Hello, I found your video more or less by accident and it describes very well the basics of a good shot, as I and many other shooters practice! Thank you very much because it will definitely help some people improve! I would like to make a small addition to the breathing technique: If I have the sight or crosshair in the target and breathe relaxed, then when I breathe in the crosshair sinks below the target point and when I breathe out it rises into the target point and finally beyond it. And as you rightly said, it is very important not to try to push the gun into the aiming point, but to stay relaxed! If you have aligned the weapon correctly, it will find its own way to the aiming point when you exhale. I achieve the best results when I have exhaled a little more than halfway, i.e. H. My optimum is about half to two thirds of the exhalation time to reach my maximum resting position. But when I get the crosshairs right on target, I can see my heart beating faster. The pulse beat is not uniformly strong, but follows a rhythm from stronger to weaker. If I notice that I am currently in a phase of major heart rate fluctuations, I close my eyes and breathe calmly again and repeat the process. Now my pulse is calmer, but still not consistent, i.e. it always fluctuates a little from stronger to weaker. When I hold my breath, combined with the pressure building up on the shutter button, it takes me about 5 to 8 seconds to find a good time to press the shutter button between pulse beats. A second note: For me it is very important to always keep my cheek in the exact same shaft position with the same firm but relaxed pressure. This way I avoid parallax errors. But consistent and never too strong pressure on my cheek is extremely important in order to be able to see well. My special shooting glasses cover my non-aiming eye and I keep both eyes open. If I only shoot with safety glasses, then I only open my aiming eye. However, I can maintain concentration better with good vision if I keep both eyes open and cover the non-aiming eye! Many greetings from Germany.
Hi John, hear what you're saying, but my recent videos aren't earning enough to pay for a tin of pellets let alone a £200 microphone! Wind noise was often bad on my earlier videos, but I've sorted that out now bargain basement style. Thanks for the tip. 🙂👍
Nice tutorial. I've recently taken up pellet target shooting, and decided to refresh the basics of shooting for accuracy that I first learned about 55 years ago. If you enjoy reading military rifle shooting books from a Yanks perspective may I suggest "Suggestions to Military Riflemen" Whelen (1909) and "The American Rifle" Whelen (1918) Both are available as a free digitize pdf download from Google books. They provide a historical narrative on practical shooting at the time of the Great War from a man who inspired generations of American marksmen. Some things are obsolete like the DIY recipe for removing jacket fouling and the section on commercial firearms then available, etc. Enjoy!
very good tips for all shooting . good way i find is to have a little ritual that you use to get it until i don’t have to think about it to much then once it’s muscle memory you can really hone in on one point at a time in a practice session so trigger control then breathing and so on 👍 big one is alignment fir me for sure it’s so easy to forget a muscle the gun to just get it over that 1/4 of an inch and wonder why you have edged the kill or skirted the. bull
Yes you're right, sorry about that. I did try a remote mic with a windshield this time, but it wasn't totally successful. I guess I need to pick less windy days to video. 🙂
Good video. What about heart beat? When my camera picked up wind noise I found that putting a band aid or even 2 of them over the mike input decreases the noise dramatically. Before I tried that I feared it would decrease the mike sensitivity. It didn't.
