{"id":426,"date":"2022-10-03T22:02:25","date_gmt":"2022-10-03T22:02:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gunowner-news.com\/?p=426"},"modified":"2022-10-03T22:02:25","modified_gmt":"2022-10-03T22:02:25","slug":"secret-to-offhand-accuracy-aim-with-your-feet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gunowner-news.com\/?p=426","title":{"rendered":"Secret to Offhand Accuracy: Aim with Your Feet!"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n<\/p>\n

\n

By Wayne van Zwoll<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201c<\/strong>The young man nervously raised his rifle and fired\u2026. Instantly the buffalo wheeled and charged us at terrible speed\u2026. With admirable coolness, Fay [fired twice. Then she] threw herself into her lover\u2019s arms. With the two of them locked in a close embrace on the narrow trail, I couldn\u2019t get around the idiots to shoot. The bull was almost on us [when] I managed to force the barrel of my [.475 between them]. The bull came crashing down, throwing foam and blood over Fay\u2019s trousers\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n<\/picture>
\u201cPointing your feet right\u201d helps you establish a natural point of aim and hit your target. Photo: Adobe Stock\/fotofabrika<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In pre-war Kenya, John Hunter often had to fire quickly, offhand. Errant shots could bring lethal penalties. Of a rhino encounter, he wrote:<\/p>\n

\u201cA bullet from my right barrel hit him above the brisket. He never flinched \u2026. The [next] shot hit him fairly below the ear, and he went down. At the same moment [another rhino] tore past \u2026 my scout hanging on his horns. [It was] almost impossible to deliver a killing shot without hitting the boy. [But not firing could doom him too.] I fired for the rhino\u2019s shoulder. The animal dropped and the boy shot off his head like a rider whose horse has refused at a jump\u2026.\u201d Anxious moments later, he found the lad intact.<\/p>\n

Whatever the stakes, every offhand shot starts before you pull the trigger, before you aim. Good or bad, it\u2019s slave to your footprint. A bullet goes where your feet direct.<\/p>\n

\"annie\n<\/picture>
Exhibition shooters like Annie Oakley fired so fast as to appear casual about position. They\u00a0weren\u2019t.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

No one avoids offhand shots more assiduously than I. The more contact with Mother Earth, and the lower my center of gravity, the better. Prone is best. Denied a lizard\u2019s-eye view, I sit. Kneeling, a bit more wobbly, brings sight-line and bullet path over higher brush. Offhand is an abominable option, as it permits only two points of ground contact and jacks center of gravity well above belt level. About all you can say for offhand is that it\u2019s fast. It\u2019s acceptably accurate only when you\u2019ve positioned your feet so the rifle\u2019s natural point of aim \u2014 where the rifle points when you aren\u2019t pressuring it \u2014 is on target. Your body will naturally relax at the shot. If you\u2019ve forced it on target, relaxing sends the bullet off the mark. When natural point of aim is on target, the rifle has no reason to move elsewhere at the shot.<\/p>\n

The Foundation<\/h2>\n

\u201cGet your feet pointed right, and the rest is as easy as falling off a log,\u201d insisted Francis Sell, who still-hunted blacktail deer in thick Northwest cover. Falling off a log requires less practice, but he\u2019s right to say good offhand shots proceed from the earth. Since the advent of repeating rifles, exhibition shooters had owed much to footwork to hit aerial targets and wow pie-eyed spectators. In my youth, Herb Parsons worked his magic over a table of assorted firearms.<\/p>\n

\"feet\n<\/picture>
The author finds this stance useful: feet shoulder-width apart, toe-line angled 30 degrees from\u00a0sightline.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Casually he\u2019d chat up the crowd while tossing various objects aloft and blowing them apart with whatever came to hand. He\u2019d hurl oranges pell mell, pulp them with bullets from a .30-30. Chattering as fast as he shot, he\u2019d bend over, toss a handful of eggs between his legs, whirl and scramble all with a pump shotgun before any hit the ground. Stationary marks got no mercy. He\u2019d drain a Winchester .351\u2019s 10-shot box from the hip, dicing 10 clay targets set on edge. \u201cThey aren\u2019t hard to hit, folks,\u201d he\u2019d laugh, \u201cjust easy to miss!\u201d<\/p>\n

