This last hunting season was a humbling experience for me in my shooting abilities. During the general rifle hunt I was borrowing a .257 Roberts from a relative, I spent the proper time zeroing in the scope. But it was the first time that I outright missed a deer. I don't blame the gun, I just plain missed, and have been bothered by the experience ever since. This year I have decided to spend considerably more time working on my shooting skills. I have spent a little time discussing some of my goals with my uncle, an avid hunter who has been to the Gunsite academy in Arizona, and is an excellent marksman. I have a few questions I thought I would throw out there. I am planning on putting a lot of rounds through my Marlin .22lr this year, I am looking to set it up close to what my big game rifle will be. (I am purchasing a new one this year, I am still narrowing my choices but currently am looking at either the Sako A7, or the Remington 700 Mountain that is a discussion for another day) As I set up my .22lr I am looking into optics and am wondering what you guys recommend for a quality target/plinking scope. Also what have you done to improve your shooting skills?
Improve your shooting skills
- Thread starter Taco4life
- Start date
- Location
- West Bountiful, UT
Just get a scope you like and can afford. A very general rule of thumb I have followed all of my life is to spend as much on the scope as on the rifle. A "quality" target scope would cost five to twenty times as much as the Marlin you are putting it on. Wasteful overkill. Just pick out a scope you like and can afford. Avoid non-functional bling.
I own a couple Marlin rimfires that wear Bushnell Elite 3200 series scopes. They just seem "appropriate" for the application, to me.
No matter what you choose, do pay attention to the warranty on the scope though. You might be surprised how often scopes fail on .22's. You didn't say if the Marlin is semi or bolt. I've had to send a lot of scopes in for repair over the years and over half of them have been mounted on semi-auto rimfires. The forward recoil of the semi is hard on scopes. Similar to a springer air rifle. Not an issue with bolt action rimfires though. Which, if you are setting it up like your big game rifle, I'm guessing this probably is a bolt.
Shoot. A lot. Mostly at live beating hearts, if possible.
For the last few years all I've done is watch my shooting skills deteriorate though. But back when I was half way serious about it, I was putting over 10,000 rounds a year downrange at live beating hearts. After 15-20 years of doing that, I could shoot pretty good there for awhile... It's disgusting how fast I'm going downhill without getting all that trigger time anymore though. Need the jackrabbits to come back in biblical plague proportions again...
- DAA
TJDukit
I.Y.A.A.Y.A.S.
- Location
- Clearfield
This year I plan on upgrading to a Leopuld on my 30-06. It's well over due. In order to improve my shooting ability for this years hunting season I plan on just shooting a lot. It will cost quite a bit but I can't see a reason to practice with something other than the gun and rounds I plan to hunt with.
My friend has a spot we can go to target shoot out to 400+ yards. That will be very important for our trip to South Dakota this year. We usually do our best to keep our shots shorter than 300 yards but you never know.
My friend has a spot we can go to target shoot out to 400+ yards. That will be very important for our trip to South Dakota this year. We usually do our best to keep our shots shorter than 300 yards but you never know.
- Location
- West Bountiful, UT
Something else that helped me was dry firing. I used to take 100 carefully aimed and called dry fires almost every night with my hunting rifle. Did that religiously for over a decade. Made a real difference in the field.
I still pick up my calling rifle and snap off a dozen or so here and there during fur season, just to keep the muscle memory alive.
- DAA
I still pick up my calling rifle and snap off a dozen or so here and there during fur season, just to keep the muscle memory alive.
- DAA
This is what I have on my 10/22 and I LOVE it. I bought it 2-3 yrs ago for $115 and at that time it came with a sun shade, now it looks like you are paying a little more but I would say it is worth it. The parallax is adjustable to 10yd which I like for a .22lr.
- Location
- Riverton, UT
Like what everyone else said, practice, practice, practice. I used to shoot rats at 100 yards with a single shot Mossberg and a $4.00 Weaver scope after much practice.
Thanks for all the advice so far, I agree with the practice, practice, practice approach. I was looking more for, what do you practice?
DAA- Dry firing is a regular activity for me. I have also always been one who spends as much on the scope as I do on the rifle. I'm not ready to spend the $400 for a Leupold, unless I were to upgrade my .22 to say a Remington 504 or a CZ 455. I am choosing to use this Marlin because it is the only bolt action .22 I currently own. I want it to be most like what I will be using in the field, so my lever action, and semi-auto's will be used for other things.
I am leaning towards a Nikon Prostaff 3x9, it can be had for $100 at Cabelas. For Christmas I bought myself a pair of Nikon 10x42 Monarch's and have been very impressed with the quality for what I paid for them. They also have a great warranty.
Another question, what type of ammo do you guys run through your .22's. I have a carton of the cheap Wal-mart Federal stuff. But am looking into buying a box or two of the higher end stuff to see what works. Has anyone shot the Eley Match? or Lapua Midas plus?