The principles of markmanship don't mention heart beat. I guess it could be an issue at high magnification if something's resting on a blood vessel? Ah, wind noise! In later videos you may notice that I've managed to counter that. 👍
@@hftshooter Good on you for the wind noise. Thank you for the feedback. Until I started seriously shooting pellets I didn't have much of an issue with heartbeat. For plinking if I could hit a bean can at 50 feet with my pellet and BB guns I was happy. Now I notice heartbeat a lot more, maybe because I'm concentrating on hitting a dime size dot. Now I'm hoping to hit that dime diameter up to 20 yards. I have many furry vandals, so I need to make head shots consistently. I shoot target for scope zeroing from a table / chair. Even at 3X and 4X I'm seeing heartbeat in the crosshairs. I pull the trigger in between heart beats. and breaths. I do good to a get 5 shot 2" group at 45 feet. I'm trying all manner of pellets, different scopes, different holds, tightening mounting screws etc. I got a better scope than the factory scope that came with the Gamo. But I did get a 2nd focal plane BSA Outlook. I'm wondering if a 1st focal plane scope will work better. I get about the same size group whether using a 7 year old youth model or a 2 month old Gamo. Oh, and I'm getting about the same size groups using a Hatsan MOD 25 .22 cal pistol with iron sights I'm looking at getting a PCP, but before I go there I want to understand whether my large groups are my shooting or the break barrel guns I'm using. I've successfully hunted squirrels almost all my life and I'm likely older than you. I'll take my pellet gun collection to my much younger son today and get him to shoot them. If he gets the same results as I get I'll have confidence that the too big group sizes are due to the guns. I can handle the cost of PCP gear. I just don't want to spend a thousand bucks and still get no better groups than the break barrel guns. Thanks for your time. I watched the shooting card video and that answered some of my questions. Great channel.
My son has a lead sled. That did help decrease my group size enough to be encouraging to keep the break barrel rifle.. Plus that also removed a lot of the reticle movement. So, I'm getting a lead sled of my own. Thanks again for your videos.
@@southernexposure123 I don't think a FFP scope will make much difference, just cost you more. You'll only see the benefit of FFP if you're hunting at multiple ranges. If you do go for a PCP you don't need to go anywhere near $1000 to get something accurate and reliable these days. There are some good brands like Reximex that are cheap. Good luck!
@@jeffmccall8013 Thank you for that information. Yes, the reason I thought FFP would be better for me is because I'll be using the rifle more for hunting. Almost every target will likely be at random and various distances for almost every shot instead of for target competitions where each target is at a set and known distance. The new scope I did buy has mil dots so that should be helpful. Still there'll be a learning curve for judging range OR I might need to purchase of an electronic range finder. I can get a PCP *only rifle* (Avenger) for around $350.00, but I was including the cost of a scope, pump and air drier / filter for the total cost of the entire setup. I'll look up the Reximix. Thanks for that reference. I might get by with a hand pump if I used a PCP pistol, but using a pistol would complicate matters because of the greater amount of curve in the trajectory as compared to the trajectory curve for a rifle. I don't think I'd be happy using a hand pump for hunting and for the increased air chamber size on a rifle. I don't know why I didn't consider the following sooner. There is a different method I could use for getting rid of my furry vandals. I could set myself in a blind to guard my view of the targets, and then set up a location at a set distance and bait that location to lure the critters to the shooting location. I guess I could also catch the critters in a live trap and relocate them. lol But i do enjoy plinking, too. Thank you again for the time you take replying and giving advice and suggestions.
Hi I’ve been watching your videos and you talk about follow through, I’ve also noticed that when you pull the trigger and the rifle fires your trigger finger releases the trigger straight away. If your using proper follow through shouldn’t you still be holding the trigger in the pulled position? Not criticising your videos just trying to work out why you’re doing it.
Hello, I found your video more or less by accident and it describes very well the basics of a good shot, as I and many other shooters practice! Thank you very much because it will definitely help some people improve!
I would like to make a small addition to the breathing technique: If I have the sight or crosshair in the target and breathe relaxed, then when I breathe in the crosshair sinks below the target point and when I breathe out it rises into the target point and finally beyond it. And as you rightly said, it is very important not to try to push the gun into the aiming point, but to stay relaxed! If you have aligned the weapon correctly, it will find its own way to the aiming point when you exhale. I achieve the best results when I have exhaled a little more than halfway, i.e. H. My optimum is about half to two thirds of the exhalation time to reach my maximum resting position. But when I get the crosshairs right on target, I can see my heart beating faster. The pulse beat is not uniformly strong, but follows a rhythm from stronger to weaker. If I notice that I am currently in a phase of major heart rate fluctuations, I close my eyes and breathe calmly again and repeat the process. Now my pulse is calmer, but still not consistent, i.e. it always fluctuates a little from stronger to weaker. When I hold my breath, combined with the pressure building up on the shutter button, it takes me about 5 to 8 seconds to find a good time to press the shutter button between pulse beats.
