Practical advice to shooters and hunters on the use of ammunition and weapons. Technique of shooting from a hunting rifle or how to take the lead correctly How to aim correctly from a hunting rifle

A hunter who has learned to shoot well uses the capabilities of a shotgun correctly and shoots within the range of actual destruction. In this case, the game, as a rule, is hit cleanly, and in case of misses, they also turn out clean. With such shooting, there are usually no wounded animals.

Methods of shooting offhand

Of the known methods of shooting, the most effective is shooting offhand. Regardless of how a hunter starts shooting, sooner or later he will realize that shooting offhand brings true satisfaction. Without the ability to shoot in this way, the hunter begins to feel inferior. He will always understand that sudden, quickly appearing goals are not for him. Therefore, he himself will eventually begin to strive to master offhand shooting, but this will be much more difficult, since established habits will make themselves felt. The experience of shooting schools, where beginners are taught only offhand shooting, testifies to the fact that it is necessary to start learning shooting with this method.

Before moving on to studying the features of offhand shooting, a novice hunter, and even one who has not previously used this method, must make for himself several clear and precise definitions. First you need to understand the difference between:

1. Shooting a bullet from a rifle or a shotgun.
2. Shooting shot at a moving target.

1. In the first case, when aiming, we combine three points: rear sight, front sight and target and, trying to maintain this alignment, smoothly press the trigger.
2. In the second case, in a split second we direct the gun to the point where the target is intercepted by the shot sheaf and at the same time press the trigger.

1. In the first case, the gaze focuses on the sighting devices.
2. In the second, the gaze is focused on the goal.

If a hunter does not learn the difference between pointing a gun and aiming, he will never be able to master shooting offhand, since in this case, the usual and familiar to everyone from childhood aiming, the dark combination of the rear sight, front sight and target, does not and should not happen.

The trigger mechanism of smoothbore shotguns, unlike a rifle shotgun, is designed so that the trigger releases from the sear without preliminary pulling, instantly, upon reaching the required trigger force. This small, at first glance, difference ensures the uniformity of time moments from making a decision to shoot to the actual shot, which achieves high efficiency when shooting at fast-moving targets.

If, when shooting from a rifle, the shooter, pressing the trigger, does not know when the shot will happen and, holding his breath, strives to hold the rear sight, front sight and target in a certain position while smoothly pressing the trigger, then the shotgun shooter must clearly and accurately determine the moment of pressing the trigger, that is, the moment of the shot, otherwise it will miss. If a rifle shooter tries to do the same thing, he is unlikely to achieve the desired results, since he will “break” the rifle. These differences, although little talked about, are fundamental in nature and are fundamental to various types of shooting.

You must always remember that a shotgun has a limited effective range. Thus, from barrels with a drill close to cylindrical, the optimal range of actual damage is within 17-30 m (maximum - 35 m), and from barrels with a drill, a full choke is 25-45 m (maximum - 50 m). These restrictions place their own demands on the hunter. He must be able to correctly and quickly determine the distance to a target, both stationary and fast moving. This is not as simple a task as it seems at first glance. In order not to deviate from the main topic, I just want to note that in different terrain conditions, depending on the lighting, the density of vegetation, as well as the size of the game, it is common for a person to make mistakes in one direction or another when determining the distance to it. A hunter can only be saved from gross mistakes by constant training in determining the distance to objects in conditions close to hunting conditions, followed by checking with steps.

A relatively correct determination of the distance to a moving target is necessary both in order not to shoot beyond the effective range of a shotgun, when a miss becomes a natural inevitability, and in order to correctly determine the amount of lead.

Is it difficult to learn to shoot offhand? The answer depends on what results you want to achieve. If we compare the difficulties of achieving average sports results (3, 2 and 1 categories) on a round stand, then they are not at all greater, and for some people even less, than achieving the same results in athletics or team sports (volleyball, football, hockey, basketball, small towns, tennis). I have met novice hunters who, after just a few training sessions on a round stand, fulfilled the 3rd category standard. The difference in the results of an average shooter and a high-class shooter lies mainly in strong-willed qualities and consistency of training. In principle, almost every person with normal coordination of movements, normal vision and an athletic temperament can learn to shoot well offhand and achieve high results in shooting sports. But for this you need to strictly adhere to certain rules.

Stance when shooting in flight

If you look from the outside at the shooting of a good hunter or target shooter, the first thing that will catch your eye is the simplicity and ease with which targets are hit. All this happens as if it couldn’t be otherwise. And secondly, it seems that the shots are fired almost simultaneously with the appearance of the target, incomprehensibly fast for a novice hunter.

To achieve such results, first of all, it is necessary to develop a correct, comfortable stance for shooting. It allows you to quickly turn the shooter’s body to the right and left, providing a stable position if a second shot is necessary. The feet should be placed at such a distance from each other that between the heels there is a distance of approximately one foot, and between the toes a little more. If the feet are placed wide apart, then turning the body will be difficult and the shooter will begin to leash the gun with hand movements, which will lead to a miss. If the soles of the feet are too close together, the shooter will lose stability both during body rotation and during the recoil of the first shot.

The position of the shooter's body to the shooting plane should be at an angle of approximately 45°. Your legs should be slightly bent at the knees, as when skiing down a small hill. Tilt the body slightly forward in the direction of the intended shot. This stance allows all muscles to rest between shots and provides the ability to hit targets only by rotating the body in the 160-170° sector without loss of stability.

The hunter must hold the gun by the neck of the butt with his right hand so that the index finger with the middle of the first phalanx can press the trigger. The left hand holds the gun by the fore-end. The shooter, who is in such a stance, has already “aimed” in the given direction by the position of his body even before the butt touched his shoulder.

Attaching a gun when shooting offhand

When shooting offhand, placing the gun on the shoulder is usually combined with the leash of the gun. In most cases, the gun must be positioned while the hunter's body is turning. The correct butt of the gun, combined with the correct stance, ensures that the gun is aimed at the same point where the hunter's eyes are looking. Before putting the gun to the shoulder, the hunter must hold it so that the weight of the gun is evenly distributed between the right and left hands. This is determined by each hunter individually by selecting the position of the left hand on the forend during test applications. When the hunter has found the desired position of the left hand, one should strive to keep the forend in the same place in any conditions.

When attaching a gun, you must first throw it forward and up, and then, with the movement of both hands, press the butt to the shoulder into the shoulder socket. When raising the gun, the right shoulder is slightly raised up, the head is slightly tilted forward. When the stock touches the shoulder socket, the ridge of the stock should press against the hunter's cheek under the right cheekbone. When watching a good shooter shoot, you will notice that he throws the gun forward and up and places it unimpeded on the shoulder and cheek. At the same time, he simultaneously turns his body and looks at where the shot should be directed. As soon as the gun is placed, its barrels are automatically locked in the direction of the shooter's view and he fires the shot.

The most common mistakes beginners make when using a gun are:

1. dragging the butt to the shoulder from under the arm, which slows down the application, does not ensure consistency of application in the same place - the shoulder cavity; as a result, you have to adjust the butt and shooting offhand is not possible;
2. the hunter places the gun too low on his shoulder and has to tilt his head too much so that his cheek rests on the ridge of the butt; This habit quickly takes root in some hunters, which slows down the attack and makes it difficult to shoot offhand; some trainers say: “A good shooter puts his gun to his cheek, a bad shooter puts his cheek to his gun”;
3. sometimes the hunter fires a shot before the comb of the butt touches the cheek. Although such a direction in shooting offhand exists, a novice hunter should not do this, because this method requires stable shooting skills and possession of a gun, which is not given immediately. A novice hunter should fire a shot only after the cheek has touched the ridge of the butt, since in this case we get a strictly fixed position of the gun barrels, aimed at the same point where the hunter’s eyes are looking.

