Help me build the perfect practice rifle

[Ontario Hunter]

Here is my full feature practice rifle in 22 LR, sized same as my big rifles. It is helpful with reducing flinch as zero recoil and but the bolt throw is short, so not good for follow up practice.
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That is really something. A fun project for sure. Where did you find a barrel band that skinny? I have an old Marlin clip feed that might be a good candidate for a build like that. My grandson uses it at the junior rifle club. A safari grade .22 would pop a few eyeballs there for sure.

 

[Red Leg]

@Red Leg, would you be so kind to perhaps write a little more about the "call-the-shot" technique? I have not yet read about this.

I did a lot of competitive shooting back in the day, and much of that was from the kneeling and standing positions. To some extent, they represent the sort of sight movement we see when firing from field positions as opposed to the sighting bench. One of the techniques one learned was to take a mental polaroid photo of the sight picture as the rifle fired. With practice, one would know exactly where the bullet went before looking through the target scope. Subconsciously, it also forces the shooter to maintain sight picture that extra millisecond through the shot. Hence, not only do you know where the bullet hit but also groups tend to shrink significantly. All of that translates directly to the field. When a PH or guide inquires "how did the shot feel," I can typically answer pretty precisely where I hit the animal.

 

[Ontario Hunter]

Not practicing from sticks before arriving in Africa (or Europe or South America for that matter) is one of the most foolish things a client can do. It also seems to be a remarkably common occurrence. While duplicating one's intended hunting rifle is probably ideal, I do not think it is at all necessary. What is necessary is to become comfortable quickly settling into firing position and getting the shot off accurately regardless of the rifle in hand. That can be done with a .22, .223. .270, or the intended DG caliber. In fact, with rental rifles becoming ever more common regardless of destination, becoming comfortable with the basics regardless of firearm is actually probably a useful approach.

As others have noted, do not under estimate the value of dry firing your primary rifle. Most bolt actions do not require a dummy round unless the sight of it flying through the air inspires the soul. Always use a spring loaded primer dummy round with a double. It takes a lot of self discipline to effectively dry fire. A mental tool that I use whether on the range or in the gun room is to call the shot. If it is a technique you have not used, it is amazing how accurate you can become with regard to the impact point. It also tends to encourage follow through which is, I believe, hugely important in the field.

Absolutely. While I personally don't care for the hassle of going to the range unless I have to, dry firing at home is very useful, especially mounting quickly and firing at an imaginary target. My living room has striped wallpaper and wainscoting that's very useful for this exercise. I pick a stripe, mount the rifle, swing on the molding at the top of the wainscoting till I reach the stripe, and fire. This is an adaptation of the exercise I used to train my left eye to close when shooting my shotgun (surgeries have left that eye seeing off kilter). Do not dry fire shotgun though. Even with a hard nylon primer snap cap I still broke a firing pin in my A5. Rifle or shotgun it's great practice for mounting and follow through. I also practice mounting and dry firing at still "targets" (usually the seal on one of the diplomas hanging in my office ... finally found a use for those things ).

One late evening when I was practicing with my shotgun there was a knock at the door. It was the city police. Neighbor across the street came home from working swing shift at the fire hall and noticed me dancing around in front of the picture window waving a gun. Dan doesn't hunt but not antigun either. But he thought that was kinda nutty. People doing kinda nutty things with guns should probably be checked into. The cops were fine with an explanation. We all got a chuckle and I insisted they go tell Dan I was okay with him ratting me out. Moral of the story: pull the drapes when dry firing at home.

 

[Green Chile]

To add just a bit, calling the shot is when you know exactly how the sights were aligned when the shot broke. It’s an essential skill in competitive shooting of all disciplines. It requires a lot of discipline and can only happen when you have no concerns for recoil. It’s a very cold and neutral ability to be brutally honest about the sight picture ALL the way through the process. It’s a perishable skill that can grow and shrink with practice. With it, you can tell someone that your shot broke as the animal moved and it landed here or there. Every PH I’ve hunted with has asked me where do you think it hit…and I’ve been able to call most of those shots closely. PHs appreciate that level of detail and observation.

