shifts to the right...

[BENNYBOOBOO]

Before we get into the heart of things- I have covered my shooting fundamentals such as propper shooting position, hand grip and cheek pressure, and follow through.

Yet with every break of the trigger my rifle jumps to the right. Next thing I know I'm looking at the next target-board over instead of my own. The real kicker is that I am consistantly shooting 5-shot groups in the .5 moa range all the time.

What gives? It'd be nice to see my shot as it hits the target instead of having to scoot the forend over and find my board again after each shot.

Any ideas? Like I said, accuracy is perfectly acceptable; so this isn't a really big concern until hunting season gets here.

 

[squirrelduster]

What are you shooting?

Caliber, bullets, velocity, rifle and scope, brake or no brake.

Competition or not?

Bipod or front rest?

 

[BENNYBOOBOO]

Shooting a Savage 10FP .308 with Hornady 168gr hpbt over 40.1 gr H4895 moving at 2500, no brake, and the rest doesn't seem to matter- it always does this.

 

[LostInSpace278]

I don't have the answers your looking for, but I shoot a Savage 12 BVSS 300 WSM. Mine has a Harris bipod attached and my barrel will jump 2'', twist to the left and move a few inches to the right. I am shooting Win Supreme 180 gr. Accubond at 3010. This is also without a break. Maybe not having a break is the cause or maybe it's just a Savage thing, dunno.

 

[JeffVN]

Part of what you are seeing may well be normal torque on the rifle from the bullet traveling down and exiting the barrel.

Part of it may be your postiion behind the rifle, but it is hard to say unless every human that shoots the rifle runs into the same effects.

MY 18 pound 7WSM tactical rifle jumps and torques when fired from a bipod (unless I give it a good amount of forward pressure into the bipod), but recoils straight back and returns straight forward when I am properly centered behind it and have a good natural point of aim during an F-Class match when using a nice front rest and rear bag.

JeffVN

 

[LostInSpace278]

Makes sense. I was actually shooting mine from a bench at the range and we are not allowed to stand behind the bench while firing, so I am always off center to the left.
Thank you for the response Jeff. I will try centering up and puting forward pressure on the bipod this weekend.

 

[A/C Guy]

Sounds like a stock fit issue. A stock that does not fit the shooter correctly will cause the barrel to recoil at an angle instead of straight back.

 

[Rymart]

Lots of torque involved in taking a bullet from 0 to 30,000+ rpms in 26 inches (or less). I really notice this in my .308 shooting 190 gr SMK's. It is almost as if the rifle twists as much as it recoils backwards. The lighter the bullet, the less pronounced it is. Some rifles do this less than others (stock design?), and I don't seem to notice it at all on rifles with a muzzle break.

 

[BENNYBOOBOO]

Well thanks guys, I'll keep all of this in mind as I play with a few things this weekend. Might shoot a few groups off a bipod to see if that helps it to track straight backwards and then shoot a few groups off of a solid rest and see what happens; paying particular attention to muzzle-jump and horizontal shifting during the follow-through process.

Also going to play with a few other chronograph things. While I'm on the topic- I posted a thread in the reloading forum regarding the relationship between accuracy, bullet speed, and powder burn. Hasn't gotten any replies yet, so I figure either nobody knows what I'm talking about, or nobody has been curious enough yet to have tried such an idea yet.

 

[mikebob]

both my rifles did that same thing to the right. i bedded the action and wrapped tape around the bbl in 2 differ locations to hold it in the center while setting up. since i have done that it recoils straight back and i can see impacts threw scope.

 

[4xforfun]

This was the EXACT trouble I had this spring that I noticed when I started shooting 1k BR. I was blaming everything on the planet for my gun not "tracking"!! After all, I was a hell of a shot, and my targets were bug-holes. Mayby a little horazontal, which of course, had to be the bedding.

The problem/solution. I needed to get more "behind" the rifle. When the rifle recoiled, my body rotated clockwise, or my right sholder (right handed shooter) would go back and I would twist my upper body, moving my right sholder behind me. Kind of like the start of a golf swing. This would , in turn drag the rear of my rifle to the left as it went back...which would move my aim to the right.

I just got more behind the rifle and let the recoil push me strait back. After this fix I am now looking at my own target (or deer) after recoil, instead of the target to my right. And guess what? My targets got even smaller!!!

Hope this makes sense, and if so , hope it helps!!

 

[BENNYBOOBOO]

This makes perfect sense. I did some playing around last weekend and while I made an effort to get more-behind the rifle I also played with cheek-weld (I know, I know...)

What I was doing was holding everything extremely hard- a super hard, Andre the Giant bear hug type hold I suppose.

Then decided to not push my cheek into the rifle, but just rest the weight of my melon on the stock. At the same time using a firm, but not death-grip, hold with my trigger hand pulling the rifle back into my shoulder so as to limit the amount of travel while tracking, yet not pushing the rifle forward. What a balancing act that was.

Spent most of my time focusing on rifle hold, sight alignment, and trigger pull. So much time that after almost two hours I had only fired 15 rounds into three 5-shot groups that measured .6 moa, .4 moa, and .35 moa including fouling shots at 100 yards.

While the group size didn't incease much (they've always been about .5 moa with this setup), I was looking at my own target board when the follow-through was over. Sometimes looking high, sometimes a bit right, but my own board. And I thought I could shoot because my groups were nice.

Thanks for the help fellas.

 

[4xforfun]

This makes perfect sense. I did some playing around last weekend and while I made an effort to get more-behind the rifle I also played with cheek-weld (I know, I know...)

What I was doing was holding everything extremely hard- a super hard, Andre the Giant bear hug type hold I suppose.

Then decided to not push my cheek into the rifle, but just rest the weight of my melon on the stock. At the same time using a firm, but not death-grip, hold with my trigger hand pulling the rifle back into my shoulder so as to limit the amount of travel while tracking, yet not pushing the rifle forward. What a balancing act that was.

Spent most of my time focusing on rifle hold, sight alignment, and trigger pull. So much time that after almost two hours I had only fired 15 rounds into three 5-shot groups that measured .6 moa, .4 moa, and .35 moa including fouling shots at 100 yards.

While the group size didn't incease much (they've always been about .5 moa with this setup), I was looking at my own target board when the follow-through was over. Sometimes looking high, sometimes a bit right, but my own board. And I thought I could shoot because my groups were nice.

Thanks for the help fellas.

I gave up on the "hard hold" a few years ago. I now hold ferm with my sholder and right hand, tame the muzzle jump with my left hand, and have very little cheek pressure. No muzzle brakes for me!!! To noisy. The only reason I hold hard with my sholder is to prevent that nasty little "upside down bloody smile" I use to get just above my right eye. Or, the beloved "notch" on the bridge of my nose!! ****, they hurt!!!

I shoot "free recoil" with my match gun. It takes ME out of the equation.