BREATHING

shoottilltheneighborscallthesherrif

Could anyone point to some books or websites on breathing techniques while firing a rifle? My buddy won a few medals in the service and said to take a deep one, exhale, take a normal one, exhale, fire. I'm shooting some small coin sized discs at 100ft and not doing so well. Maybe i just SUCK!

JustC

I don't know of any books, but, I can tell you some of what I use. I just RELAX first and foremost. You must bring your heart to a resting rate. If you are nervous because someone is watching you (who may be better) don't shoot with them around. I was told by an ex-sniper friend of mine, who is blunt with me, to put it mildly, to shoot by myself for a while. The breath thing I do is this, after relaxing, and I am sighted and ready to fire, I take one last breath, blow it all the way out, and hold it. You will have generaly about 3 seconds before the oxegen in your blood has been depleted and the heart will speed up to try and pump it faster to maintain your life. During this 3 seconds, your heart rate will drop considerably. You want to try and time your trigger break between heart beats. Lub lub, lub lub. Blow out,...lub........lub........lub.......boom!!!.....lub. It takes years to even get a good feel for it, and I am no world record holder by any means, but it works well for me.



A great rifle with a junk scope,....is junk.

airborne

I'll make it simple.

B - BreatheR - RelaxA - AimS - SightS - Squeeze

ericthered

I shoot like LIKTOSHOOT.
I was taught to breathe normally and get the sight picture you want, then when you're ready to go, one good deep breath then exhale half way and squeeze thru.
If you wait more than a few seconds, the need for air can mess you up. So you have a window of opportunity that lasts as long as your breath is comfortably stopped.
Too much time will also get your heart beating harder until the rifle is bouncing all over.
Some great front and back support on sandbags helps too. When I'm testing ammo, the rifle is sitting completely supported. With a small caliber like 223, I don't even rest my face on the stock. I just hold it still on the bags and barely up against my shoulder. Thats not realistic for hunting but its'a good idea for checking rifle/ammo performance. Squeezing thru without any anticipation or movement is the final hurdle.
Like I said, its' not realistic, but its' good for seeing what the rifle and ammo can do under perfect conditions.

I want to be able to plug a squirrel or rabbit at 200 yds. Good country eating.

Eric

thats'me

Shootist3006

Try "The Art of the Rifle" by Jeff Cooper. Amazon has it. I haven't read it but I suspect that it will contain all that you need to know.

Aside from breathing, there are a couple of other things to look at (assuming your rifle/ammo combo is accurate enough to hit small coins at 100 ft)
What kind of sling are you using? What positions are you shooting from? What kind of sights what wind/light conditions?How much coffee did you have before you got to the range?

BTW, a shorter handle would be appreciated.

Quod principi placuit legis habet vigorem.Semper Fidelis

Mballistic

Get THE book "Sight Alignment Trigger Control and 'The Big Lie'"
by M/SGT James R. Owens. Champions Choice has the book. Sells for about $12.00.
Good luck