Henry Rifle Forums

Tonight I shot up some 16 oz water bottles. I probably had an accuracy rate of about 65-70%. Sometimes it seemed easy to hit them, sometimes not so much. But it was fun, and good practice.

Later, after some target work, I tried my luck at keeping both eyes open. It's been tough learning to focus on the front sight with my right eye with both open. For some reason, it was significantly easier tonight. Maybe because it was a bit cloudy and the light was more even. The target shown here is the result. Most shots went low right, even after lowering the rear sight a notch. (It's a Marbles Bullseye, one ring inside the other. Center inner ring over the target, then center the front blade. Entire field of view remains open.) I'm not sure if the ammo tends to shoot low and right (CCI Blazer), if I need to adjust the sights more, or if it's me. I have other high velocity ammo to try, and I know I have a tendency to put the blade just a hair right of center, and I know I pulled a couple of shots. All things to address next time.

But I see progress in myself, and that makes me happy!

This is the sight picture at 50 yds with the Bullseye.

looks like you are well on your way .... at what distance were you firing ?

JEBar wrote:looks like you are well on your way .... at what distance were you firing ?

Thanks. I was at 50 yds, which is our range's minimum for rifle, regardless of caliber.

It almost looks like an aircraft sight. I bet it would be good for a moving target.

Try two things...

First, you may be putting two much finger thru the trigger. You should have just the first pad of the trigger finger on the trigger and apply pressure smoothly until the trigger breaks. The break should be surprise. If you put to much thru the trigger, you can end up pushing the sights left or right as you squeeze the trigger at an angle, rather than straight back.

The second thing to concentrate on is to only squeeze the trigger with the trigger finger. The remainder of the strong hand should grip the rifle firmly, but not squeeze and release as you squeeze the trigger. This is much more critical in handgun shooting but also can affect rifle accuracy, especially at longer ranges and when you begin to strive for those smaller groups.

Hth

Jim

I think you are, too. Yes, good progress with that target. Keep up the good work.

Jim makes two very good points. I am constantly reminding my husband of these two, almost to the point of nagging.

Question: are you focusing 100% on that front sight are you using some of that concentration to center the front sight inside those two rear sight apertures? If so, don't. Use only that smaller aperture to center the front sight (forget the big ring, it's there to provide for a quick shot), then look through that smaller ring and forget it. Once you are looking though it, it's job is done, same as with any peep sight, receiver or barrel mounted. Your eye will automatically seek the center of that smaller aperture if you let it. It doesn't need your help. Just look though it and concentrate 100% on that front sight. That front sight is your friend, always, always, always.

I will pay attention to my trigger finger and grip. I'm not *aware* of grip issues, but that doesn't mean they aren't there.

NCG, yes, focusing on the front sight. It makes the target blurry, but still discernable. The smaller ring naturally centers over the target, I don't even notice the larger ring. When firing several rounds while keeping the gun shouldered, I find I'm only focusing on the front.

Great. That's exactly right. Your eyes can't focus sharply on both the front sight and a distant target at the same time, so make that front sight sharp and settle for a little fuzzy on the target.

NCG hit one out of the park. Teaching firearms in the academy, I had the officers write across the top of the inside cover of their spiral notebooks, if you aren't focused on the clear tip of the front sight, you aren't aiming. We made them made them read this out loud, often... it was easy for them to repeat it back when they forgot to DO it on the range.

You are getting it dialed in. Nicely done, and keep on shootin'!