Thread: Offhand

50-60 metres on rabbits, out to 150 on deer etc. Consistent offhand shooting is a technique that takes time to develop, involving stance, breathing, and trigger control. Ping-pong balls with an air rifle out to about 25 metres is good practice. You are wasting time and ammo to try offhand shooting with a poor trigger. You need a clean break at exactly the right time to get results. Nobody can hold a rifle still offhand, experience, breathing and trigger control is the secret.

I shoot Hunter Field Target with PCP airrifles. The furthest off hand target has a 40mm kill at 32m and that is pretty hard to hit consistently. It takes practice on technique, a calmness you won't have if you just trotted up an incline and a finely set trigger. So with a powerful hit-anywhere-to-kill-caliber maybe you can stretch it to maybe 60m, but if you shoot a smaller caliber, want a clean kill and maybe preserve the meat, i would stick to maybe 30m. On the UK forums they shoot rabbits with 12 fpe airguns but they hit them between the eye and the ear with a direct brainshot, rested out to something like 40m max.

Originally Posted by gundoc

50-60 metres on rabbits, out to 150 on deer etc. Consistent offhand shooting is a technique that takes time to develop, involving stance, breathing, and trigger control. Ping-pong balls with an air rifle out to about 25 metres is good practice. You are wasting time and ammo to try offhand shooting with a poor trigger. You need a clean break at exactly the right time to get results. Nobody can hold a rifle still offhand, experience, breathing and trigger control is the secret.

Practice doing it, is the only way! My go to practice was liter water bottles at 100m, and my method was to move onto the bottle and shoot, not spend time trying to be steady on it.Did hundreds of them, would steal bottles out of bins for ongoing supply. Got Chas Forsythe exited down at the Bruce range a lot of years ago (yes i've been there,and not a redneck nutbar in sight) offhand shooting liter coke bottles with a 300 Weatherby at 200m. (Wood blued Vangard with a basic 3-9x40 Dusk and Dawn) Should never have sold that rifle, it hit everything I ever aimed at and it killed every animal ever shot at.