I recall receiving the talking targets handouts at my first Appleseed (AS) event. They were "glossed over" by me at best, and were tossed/ignored.
Then during my instructor journey with AS, I was required to become knowledgeable on them, so I could provide relevant feedback to the attendees (who likely glossed over them as I did) and help them to improve. I did not do a lot of work on my personal fundamentals of marksmanship when I was an instructor, and I suffered for that. Likely some attendees did as well, although I did have a fairly high percentage rate of qualified rifleman, it could have been a lot better had I become a better fundamental marksman myself.
This topic assumes one is a qualified rifleman and has the steady hold factors for the positions down, and knows how to properly use the sling.
This will not be a reiteration of the talking targets handout. I only wish to touch on two points here.
Even a 4 MOA 25M AQT Rifleman can still use self diagnosis on the 25M squares targets, or the actual AQT.
Once someone is shooting 4MOA in prone, they are at a better place fundamentally to delve into some finer points of their shot process and implement improvements.
Assume the 5 or 10 shot group is within the 4MOA black square and it displays:
Vertical Dispersion:
What could cause that?
- Breathing at some point after step 3 in the 6 steps of firing the shot:
I know for a fact this was an issue for me. I would breathe during recoil, or just after which affected my follow thru and also affected my ability to call the shot properly. It is imperative to maintain the respiratory pause thru step 6, "follow thru and call the shot". If you are experiencing this, try to focus on not breathing until the rifle has settled from recoil and you have properly called your shot whilst holding the trigger back.
- Stock Placement:
If that is not repeatable (the same spot in the shoulder for each and every shot), the shot will wind up in a different location every single time you change the stock position. This is something I work very hard at perfecting. It may also be an issue for you. My goal is "one ragged hole" groups, and those are absolutely obtainable, provided that stock goes into the exact same spot for each and every shot. With the 10/22 at 25M this is absolutely easier to achieve, as the magazine is already loaded with 10 rounds. The struggle comes when one needs to remove the rifle from the shoulder and start the process over again. Working on a repeatable stock placement in the shoulder will surely help to shrink any horizontal displacement.
Horizontal Dispersion:
What could cause that?
- Horizontal dispersion is probably one of the easiest to diagnose. The group is wide/left to right.
This is without a doubt trigger control, step 5 of the 6 steps of firing a shot. Squeeeeeeeeeeze the trigger.
This is where many may think a lighter trigger may help, an equipment solution. But that is likely not the case. In fact, oftentimes a lighter trigger may exaggerate a poor trigger squeeze. This is where the competitor must use self discipline to execute a good trigger squeeze without anticipating the break. Several analogies of this to think about. I use the baloon inflating analogy. I imagine a baloon inflating and as I apply pressure air is added to that baloon. At some point it will go POP and I am not surpised about that. I know about when that baloon will pop, or when that trigger will break. I've learned this thru dry firing, and learning my trigger. I am also maintaining steps 1 thru 4 of firing a shot as I execute step 5. I am conscious of sight picture and sight alignment. I am focused on either the front sight or the reticle of my scope and will notice any slight disturbances in sight alignment.
This is where the discipline comes in:
If the sight alignment or sight picture has been disturbed as I am executing my trigger squeeze, I let pressure off and start the entire process over from step 1. It takes a LOT of mental discipline to do this. If you can discipline yourself to let pressure off and start the shot process over from step 1, you will shrink that horizontal dispersion.
The target does indeed talk to us, that feedback is very useful.
This is about improving from 4 MOA to say 1 MOA. It can and has been done. But, in order to improve, one must know what to improve. If you can shrink from 4 MOA to 3 MOA or 2 MOA in prone at 25M on squares targets or the bottom row of the AQT that is awesome. It will absolutely translate to marked improvement when shooting KD as well.
It is all about reducing variation, and that variation at 25M will only grow at 400 yards.
Hope this helps!
R/
Chris