James Burton

When diving into the world of precision rifle shooting, there are many things to consider if you want to advance professionally or simply in skill level. We recently sat down with precision rifle shooter Jeremy Tye to discuss precision rifle shooting tips for beginners. You can read Part 1 and Part 2 here. In this interview, we expand beyond the basics to learn some more precision rifle shooting tips, and what it takes to take your shooting to the next level. We discuss the importance of being able to factor for wind, proper shooting position, and how to best support your rifle while shooting, the correct way to use a tripod, and more. As far as background, Jeremy Tye is an active duty LEO in the Southwest US with over ten years of experience, including several years as a full-time firearms instructor. Jeremy has been actively involved in shooting sports since he was a young child. He focuses on precision rifle disciplines, shooting NRL, NRL Hunter, PRS, and Quantified Performance Gas Gun matches. You can find more of Jeremy's content on the CCWSafe and Firearms Trainers Association blogs. Q: Jeremy, when it comes to precision rifle shooting tips, what is the biggest thing separating a beginner from someone more skilled? Jeremy Tye - The biggest differentiator between an amateur shooter and a capable shooter in terms of skill level, not necessarily experience, is their ability to call wind on the fly. When you are starting with precision rifle shooting, one of the biggest things you deal with is wind, learning how wind affects a bullet in-flight, and the signs you need to look at from the shooter's position and downrange to make that initial wind call. First off, we need to make clear that we run guns in terms of 'miles per hour.' If we're both shooting a stage, I should not be asking you what your wind hold was on the target in terms of Mils or Minutes. I should not be asking, "hey, was your hold .6 or .7?" Rather, I should be asking you if you were running the wind at 5, 7, or 9 miles per hour. That speed translates to all guns, all calibers, all bullets, as a hold is only specific for your individual rifle/bullet combination. It might not have anything to do with mine. I think that for beginner shooters, this is what they need to learn first. They need to ask, "hey, what was that guy running his wind hold at?" Once they know that, it will give them that initial information on what their hold should be. Q: Knowing the rough speed of the wind is just the start, correct? Jeremy Tye - Correct. A very capable shooter has the ability to alter that wind call on-the-fly. Let's say that you started a stage and you gave me a pretty good starting point of 7 miles per hour, and that jives with what I was thinking. Now, when I get up on the stage and I shoot the first two targets, I realize that the 7 miles per hour hold is not working. My ability to alter that wind hold on-the-fly and not fall in love with that 7 miles per hour number and lock into it for the rest of the targets is what is going to separate me from everybody else. High-level shooters will attack a stage, and if the wind is switch-y, tricky, or has not been consistent all day, you might see them miss the first target, but you won't see them miss the rest because they will take the data and knowledge of that first shot miss and use it to alter their hold on the entire array of targets after that. They can do that because they are quick with the math in their head, and can see that miss clearly through the scope because they have built a good position behind the gun, and they can track that bullet in flight. So, to recap, you've got to be able to alter your wind call on-the-fly, understanding what is going on with the bullet in flight. You have to recognize visual cues and then apply the necessary changes for the rest of the targets. To do all of this, you need to build an excellent, really stable position behind the rifle. Q: So, it sounds like the key is to get yourself in a position where you can look through your scope and see the bullet as it heads downrange? Jeremy Tye - That's correct. Now, when you are shooting prone, it's easy to get firm behind the gun, and if you are shooting steel at a distance – 600, 1,000, 1,400 yards – it's also easy to see the bullet in flight, or 'trace,' through your rifle scope after you've broken a shot. Now, while it's easy to build a good position while prone in order to control recoil and watch that bullet in the air, it's not quite as easy to do from a barricaded position – standing, kneeling, sitting, off a prop, off natural terrain, or off a tripod. In those cases, your position isn't as structurally sound. Recoil beats you up a bit more, and you get more movement on the gun and in the scope. However, just because it's hard to build a good position does not mean it is impossible. A good shooter is still going to be able to build a good position in order to see that bullet in-flight and watch