 

[cajunchefray]

To add just a bit, calling the shot is when you know exactly how the sights were aligned when the shot broke. It’s an essential skill in competitive shooting of all disciplines. It requires a lot of discipline and can only happen when you have no concerns for recoil. It’s a very cold and neutral ability to be brutally honest about the sight picture ALL the way through the process. It’s a perishable skill that can grow and shrink with practice. With it, you can tell someone that your shot broke as the animal moved and it landed here or there. Every PH I’ve hunted with has asked me where do you think it hit…and I’ve been able to call most of those shots closely. PHs appreciate that level of detail and observation.

Good explanation. I learned this from a competition shooter while in college, in a casual setting shooting at a friend’s farm. It has been helpful, I need to practice more.

 

[VertigoBE]

I did a lot of competitive shooting back in the day, and much of that was from the kneeling and standing positions. To some extent, they represent the sort of sight movement we see when firing from field positions as opposed to the sighting bench. One of the techniques one learned was to take a mental polaroid photo of the sight picture as the rifle fired. With practice, one would know exactly where the bullet went before looking through the target scope. Subconsciously, it also forces the shooter to maintain sight picture that extra millisecond through the shot. Hence, not only do you know where the bullet hit but also groups tend to shrink significantly. All of that translates directly to the field. When a PH or guide inquires "how did the shot feel," I can typically answer pretty precisely where I hit the animal.

So it is in a way, shifting one’s focus from trigger, grip, anticipation of recoil, environment etc, to only crosshairs and where they are, just before and at the moment the trigger breaks?

Any technique in doing this? Or just concentration? I’ve never tried this on purpose, although I must admit that my best shooting is when I have ignored everything but the target….

 

[Bush Buck]

Dry firing, follow through and calling the shot are super valuable techniques.

This starts with dry firing. Until you can follow through and hold a perfect sight picture while dry firing there is really no need for live ammo.

Once you start shooting you need to "call the shot" before you look through the scope for the hit.
If you can't do this with centerfire then switch to rimfire - it makes it easier to follow through and keep your eyes open.
Follow through and call your shots - even the ones that don't look good - those help the most in learning to call.

A good adult 22 LR is the most important trainer because it encourages follow through and helps tame the twitches promoted by lots of recoil. A scope and target that allows you to see the hits improves this effect.

 

[Rare Breed]

@Red Leg, would you be so kind to perhaps write a little more about the "call-the-shot" technique? I have not yet read about this.

Without question having the proper stance, handholds on sticks in my opinion is the single most important thing to practice before Africa hunt. Even shooting off sticks I have seen friends with the barrel not fire end resting on fulcrum that was quickly corrected. To me, when I say call the shot which I completely agree with is mentally I want to see the hole on the target/ animal after the shot. So I pick my spot stare a hole through it and when I squeeze the trigger I try to see the bullet hit. While I can’t actually see it it forces me to stay down on the rifle guaranteeing follow through versus lifting my head up to “see what happened after the shot.”

 

[Red Leg]

So it is in a way, shifting one’s focus from trigger, grip, anticipation of recoil, environment etc, to only crosshairs and where they are, just before and at the moment the trigger breaks?

Any technique in doing this? Or just concentration? I’ve never tried this on purpose, although I must admit that my best shooting is when I have ignored everything but the target….

I think of grip, cheek weld, trigger pull, etc as ingrained muscle memory actions. I do not consciously think of any of those. I also shoot with both eyes open. With practice, one only sees the target though peripheral vision is still working if something unexpected happens. At the shot I "know" where the sights were, and can thus accurately call the spot struck on a target or an animal.

 

[Green Chile]

The thing about shot calling is you will not be able to judge yourself honestly. You think you are doing it but you cannot be certain. If you have someone load the gun for you with a mix of dry fire and live fire ammo and then they watch you…it will reveal the truth. I know that sometimes I blink if I can anticipate the shot. If you blink, you are guessing on the shot calling.