During the attachment process, the gun barrels are directed to the point of interception of the target with a shot sheaf and, before pressing the trigger, they are held for a moment in front of the target by the amount of lead, while in motion. For some time, the leash continues after the shot. But all this happens so quickly that it seems as if there is no leash when shooting offhand. Shooting offhand differs from shooting with a short leash in that if in the first case the gun is attached first, and then the leash begins, then when shooting offhand, the butt of the gun and leash are combined into one movement.

In the hunting literature, a lot is written about guns that are good and those that are not. I can’t speak for homemade shotguns or shotguns with converted stocks, but standard factory-made shotguns are manufactured using the latest scientific research and are suitable for the vast majority of hunters. Of course, a stock made to order at a factory, based on measurements taken from the hunter, is better than a standard one. But how much better? Little is thought about this and little is written about it. The experience of the world's best bench shooters convincingly proves that when comparing the results of shooting from guns with standard factory-made stocks and from guns with stocks made to order by the world's best gunsmiths, the latter show an improvement in shooting results for different shooters by 2-5%. For elite athletes this is an impressive improvement, but it is unlikely to be noticeable even by a very good hunter on the hunt. There are so many additional interferences that they more than absorb these 2-5% of possible misses associated with the insufficient adaptability of factory guns. That’s why you shouldn’t look for the reasons for failure in the gun’s inflexibility: look for them in your mistakes and correct them.

Aiming while shooting offhand

About shooting offhand, some weapons experts write that with this method the hunter shoots “as if without aiming,” but this is far from the case. What is the reason for aiming when shooting offhand? Due to the fact that it is human nature to direct his actions to where his eyes look. Thus, a person can throw stones, snowballs, and a ball quite accurately; a carpenter hits nail heads with a hammer without missing; a hockey player sends the puck into the goal with his stick; a football player kicks the ball into the goal; a tennis player, himself in motion, intercepts the ball with his racket and sends it towards the opponent with enviable accuracy... And all this is done without any sighting devices! A shotgun shooter is in a comparatively advantageous position compared to other athletes. It fires shot that covers a large area when fired. At optimal firing ranges, the diameter of the circle of actual destruction of a shot sheaf reaches 106 cm and has an area of ​​8824 cm2, that is, almost a square meter. Such an area of ​​actual damage guarantees against misses due to minor errors in the accuracy of the direction of the gun barrels when shooting offhand.

Offhand shooting, like any other, should be carried out with both eyes open. Anyone who squints one eye when pointing a gun at the target interception point deprives himself of the binocular vision given to him by nature. This makes it difficult to assess distance and reduces visual acuity. The whole picture at the moment of the shot is not so clearly presented and is remembered worse. Only when a hunter shooting from the right shoulder has a commanding left eye, does he need to either squint it or retrain himself to shoot from the left shoulder.

At the moment of detection of the target, the hunter must focus all his attention on it. At the same time, the distance to the target and the direction of its flight are assessed, and the lead is determined. As soon as the magnitude and direction of the lead are worked out, and this happens simultaneously with the rifle (and, of course, without any mathematical calculations), the hunter shifts his gaze to the point of interception of the target with a shot sheaf. At the same time, the target continues to be in the hunter’s field of vision. If the hunter does not move his gaze to the point of interception of the target with a shot sheaf, he will miss, since there will be no lead. The hunter sees the aiming bar (barrels) out of focus, very blurry. Some excellent shooters, when concentrating on the target, say that they cannot see the barrels at all, but this, of course, is not true. They see the trunks because, with the correct attachment, they are in the field of view of the hunter, but in a fit of enthusiasm they pay so little attention to them and see them so vaguely that they may get the impression that they do not see them at all.

As noted, the firing range of a shotgun is limited. The hunter must have time to shoot while the target is in the effective kill zone. A novice hunter must accustom himself to shooting quickly, even if there is time to target the game. As soon as aiming begins, the lead slows down, the game flies beyond the range of the shot and, as a result, a natural miss. If at the beginning of training a hunter shoots quickly and misses, this is a fixable problem. As they say, to begin with, it is better to miss with a good shooting style than to hit with a bad one. Bad habits take root and it is very difficult to correct them in the future.

The problem of lead when shooting offhand

Determining the amount of lead, more than other shooting problems, causes controversy and contradictory statements. A huge number of different diagrams, tables, graphs and drawings have been created showing what the lead should be when firing at fast-moving targets in one case or another. These aids show the magnitude and direction of the lead. Studying such manuals for a novice hunter is useful, as they provide a basis for reflection and teach you to think about the need for anticipation, which creates the preconditions for developing specific shooting skills.

There are also a significant number of sighting devices that assist novice hunters in determining lead. Some hunters at the initial stage of learning to shoot use such devices, but as soon as the basics of shooting are mastered offhand, the need for such sighting devices disappears, and the hunter no longer uses them.

The complexity of solving the problem of determining lead lies in the extremely short time allowed for its solution, in the incredibly large number of options for shooting at flying game, in the fact that it is human nature to make mistakes both in determining the range to a flying game and in determining its direction and speed movements. Thus, a lead sufficient to hit a bird flying at a distance of 30 m from you will lead to a miss at the same bird flying at a distance of 40 m from you. Many annoying mistakes are made even by experienced hunters due to incorrect determination of the angle of take-off or landing of the game . And different game differs from each other both in flight speed and in flight behavior.

But the most important thing is that each person is individual, and it is almost impossible to meet two hunters who shoot the same way. Between persons who underestimate this factor, disputes or misunderstandings usually arise when they do not agree with each other regarding the amount of anticipation in a particular case. In fact, one may have a fast reaction, the other a slow one. Usually it seems to everyone that he has a quick reaction and that he presses the trigger as soon as the decision to fire a shot has matured in his brain. In fact, for each person the time from making a decision to pressing the trigger is different, and even a difference of 0.05 s affects the amount of anticipation. The speed of applying the gun and turning the body is also different for each hunter, and this, in turn, gives a different speed of the gun leash. It should also be taken into account that for each specific hunter, the speed of reaction may vary depending on the mood, state of health, amount of training, etc.

Typically, the faster the gun is driven, the less lead there is. Experience shows that if with a fast leash a lead of 30-40 cm is sufficient, then with a slow leash it can reach 1.5-2 m, and with a leash with a gun stop - 3-4 m. But there may be such cases, when the hunter has a fast lead, but a slow shot reaction. Such a hunter will miss with a lead of 30-40 cm, and he will need more lead to hit. And vice versa, you can meet people with a slow leash, but a quick shot reaction (the muscles of the arms are more developed and trained than the muscles of the hip girdle). In short, the great diversity of human characters, temperaments, physiological characteristics and way of thinking does not allow us to unambiguously resolve the question of what the lead should be when shooting at a fast-moving target for one or another hunter. Each hunter must decide this question independently, or with the help of a good trainer or an experienced senior comrade.

But there is no need to exaggerate the difficulties of the problem of anticipation. It is successfully resolved with the acquisition of shooting experience based on the characteristics of our brain to imprint only positive shooting results in memory. Mistakes in the hunter's memory are recorded only when he has accurately determined their cause and, therefore, can eliminate it. The rest are not saved in memory. Hits are always recorded in the hunter’s memory and stored for life. At the same time, our brain records in memory not only the position of the barrels in relation to the game, but also the hunter’s stance, the speed at which the gun is applied, the speed with which the barrels are drawn, etc. In the future, in similar situations, our brain gives us a timely and accurate command to shoot, obviously solving it using the associative method. Therefore, personal shooting training and personal positive shooting experience are important for every hunter.

