Shooting technique for F Class???

G

Glenn Bruce

Guest
I'm trying to find the best way/technique for shooting F Class. I think some guys pull the rifle up to their shoulder(as I do) and others let the rifle slide on the bags like a benchrest shooter. I can't figure out how to let the rifle just slide on the bags without having the scope hit me in the eye.
How do you guys do it???
Thanks.
 
1st of all what caliber are you shooting?
With my 6PPC, 22BR, 22BRX, 30BR I shoot free recoil, keeping my shoulder just of the butt plate. With my bigger recoiling 284, I pull the stock back a bit off the fore end stop on the front rest, then put some shoulder pressure into the butt plate before I squeeze off a shot. This is with a 3" wide fore end and tracker style stock.
With my 308 F standard rifle with a hunting style stock, I hold it into my shoulder and push forwards a bit, just enough to slide the stock forwards in the front rest a tad.
 
"I think some guys pull the rifle up to their shoulder(as I do) and others let the rifle slide on the bags like a benchrest shooter. I can't figure out how to let the rifle just slide on the bags without having the scope hit me in the eye."

Rules state that the rifle must be fired from the sholder.

So no free shooting.

When I'm on my game I pull it in and use alot of cheek, it works for me. The rifle doesn't seem to move off the target frame, which makes for easy follow up sighting.
 
I'm shooting 6.5 x 284, I saw a video comparing the recoil of a 6.5 x 284 and a 7mm Mag. It looked like the guy shooting the 6.5 was shooting without his shoulder on the rifle. Maybe I'm wrong, or maybe it was not an F Class match. I saw it somewhere on this forum. I'll have to take another look.....
 
Glenn Bruce said:
I'm shooting 6.5 x 284, I saw a video comparing the recoil of a 6.5 x 284 and a 7mm Mag. It looked like the guy shooting the 6.5 was shooting without his shoulder on the rifle. Maybe I'm wrong, or maybe it was not an F Class match. I saw it somewhere on this forum. I'll have to take another look.....
Click to expand...
Glenn,

Depends on the country. As far as I know, only the US mandates shooting from the shoulder. Here in Australia, we don't mind it being called belly benchrest & hold exactly as we like.

However, don't confuse holding the stock lightly to the shoulder with free recoiling it. Most of us find calibres above rat gun need a certain degree of initial shoulder contact to avoid wear & tear over a long series, just as you do with the big 1000 yard guns.

Apart from that, we've found that most guns shoot better off the ground with firm control than they do free recoiled. Maybe the barrel times are longer with the heavier pills we need to get to 1000 yards compared with the average centrefire benchrest round; maybe the recoil characteristics are different; maybe we don't know any better.

John
 
You might want to look at a scope with more eye relief or push the scope further forward.

Light contact with the butt is how I shoot. Let the rifle 'freely' recoil back into my shoulder.
Jerry
 
Technique for shooting F Class

Glen,
I shoot with many of the best F-Class competitors in the world on a regular basis and almost everyone shoots/holds his rifle differently. You have to work out what works best for you and only you can do it. The best thing you can do; is to do everything related to your shooting; be it the ammo loading steps, to your rifle/bag setup to, to the amount of pressure you put on the rifle, the very same every time.

The cheek pressure on the rifle, the hand pressure, the shoulder pressure must be the same for every shot. Everything you do can affect the recoil pattern of the rifle and hence the grouping and impact point of your shot.

When you setup your rifle in the bags move it back and forth a few times to preload it in the bags and beat on the top of the butt to seat it down in the bag. This will reduce the settling of the rifle as you shoot.

When I shoot F-Class I have the butt in my shoulder with a fair amount of pressure, my cheek lays on the cheek piece with some pressure and my trigger hand holds the pistol grip with a light pressure so that on recoil everything stays in place. I ride the recoil is one way of putting it. Not a death grip, but I am part of the package.

Develop a routine for everything you do and stick to that routine for each and every shot you make.

Best of luck with your shooting,

Larry B.
 
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