 

[375Ruger416]

Yes, I made the biggest progress on this practicing with a rimfire - check out the NRA’s Appleseed course or Mapleseed here in Canada - and practicing with a 6.5 CM and having someone load a mix of dummy rounds and 1 or 2 live rounds.

Focus on the crosshair, not the target, and keep your focus on the crosshairs. After you squeeze off the shot, keep the trigger squeezed until you are back on target (follow through), and think of the sight picture you had right as the shot broke. Did you slap the trigger? Pull to the right or left? Pop your head up to look over the optic/sights to judge your impact?

All of these habits will impair your ability to make an accurate shot as well as spot your shot. With time, you will start taking a mental snapshot of the sight picture at the time your shot broke and be able to reliably call your impact.

 

[Ontario Hunter]

Without question having the proper stance, handholds on sticks in my opinion is the single most important thing to practice before Africa hunt. Even shooting off sticks I have seen friends with the barrel not fire end resting on fulcrum that was quickly corrected. To me, when I say call the shot which I completely agree with is mentally I want to see the hole on the target/ animal after the shot. So I pick my spot stare a hole through it and when I squeeze the trigger I try to see the bullet hit. While I can’t actually see it it forces me to stay down on the rifle guaranteeing follow through versus lifting my head up to “see what happened after the shot.”

Exactly. I recall first employing this technique when I shot my first elk back in '71, an exceptional 6x6 bull (346 B&C). I'd already hit it twice, first in the neck then in the poop chute. When I finally caught up to him I knew if that bull ran any further down in the canyon I'd never get it out. I concentrated on following the bullet into his head and that's where it went.

 

[ftrovato]

I find there is no better way to work on Sight Picture, speed of Target Accusation and Trigger Control than with a rifle that has no recoil and little to no sound. So I do it with my Ruger 77/22 in 22LR (Top Rifle). Bottom rifle is a Ruger Compact 7mm-08 that my daughter uses when she deer hunts.

 

[Ontario Hunter]

Yes, I made the biggest progress on this practicing with a rimfire - check out the NRA’s Appleseed course or Mapleseed here in Canada - and practicing with a 6.5 CM and having someone load a mix of dummy rounds and 1 or 2 live rounds.

Focus on the crosshair, not the target, and keep your focus on the crosshairs. After you squeeze off the shot, keep the trigger squeezed until you are back on target (follow through), and think of the sight picture you had right as the shot broke. Did you slap the trigger? Pull to the right or left? Pop your head up to look over the optic/sights to judge your impact?

All of these habits will impair your ability to make an accurate shot as well as spot your shot. With time, you will start taking a mental snapshot of the sight picture at the time your shot broke and be able to reliably call your impact.

Interesting dialog. For me it's concentrating on a spot on the target, not the reticle. The biggest mistake I find myself making when wingshooting is shooting at the bird and not a spot on the bird, e.g. white ring on a pheasant's neck. Or in Africa the spot on an impala where the lateral stripe meets the front shoulder.

 

[375Ruger416]

Interesting dialog. For me it's concentrating on a spot on the target, not the reticle. The biggest mistake I find myself making when wingshooting is shooting at the bird and not a spot on the bird, e.g. white ring on a pheasant's neck. Or in Africa the spot on an impala where the lateral stripe meets the front shoulder.

Yes, the crosshairs and the desired Point of Impact have to be in alignment of course, but it is possible to follow your desired target and not keep your crosshairs in alignment. For me, focusing on the crosshairs and looking at my target ‘through’ the crosshairs helps me avoid this mistake.

This is the way I was taught by retired Canadian Master Sniper - he actually teaches to think/say - reticle, reticle, reticle before you break the shot as well as practicing natural point of aim. More applicable to precise shots than following moving game or shooting a shotgun of course. It’s been working for me ‍<shrug>

 

[Jay Kelley]

Obviously practicing with the rifle you’re going to hunt with is the best thing you can do. Realistically though most people can only handle a limited number of shots from heavier recoiling guns. There is great benefit to working on breath and trigger technique with lighter recoiling rifles. This is obviously a supplement to practicing with your actual hunting rifle not a replacement for that practice.

So I got to thinking what’s the perfect practice rifle? Ideally it should be a set up similar to your main gun in terms of safety position etc.

