shooting sticks

[Moonshine Swiller]

I know there is a mired of varibles on the position of the body, pressure aginst the shoulder etc. , but is there really a better place to put the barrel of your rifle into the cross sticks?
Closer to the stock? or closer to the front sight?

[rebelyell]

Hey MS Swiller

Hope that moniker is jest for fun! That clear corn and fruit from a jar may be fine but don't go blind! LOL! just kidding ya a bit.

On your question.

The very basic answer is that your gun tells you where to place the barrel on the stix.

Wish I could find the link on the this for the in-depth explanation but I 'll give it a shot albeit abridged and from the hip. Something to this effect. Put a masking or other tape strip (not duct or extry sticky, gummy mess) down your barrel and mark inch increments along the tape with a sharpie or otherwise. Then proced to shoot separate targets per increment moving from the muzzle towards your rear sight and record your results. The best groups on paper indicate the best barrel placement on stix- or so it is supposed to be. Of course you then remove the tape and engrave in your memory where the placement is to be on your barrel for that load to repeat the groups as you shoot.The tek-nickle- aspect of it has to do with barrel harmonics and vibrations and barrel jump and stuff like that. Hope this helps some. I was shooting with the support stick near the rear sight and had big groups moving out to the end gave me instant better gouping. Now to apply the tape to my old Rolling Block and do what I just expained to you. Good luck.

Steve

[Moonshine Swiller]

Rebel,
thanks for the repley!
Yes the moonshine swiller is just my handle I would go blind drinking that stuff.
Your tape method does make sense and I will try it. I had a silhouette match this weekend in Colorado, and the ground was frozen,so we had to spike the ground, and then get "a pair of cross Sticks" in the ground.
Needless to say the sticks were'nt at my right hight. (my fault for not taking the time to move them). So this is where the question in my mind came up.
Jason

[John Boy]

Moonshine, whether your are shooting benchrest or with sticks, the best spot to place the barrel is on ... The Sweet Spot.

A barrel has harmonic vibrations when the bullet is moving down the bore to the muzzle. The vibration waves move from the muzzle to the breech and at the same time from the breech to the muzzle. Where they meet is the Sweet Spot.

Think of the waves this way:
Muzzle>>>>>>>>>> |Sweet Spot|<<<<<<<<<<<Breech
(The Sweet Spot is where there is no harmonic vibration of the barrel, known as the Null Point)

How does one find this Spot? Pour some baby powder on top of the barrel and fire a round- OFF HAND with your hand NOT ON THE BARREL. It's best done with your hand as close to the receiver as you can get it. The powder will move and create the >>>>>|<<<<<<< pattern on the barrel. Mark the spot with a crayon or piece of tape. Repeat the process again 4 or 5 times-OFF HAND, same way.

Now put a piece of tape at the point of the Sweet Spot.

Next shoot some 5 shot groups (bench rest or sticks at 50 yards) with the barrel resting at the Null Point. Move the barrel forward or backwards (a tad at a time) to verify the exact point of the best group accuracy. Mark it.

That's where you rest your barrel on your sticks.

[Moonshine Swiller]

John boy,
Thanks for your help

[GS1458]

Hello John,

Will your process work for a .22 LR, I just purchased a 1885 Cimmaron Low-Wall and will be setting it up to fire BPCR Type .22 silhouette matches at my club.

Great tip if it will work with the .22 LR..

Thanks,

[semtav]

I'm curious how many of the good shooters use the null point for the stick position.
I've spent almost 6 months trying to develop a good shooting position.
I finally have one that is comfortable and works very well for me. It entails putting the barrel in the sticks just ahead of the forearm, and pulling the cross sticks back pretty hard toward my shoulder with my left hand,while resting my left elbow on my left knee.
this is the only way I've found I can lock my self on a target and not waiver around. My biggest benefit from this position, is that I can now squeeze the trigger, instead of jerking it as I waiver across the target.

If I had to move the stick out 6" from the end of the forearm ( or some other point), I'd have to change positions.

which is more important, consistency or putting the sticks on the null point? (If I'm doing it wrong, its going to take me a lot longer to correct my bad habits )

Brian

[montana_charlie]

Consistency is the heart of it all.

Using the null point removes barrel whip (or most of it) from the equation.
Using a different point may cause the bullet to strike high (for instance), but that can be taken care of with a sight setting...if everything else remains so consistent that the bullet rises the same amount at each shot.

CM