the wind push their bullet around in real-time. Remember that by seeing the bullet, they don't have to wait for a splash in the dirt behind a target that indicates a miss. Sure, splash is a good indicator, but it might not always be there. Imagine a situation where a target is silhouetted upon a skyline, or hidden in brush or grass. If you miss, you're not going to see that poof of dust like you would on a nice, manicured range. Q: Very briefly, can ammo selection help a shooter better manage the wind? Jeremy Tye - With the quality of guns being produced and the consistency of ammunition from the factory and handloaders, everyone is pretty much on an equal playing field. There are still some calibers (medium 6's like 6mm BRA, 6mm BRX, 6mm GT) that have a pretty significant recoil advantage, which can help shooters who want to spend a bit extra. They recoil less, so it is easier to see the bullet in flight. However, the flipside is that they're going to get beat up more in the wind because they're not going as fast as the big 6s and the big 6.5's, so it's a bit of a tradeoff. If you get good at calling the wind and you're good at building a position, you can take advantage of those medium 6s, but if you're not great at that stuff, the 6mm BRA, 6mm BRX, 6mm GT don't really give you that much of an advantage. Q: So, we've discussed wind. Before we move forward and discuss building a position, can you describe some of the barriers you shooting from? Jeremy Tye - The sky is the limit when it comes to barricades. As the sport has evolved, match directors have become more creative about what props, challenges, and obstacles they present to the shooters…PRS barricades are a very traditional prop to shoot off of. Then you have tank traps, which have a bunch of shooting positions. Traditionally, you shoot off the tips of those three prongs, and you can also shoot off the center where the posts are screwed together. Vehicles are also pretty popular, too. Guys will bring out rusty old cars, trucks , and farm equipment. Rooftops are also traditional props. Most people think of sitting on the incline and putting their rifle at the peak of the roof. However, as match directors have tried to make things more complicated, they'll turn the rooftop 90 degrees left or right so that you're shooting at an angle, having to lay on your side to shoot the rifle. Or, they'll turn the roof all the way around, and you'll shoot off the decline. Depending on the angle of the rooftop, that can be very, very difficult. So most shooters have resorted to shooting that by using a tripod. They'll put the tripod out in front of the rooftop and sit their butt on the rooftop. We'll talk more about tripods in a bit…Finally, depending on what kind of match you go to, we'll shoot off natural terrain as well. Q: Does your approach change depending on what barriers you shooting off of? Jeremy Tye - When building a position, it does not matter what kind of prop or barricade or natural terrain you're shooting off of. Instead, you apply fundamentals to every situation. Basically, you are going to support the rifle in one of two ways. Let's first focus on approaching a barricade using a balanced position and then move on to the other way. Q: Sounds good. So, tell me about the balanced position… Jeremy Tye - The first way you can support the rifle is in the center, a balanced position… you'll throw a bag up on a barricade and balance the rifle over the bag. Generally, that balance point is right in front of the magwell. This is why gun setup matters. You want to build a balanced rifle so that if you throw a bag up onto any prop, you could balance your rifle on top of that bag, step away from the gun and let the rifle balance on that bag naturally without any support. What's nice is you can apply this center support position to just about any barricade - a PRS barricade, a sawhorse, ladder, vehicle, the bed rail of a truck…The barricade does not matter. You pick a spot to throw a support bag, and you put your rifle on top of that. From that position, You are going to try to get behind that rifle and build as close to a modified prone position as you can. The goal is to be able to break a shot of that position and still be able to track the bullet and the trace while it is in flight. Then, if necessary, you can then apply a correction to the rest of your shots. Q: You mention "modified prone position." Can you clarify a bit about prone vs. modified prone? Jeremy Tye - There are fundamentals to shooting from the prone position that your readers should know. For example, I want my spine to be in-line with the bore of the rifle, the bore of the barrel to the target. I want to separate my feet a comfortable distance. I want to get my ankles down on the deck. I turn my toes out, which increases my contact with the ground and increases my stability. I want my shoulders squared up behind the stock of the rifle as close to a 90-degree angle as possible. ...