This was put up on AR15.com a while ago:
"Berzerker77's easy how to guide for beginning shooters.
Hi there and thanks for taking the time to read this short commentary and pictorial on the shooting basics. If you have been shooting for years and are former .mil than this will seem familiar and might just be a waste of your time. I am specifically pointing this at rookies who for whatever reason cannot find a shooting mentor or go get training somewhere. This is not the be all/end all of instruction and every shooter should strive to become better whenever possible. If you read this and do not agree with what I am saying on a subject please feel free to email me and we will discuss it. I shot competitive smallbore in high school for 4 years and that is where i am drawing this knowledge from.
Authors notes will be italicized. They are my opinions and may not work for everyone. If you disagree with my opinions then feel free to shoot me an email and we will discuss it. If you crap on my thread then I will probably just ignore you.
The rifle used in this demonstration is an Ar-15 but it could just as easily be a ruger 10/22. When it comes down to practice the important thing is that you DO IT!
Chapter 1 SAFETY:
I would be doing something terribly wrong if I did not start the budding shooter out on the safe way to handle a firearm so we are going to take into account the 4 rules of firearm safety. There are probably more than 4 rules but these cover the gist of firearm safety.
Rule #1 Treat every firearm as if you know it is loaded! In simple terms this means there is no such thing as an unloaded firearm.
(This is a catch all rule that you will see recited again and again.) There is a time when I am not worried about my firearm being loaded. That time is when it is pointed downrange and I am doing dry fire exercises. I have checked and rechecked the chamber. I still keep my finger off the trigger until I am lined up with my target so in effect it wouldnt matter if it was loaded or not.
Rule #2 Never let your gun point at anything you are not willing to destroy! Pretty self explanatory, even a .22 can seriously ruin your or someone elses day. Control your muzzle at all times.
Rule #3 Be sure of your target and anything beyond the target should your round miss or penetrate the backdrop.
Rule #4 Keep your finger off the trigger until the target is in your sights.
I will be discussing trigger control later in this commentary but this is a little different, It is trigger finger control, Your rifle has a triggerguard to keep it from catching on things and discharging. Keep your finger outside the triggerguard or someone close by will probably tear you a new asshole if they see it on a range, This applies to muzzle sweeping as well.
Chapter 2 YOUR BODY AND SHOOTING:
The great thing about our sport is that it has no requirements to be the best physical specimen on the planet. There are no limits to who can shoot based on height, weight, age. It normally does not matter
.(Yes I realize it would be hard for a 500 lb man to shoot a highpower match but that is semantics) Each of these things simply requires a different approach to shooting.
The human body is an incredible machine capable of doing some amazing things. However like all machines it has a certain capacity for doing so many things at once and once you reach that limit performance drops off sharply. Let me liken it here to a computer because you all will no doubt be reading this on one. Lets say you have 1 gig of ram and you play a graphics intensive game, it seems to run pretty ok. Then you want music so you turn on your mp3 player and the game might start chopping a little. What these positions do is use the least amount of system resources.
The most accurate place to shoot your rifle is off a bench. There is little human error to factor in except perhaps sight alignment. The problem comes in when you are out in the middle of nowhere and there is something needing to be shot. I have never taken a deer by shooting off a bench. They serve purposes to work up loads and sight in rifles but when it comes down to it after those tasks have been accomplished you need to work on shooting with only your body for support. (If you are a benchrest shooter please do not take offense, they will find out about that discipline later in their shooting career)
The positions shown in the pics to follow are tried and true methods of stabilizing your rifle. As everyones body is different so the positions can be modified to make up for that difference. The human body is made up of large amounts of water and is therefore in a state of constant motion. We fortunately have bones which we can use to act as stabilizers and these positions make the most of it.
Chapter 3 BASIC SHOOTING POSITIONS
This chapter is going to show the basic positions with the use of a sling. You do not NEED a sling and I dont use a match sling while hunting. but if you want to use one then please use these pictures to the fullest. They will improve your ability to hit where you aim. You will notice that the sling is low on my upper arm and not very high like it would be with a shooting jacket. I personally think that this position is the best for casual use as it provides good stability in each position without the need to chenge up the length of the sling. FWIW I bought the sling used at a gun show for 5 bucks.
Position 1: PRONE
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Line up your body between 15-20 degrees from the line of fire, any more than about 30 degrees is gonna make you damn uncomfortable. (this is for right handed shooters, if you are a lefty please just switch what I am saying around backwards. There should be a line coming up your left side straight from heel through the shoulder. The rifle is held with your left hand and the left elbow is kept out to the left of the rifle, not under it
(That was pretty old school stuff and a LOT of people will still tell you it is the gospel truth. If the rifle is directly over your elbow it will have a propensity to move back and forth as if on a monopod, we want to make it a little more like a triangle of support.) Draw your right knee up toward the chest so your body naturally rolls over toward the left side. This allows you to breathe easier which in turn makes your breathing have less effect on the rifle. Your right elbow will naturally fall into position. This is the most stable of the positions and one of the easiest to shoot well with.
Position 2: SITTING
Cross legged. .
To get into this position I simply place my right foot crossed behind my left and sit down. You should be facing between 40-60 degrees from the line of fire. Your legs will be on top of your feet and your feet on the ground. Place your elbows in the crease of your knee and they will not tend to float about.
(If you place your elbows on the front of your knees there will be a greater tendency for them to wander about as the skin on the knee is loose.) To change elevation you will need to move one of your knees. This is great for target shooting but not so much for hill terrain hunting.
Position 3: KNEELING
Kneeling is the fastest position to get into that can stabilize your rifle very well. You place your left foot in front about a pace in front of your right and simply drop your right knee to the ground. Your left knee will be in the air and a semi stable platform to rest your elbow on. If you have time to make the position steadier you can sit back on top of your foot and create a more stable platform.
I have taken probably 50% off all my deer from this position.