One candidate would be a quality bolt gun in .22 long rifle. Something like a Model 52. But I think I’d rather for with something centerfire partially because I enjoy reloading. Working up new loads would be an excuse to shoot more.

One of the centerfire 22 calibers would fill the bill but some of those suffer from short barrel life. My 375 is a Model 70 and I alway thought one in 220 Swift wood be a nice pairing but I’ve heard those burn out barrels quickly.

So if you were building the perfect lower recoiling practice rifle what would you

Ruger (I think) used to have a heavy rifle (Hawkeye African?) in .223. A rifle, identical to your dangerous game rifle in an inexpensive, soft recoiling caliber would be the answer if you could find or get someone to build/modify

 

[Sideshow]

I think it might be Briley but could be wrong. I thought I saw a 470 that had slip in 22 rifle sleeves that did what you are asking. I saw something like that on AH but can’t remember anything else about it

Yes ive seen those 22 rifle sleeves here in the uk @Rare Breed

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

The pot calling the kettle black re drivel.

I see very little utility in shooting a lightweight .22 with a typically not-so-crisp trigger and possibly entirely different safety off shooting sticks (although admittedly I have never found a rifle with strange safety a handicap shooting off sticks - i.e. rental gun) when one plans to hunt with a much heavier rifle in both weight and recoil and probably with different sights, scope, and/or reticle.

Some folks enjoy punching paper. Fine. I do not. I also disagree with a certain gun editor's philosophy that hunters must "practice, practice, practice" in the off season. It can develop flinching, especially with heavy recoil rifles. In my opinion, a hunter only needs to spend enough time at the range to familiarize (or refamiliarize) himself with the rifle he will be using, i.e. zero it. I see no advantage in familiarizing or over-familiarizing myself with a gun I won't be using. I can certainly foresee that it could actually be detrimental.

This is not drivel. There is some sense to my thinking. You may not agree with it and that's okay. But try to keep it a clean fight.

@Ontario Hunter
When I was teaching my son to shoot off sticks in preparation for Namibia he used a 22lr.
We didn't worry about the use of a safety as he didn't need to use it during practice.
Both his 22 and 308 have the same 3# setting so switching from on rifle to another the trigger pressure was identical. All my rifles have triggers set to the same pressure.
Not only did he practice off stick he practiced ALL field positions to go with it.
After each session with the 22 he finished with the 308 on sticks and field positions.
Somewhere around 1,000 22s were fired and may be 50 308s.
After this he could pick up either rifle with ONE round in the mag. The sticks were set up ready but he didn't know what position he would be shooting from. I would call the position and he would get 5 seconds to assume the position he was told, load the rifle, acquire the target and shoot. He got very good at it and could usually do it in less than the 5 seconds.
Worked for us but others may be different.
Muscle memory and practice is the key in my book.
Bob

 

[Ontario Hunter]

@Ontario Hunter
When I was teaching my son to shoot off sticks in preparation for Namibia he used a 22lr.
We didn't worry about the use of a safety as he didn't need to use it during practice.
Both his 22 and 308 have the same 3# setting so switching from on rifle to another the trigger pressure was identical. All my rifles have triggers set to the same pressure.
Not only did he practice off stick he practiced ALL field positions to go with it.
After each session with the 22 he finished with the 308 on sticks and field positions.
Somewhere around 1,000 22s were fired and may be 50 308s.
After this he could pick up either rifle with ONE round in the mag. The sticks were set up ready but he didn't know what position he would be shooting from. I would call the position and he would get 5 seconds to assume the position he was told, load the rifle, acquire the target and shoot. He got very good at it and could usually do it in less than the 5 seconds.
Worked for us but others may be different.
Muscle memory and practice is the key in my book.
Bob

Yeah, the trigger on my 06 is a little light. Been meaning to do something about that. Of course, trigger weight on my shotgun is pretty much immaterial. Wingshooting = pulling hard and fast on the trigger. Next year I'll force myself to make a quick trip back to the range with my rifle before I start deer hunting in Montana for a refresher on its trigger weight. But that will mean taking time out from chasing uplands, sigh!