The best way to practice offhand shooting is on a bench, but not everyone has the conditions for this. You can also practice offhand shooting at any shooting range, both with an air gun and a small-caliber rifle. You can shoot at both stationary and moving targets, but you need to forget about the front and rear sights, focus your gaze on the target and press the trigger when the butt touches your shoulder. Having achieved the result, proceed to shooting with the body turning.

You can attach a flashlight to a hunting rifle, the beam of which is aligned with the direction of the aiming bar or with the axis of the barrel bore. Focus the flashlight beam into a narrow beam. The flashlight should turn on when you press the trigger. With this device you can successfully train in the room.

Before each training session, as well as before going out hunting, physical exercise for the arms and hip girdle is very useful.

These are the basic principles of offhand shooting. Having mastered them, the hunter can begin to comprehend the intricacies of this method of shooting, double shooting, and also quickly learn shooting methods with careful targeting of game, if the need arises.

But in order for the results of offhand shooting to satisfy you, you need to firmly remember its main provisions: maintain the correct stance in anticipation of a shot; apply the gun correctly and uniformly with the right hand in the same position on the neck of the butt, and the left hand on the fore-end; aim the gun and make a leash with it only by turning the body; shoot with both eyes open, focus your gaze on the game, and before pressing the trigger, look at the target interception point with a shot sheaf; make shots quickly, without delay, without stopping the movement of the barrels; remember the shooting results.

Tolstopyat A.I.

GENERAL CONCEPTS

Shooting while hunting from a shotgun at a fast-moving target (a flying bird or a running animal) is significantly different from shooting from a rifle at a stationary target.

If, when shooting from a rifle at a stationary target, the shooter has a fairly significant period of time, measured in minutes (1-2), then the shooter has only a fraction of a second (from 0.9 to 1.2 seconds) to fire a shot from a shotgun at a flying bird. . Even with high-speed shooting from a rifle, the time to fire one shot is measured in several seconds. A shotgun also requires a different aiming, a different trigger release, a special shooter's stance and manner of holding the gun.

HUNTER'S STAND

The stances of a hunter (combat position) and a sports shot shooter on a shotgun stand are almost the same. There is a slight difference only in the position of the feet.

While most high-class shooters stand mainly on their left foot while shooting shotgun on a bench, with their right foot resting on the ground only with their toe, then this style is not practical for hunting shooting.

When hunting, you almost never have a perfectly flat ground surface under your feet, like on a stand. Often you have to fire shots with your feet positioned at different heights and not on solid ground, but on an unsteady swamp, hummocks or loose snow.

Thus, the most comfortable position for a hunter is to stand on both feet with the center of gravity shifted to the left leg (for people shooting from the right shoulder). The position of the feet in relation to the target is shown in Fig. 92.

The distance between the heels should be approximately equal to the length of the shooter's foot, but some place their feet a little wider, while others narrower; it depends mainly on the person’s physique (his constitution).

Fig. 92 Position of the shooter’s feet in relation to the direction of fire
A. The feet are angled.
B. Feet are parallel

The basic principle of the hunter's stance: it should, first of all, be comfortable and free.

Setting your feet too wide is inconvenient because it reduces the body's ability to move laterally and ties up the shooter. Very close placement of the legs makes the position of the body unstable.

The shooter's legs should be slightly bent at the knees. This is necessary for better recoil absorption and maintaining good body stability when shooting.

The shooter's body muscles should not tense.

GUN GRIP, POSITIONING

Figure 93 shows the “ready” position, i.e., how the shooter should stand while waiting for the target to appear.

The shooter holds the gun barrels parallel to the ground. This technique of the “ready” position is most appropriate for a round-up hunt for animals.

The shooter's left hand grips the gun barrels at the end of the fore-end or a little further, depending on the length of the arms, and the right hand freely holds the neck of the stock.

The ready position shown in Fig. 94, is most suitable for shooting at targets located significantly above the shooter’s head.

Rice. 93 Ready position; this position can be recommended for shooting at animals during raids

Which of the "ready" position techniques will be more suitable for the shooter, he must determine for himself. Both from the first and second positions you can fire successfully. In both cases, the butt is held almost at the hip, and the barrels are directed in the direction of the most likely appearance of the target. The butt plate of the butt is in line with the shoulder.

Rns. 94 Ready position; this position can be recommended for flights and tag, i.e., for targets that are located significantly above the shooter’s head

Rice. 95 This view of a caepxv shooter with a gun attached to his shoulder

From the “ready” position, the shooter raises the gun to the shoulder - an estimate or butt.

The estimate is made in the following order.

From the “ready” position, the gun (previously removed from the safety lock) is moved slightly forward and upward (the gun barrels are in a horizontal position and always in the approximate direction of the target appearance) to the shoulder, into which the butt of the gun is placed. The upper part of the body is slightly tilted forward so that the center of gravity of the body is transferred to the left leg, the head moves forward quite slightly so that the cheek touches the top of the butt.

The right hand clasps the neck of the stock so that its index finger, the front third of the first joint, easily rests on the front trigger.

Beginner shooters in most cases are predisposed to turn their right hand to the left. This should be avoided. You should try to give your hand a slight turn to the right. This position of the right hand contributes to a softer, more rational grip on the gun.

Rice. 96 Correct application

The trunks lie on the left hand, the thumb of which should be directed forward and slightly upward so that it is slightly visible to the left of the trunks. The remaining fingers are located to the right of the right trunk and are directed obliquely backward (Fig. 96). The fingers hold the gun freely, not tensely and without pressure, the gun seems to rest freely on the supports of both hands.

The place of the left hand is at the front end of the forend or a little further. During the final application, the left arm is slightly bent at the elbow. It is not recommended to hold the barrels with your left hand so that it is straight, since in this case it will be difficult to turn the body to shoot to the left and especially to the right.

The correct butt of the gun looks like shown in Fig. 96 and 97.

A novice hunter should remember the basic rule: both hands must be equally involved in lifting the gun to the shoulder, and the barrel of the gun must be directed in the direction at all times.

Rice. 97. With a straight stock, the butt plate of the butt attached to the shoulder should be visible 3-4 times from the rear. cm

the target and do not swing up and down vertically. During the landing, the left hand does additional work: it seems to point to the target. At the last moment of applying the right hand, the right hand moves the gun back and presses the butt to the shoulder. This backward movement is performed only with the right hand.

A correctly positioned gun should not fall to the side. If you place a ruler or pencil across the back of the gun sighting bar, when it is at the shoulder, then they should lie strictly horizontal. A beginner must take this into account from the first moments of training in the butt.

The butt of the gun is inserted with the back of the head into the shoulder socket, which is a kind of buffer (shock absorber) that absorbs the recoil shock of the gun. The elbow of the right hand rises almost to shoulder level.

During training in the butt of the gun, you need to make sure that the gun rests uniformly on your shoulder. An experienced comrade and trainer will greatly help a beginner with this, and in the absence of such, you can use a mirror.

RELEASE THE TRIGGER

Most rifle shooters, as a rule, when shooting from a shotgun, break the third joint of the middle finger and the front joint of the index finger near the nail into the blood (due to the recoil during the shot). This causes many people to be afraid of being shot, and therefore affects the success of hits.

