Offhand accuracy at 100 yards

[FLshooter]

If you belong to a gun club,see if they have Project Appleseed marksmanship program.My club has it every month or so,on Sat and Sun.They shoot 22LR rifles w/iron sights standing offhand.I used to take my 1947 Marlin 39A.Good practice for off hand shooting.

[LRRPF52]

The technique that helped me big time in my offhand shooting with an AR15 is the 7 o'clock approach.

From childhood, I always struggled with that wobble and how to dial-in a good shot, with taxing fatigue setting in the longer you take to break the shot.

I could still hit stuff but it didn't feel like I was totally in control, and that shot placement was more a chance thing, which bothered me.

Once I saw the 7 o'clock approach method, I got back in control of shot placement pretty much exactly where I wanted it, and can break the shots right out of the gate without doing the drawn-out fatigue downward spiral into less and less performance for more work.

Of all the techniques I've learned in practical shooting, this has been one of the most helpful to increasing my hit probability.

[Lemonaid]

Thanks LRRPF52, awesome tip! I gotta try it!

[Klem]

The technique that helped me big time in my offhand shooting with an AR15 is the 7 o'clock approach.

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This is interesting and never heard of it.

I get why there is a clearer sight picture from coming below the target and wondering if it's more natural to push up from 7 O'clock than say an 'ambidextrous' 6 O'clock. So for left-handers it would be 4 O'clock.

[Former Cav]

Work on your NPA (natural point of aim).
you can read all about TARGET shooting here and it WILL help you.
Once you get your NPA down, then DRY FIRE at a 3/8 inch dot at 18 feet away from your muzzle. Then "call your shots" meaning, when the hammer dropped the sights were at 3 oclock in the 8 ring. etc.
you can read the first four chapters of JarHead's book for free here

https://jarheadtop.com/Free%20Chapters%20Blue%20Book.html

I bought his book and gained 50 points out of 800 in shooting NRA highpower with an M1A springfield (M14 basically) rifle.

[Former Cav]

liked your 7 O clock approach LRRP !! Funny, I was kind of doing that ...combined with NPA but I was coming down from 12 oclock. But I am not having my arm extended out to DRIVE the gun, I have my elbow tucked into my rib cage doing the NRA highpower thing.

[Moose69]

Lots of good advice here. One of the tougher habits to break is yanking the trigger when you have the sight picture you want, as stated drift across the target while maintaining a squeeze that tightens as it moves t the bull. With practice ( lots ) and trigger time ( lots) you will find the shot breaking in the bull- vert important to maintain the follow through with your trigger after the shot breaks. Full disclosure here, I am not an AR shooter, but this is what I do with my bolt guns and to an point when bird hunting. Hope this helps you out.

[PNWTargets]

JMHO. Trigger finger is the biggest factor in all of this. It is the component that determines when the shot is taken no matter where line of sight is. It can also cause line of sight movement if not done correctly when squeezing the trigger. Train like you fight, fight like you train.

[1Shot]

The 7 O'clock method looks like a good method. Being and old codger I learned the NRA method with the support had closer to the receiver and tucked elbow in my side with firing hand arm extended parallel to the ground forming a pocket in the shoulder for the butt stock to sit in. Instead of a figure eight rhythm of the sight I use a tight little circle movement. This has worked best for me. In a hunting situation you should always try to find some sort of support. In ladder stands that have no shooting rail I have always used either a bi-pod or mono stick of some sort to help steady the front end of the rifle. In my younger and much more flexible days I could raise one foot up and place it on the seat and rest the rifle on my knee or leg for support.

I have made a bunch of long range shots on game in my life but probably what I count the best shot I ever made was off hand using the above NRA modified circle hold. I was hunting on a powerline cut out of a box stand but I kept seeing a buck three evenings in a row that was right at 700 yards away which was too far for me to try an ethical shot. My buddy had an old homemade ladder stand that had a plywood platform just big enough to stand on. The only tree that I could find within 200 yards to place this stand so I could see and not be seen by the deer easy was only about 4 inches round. I placed the stand on the back side of the tree so I could brace on the tree for a shot where the buck had been crossing. I had to stand up on this platform to see or shoot. I was watching down to my right to where I had seen the buck cross the power line and I heard something off to my left. I slowly turned my head to the left and there he was just about 60 yards away in the middle of the powerline cut which was mowed down like my front yard. As I shifted my weight to turn in that direction where the V that was cut into the plywood platform that the tree rested in it slipped a little and made a SHREEEK sound. The buck lookws that way and took off running into the woods to my hard left. It had been very dry that year and I could hear his hoof beats on the ground and the leaves as he ran and it sounded like he was turning back toward the powerline further down. Just past 300 yards down that way there was a little dip on the lay of the land and I could see the buck's antlers as he was trotting across but no body. When he got almost to the other side of the powerline cut he comes up out of the dip and stops broadside with his head looking in my direction. I guess he was thinking "what in the world was that noise down there"? I took my old NRA across the course off hand stance with my brand new tack driving Remington 700 in 7mm Rem. Mag loaded with a handloaded Hornady 139 gr Interlock that was zeroed dead on at 300 yards with the 3" high zero at 100 yards. I knew that the deer was right at 300 yards away from previously pacing off the distance between the power poles. This was before laser range finders. I started my little circle of the cross hair in the center of the bucks front shoulder and started my trigger squeeze which did not take too much to trip the 2 1/2 lb. Boom went the rifle and POP was the sound of the bullet hitting. Now this was the first deer I had ever shot with this rifle and I expected to see the deer laying where he stood because after all this was a 7mm REM MAG. I paced from the stand to where the buck stood at the shot and it was exactly 300 paces. No deer no blood either. There was a deer trail right there so I start down it looking for blood but after about 40 yards of seeing no blood I see the deer about 30 yards down the trail dead as a hammer. He was a high racked which turned out to be a 6 point because he had no brow tines which was a genetic defect in that area. I had hit him perfectly in the center of his front shoulder and the bullet never exited. I killed about 20 deer with that rifle over the next couple years using different bullets and loads and deer would run off 90% of the time and go 75 to 150 yards unless you hit the spine. I listened to my hunting buddy and sold that rifle and got me a 25-06 and that running off problem ended. Problem of them running off was I was hunting in east NC and mostly around crop fields where we were also doing crop damage control. If the deer got out of the fields it was very thick jungle and swamp and you stood a good chance of not finding them or being able to get to them. Plus I did not like crawling around in the cotton mouth territory.

[tdbru]

Jakegsxr11,
lots of good advice. the better one in my opinion was putting the target up on the wall (small dot) in the house, and practice (dry fire) your offhand regularly. like every evening or something like that. offhand is one of the toughest ways to shoot. another option is to shoot hipower metallic silhouette, which is all shot offhand from 200m to 500m. dry fire at night and go shoot silhouette 1x or 2x a month and you'll be a wiz at offhand fairly quickly. or go shoot conventional highpower, the off hand stage is demanding. but if you can't get out and shoot a lot, just do the dry fire thing at home as much as you can. offhand is NOT easy. but it can be learned and you can learn it too.
-tdbru