Top Ten Tips For Improving Your Rifle Shooting Accuracy

Improving your rifle shooting accuracy is a skill that takes time is perfect,  there are many factors that need to be considered when shooting  a target from a distance. So we at GlowShot have compiled a list of 10 top tips for improving your shooting accuracy.

Tip 1- Get into a comfortable position and loosen up

Make sure your rifle is pointing naturally at the target, and that the crosshairs fall naturally on the target.

When realigning the rifle, it’s important to do this by moving your whole body starting with the legs, rather than just twisting your torso. You may also need to lift and replace the bipod if you are using one.  This can be difficult when in the field or at the range so a range mat is advised to help create a good base for aiming.

Tip 2- Practice at shorter ranges: then once you are shooting tight group gradually start increasing your distance

Many people start to shoot at long range when their short-range skills are still developing.

Adding basic errors to your attempts to work out issues around elevation and windage is not a recipe for success.

The ability to shoot consistently at short range is the first element of long-range success. Splatter targets are a great tool to use at the range to help, they make it much easier to see where your shots are landing, especially once you start to increase your distance.

Tip 3- The shot release and follow through must be made without undue movement from blinking or flinching.

The trigger should be squeezed with the centre of the pad of your index finger and your fingernail parallel to the trigger guard, so the motion is straight back.

Squeeze the trigger whilst maintaining a fixed gaze through the scope. If you blink or flinch when squeezing the trigger it could have a major impact on hitting the target.

Many people often anticipate the kick and subconsciously compensate before the shot is taken, this results in micro movements which takes the crosshair off the mark.  Dryfiring is recommended to help make your trigger pull consistent and smooth. 

Commit to memory where your crosshairs are when the shot breaks. You then need to refocus on the moment the bullet hits the target or lands nearby.

Both sets of information are vital to the placement of your next shot.

Tip 4 – Find the right ammunition!

This quest is where the rubber meets the road, and we do not have any quick solutions. The answer is trial-and-error. Each rifle is different, and your rifle will tell you immediately which loads it does not like. Your job is to find the one it prefers.

We suggest taking several different brands and bullet weights to the range. When you change from one type to the other, you should clean your barrel or allow up to five shots of the new ammo to settle in the bore. If you clean your rifle, allow two fouling shots with the new ammo to settle in the bore. If you switch from non-coated to coated bullets, clean the bore and allow for five or more shots to properly coat the bore before testing for accuracy. If you are going from coated to non-coated bullets, give the bore a thorough cleaning. Then, add two fouling shots with the non-coated bullet before testing for accuracy.

Tip 4 – Break In your rifle barrel

Many rifle barrels have not been properly broken in, which helps to minimize accuracy-reducing fouling. If not properly broken in, we have observed hunting rifles to completely foul out in as little as five rounds. Many will foul out at fewer than 20 rounds. When a barrel fouls out, accuracy is dramatically reduced. Properly breaking in a rifle barrel is a must for our target rifles and our hunting rifles. We believe that this step is very important to optimize the accuracy potential of your hunting rifle. You will not have to worry about your rifle fouling out during the hunting season.

The break-in process is simple but takes time at the range. Use any inexpensive ammo and targets. Start with a clean barrel, fire one shot, and clean the barrel. Make sure that you get all the copper out. Repeat the single shot/clean routine for five shots. Next, fire two shots and clean. Repeat three times. Now, fire three shots and clean. Repeat three times. Cleaning the barrel should become easier and copper fouling should be minimal.

Tip 5 – Zero the rifle 

Bore-sighting is recommended. First remove the bolt and with the rifle in a secure position line up a target like a clay 50m away in the center of the bore (Clay target hangers are great for this). Then, without moving the rifle,  turn the windage and elevation dials until the reticle is centered on the clay. Then move to a large target to ensure you land your first shots where you can see them. The first shot at a target should be somewhere on the target at 100m. If they aren’t, move it in closer until you hit the paper! Adjust your windage and elevation until point of impact is roughly two inches high at 100m. At 200m spend more time refining windage and elevation so that at that the rounds land on your point of aim.

Tip 6 – Stay focused through the sights

It is just human nature to pull your head up to admire the shot you just made on a deer or target, especially when it is close. You cannot make that movement and hit where you are aiming. Follow through with the recoil and stay in the rifle.

Tip 7 – Make sure your view through the scope is perfect

When looking through your scope don’t take the shot unless the view is 100% clear, any shadow or tunnel effect will induce parallax error and throw the shot off. Be certain the front (objective) lens and the rear (ocular) lens are in perfect alignment with the rear lens just exceeding the diameter of the front lens.

This process of “lining up the circles” is just as important with a telescopic sight as it is with aperture sights on target rifles.

Tip 8- Hold the rifle firmly,  in order to control recoil. but don’t strangle it

When looking through the sight your cheek should firmly engage the stock with the head held reasonably upright and not an angle.

Good ‘cheek weld’ is vital. Keep a firm hold of the pistol grip with your thumb curled around it for safety.

Leaving your thumb behind the bolt or alongside the safety catch can a painful habit if you use large caliber rifles with heavy recoil.

Tip 9- Use real paper targets

If you’ve never used real paper targets, you’re in for a treat. Real targets are printed on paper that doesn’t tear the way standard copier paper does. If you print your targets on a  printer you will have almost no idea how large or small their groups really are.

Paper targets are printed on special paper, which is why they cost a little more; but, if you care about accuracy, they’ll deliver the results you want. GlowShot Splatter targets will improve on shot reading even more.

Tip 10- Shoot with both eyes open

For guns with iron sights and some kinds of optics (red dot sights or a both-eyes-open scope), shooting with both eyes open allows the shooter to relax more, enhances their field of view, and allows them to focus more on what they’re doing. If possible, learn your eye dominance, and shoot with both eyes open.

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