To avoid such cases, you need to know the difference between the triggering technique of a shotgun and a rifle.

If, when shooting from a rifle, the trigger is pulled at the junction of the first and second joints of the index finger (Fig. 98) [ Old school rifle shooting. Currently, the trigger is pulled in the same way as in a shotgun, that is, the trigger is pressed with the first third of the first joint of the index finger.] then in a shotgun, the trigger is pressed with the anterior third of the nail phalanx of the index finger (Fig. 99).

In Fig. 100 shows the incorrect technique for releasing the trigger of a shotgun. The index finger is thrust far forward, which forces the hand to move forward until the third joint of the middle finger rests on the trigger guard.

This technique does not allow you to quickly move your index finger from the front trigger to the rear trigger after firing from the right barrel. In addition, under the influence of recoil, when the gun moves backward, the trigger guard hits the middle finger when firing from the right barrel, and when firing from the left, the index finger with the outer side near the nail hits the front trigger.

This does not happen when shooting a rifle because there is only one trigger, which is located close to the rear edge of the trigger guard.

Rice. 98 Correct position of the index finger on the rifle trigger

Rice. 99 Correct position of the index finger on the shotgun trigger (and fitting)

Rice. 100 Incorrect position of the index finger on the shotgun trigger (and fitting)

The novice shooter should always remember to never place two fingers on the triggers in order to quickly fire both barrels of a shotgun.

The speed of firing two consecutive shots is achieved by quickly moving the index finger from the front trigger to the rear by moving the entire hand back along the neck of the stock.

When releasing the triggers, the gun must not move from the target. This training is carried out as follows: copper cartridges are placed in the gun, holes are drilled in the capsule socket, into which either dense rubber or dense wood is inserted to support the gun’s strikers when the hammers hit them. They mark the target, raise the gun and pull the trigger.

If, when releasing the trigger, the front sight moves downward, then it is necessary to check the trigger pull force and, if it deviates from the norm, adjust it. If a significant displacement of the front sight in all directions from the target is noticed, then you should more carefully grasp the neck of the stock with your right hand and make sure that all the muscles of the body are relaxed.

ABOUT SHOOTING WITH VISIBLE AND INVISIBLE BAR

With the “invisible bar” aiming method, the gun is aimed at the aiming point so that the shooter does not see the bar at all, and the front sight seems to him to be sitting not at the muzzle, but at the breech end of the barrel (Fig. 101, a). With this method of aiming, in many hunting rifles, especially older ones, the center of the scree coincides with the point of the blocked front sight. Only cage guns hit 120-150 mm higher.

Rice. 101 Aiming techniques: a) with an invisible bar. b) with a visible bar

When aiming in this way, a bird flying towards or hijacked (or a saucer flying above the height of a person) is completely covered by the trunks, or, as many say, the target is “overlaid.”

This method of aiming “with an invisible bar” causes a lot of inconvenience, since, firstly, it does not make it possible to see the result of the first shot and, if necessary, quickly shoot from the second barrel: the game (target) is covered by the barrels; secondly, it negates the role of the gun’s sighting bar, which makes it easier to hit the target.

The method of shooting “with a visible bar” (Fig. 101, b) has a number of advantages. With it, the same gun will hit above the point blocked by the front sight, and, therefore, you need to aim at the game, which is undoubtedly more convenient, since the target is visible.

Hunting rifles are sighted in such a way that they shoot above the aiming point, and, naturally, to hit game you should shoot below it.

A hunter shooting from a shotgun, undoubtedly, also “wants to see” both the target and the result of the first shot, so that, if necessary, he can shoot from another barrel. If he shoots “with an invisible bar,” then when shooting while aiming at game, he will “underestimate” and miss.

The bar should be visible so much that the center of the shot shell is above the aiming point, blocked by the front sight by at least 100-150 mm (at a distance of 35 m).

When aiming “with a visible rib,” the edge lines of the rib serve as guides and make aiming easier.

To determine the degree of visibility of the bar, proceed as follows.

1. Place a match on the bar at the breech end of the barrels and point the gun at the target, located approximately at the level of the shooter’s head in such a way that the shooter through the match sees only the front sight, whose upper edge coincides with the lower edge of the target with minimal clearance.

2. Leaving the gun in the same position, i.e., pointed at the target, remove the match. The shooter must remember how visible the aiming bar was to him (Fig. 101, b) *, and develop a uniform butt of the gun with the same degree of visibility of the aiming bar.

ABOUT SHOOTING WITH TWO EYES OPEN

Many hunters and sports shooters shoot with both eyes open, while others close the eye opposite the shoulder from which the shot is fired (the left one when shooting with the butt to the right shoulder).

Anyone who aims with one eye when shooting sees more clearly in what relationship the front sight and the sighting bar of the gun were in relation to the target at the moment of the shot.

It is more difficult for a shooter with both eyes open to notice this, but he can shoot faster and reliably hit the target.

Shooting with both eyes open is easily mastered by those who have the so-called “commander” or directing eye.

For some people, the “commander” eye is the right one, for others it is the left one, and some do not have a “commander” eye at all.

In persons with identical eyes, the picture received by each eye separately is transmitted to consciousness independently, but in persons with a “commanding” eye, only the picture seen by this eye reaches consciousness.

An instructor or friend puts on and takes off the match.

Rice. 102 Method of determining the commanding (guiding) eye. If two fingers are visible, replaced at equal distances in relation to the object at which the shooter’s gaze is directed, then there is no commanding eye

How can one determine whether there is a “commanding” eye and which one?

To do this, proceed as follows. Having fixed their gaze on some distant object, they quickly place a finger between it and the eyes, continuing to look with both eyes at the same object.

If two transparent fingers are visible (Fig. 102), then there is no “commander” eye at all.

If only one finger is visible, then you need to close one of your eyes; the finger will remain in place, which means the open eye is the “commander”; if it moves, the “commander” will mean the closed eye.

Some manuals indicate this method for determining the “commander” of the eye: make a ring out of your index and thumb and look through it with both eyes at some distant object, then close one eye. If the ring remains in place, then the open eye will be the “commander; if it moves, then the “commander” will be the closed eye.

The second method is not suitable for people who do not have a commanding eye, and they may make mistakes when using this method. A novice shooter must know whether he has a “commanding” eye, since it is better to shoot from the shoulder on the side of which this eye is located.

Those shooters who have a “commanding” left eye, and are comfortable shooting from the right shoulder, can make the right eye the “commanding” eye. It's done like this.

The gun is applied, and with the help of the right eye it is aimed at a stationary target. The left eye is kept closed. The left hand should grasp the barrels at the upper end of the forend or a little further. Now raise your left thumb so that it protrudes a centimeter or two to the left of the trunks. Now open your left eye first one-third, then half and finally all the way. The gun will still be pointed at the target, although both eyes will be open. This is facilitated by the raised thumb, which plays the role of a screen for the left eye on the line to the target (eye line - target).

Most shooters, with the help of this method, strong-willed concentration and training, can retain the commanding ability in the right eye.

This transfer of the role of “commander” of the eye from left to right can be achieved through systematic training over a period of one or two months.

In the future, it will be useful for the first two years while shooting to keep the thumb of your left hand placed as a small “screen” next to the left barrel of the gun.

But if it happens that the left eye tends to take on the function of “commander,” then you should cover your left eye and aim with your right.

It is very important to be able to shoot from both shoulders. In a hut, on a hangout, this will allow you to avoid many mistakes, and on a shuttle it will sometimes save you from “swimming.”

