cleaning if you shoot more than a few dozen rounds through it. The more shots fired, the more in-depth cleaning that will be required.
Moisture is never beneficial for your rifle, so it should be cleaned even if it’s only in storage. If it’s stored in a case in a climate-controlled setting, once or twice a year should do the trick.
Properly oiling your gun will keep the rust and other deterioration away.
How To Clean Your Rifle
Verify your rifle is completely unloaded before you begin cleaning. If your rifle’s manufacturer has specific cleaning instructions in the manual, follow each step of their process.
When removing springs or other elements of your rifle, set all parts aside in a container. You will need brushes, soft cloths, a cleaning solution, a lubricant, and paper towels.
If you have a boresight, this can help you examine the barrel to check for any damage and achieve a more comprehensive cleaning. Lubricating cloths can be a great option to reduce the amount of excess residue.
Over-oiling your rifle can also be a problem. Find that balance. Anywhere there is metal-on-metal contact will require lubrication, and anywhere there is exposure to the elements needs a coat of oil.
While cleaning your rifle, remove all debris, residue, and fouling. Focus on the barrel, action, receiver, and bolt.
There are different cleaners for different types of fouling. Your standard cleaning solvent will take care of most things, but there are specialized cleaners to remove things like copper residue or rust.
Acquire the right cleaners as needed. Before reassembling, wipe everything down with a clean, dry cloth. Cleaning requires zeroing your rifle again, but these adjustments should be minor if your rifle was accurately zeroed before cleaning.
Learn more about maintaining your scope.
2. Use Quality Scopes, Mounts, & Rings
This is not the time to be cheap regarding the accessories you will use with your rifle.
Using improperly fitting or low-quality scopes, mounts, and rings will impact the accuracy of your shots.
Rifle Scopes
Rifle scopes can vary widely in price. When shopping for a scope, consider the magnification, objective lens quality, reticle style, focal plane, and turrets.
Magnification
All Rapid Reticle scopes are variable, meaning the magnification can change based on the target and environment.
If the scope is listed as 3-12×42, the magnification level can vary from 3x-12x with a 42mm objective lens. This versatility offers flexibility in different environments and situations.
The magnification you will need depends on the distance of your targets. For less than 100 yards, up to 4x magnification will suffice, while shooting at a distance of more than 500 yards will require a higher magnification for proper target identification and confirming impacts.
Remember that more is not always better. Excessive magnification, especially on closer targets, will reduce your field of view, peripheral vision, and ability to get on target quickly for a second shot.
Objective Lens Quality
The objective lens is the lens at the end of your scope. A larger lens allows a brighter image and a wider field of view. But you must also consider the weight being added and the type of environment you will be in.
In the example above of 3-12×42, the number after the x provides the diameter of the lens.
Reticle Style
Next up is the reticle style. There are several styles of reticles, including the MRAD, MOA, and BDC.
All our scopes offer our patented proprietary BDC reticles. This is more of an all-purpose reticle that can estimate the calculations necessary for precision shooting.
MRAD and MOA reticles are units of measure used with any rifle, whereas a BDC reticle is tailored for a particular ballistic.
They also require you to know important information, like the muzzle velocity of the specific bullet you use with your particular rifle, to properly and consistently calculate your impacts.
This is called DOPE. It requires training to master and turret adjustments for your shots.
Our patented BDC reticles do the calculations visually, so you can get on target faster without clicks or calculations.
First Focal Plane vs Second Focal Plane
The next aspect you will want to consider is first focal plane (FFP) or second focal plane (SFP). All PFI reticles are FFP; we want the user to have full capability at any magnification level.
A BDC reticle in FFP will increase and decrease in size relative to the magnification setting, keeping the holdovers true.
If you are shooting beyond 100 yards with an SFP optic, you must shoot a target at any distance at a particular magnification setting, whether the reticle is in MOA, MRAD, or a BDC.
Elevation and Windage Turrets
Last but certainly not least are the turrets. These knobs adjust for windage (left to right) and elevation (up and down) and are the key to accuracy and precision.
You want to look for knobs with an audible click and smooth reliability as you make different adjustments.
A quality turret will have positive clicks with a zero-stop, so you can easily return the turret to its zero position. Each click should make a consistent change to your reticle’s position.
You can always test this with a box test at the range. This is something you can do after you zero your rifle.
The basic concept is to make a set adjustment in each direction to verify that your optic is mounted properly and that the adjustments are consistent.
Mounts & Rings
In addition to the quality of the scope, you will also want to use high-quality mounts and rings designed for your rifle and scope.
Any looseness or movement in mounts and rings will impact the accuracy of your shot.
Choose durable mounts and rings and ensure they are firmly secured and tightened before zeroing your rifle.
3. Zero Your Rifle Scope
Zeroing your rifle scope means aligning where you aim to the actual point of impact at a particular distance. In our owner’s manuals, we offer in-depth instructions on how to zero your scope.
While it can take a little longer the first time it is done, it is vital for accuracy. You may need to make small adjustments over time, particularly if you do anything that adjusts how the scope sits on the rifle, such as tightening the mount.
When you zero, using a stable base such as a table, rifle rest, or sandbags is important. Always use the same ammo weight, as changing the weight can impact accuracy.
4. Maintain the Stability of Your Rifle
To maintain stability and hold your aim, practice controlling your breathing, adopting a stable shooting stance, and minimizing any unnecessary shifts.
Control Your Breathing
To control your breathing during shooting, pay attention to your respiration rate. The faster you breathe, the more instability you will introduce into your shot. Slow your breathing and practice squeezing the trigger on your exhale.
Some will also succeed in exhaling about half of the breath and then pausing. During that pause, squeeze the trigger. This can eliminate movement due to breathing but may take some practice to perfect.
Perfect Your Shooting Position
Next is finding the right shooting position for you. Everyone prefers a different position. You want to find a position that provides a stable base and is comfortable.
You should be able to hold the position for the time it takes to acquire the target and make any adjustments.
Experiment with different stances:
- Standing with feet shoulder-distance apart
- One leg in front of the other with the weight balanced
- Kneeling
- Prone (lying down)
Minimize Unnecessary Movements
When minimizing any unnecessary shifts, you want to focus on your trigger control. An easy way to negatively impact the accuracy of your shot is by pulling the trigger instead of squeezing it.
Avoid any jerky movements and apply consistent pressure during the squeeze. You should use the pad of your trigger finger when squeezing. This can help to eliminate any jerking motion that will throw off your aim.
After you take the shot, remain still instead of immediately releasing your stance. If you release or move too soon, you can influence the bullet’s path.
By incorporating these tips to improve your accuracy, you can powerfully impact your rifle shooting skills. Consistent practice can result in a compelling impact on your precision in the field.