 

[One Day...]

So.... Practice? Practice rifles? Practice calibers?

My personal experience is that there are different practice rifles, and different practice calibers, for different practices, and that most of us need to practice it all, and a lot, and often...

Some think that practice is useless, and to each our own, but it reminds me of the classic "one does not know what one does not know", and I am tempted to suggest the interview of target or trap champions to ask whether they think practice is valuable or not..... 'nough said

I personally see several practices required, and several tools to do so. Without writing a thesis on each aspect of these practices (there is plenty of material easily available from peer-reviewed sources), let's mention in a particular order:

Body control, rifle control, respiration control, heartbeat control, trigger control, etc. in so many words: fundamental shooting form. Until the rifle is immobile when the shot goes, accuracy will always be elusive. This is where a quality .22 LR rifle is invaluable because it takes thousands of rounds to master proper shooting form, and quality .22 LR ammo is king. Notice that I said "quality" because when the round does not go where it was supposed to, quality .22 ammo offers no excuse. Forget 4 MOA Thunderbolt, shoot at least 2 MOA ammo. You do not need to shoot expensive 1/4 MOA Eley Tenex, there is a middle road, I am personally comfortable that when I miss the 2" plate at 100 yards standing-off-the-sticks, with relatively affordable 1 MOA Eley Club, it is me at fault, not the ammo.

PS: dry-fire at home is extremely valuable, but it does not provide evidentiary feedback. Nothing like a .22 hole 1" off the bull on the paper, or nothing like a plate that does not ring, to affirm the obvious: I missed. Dry firing does not do that.

Sticks practice. Much has already been said, all good. Start with a 6" steel plate at 100 yards. One is always amazed how many folks do not ring a 6" plate, 5 shots out of 5, at 100 yards, standing-off-the-sticks (from the bench does not count, there are no benches in the bush). That is 6 MOA shooting... Easy, right? Try 5 series of 5 shots, any miss resets the count

Minimum practical safari training: 6" plate at 100 yards with good .22 LR rifle, decent glass, quality ammo, and tripod sticks.​

When you get to 100% consistently on the 6" plate, and you will, switch to 5", 4" and 3" plates, and ultimately 2".
Practice on tripod sticks will make you a 3 MOA standing-off-the-sticks shooter.
Practice on quadpod sticks will make you a 2 MOA standing-off-the-sticks shooter.
This is also where we go back to the above about quality .22 LR.

5", 4" and 3" plates at 100 yards for .22 LR practice. Going smaller and smaller always delivers newly relearned lessons: in this case the groups are smaller as the plate size diminishes, illustrating glaringly "aim small, miss small".

PS: shooting sub MOA from the bench is irrelevant, most of the shots in Africa are taken standing, and boy oh boy does that make a difference

Distance practice. Yes, technically a 6" plate at 300 yards is a 2 MOA shot, therefore the same shooting skills as a 2" plate at 100 yards. But somehow it is not quite the same, and one does not replace the other. Is your range-finder accurate? Do you know your ammo drop? Is your scope good enough? All those questions, you will not answer at 100 yards with a .22 LR.
This is where a still affordable, but yet easy and accurate round is invaluable. Here the .223 is king, and once more, forget American Eagle 5 MOA 55 gr bulk .223, it will not help you much. Again you do not need 1/2 MOA Federal Gold Match and there are plenty a good 1 MOA .223 ammo out there. I am having good luck with affordable Hornady Frontier 55 gr HP Match.

6" plate, laser range-finder, good quality rifle, good quality scope with exposed turrets, and good quality ammo will practice you out to 300 yards, and will teach you how precarious hold-over techniques are on a 6" target.

Recoil practice. There is no two ways about it, DG cartridges recoil control must be learned and can only be learned from a heavy recoil rifle.
BEWARE: learning recoil control does not mean getting used to uncontrolled recoil, and once you know how to do it, you do not need to batter yourself into pulp shooting thousands of rounds. A handful at the end of practice sessions in the last month before the safari will do OIF you have learned the technique.