SELECTION OF BODY BY ARROW

A stock that is too short does not provide uniformity in the grip from shot to shot. The feeling of recoil when shooting with such a stock is usually stronger. In this case, it especially affects the nose and upper lip. An excessively long stock does not allow you to quickly and correctly raise the gun to your shoulder: the butt plate, clinging to the shoulder, does not allow you to quickly set the butt to the required height, which, as a rule, leads to a miss.

A long stock makes it difficult to turn and shoot to the right, which also leads to a miss.

The simplest and most accessible way to determine the length of the stock based on the shooter’s physique is the method shown in Fig. 103:

1. The gun is placed on the arm bent at a right angle at the elbow with the middle of the butt plate so that the stock is parallel to the forearm and touches it along its entire length.

2. The hand clasps the neck of the stock so that the index finger, with the middle of the front joint, rests freely on the front trigger without tension, and the middle finger of the same hand does not touch the trigger guard with its third joint. The fingers should clasp the neck, as when shooting.

3. The size of the stock determined in this way is shortened by 6-7 mm.

When determining the length of the stock according to the shooter, many make the following mistakes:

I. Determine the length of the stock in light clothes, and when hunting they shoot in thicker ones.

Rice. 103 Reception is determined by the length of the stock suitable for the hunter

2. Determine the length of the stock without full equipment, with which they shoot while hunting. A backpack with a load, a bandoleer and other items of hunter equipment significantly change the position of the body, shoulders and head tilt.

Therefore, you need to determine the length of the stock in the same clothes and with the same equipment (load) as when hunting.

It’s a completely different matter if you choose a stock for skeet shooting. In this case, the length of the stock, determined by the above method, can be increased by 10 mm, but when shooting “from the approach” it is recommended to have a stock of normal length.

Some shooters notice that when shooting quickly, their gun ends up in the position shown in Fig. 104, i.e., dumped to the left, and the front sight also moves to the left of the aiming line. This happens because the butt is not set aside enough.

Rice. 104 Position of the front sight to the left of the aiming line and stalling of the gun as a result of a long stock or its small retraction

Rice. 105 Position of the front sight to the right of the aiming line with an excessively large retraction or short stock

If during quick throws the front sight is to the right of the aiming line (Fig. 105), this means that either the butt retraction is too large, or the stock is too short, or both.

A small stock drop can be increased to some extent by removing some of the wood on the stock, and an excessively large one can be reduced by gluing layers of wood and then filing.

They remove the wood to increase the removal with a rasp, each time checking the stock with a sideways glance and a series of control shots at a special target.

When, when raising the gun, the aiming line passes through the middle of the sighting bar on the front sight, this means that such a retraction and length of the stock are most suitable.

After determining the length of the stock and the amount of retraction, they begin to determine the degree of its curvature, i.e., bending in the vertical plane.

The degree of curvature of the stock is determined as follows.

1. The shooter raises the gun at a target located at the level of his head. To do this, it is best to make a target with a diameter of 8-10 mm, and aim from a distance of 5 m.

2. A match or stick 2 mm thick* is placed on the rear end of the bar, and the shooter aims through the match so that he can see the entire front sight from base to top. He should not see the bar, except for a small part of it at the base of the front sight.

3. The shooter continues to keep the gun pointed at the target, and at this time remove the match and put in its place a wooden stick, the thickness of which is one millimeter less than an ordinary faceted pencil (for this purpose, it is best to cut off one edge of the pencil by 1 mm so that its thickness was equal to 6 mm).

Rice. 106 The bar is visible a lot - the stock is too straight

Rice. 107 The sighting bar and front sight are not visible - the stock is too crooked

4. If you look through a stick (or pencil) placed across the back of the bar, then on top of it you can see the front sight, the base of which appears blurry, and the upper part protrudes more clearly. In this case, the curvature of the stock will be most suitable for the shooter.

If the shooter sees the bar (part of it) on top of the stick, then the gun stock is too straight, and if he does not see the front sight, then the stock is too crooked.

When determining the required curvature, it is necessary to take into account what targets will be primarily shot at - above or below the level of the hunter’s head, and taking this into account, make an overlay on the buttplate of the stock, and also hang the target at this level.

The match or stick is placed and accepted by a second person at the direction of the shooter.

METHODS OF SHOOTING AT FAST-MOVING TARGETS FROM A SHOTGUN

There are several ways to fire a shotgun at a fast-moving target:

• shooting with a stationary gun and “saddle shot”;
• shooting with a moving gun with a leash (leash);
• shooting with a moving gun “jerk”.

First, let's look at the most imperfect method: shooting “with a stationary gun.”

Only completely inexperienced shooters shoot this way.

The shooter marks a point in front of a moving target, aims at it and, when the target is at the distance of the required lead, in his opinion, shoots.

Hunters who shoot “with a stationary gun” usually shoot extremely unevenly.

The “fixed gun” shooting method requires a lot of lead (double) and gives poor results.

Now let's look at the method that is most easily mastered by a novice shooter: "leash" or "leash".

This method is especially convenient for hitting targets moving laterally.

Its essence is as follows.

The hunter raises the gun, trying to direct it with the necessary lead and, calibrating and directing it, “leads” all the time, holding the lead, according to the movement of the target and presses the trigger without stopping the movement of the gun.

With this method of shooting, the amount of lead is affected only by the flight time of the shot, and how much time passes from the shooter’s decision to fire until the projectile leaves the muzzle is completely indifferent, since although during this time the target continues to move, the gun turns accordingly. Due to the fact that at the moment the projectile leaves the muzzle, the gun is directed forward from the target at the required lead, the shot shell manages to reach the line of its movement and hits the target.

Some hunters think that when shooting “with a leash,” there is no need to take lead. This is completely false.

What is the shooting technique “with a moving gun”?

In order to hit a sideways target, it is absolutely necessary to shoot with the gun in motion. This is achieved by one of the following techniques.

The shooter begins to raise the gun to the shoulder at the same time as turning the entire body. The movement is facilitated by slightly bending the legs at the knee joints.

When the gun reaches the shoulder, the front sight should be on target

or next to her. At the same time, the hunter must take into account that it is impossible to first raise the gun, and then make a turn and catch the target on the aiming line. You must first turn in the direction the target is moving, then raise the gun and at the same time catch the target on the aiming line.

You should also allow the front sight to pass through the target to the desired lead. While maintaining this lead with the gun in level motion with the target, the trigger is pressed.

It is extremely important that the leash continues both at the moment of shooting and for some time after it, until the recoil pushes the gun out of the aiming line. If the lead is stopped before this, the shot shell will pass behind the target.

The heavier the gun (of course, up to a certain limit), the easier it is to shoot with a “leash”, since the inertia of the large mass of the gun prevents it from stopping at the moment the trigger is pulled.

The second technique differs from the first in that the front sight passes through the target at a significantly increased speed, which is why the apparent lead will be less than in the first case. This method requires years of shooting practice.

The third method of shooting is carried out in the same way as the first, but with the difference that, as soon as it catches the target, the front sight is thrown forward along the line of the target's movement and at the same time the trigger is pressed. With this method of shooting, you can aim at the duck's beak and hit it. But this technique is difficult to master, since you must always put exactly the required amount of force into throwing the gun and at the same time fire the shot in the required fraction of a second.

Most good shooters prefer the first and second techniques for side shots. For a beginner, the first method is perhaps the only one he can use.

It must be borne in mind that the leash can practically be used for any shooting at a moving target, you just need to strictly remember that at the moment of pressing the trigger you cannot under any circumstances stop the gun. This is the whole difficulty of mastering this method.