\"shooting\n<\/picture>
Offhand that works: Upright, weight over feet, legs straight but not locked, left elbow almost under the rifle, right elbow horizontal, head erect on stock lifted to cheek, eyes\u00a0forward.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Herb hunted with Hollywood stars Clark Gable, Roy Rogers and Andy Devine. He did the stunt shooting for \u201cWinchester \u201973,\u201d starring Jimmy Stewart. Waterfowling, he liked small-bore guns. On one hunt with Winchester\u2019s Model 42 he folded ducks so fast, his partner never had a chance. At last Herb put the .410 pump aside. \u201cYour turn,\u201d he grinned. A hunting guide observed: \u201cThat man was a machine. He never missed.\u201d On July 19, 1959, during hernia surgery, Herb Parsons suffered a blood clot. He was 51.<\/p>\n

\n
\n\t\t\t\t\"\"\/<\/p>\n

Live The Armory Life.<\/strong> The latest content straight to your inbox plus an automatic entry to each of our monthly gun\u00a0giveaways!<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Yes, Parsons was gifted. So too predecessors Annie Oakley, B.A. Bartlett and Ad Topperwein. In 1907, with Winchester Model 1903 .22s, Ad splintered 72,491 of 72,500 tossed 2 \u00bc-inch wooden blocks. Half a century later Tom Frye took a run at that record with a Nylon 66. Of 100,010 thrown blocks, he missed six. Beyond talent, though, these shooters stood so the rifle pointed naturally, if briefly, at the target. Timing completed the effort.<\/p>\n

Considered Approaches<\/h2>\n

Compared to aerial targets the size of tennis balls, the vitals of stationary or slowly moving game are ridiculously easy to hit. Most field shots can also be taken from steadier positions than offhand. When hunting, I look as much for places to flop prone as for animals to shoot. But you cannot predict how your next chance will come. Despite my best efforts, three of my last four elk were taken offhand.<\/p>\n

\"rifle\n<\/picture>
Real-world whitetail shot: spinning to fire on your flank, no chance to move feet. Marginal\u00a0accuracy.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Because we\u2019re all built differently, an ideal stance is hard to pin down. It can vary with shooting style, terrain, even the rifle. In offhand competition, a backward arch of the lumbar spine puts the weight of a match rifle squarely over the hips, a twist of the waist coming to a \u201cstop\u201d with the rifle pointed at the target over feet nearly perpendicular to sight-line. In defensive-style shooting with AR rifles like Springfield\u2019s SAINT, many shooters \u201csquare up,\u201d almost facing the threat.<\/p>\n

\"hunting\n<\/picture>
This buffalo fell to a quick offhand shot at 20 yards. Easy shot? Yes, if you don\u2019t count pulse\u00a0bounce!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

With hunting rifles, I get best offhand results placing my feet shoulder-width apart, a line through my toes at a 30-degree angle to sight-line. Legs bear weight equally, with a bit more pressure on the balls of my feet than on the heels. Knees are not locked. Moving game begs a forward lean, adding weight to the balls of the front, pivot foot. Like a shotgunner setting up for a skeet station, you want natural point of aim to come on target when the shot occurs.<\/p>\n

\"shooting\n<\/picture>
With proper foot placement, your off-hand rifle shots can be very accurate and enhance your ability to ethically take\u00a0game.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Rifles that set you on your heels in recoil can be controlled with a broader stance. But to ensure against having to step back at the shot, some shooters lean steeply forward. That may be your best option for \u201cstopping\u201d shots or where terrain or brush impedes any shift in position; but where accuracy matters more than speed, a balanced stance pays off. Recoil that urges a step back also delays recovery, whether or not you take that step. A step needn\u2019t retard an aimed follow-up.<\/p>\n

\"thickets\n<\/picture>
Thickets can limit foot placement. Still-hunting, pause where your feet can help you shoot\u00a0accurately.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Once, on a timbered steep, I made a fast hit offhand on an elk that appeared suddenly. Loose litter gave way in recoil. I slipped downhill, throwing the muzzle and my next bullet high. I was blessed with a third chance \u2014 which I\u2019m not taking for granted.<\/p>\n

Proper Prep<\/h2>\n

Outside competitive circles, few shooters practice offhand. Egos are better served by tiny groups drilled from the bench. Pity. At a sight-in day on a shooting range, I asked 40 hunters who\u2019d just zeroed their rifles to fire one offhand shot at a 6-inch bullseye 100 yards off. Only five hunters hit it! The backer, 22 inches square, had just 30 holes! Such abysmal shooting bodes ill for opening day.<\/p>\n

You needn\u2019t burn cartons of ammo to discover and refine your stance for better offhand shooting.<\/p>\n

