TargetTalk

Hi all,
I would greatly appreciate the forums thoughts on the static weight into the right (ie trigger) hand and elbow in prone.

I was recently working on my prone position and had a position where there was weight from the pistol grip pushing back into the heal of my hand and down to my elbow. With the weight there the recoil of the rifle was very short and sharp.

However, this goes against what I was taught, which was to grip the pistol grip then drop the elbow to the ground. This results in no weight pushing into the heal of the hand and down to the elbow.

I would like to hear the forums thoughts on how much weight if any should there be from the rifle pushing into the heal of the hand.

Thanks in advance for your responses.

PDS

I was taught the same thing.
Be "neutral" - a zen-like human sandbag supporting the rifle without influencing it.

This is a very subjective thing and so difficult to compare - for myself, I would not have any active pressure being applied by the right hand*. The majority of the backward force of recoil is taken by the shoulder with a bit on the left hand and a bit on the right.

Adjusting the length of the butt in tiny increments (or the position of the pistol grip, if that's possible) should allow you the fine tune the balance of pressures between the right hand and the shoulder.

My question is:
Are the muscles in your right shoulder and arm COMPLETELY relaxed?
Is the pattern of recoil consistent?

If it's working for you and you can be consistent in how you execute the shot, then the bottom line is - do more shots go in the middle?

Ken.



*Or anywhere for that matter.
There was an old boy (now deceased) at our club who used to advocate lightly pushing forward with the right hand as a way of avoiding the shoulder twitching and pushing the rifle during shot release.
He was slightly weird, largely incoherent and not terribly good though...

I was taught and am in the camp of the lower arm is merely a way to lift the hand up so you can put the finger on the trigger. Repeatable grip but as little force as possible, certainly none by deliberate application of muscle force.

I am reworking my decades old position to use the upper arm as more of a support column than the low position I had where I was more propped up on a wing. Basically trying to look more like the shooters you see making it to the finals in the top level competitions.

Cheers,
'Dude

KennyB,
Thanks for your reply.

My muscles are completely relaxed. In the past I had a tendency to not relax the shoulder so I check this in my shot development.

I set the weight into the palm by setting the elbow down a little bit more forward and in towards the body, then relax my muscles. Obviously it will affect the natural point of aim and if the elbow is set too far the butt is pushed out of the shoulder.

The recoil is consistent. Very short and sharp, moving up vertically and returning to the bull. If anything I would say that any inconsistency or error is punished more than usual.

I haven't shot much with the weight into the palm as I'm currently re-organising my position to have a shorter length of pull and to be squarer and this was a variation in tensions & weights that I noticed. I wanted to get the forum's feedback on this before I decide to add the weight into my position.

To be honest I'm not convinced that the weight into the palm is a good thing or not. But it’s good to know that my approach of placing the elbow is done by someone else.

Regards
PDS