There are no two ways about it: to learn how to shoot your cannon (here a .458 Lott), you will need to fire it. BUT ONLY AFTER you learn proper shooting form; shooting standing-off-the-sticks; and recoil control techniques.

Bad practice. This brings one of the problems with individual practice. As previously mentioned "one does not know what one does not know" and practicing bad shooting form, improper sticks position, poor recoil control, etc. is counterproductive.
Allow me the use of upper cases, I am not yelling, just making the point clear: IF YOU HAVE NOT RECEIVED FORMAL SHOOTING TRAINING, YOU MUST TAKE THE TIME TO LEARN THE FUNDAMENTALS. Just because you have shot game effectively does not mean you know how to shoot.
The problem is that not all those who volunteer to teach are qualified to do so, be it on the internet, at the local range, or amongst friends, because none of these are peer reviewed..................
But there are good resources out there, easily available in print or video, and sometimes face to face. Just be selective on who does the teaching.

Not every internet blogger, next-table shooter at the range, gun shop clerk, or even friend or parent, is necessarily qualified to teach proper shooting form, shooting standing-off-the-sticks, recoil control techniques, etc. Beware internet "experts" and rely on peer-reviewing...

Good enough tool. Like many I started with a decent man-size .22 LR (in my case a modern iteration of the Winchester 52 made by Miroku) with decent glass (Zeiss Conquest) and I lived with the less than ideal different trigger, different stock, different ergonomics, etc. And I even saved money by shooting Thunderbolt bulk ammo.
It got me from 6 MOA standing-off-the-sticks down to 3 MOA, which means a predictable / repeatable hit on a 6" target (i.e. the size of the vital area of small plains game) out to 200 yards.
I will be categorical: it is not ideal, but it is good enough. As long as the rifle is bolt action, man-size, and holds 2 MOA with decent ammo, it will do the job, and you could do a lot worse than a CZ 452.
The same reasoning applies to a .223.

Winchester 52, Walther KKJ, and Anschutz 1418 all keep the Thunderbolt bulk ammo in 4 " at 100 yards (4 MOA). Good enough to ring the 6" plate, but you will need better ammo to become a 2 MOA shooter standing-off-the-sticks, and ideally you would want to shoot the "same" rifle as the one you will be hunting with.

Ideal tool. It is all a matter of money and how you spend it. Ideal practice tool but cannot afford a safari anymore? Wrong calculus! But if you can afford it there is no arguing that shooting the "same" rifle in practice and in actual hunting is best. My own solution is the Blaser R8 with both .22 and .223 training barrels, and .257 Wby, .300 Wby, .375 H&H and .458 Lott barrels.
If you ask me, yes, I think the ideal tool makes a difference. No later than yesterday, I unbolted the .22 LR barrel with which I shoot a couple dozen rounds a every weeks at 2" plates at 100 yards in my backyard, bolted the .300 Wby, drove 15 minutes to a friend's ranch, and fired standing-off-the-sticks 5 shots at 100, 200, 300, 400, and 500 yards on 4", 5", 6", 8" and 10" plates respectively. These are 4, 2.5, 2, 2, and 2 MOA shots. The plates rang 5 times.

Blaser R8: practicing with the same rifle you hunt with, from .22 LR and .223 to .458 Lott, through .257 Wby, .300 Wby and .375 H&H: priceless.

Even though, like Red Leg I competed for years, and won medals, in Three Position .22 LR 50 meters; I went through regimental sniper training; and I hunted very successfully the French Alps for decades, I promise you (as they are fond of saying n South Africa) that I was utterly incapable of hitting the 6" plate at 100 yards standing-off-the-sticks consistently 5 times in a row before or during my first safari. No we did not loose any game, but I was not very proud of my shooting, and it took a few more rounds than it should have.

Why do we insist on shooting standing-off-the-sticks? Because it is "99%" (as a way of talking) of your shooting in Africa and like everything it needs to be learned. And I can also tell you that if I do not practice for a couple months, I better bring the 6", 8" and 10" plates at 100, 200, and 300 yards for 6, 4 and 3 MOA shots...