\"hunter\n<\/picture>
\u201cAbout all you can say about offhand is, it\u2019s fast.\u201d And it puts your bullet\u2019s path above most\u00a0brush.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Gary Anderson, a Nebraska farm lad, dry-fired a .22 in practice. After joining the Army (USAMTU) rifle team, he won silver and gold in the Pan American Games. The 1960 Olympics delivered his first National Championship. In 1963 he took smallbore\u00a0and\u00a0<\/em>centerfire gold at the Pan Am Games. A year later he set a world record and won Olympic gold in the 300-meter free rifle event. Another gold and six world records followed, with 12 National Championships and seven World Championships. His book, \u201cMarksmanship,\u201d is mostly on body position. \u201cShooters obsessed with gear,\u201d Gary told me, \u201cdon\u2019t do the required work.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"hunting\n<\/picture>
Wayne shot this kudu offhand with a .470 double at 70 steps. He had no chance for a more stable position, and ensured his off-hand technique was spot\u00a0on.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Montanan Lones Wigger distinguished himself in Olympic competition, earning two gold medals and a silver. He set 29 world records, 13 as an individual, and garnered 111 medals in four international rifle competitions. Posted with the USAMTU at Fort Benning, he drilled \u201cthree or four days a week, up to 200 shots, four hours a day.\u201d Disciplined practice\u00a0is<\/em>\u00a0work, he assured me. \u201cWhen you can\u2019t trigger good shots, quit! Don\u2019t practice poor form! No matter the position, the rifle must become an extension of your body. Load your bones, not your muscles. Learn to relax.\u201d An ace offhand shooter, \u201cWig\u201d practiced that position most \u201cbecause it\u2019s most difficult.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"proper\n<\/picture>
Upper torso position follows footwork. Bring comb to cheek; hug the rifle; look straight into the\u00a0sight.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Offhand shooting on a hunt differs from bullseye shooting. But they\u2019ve a common requisite:\u00a0feet placed so the rifle naturally points at the target when the bullet leaves.<\/em><\/p>\n

Climbing the Hill<\/h2>\n

One reason offhand is difficult for many shooters is that they demand too much precision! When you\u2019re out of breath or wind tugs the rifle, you must accept more wobble. Insist on a perfect sight picture, and you\u2019ll tire before you fire. \u201cCenter hits are made in your head,\u201d said my first coach, Earl Wickman, tapping ashes from a cigar thick enough to stopper a milk jug. \u201cBeyond the mechanics of position, you must\u00a0think<\/em>\u00a0a hit to make one. But don\u2019t demand the impossible. When you get an acceptable sight picture, send the bullet. Don\u2019t delay a shot to analyze it or gild it, or tell yourself it\u2019s too good to be true.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"shooting\n<\/picture>
Dangerous game is commonly shot offhand. Practice it not because it\u2019s easy, but because it\u2019s\u00a0difficult.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

He was right. Offhand, you must contend with a sight picture that is never still, with wobbles of greater amplitude and higher frequency than plague you in more stable positions. The longer you aim, the more desperately you want to breathe. Your pulse speeds up as eye fatigue burns a target image into your brain. Wobbles become more intense as your muscles accede to the rifle\u2019s weight. Your body shakes. You feel the shot unraveling, so you hurry it. And miss.<\/p>\n

Try this after aligning your feet: Close your eyes, cheek the rifle, let it settle. Open your eyes. If the sight is right or left of center, lower the rifle, adjust foot position, breathe deeply. Repeat until when you open your eyes the sight appears centered. Given a foundation that puts natural point of aim on target, the sight will spend most of its time there, maximizing odds for a hit.<\/p>\n

What if your sight won\u2019t settle? Don\u2019t shoot. You can\u2019t miss or cripple game with a shot unfired.<\/p>\n

Editor\u2019s Note: Be sure to check out\u00a0<\/em>The Armory Life\u00a0Forum, where you can comment about our daily articles, as well as just talk guns and gear. Click the \u201cGo To Forum Thread\u201d link below to jump in!<\/em><\/p>\n

Join the Discussion<\/span><\/h5>\n

Go to forum thread<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n


\n
Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Wayne van Zwoll \u201cThe young man nervously raised his rifle and fired\u2026. Instantly the buffalo wheeled and charged us at terrible speed\u2026. With admirable coolness, Fay [fired twice. Then she] threw herself into her lover\u2019s arms. With the two of them locked in a close embrace on the narrow trail, I couldn\u2019t get around […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":427,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-426","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gunowner-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/426","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gunowner-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gunowner-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunowner-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunowner-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=426"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/gunowner-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/426\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunowner-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/427"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gunowner-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=426"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunowner-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=426"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunowner-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=426"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}