DAA- Dry firing is a regular activity for me. I have also always been one who spends as much on the scope as I do on the rifle. I'm not ready to spend the $400 for a Leupold, unless I were to upgrade my .22 to say a Remington 504 or a CZ 455. I am choosing to use this Marlin because it is the only bolt action .22 I currently own. I want it to be most like what I will be using in the field, so my lever action, and semi-auto's will be used for other things.
I am leaning towards a Nikon Prostaff 3x9, it can be had for $100 at Cabelas. For Christmas I bought myself a pair of Nikon 10x42 Monarch's and have been very impressed with the quality for what I paid for them. They also have a great warranty.
Another question, what type of ammo do you guys run through your .22's. I have a carton of the cheap Wal-mart Federal stuff. But am looking into buying a box or two of the higher end stuff to see what works. Has anyone shot the Eley Match? or Lapua Midas plus?
- Location
- Grand Junction, CO
I've gone thru a handful of boxes of Remington Thunderbolt and have found quite a few rounds that wouldn't fire, it was very dirty and maybe it's in my head, but it didn't seem to like my Savage. It seemed like it wasn't as accurate as it should have been.
I do like Winchester Super X, I don't think I've had a single round that didn't fire, it's pretty clean and very accurate, for me. It's still cheap ammo, but seems like a quality round.
I haven't shot anything else, as I've been happy with the Super X.
LT.
Well-Known Member
- Location
- Los Alamos, New Mexico
I hope I can help you. First, yes, you do need to spend as much on your optics as you have on your firearm. This is a good rule of thumb. I really can't tell you a company to look at. What I look for in optics will be different than what you will look for. Second, I highly recommend the dry firing but, I would recommend you mix some inert rounds in with some live rounds. This takes away the anticipation of the firearm going off. I'll bet you will find yourself mashing the trigger or jerking. As soon as you do you will know. Third, the basics of shooting as explained in the Marines. Use the acronym B-R-A-S-S. Breathe, relax, aim, squeeze, surprise. I have been shooting in more comps than you can shake a stick at and it always surprises me when I can still learn something new.
For you hunting firearm I would recommend one that can take any animal you currently hunt and anything you may want to hunt. You really can't go wrong with a 30-06. This round was developed in 1906 and has taken more big game than any other round that I am aware of. Personally, I like a 7mm mag of some sort. Remington mag or Winchester short mag, or just a Winchester mag. I like the Short mag because it takes less movement on the bolt to chamber another round. This means faster follow up shots. I always expected the 7mm 08 to take off more than it did. A 7mm projectile in a necked down .308 case. Predictable projectile and an predicable case. I really don't know why it never took off but....
LT.
For you hunting firearm I would recommend one that can take any animal you currently hunt and anything you may want to hunt. You really can't go wrong with a 30-06. This round was developed in 1906 and has taken more big game than any other round that I am aware of. Personally, I like a 7mm mag of some sort. Remington mag or Winchester short mag, or just a Winchester mag. I like the Short mag because it takes less movement on the bolt to chamber another round. This means faster follow up shots. I always expected the 7mm 08 to take off more than it did. A 7mm projectile in a necked down .308 case. Predictable projectile and an predicable case. I really don't know why it never took off but....
LT.
I shoot the Remmington Golden Bullets and I love them. They are more than accurate enough for what I need to do.I have shot the Federal's and was not to impressed. I have shot the Winchester Super X and had nothing but jamming problems, I wondered if it was because I shoot a semi-auto(10/22) and they were not jacketed but I don't know.
- Location
- Riverton, UT
I used to hang a pint bottle of water, 1 pound, from my wrist when dry firing a handgun or practicing with my air gun. (actual bullets were too expensive) Also would do 50 push-ups and 100 set-ups every morning and every night. Target shooting is a physical sport so you need to prepare your body. I would assume the same for a rifle although never got into it except as a sport.
- Location
- West Bountiful, UT
I've shot a bunch of rimfire match ammo, including both of the above and many, many more.
If you're interested, and it sounds like you are, then it would be worth picking up a box each of many types of ammo. Then do some serious accuracy testing with it. You WILL see some differences. Some of the differences may be dramatic. Some may be surprising - cheap ammo can be all over the map, you may well find one kind that shoots significantly better than the others in your rifle.
Gather up several types of cheap ammo and several types of match ammo to test. Find yourself the economical ammo that shoots best in your rifle as well as finding out what the accuracy potential really is and knowing the difference. Green Tag is worth trying too, it's far from the most expensive, but often shoots nearly as well as the Eley, Lapua, RWS etc.
Going through this whole process, you'll learn much, about your rifle, the ammo it likes and how to minimize yourself as a factor in the results.
If you ever want to get really in depth on rimfire ammo, a good friend of mine, Steve Boelter, has written what most consider The Bible of rimfire ammo. I think it goes for about $25 or so on Amazon.
- DAA