Shooting with a leash requires considerable time to fire a shot, but gives good results even at the extreme distances of a real shotgun shot of 40-50 m. Shoot in bushes and reeds when a target appears for a short period of time - less than 0.7 seconds. - this method is impossible even for a short distance - 20-30 m.

In this case, the hunter needs to use quick shots without aiming - “at a glance.”

This method of shooting gives excellent results, especially against hijacking targets at a distance of up to 30-35 m.

The method is as follows.

The shooter looks (often with both eyes) in the direction in which he wants to send a shot shell, and raises the gun to his shoulder, completely not paying attention to where the gun will be looking, how the bar and front sight are visible to him, etc.

The trigger is pressed by the finger while the butt of the gun is pressed against the shoulder. Thus, the shot is heard as soon as the gun hits the shoulder. The amount of lead, therefore, with this method depends mainly almost only on the time it takes the shot to travel the distance from the muzzle to the line of movement of the target.

Rice. 108 Body position" when shooting at a side bird

Rice. 109 The position of the shooter’s body when shooting a high-running or oncoming bird: aiming (pointing the gun) by tilting the body (bending at the waist)

The main conditions for shooting “at a glance” are the presence of a “butt” gun and the hunter’s training.

Having introduced the reader to the most rational methods of shooting at a fast-moving target, we will remind him of the work of the body and arms.

When firing a shot at a “hijacked” bird flying at the level of the shooter’s head, the hands raise the gun to the shoulder parallel to the ground, and at the moment when the butt hits the shoulder, the trigger is released.

When shooting at a “hijacked” bird above the shooter’s head, the gun is aimed not with the hands, but by bending the body at the waist. In this case, the hands work, as when shooting at a stolen bird flying at the level of the hunter’s head.

If you need to shoot at a bird on the side, you need to turn your body in the direction the target is moving, and then raise the gun and, if the target is moving above the shooter’s head, bend into the talin to give the gun the right direction. In this case, the hands work in the same way as when shooting at a stolen bird flying at the height of the shooter’s head.

DETERMINING THE APPLICABILITY OF A GUN AND THE PERSONAL ERROR OF THE SHOOTER

The usability of a gun is determined by shooting at special targets, and at the same time, the shooter’s personal error in aiming is determined. It's done like this.

1. At 10 m (from the muzzle of the gun) at approximately the level of the shooter’s head, hang a sheet of paper measuring 1X1 m, with targets drawn on it, the dimensions of which are indicated in Fig. 110.

Rice. 110 Targets for certain personal errors of the shooter in aiming and the usability of the gun for him

2. The shooter positions himself so that it is convenient for him to shoot in the direction of the target, loads the gun (with one cartridge, placing it in the right barrel) and takes it to the ready.

3. His friend or instructor calls the number of the target: “first” or “third”, etc.

4. The shooter raises the gun as quickly as possible and sends a shot shell into a dark quadrangle located below the center of the target.

5. Then the shooter loads the gun again and shoots at another target, the number of which will be called to him.

In this case, you should be guided by the following: a) the shooter fires a shot after the command as quickly as possible;

b) the shooter cannot make corrections, even though the center of the fall of the previous shot has deviated from the center of the target;

c) the shooter should not aim, but shoot in a “snapping” manner;

d) after each shot, it is necessary to remove your left hand from the barrel of the gun and each time try to grab the barrels or the end of the forearm in the same place;

e) the arrow numbers of targets are called not in order, but in any sequence. For example: 2, 3, 4, 1 or 5, 1, 3, 2, etc.;

e) shooting is not carried out at the last target, since the shooter can aim at it.

Thus, they shoot at five sheets, i.e. at 20 shots. It is very important that the shooting is carried out on the same day without a long break between shots.

After shooting, the targets are processed.

1. Find the center of the scree, measure the deviation of the center of the scree from the center of the target and mark the point of impact on the same clean target.

2. Determine the average impact point of all 20 shots.

3. The position of the midpoint of the hits is determined in relation to the center of the target, and by this amount of discrepancy they are judged about the gun’s usability.

If the average point of impact lies to the right of the center of the target, then this means that the lateral deviation is large, and if during shooting the gun was noticed to fall to the right, then, in addition, the deviation in the heel of the butt is large.

If the average point of impact is located to the left of the center of the target, the lateral deviation is small, and if the gun falls to the left while shooting, the deviation in the toe of the butt is also small.

The location of the midpoint of impact below the center of the target means that the large vertical stock has died. Correction of this defect is partially achieved by changing the shape of the butt plate of the stock (increasing it at the toe).

A short stock (against the norm, of course) gives the location of the middle point of impact to the right of the center of the target. During jumps, cases of the gun falling to the right are also observed.

i.e., almost the same picture as with a large retraction of the stock to the side.

If the midpoint of the hits lies above the center of the target, the stock is straight, the small vertical is dead. In this case, if the deviation is not very large, it is enough to eliminate such a defect by increasing the stock and the heel of the butt.

Personal error in aiming is defined as follows.

1. From the center of the scree of 20 shots (the midpoint of hits), a circle is drawn that contains half of the best shots, i.e. 10 hits located closer to the midpoint.

2. Measure the radius of the circle containing the better half of the shots.

The amount of personal error made by the shooter will be equal to:

at a radius of 5 cm -0.5% of the firing distance,

» » 10 cm - 1°/0 » » »

» » 15 cm - 1.5%» » »

These figures are given for a shooting distance of 10 m.

FOCUSING ON GOALS OR CONCENTRATION

Concentration should be understood as focusing the shooter's gaze on the target.

Most misses, especially among novice shooters, also depend on the fact that they are looking at the target incorrectly, and therefore sending the shot shell incorrectly.

Many novice hunters look at the emerging target as an additional detail in the picture, do not fully concentrate their gaze on the target and therefore send a shot projectile inaccurately.

To prevent this from happening, you need to cultivate in yourself the ability to focus your vision only on the target, look only at it, without paying attention to bushes, branches, clouds, etc. This is especially important when shooting quickly without aiming - " offhand." This focus on the goal is concentration.

Only through systematic training can you achieve concentration and, therefore, accurate shooting.

REASONS FOR SUCCESSFUL SHOOTING

The secret of good shooting at any targets - side, oncoming and hijacked - is as follows.

First of all, you need to maintain a uniform throw, correct stance and correct (smooth) movements.

Also needed:

1) A strong leash that continues both at the moment of the shot and a little after it.

2) Concentration.

3) Good physical and mental condition.

4) Large and versatile training. It is also necessary to have a good butt gun. If the shooter strictly fulfills these conditions, then he will be able to master the intricacies of shot shooting.

PREVENTION

Lead is the point at which the gun is carried (the aiming line) forward from the target along the line of its movement with the task of ensuring that the shot shell crosses the target’s path of movement and hits it.

What should be the lead for side shots? It depends on the shooting method, the target's flight speed and the distance to it.

It is quite obvious that the lead should be greater for fast-moving targets and less for slow-moving targets. The speed of the same target can be different under different circumstances.

The normal flight speed of a crow is about 10 m/sec, but in some cases it can reach up to 20 m/sec. Thus, in the first case it is necessary to take a lead half as large as in the second. The shooter must practice determining the target's speed in various environments.

The distance to the target affects the lead in this way: if for a side shot at a distance of 25 m the shooter should take a lead of 1.3 m, then for the same target at a distance of 35 m the lead should be 2 m, and at 45 m - about 3 m.