A second note: For me it is very important to always keep my cheek in the exact same shaft position with the same firm but relaxed pressure. This way I avoid parallax errors. But consistent and never too strong pressure on my cheek is extremely important in order to be able to see well. My special shooting glasses cover my non-aiming eye and I keep both eyes open. If I only shoot with safety glasses, then I only open my aiming eye. However, I can maintain concentration better with good vision if I keep both eyes open and cover the non-aiming eye!
Many greetings from Germany.
Thanks for sharing. 🙂👍
Another great vid for us beginners in HFT 👍
Glad it was helpful!
This is brilliant for me as a beginner, thank you!
Glad it was helpful! 😀👍
Excellent ! i would recomend this to any new shooter and also to an estabelisht shooter as a refresher,
Thank you.
Great tips and video! Audio tip; get a Rode or DJI wireless mic, with the included windjammers, you will have pristine outdoor audio!
Hi John, hear what you're saying, but my recent videos aren't earning enough to pay for a tin of pellets let alone a £200 microphone! Wind noise was often bad on my earlier videos, but I've sorted that out now bargain basement style. Thanks for the tip. 🙂👍
Great video and advice . Saved as a good reference visit when bad habits creep back in. 👌
Glad it was helpful! 🙂
Brilliant well explained method and I cant wait to try this out. Thank you.
You're very welcome! 😀👍
Excellent 👌🏻
Subhojit Dhar from India 🇮🇳
Thanks. 🙂👍
Very educating. Thanks a lot for your great videos.
My pleasure! 🙂👍
Great simple visual aids. Not everything needs computer graphics 👍
David
Nice tutorial. I've recently taken up pellet target shooting, and decided to refresh the basics of shooting for accuracy that I first learned about 55 years ago. If you enjoy reading military rifle shooting books from a Yanks perspective may I suggest "Suggestions to Military Riflemen" Whelen (1909) and "The American Rifle" Whelen (1918) Both are available as a free digitize pdf download from Google books.
They provide a historical narrative on practical shooting at the time of the Great War from a man who inspired generations of American marksmen. Some things are obsolete like the DIY recipe for removing jacket fouling and the section on commercial firearms then available, etc. Enjoy!
Thanks. I will definitely check out those books! 🙂👍
Another well presented, well explained video tutorial. Now I know what the shooting mat is really for 🐶🤣Thanks
Got to keep the dog happy! 🙂
After shooting in law enforcement for 30 years, this is the first time I've seen breathing explained this way. Very nice.
Thanks. 🙂👍
👍
New sub , like your easy to understand way of explaining things
Awesome, thank you! 👍
Great video very useful 👍
Glad it was helpful! 😀
very good tips for all shooting . good way i find is to have a little ritual that you use to get it until i don’t have to think about it to much then once it’s muscle memory you can really hone in on one point at a time in a practice session so trigger control then breathing and so on 👍 big one is alignment fir me for sure it’s so easy to forget a muscle the gun to just get it over that 1/4 of an inch and wonder why you have edged the kill or skirted the. bull
Great points Paul, thanks for sharing. 🙂👍
Nicely presented video, I’m new to shooting and a lot of these points are what I try to do maybe your video will serve as a good reminder.
Thanks for that. 🙂👍
Nice video explainer Jeff. And good visual aids 👍
Many thanks! 🙂
Spot on, thanks
Thanks for watching! 🙂👍
Excellent
Thank you! Cheers!
Another good video, thanx, but you need to sort out the sound as its often very quiet and can't always hear what you are saying or its muffled. Cheers
Yes you're right, sorry about that. I did try a remote mic with a windshield this time, but it wasn't totally successful. I guess I need to pick less windy days to video. 🙂
Almost exactly what the instructor showed me whilst in the Air Force .. bob on ..
I guess the established 'principles of marksmanship' all lead back to the military.
Good video. What about heart beat?
When my camera picked up wind noise I found that putting a band aid or even 2 of them over the mike input decreases the noise dramatically. Before I tried that I feared it would decrease the mike sensitivity. It didn't.
