10 Shooting Tips From Army Marksmen
Buy a Quality Scope
Plan to spend about the same amount of money, or more, on your scope, rings, and mounts as you do on your rifle. Why? Quality scopes help you in those low-light shooting situations. Have you ever spotted a big buck near last light with your binoculars and not be able to clearly see it in your scope? A quality scope will also have precise windage and elevation adjustments.
Buy Quality Rings and Mounts
Even with the best mounting systems, we lap the rings of all our scoped rifles. Lapping is a process that smooths down the high spots of the bottom rings to closely align or center them with each other. Misaligned rings place bending forces on your scope tube. These forces can cause excessive use of windage and elevation adjustments to bore sight your scope. The farther your scope gets adjusted away from its optical center, the greater the potential for a distorted and darker sight picture. Accuracy problems can start to appear as the scope is adjusted toward its maximum range. A lapping kit costs about $35 and comes with a precision 1-inch or 30 mm solid steel lapping tube, handle, lapping compound, and instructions. It is easy to use and it takes about 20 minutes to lap a set of rings. The kits can be found at supply houses for target shooting, reloading, or gunsmithing.
Snug the Rifle Screws
Check your rifle for loose screws. The bedding screws that secure your rifle to the stock are very important for accuracy and should be tightened according to the manufacturer’s specification. Refer to your manual or speak with the manufacturer to ascertain the proper amount of torque for each bedding screw.
Clean Your Rifle Barrel
We see a lot of “shot-out” hunting rifles that just need a good cleaning to restore their accuracy. After ensuring the rifle is not loaded by removing the bolt, look at the muzzle of your rifle in the sunlight. Do you see a lot of copper shining back at you? If you do, a good cleaning is in order. Accuracy decreases as your barrel accumulates powder residue and copper fouling.
Many hunters purchase inexpensive gun-cleaning kits because they feel they are adequate for the job. However, quality cleaning kits cost about $125 to $150, and they can improve your accuracy. We recommend that you also get a rifle-cleaning cradle for about $30 to $70. The cradle holds the rifle securely during the cleaning process. A cleaning rod guide, $20, is another must-have item.