Let's assume that a novice shooter is shooting at a side target flying 25 m away from him at a speed of 15 m/sec. The shooter shoots with a leash, according to the first method, that is, the front sight of his gun moves in front at the same speed. In this case, he must keep a lead of 1.3 m, i.e. approximately equal to the length of the gun. And an old, trained shooter, shooting with a highly accelerated lead using the second method (the front sight passes through the target at a much higher speed than the target), will take a lead of 0.5 m at the same target. Both shooters will hit the target with the center of the shot sheaf .

How can this be explained? After all, we know that a shooter shooting in the second way presses the trigger when the front sight of his gun is 0.5 m ahead of the target, and a beginner - when the front sight is 1.3 m ahead of the target. This is explained simply. From the moment the experienced shooter pressed the trigger until the shot fired, 0.0056 seconds passed. Some shooters call this period of time “shot delivery time.” During this period of time, the front sight and the end of the barrel, moving at least twice as fast as the target, will reach a point located 1.3 m ahead of the target, i.e. the same lead as when shooting in the first way.

Table 47 shows leads for shooting at targets moving at different distances and at different speeds, provided that the shooter shoots with such a lead that the front sight has the same speed as the target. This method eliminates shooters' personal error in lead amount by moving the end of the barrel ahead of the target at a constant speed.

Table 47 can be used for side shots when the target is moving at right angles to the direction of the shot. If the direction of movement of the target is not at an angle of 90°, but at an angle of 45° towards or away from the shooter, then the lead will be less than indicated in the table. In Fig. 111 a graph is given that allows you to get an idea of ​​how the lead changes in this case.

The radius of the semicircle drawn on the graph is equal to the lead required when the target moves perpendicular to the direction of the shot, and the lower scale indicates what proportion of this radius the lead will be when the target moves at different angles towards or away from the shooter. For example: when the target moves at an angle of 45° to the direction of the shot, the lead will be approximately 0.7 lead for a side shot.

The flight speed of various game is given in table 48.

There are many rules about how to shoot game flying in different directions in relation to the shooter, where to aim, what lead to take, etc. Most of these rules are not only not useful, but rather harmful. Rules cannot provide for all cases, and memorizing them mechanically only leads to confusion.

For practical shooting, observing the flight of game in various environments is incomparably more important than knowing its flight speed in meters per second.

Having mastered the laws and principles of determining leads, the shooter establishes their value in practice.

Rice. 111 Graph of changes in lead value depending on the flight angle of the sang to the direction of the shot

Table 47

The amount of lead in meters for shot No. - 3 (D = 3.50 mm) at an initial shot speed of 400 m/sec

Table 48

Average flight speed of some birds in calm weather

Notes:

1. Birds flying high or in a flock usually have greater speed than solitary and low-flying birds of the same breed.

2. The speed of a bird rising from the ground or water can be taken as 2/3 of its speed indicated in the table.

3. A teal on landing, flying from a great height onto the water, sometimes reaches speeds of over 40 m/sec.

4. Goshawks and large falcons can reach speeds of up to 80-90 m/sec when diving for prey.

Rice. 119. Measuring parts of the shooter’s body to select a gun that suits him

Dependence of the size of the gun on the shooter’s physique (stock size and weight)

Shooting marksmanship

Accuracy in shooting is innate - it is talent. People who are gifted with it become outstanding sportsmen-shooters and snipers. But even without the unique innate ability to shoot accurately, any person is capable of hitting the target with a weapon. True, to learn to shoot accurately, you need to constantly train.
Accurate shooting from a hunting rifle does not require special talent. You just need to learn how to shoot correctly. To shoot accurately, it is necessary to perform a series of manipulations and precise movements in a certain sequence. An unprepared person cannot do this when hunting. First, you need to shoot as quickly as possible. Secondly, there is stress, excitement, and nervousness. And the process of aiming for a beginner simply comes down to raising the gun, pointing at random at the target and pressing the trigger.
I would like to offer a number of exercises that will help you learn how to shoot accurately from a gun.

How to shoot accurately with a gun

It was mentioned earlier what it means to aim correctly. This skill will provide you with a well-aimed shot. But you need to, firstly, learn how to aim correctly, and secondly, bring this process to automaticity, do everything without thinking, at the level of reflexes. The following exercises with a gun are devoted to this.
Exercise 1
Stand straight with your feet shoulder-width apart. Take the gun in front of you with both hands (by the fore-end and the neck of the butt), throw it to your shoulder, place your cheek on the butt and align the front sight, the middle of the sighting bar and the middle of the upper edge of the receiver shield in your line of vision. If you feel that your grip is uncomfortable, grab the gun.
Mark the places where you grip the gun with your hands with pieces of electrical tape (make marks with a colored felt-tip pen). Also mark the place where the cheek is applied to the butt. Pressing your cheek closer to the butt, mark for yourself the part of the cheek that will touch.
Repeat raising the gun. Make sure that you immediately align the front sight, the middle of the aiming bar and the middle of the upper edge of the receiver shield in your line of sight. If necessary, make adjustments to the grip of the gun or the position of the hand supporting the fore-end.
Close your eyes and raise the gun again. Open your eyes, check your aim is correct.

How to learn to shoot a gun accurately

Raising the gun should be done 10–15 times in one approach. Attention! Do not lower the gun after raising, hold it for at least 10 seconds without closing the eyes you are aiming with. Otherwise, if, while training, you immediately lower the gun and close your eyes, you will develop a muscle mistake. As a result, when hunting, you will involuntarily begin to lower the gun and close your eyes even before the shot. This will throw off the correct aim and shoot blindly.
Take a break for 10 - 15 minutes and repeat the exercise. Then again.
When you learn how to properly cock the gun, make the exercise more difficult. After you stand with your gun raised, make turns with your body to the right and left, without ceasing to aim. Lower the barrel down to the left, lift up to the right. Then lower down to the right, lift up to the left. All this time, do not stop aiming. After doing each movement 10-15 times, rest for 10-15 minutes, then repeat two more times.
To be continued.

When everything goes right, aiming the gun at a moving target is as easy as pointing your finger at it. It really is the same natural movement. Or it should be like this. The problem is that we humans tend to develop bad habits. Such habits, in turn, can make it easier to miss rather than hit the target. Even when you seem to be doing everything right on the bench or in the field, your perceptions may be wrong. When you're tired, chances are you'll make one of these mistakes and not even notice it. This article describes the five most common causes of misses and how to fix them. By following these you will understand how to learn to shoot accurately and minimize the number of misses.

You're peeking

It's nice to see how a target is destroyed or feathers scatter when hit by a shot charge. In practice, this is a magnificent sight; many shooters are so eager to see it that they lift their heads from the stock immediately after pressing the trigger. The problem is that if you peek, you'll probably miss it. Instead, concentrate on the tab and keep your eyes on the target. Do this from the moment the target leaves the machine and keep the tab for a while after pressing the trigger, and then you will not only see hits on the target, but you will see them much more often.

You change focus

There are many products advertised on the market that can improve your target shooting performance. Most of them are front sights of different colors and shapes or other devices that are attached to the end of the gun barrel. They work great when you're aiming at a stationary target, like a turkey, but for a fast-moving target, like a plate or a bird, they create more problems than they solve. Why? Because the last thing you need to look at when shooting at a flying target is your barrel. A bright front sight can force you to shift focus from the target to the barrel, sometimes several times from the time you aim before firing. The moment you look at the barrel, you stop the leash. Instead, focus on just one thing - your goal.

