Hey guys and gals,

I'm fairly new to rifle shooting, and very new to AR shooting. I just bought my first AR  two and a half weeks ago. It's a DPMS carbine with a heavy 1:9 barrel that served in Iraq as a contractor rifle. It is set up with mil spec, removable carry handle and the front triangle gasblock/sight. Up until now I have been shooting a polytech m-14s, which I can't say enough good things about, except the dollar per trigger pull, lol.

My iron sight marksmanship has been getting better and better. My brother and I went to Leeds yesterday. It's one of those free 100 yd ranges on a national forest down in Chester SC. I shot my first 1 1/2 inch three shot group, and a 4 inch 5-shot group while I was there (both at 100 yds). Three of those 5 we're very close, with two stragglers.... Which seems to be par for the course for me. I think maybe it's a patience issue. I.e. It's easy to stay patient for three shots, but that patients wains for the last two. Does anyone have any tips or drills that they like to use for creating more consistency as you try to shoot groups with more shots? I.e 3shot groups to 5 shot groups to 10 shot groups.

I just incorporated the 6-o'clock hold into my routine, and that def shrank my spread. My preferred ammo right now is federal xm193 ball...until I build up a healthy pile of lake city brass for reloading. I'm really interested in buying a 20 inch upper for CMP service rifle comps. So, I'm very interested in maximizing my iron sight precision. Hope everyone is having a great Wednesday!

Welcome,

1. Dry fire.

2. Get your partner to load random ball and dummy for you.

3. Get to a match as soon as you can.

Enjoy,
Keith

Hey Keith,

My name is also Keith! Too funny!

So I am very on board with the dry fire, and as far as getting to a match ASAP ... I am currently motivating my buddies into wanting to do some HP, and eventually service rifle (we all currently have carbines) and Appleseed sounds like a blast too!

Please elaborate on what you mean by "load random ball and dummy for me" . Not something I've heard before, and I love to learn about my hobbies.

Thanks so much,

Also Keith

... And also 3-gun, cause ... Awesomeness abounds there!

So, I googled "random ball and blank drill" I think it's pretty genius.

For those like me who want to know what it is:
1) have your shooting partner load your clip for you
2) they randomly load snap caps, in unpredictable frequency
3)  YOU shoot your gun as per usual, and when that snap cap comes up you can see how
       your shooting fundamentals affect your rifle... Because there is no boom, and therefore
       no recoil.

My first intuition on this drill is that your FOLLOW THROUGH will be very important. If you have no follow through it will be impossible to judge the movement of your gun as you pull the trigger. So make sure that you continue to pay strict attention to your sights each time you pull your trigger. So really this drill shouldn't just improve your set up and pull, but your attention and follow through as well.

Does anyone else have any useful tips or drills that they find to be useful???

 

Getting a good consistent position is very important. Natural point of aim is a good term to learn. You want to be in a position where your body wants to naturally rest, you don't want to be using your muscles to force the sights on target.
Appleseed shoots are a great training opportunity.

That 9" twist barrel is handicapping you to use only a maximum of bullets weighing in the mid sixty grains. Most NRA and CMP shooters are using 68, 69, 77, 80, 80.5, and 82 gr bullets.
Next barrel, get either 7" or 8" twist.

Get a 20" upper.  Doesn't matter A2 or A4.  If you're serious about shooting irons, then get it with a free floated front guard and (smaller) match rear apertures.  You can find used NM A2's for sale for a good price as a lot of older service rifle shooters are transitioning to optic upper.  CMP rules changed in 2016 which allowed up to 4.5x optics.  There's still nothing wrong with irons in good hands will still win the match.  There is a ton of difference between the rifle and carbine upper esp. with irons due to the sight radius.  Check out the EE here or on Nationalmatch.us

Nose to the charging handle

I do this without a partner.  I load 3 magazines with a random mix of live/dummy combination.  I mix the magazines up.  I shoot 2 magazines and unload the 3rd so it's still random for me even though I loaded the mags.

This is good to spray on your front sight.  It blackens the sight to reduce glare, more contrast, and a sharper focus.
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