The principles of markmanship don't mention heart beat. I guess it could be an issue at high magnification if something's resting on a blood vessel? Ah, wind noise! In later videos you may notice that I've managed to counter that. 👍
@@hftshooter Good on you for the wind noise. Thank you for the feedback. Until I started seriously shooting pellets I didn't have much of an issue with heartbeat. For plinking if I could hit a bean can at 50 feet with my pellet and BB guns I was happy. Now I notice heartbeat a lot more, maybe because I'm concentrating on hitting a dime size dot. Now I'm hoping to hit that dime diameter up to 20 yards.
I have many furry vandals, so I need to make head shots consistently.
I shoot target for scope zeroing from a table / chair. Even at 3X and 4X I'm seeing heartbeat in the crosshairs. I pull the trigger in between heart beats. and breaths.
I do good to a get 5 shot 2" group at 45 feet. I'm trying all manner of pellets, different scopes, different holds, tightening mounting screws etc. I got a better scope than the factory scope that came with the Gamo. But I did get a 2nd focal plane BSA Outlook.
I'm wondering if a 1st focal plane scope will work better.
I get about the same size group whether using a 7 year old youth model or a 2 month old Gamo. Oh, and I'm getting about the same size groups using a Hatsan MOD 25 .22 cal pistol with iron sights
I'm looking at getting a PCP, but before I go there I want to understand whether my large groups are my shooting or the break barrel guns I'm using.
I've successfully hunted squirrels almost all my life and I'm likely older than you.
I'll take my pellet gun collection to my much younger son today and get him to shoot them. If he gets the same results as I get I'll have confidence that the too big group sizes are due to the guns.
I can handle the cost of PCP gear. I just don't want to spend a thousand bucks and still get no better groups than the break barrel guns.
Thanks for your time. I watched the shooting card video and that answered some of my questions. Great channel.
My son has a lead sled. That did help decrease my group size enough to be encouraging to keep the break barrel rifle.. Plus that also removed a lot of the reticle movement. So, I'm getting a lead sled of my own.
Thanks again for your videos.
@@southernexposure123 I don't think a FFP scope will make much difference, just cost you more. You'll only see the benefit of FFP if you're hunting at multiple ranges. If you do go for a PCP you don't need to go anywhere near $1000 to get something accurate and reliable these days. There are some good brands like Reximex that are cheap. Good luck!
@@jeffmccall8013 Thank you for that information. Yes, the reason I thought FFP would be better for me is because I'll be using the rifle more for hunting. Almost every target will likely be at random and various distances for almost every shot instead of for target competitions where each target is at a set and known distance. The new scope I did buy has mil dots so that should be helpful. Still there'll be a learning curve for judging range OR I might need to purchase of an electronic range finder.
I can get a PCP *only rifle* (Avenger) for around $350.00, but I was including the cost of a scope, pump and air drier / filter for the total cost of the entire setup. I'll look up the Reximix. Thanks for that reference.
I might get by with a hand pump if I used a PCP pistol, but using a pistol would complicate matters because of the greater amount of curve in the trajectory as compared to the trajectory curve for a rifle. I don't think I'd be happy using a hand pump for hunting and for the increased air chamber size on a rifle.
I don't know why I didn't consider the following sooner. There is a different method I could use for getting rid of my furry vandals. I could set myself in a blind to guard my view of the targets, and then set up a location at a set distance and bait that location to lure the critters to the shooting location.
I guess I could also catch the critters in a live trap and relocate them. lol But i do enjoy plinking, too.
Thank you again for the time you take replying and giving advice and suggestions.
Hi I’ve been watching your videos and you talk about follow through, I’ve also noticed that when you pull the trigger and the rifle fires your trigger finger releases the trigger straight away. If your using proper follow through shouldn’t you still be holding the trigger in the pulled position? Not criticising your videos just trying to work out why you’re doing it.
You're absolutely right and I noticed I'm doing that too when I watch back. Absolutely something I need to rectify.
@@hftshooter it’s the little things that make a big difference, especially when you’re shooting a spring rifle.
You're not wrong! 😂
What are you wearing on your left hand?
It's an Anshutz shooting glove.