Shooting at a point

The flying target seems easy. She approaches the shooter. Unfortunately, these targets are missed more often than they should be because shooters tend to aim at a spot in front of the target and pull the trigger. This may work if the target is coming directly at you and fits into the pattern, but this is a rare case. In fact, the target approaches at an angle, sometimes at a very small one, and as a result, the shooter's intended flight pattern is confirmed, or he misses. Instead, follow the target in flight and keep the gun moving. And then you will hit it every time.

You don't follow through

Doubles, with an intersecting trajectory or flying in pairs, puzzle even the most experienced shooters. The problem is that most people think about how to hit the second target before they even shoot the first. Such haste leads to premature movement of the barrels during the first shot, that is, the shooter fires a shot and immediately begins to aim at the second target. Just like in golf, it's important to get things done, so try to finish the first target first before moving on to the second. The best way to learn is to emphasize the lead and continue it for a while after shooting at the target. This, coupled with focusing your eyes on the target rather than the barrel, should help you avoid shots behind the target.

You wince

Everyone knows that involuntary flinching is a shooter's worst nightmare, but people tend to forget how annoying it is to shooters. When the shooter flinches while aiming at a flying target, he raises his head up and moves it away from the butt, while his hands stop their natural movement and pull the weapon far away from the target. Since everything happens within milliseconds, this may not be noticed. This error is the most difficult to detect and the shooter cannot understand why he misses, although he does everything correctly. To avoid involuntary flinching, focus on the target and the desire to see it fly to pieces. If you don’t see this, most likely you involuntarily close your eyes in anticipation of the recoil from the shot. Try to concentrate, if you can’t solve the problem, try cartridges with a weaker charge or buy a recoil pad to soften the recoil.

Aiming when shooting from a hunting rifle at a moving target (shooting lead)

Shooting at a moving target from a hunting rifle and choosing an aiming point. Preemption when shooting with a leash, taking into account personal error. The movement of shot in the vertical plane and shooting accuracy are considered. Graphs, lead values, aiming points. How to aim at a flying duck, how to shoot a duck, how to hit a flying duck.

When hunting, as a rule, you have to shoot at a moving target. For novice hunters, one of the main reasons for misses during such shooting is the wrong choice of lead or shooting without any lead at all. This article briefly describes the calculation and methodology for selecting lead for a flying duck.

It is known that when shooting at a moving target, the aiming point must be moved (selected) ahead of the direction of movement. The distance from the target to the aiming point is usually called lead. Lead when shooting is due to the fact that during the flight of the shot to the target, the target moves a certain distance. In addition, from the moment the hunter makes the decision to shoot until he presses the trigger, about 0.15-0.35 seconds pass (the so-called personal error). The amount of lead depends on the speed of the target, the speed of the projectile (shot when shooting from a shotgun), and the method of shooting - with a leash or with a stationary gun. When shooting with a leash (moving the gun and, accordingly, moving the aiming point in front of the target), personal error is eliminated and the lead value is smaller. As a rule, most hunters shoot with a leash if it is possible to aim, otherwise they intuitively determine the aiming point at a glance.

Let's calculate the amount of lead for some positions of the hunter and game when shooting with a leash. (If it is necessary to take into account personal error, then the time spent on this must be taken into account in the calculations below). For calculations, it is necessary to know the speed of flight of the shot and the movement of the game. These values ​​are known and are given in various reference books for hunters (for fractions you can look at ) . For example, average speeds:

Mallard duck - 16 m/s

Teal whistle - 20 m/s

Brown hare - 8-10 m/s

Boar - 4 m/s (trot)

The speed of movement of the shot is not constant, and does not fall evenly over time - the force of air resistance associated with the speed and determining the acceleration (braking) changes. To simplify the calculation, we will use the data given in various literature for the flight time of a shot at different distances. For example, let’s take shooting at a mallard duck and the following times to fly shot No. 5 at different distances:

10m - 0.03s

20m - 0.06 s

30m - 0.10 s

40m - 0.15 s

50m - 0.20 s

Let’s take the duck’s speed Vу = 16 m/s (other values ​​are also given in the literature). For example, the distance to the duck is 30m. The projectile (shot) will reach the duck’s trajectory in to = 0.10 s. During this time, the duck (when moving perpendicular to the direction of the shot) will move to:

lу = Vу · to = 1.60 m. (1)

Thus, the lead, with a distance to the duck of 30 m and movement perpendicular to the direction of the shot, must be taken equal to 1.60 m. If we take into account that the size of the mallard duck is approximately 50 cm, then the lead when shooting is 3 duck lengths (for the duck speed we took 16 m/s ).

When game (duck) moves at an acute angle to the shot's flight path, the calculation is a little more complicated and the lead depends on the magnitude of this angleα . When calculating, some simplifications were adopted that do not significantly affect the result. The firing pattern used in the calculation is shown in Fig. 1. So is the initial distance to the target, l is the amount of movement of the target in the perpendicular direction to the flight path of the shot during the flight of the shot to the level of the initial position of the target, point B is the meeting place of the shot and the target, point C is the position of the target at the moment when the shot reaches t.A (level of the initial position of the target), Vуу - component of the target velocity along the direction of the shot (Y axis), Vух - component of the velocity perpendicular to the flight path of the shot (X axis),α - the angle between the direction of flight of the shot and the target (duck).

Considering the above diagram and taking the flight speed of the shot V after t.A (So = 30m) constant and equal to 230 m/s (for shot No. 5), we can obtain the following formula for calculating the lead when firing:

lу = (Vу·cos α to) / [ (V/Vу sin α ) - ctg α ] + Vу sin α to (2)

to is the time of flight of the shot to the initial position of the target (So =30m, to =0.10s), Vу is the speed of the duck.

Figure 2 shows a graph of the dependence of the lead value on the angle of movement of the target, constructed on the basis of the above formula. It can be seen that a noticeable lead correction must be carried out at angles of approximately 60 degrees or less (take into account that the target is not moving perpendicular to the direction of the shot and reduce the lead value).

It is also necessary to consider the displacement of the shot in the vertical direction when shooting over long distances, which is caused by the action of gravity on the shot (projectile) and its movement during the flight. When shooting a bullet from a rifled weapon, adjustment of aiming to the height displacement of the bullet is provided for by the design of the sight. Shooting from a shotgun is considered to always be carried out at short distances and the aiming point need not be adjusted. Let's estimate the amount of movement of the projectile (shot No. 5) in the vertical directionHv provided that the shot is fired in a horizontal direction. This movement can be determined using the well-known kinematics formula:

Hв = (gt^2) /2 , (3)

t - time of flight of the shot, g - acceleration of free fall

Figure 3 shows a graph of the amount of shot movementHv from the distance it flew after the shot. The calculation was made for shot No. 5 based on the known and calculated flight times of such a shot at various distances. The graph shows that already at a distance of 40 m the displacement reaches a value of 11.3 cm. The considered displacement values ​​will be different for different fraction numbers (different speed and flight time). Sometimes they should be taken into account to improve shooting accuracy. The figure also shows approximate trajectories of shot No. 0000 and No. 7.

In conclusion, it should be said that the above information is useful for understanding the need to take lead when shooting at a moving target and the idea of ​​lead values. In practice, during a hunt there is no time to accurately determine (calculate) the amount of lead and it is impossible to know it exactly in advance. The same game can move at different speeds, at different angles, at different distances. Based on theoretical knowledge and practical experience, a fairly accurate intuitive determination of the aiming point in each specific situation gradually comes.

N.T.Gorbachuk. Aiming when shooting a shotgun at a moving target. http://site/page33.html