Thread: Shooting without a bipod

The restless foot, the angle, or the spread?

Just by bending a knee and drawing a leg up will work as a brace to take the roll out of your body,

A comfortable prone position for me on a down slope is to lie with my feet forward pointing at a slight angle to the rifle barrel and body slightly bent to shoulder the rifle. Shoot a lot of rabbits like this as I walk down a steep centre race that falls away on both sides into valleys

Ah the old fashioned cocked leg prone. I've tried most shooting positions & settled on the straight leg prone for me, I experience no discomfort lying flat and find it better for consistently finding npoa & for recoil control, it's also more practical off a flat range imo & I have no more instability in that position than cocked leg. It's a more relaxed position and muscle tension = bad when shooting. imo. Anyone else have thoughts/experience on leg position when prone?

I tend to spread a little wide though & occasionally get a restless foot....

I shoot very similar to you Pete.
I adopt a machine gunners prone position allowing the recoil to travel a sort of straight line thru my whole body.
I was trained to shoot a modified Hawkins position in the Army and it has worked well for me so I have never changed it.
You could run a straight line from the muzzle down to my right heel.
It also gives me room to elevate or depress my muzzle for steep shots with the rear of the stock supported.

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What Maca was describing is the Estonian position. Takes the pressure off the diaphram.
This Smallbore Business by Brooksie January 2014 | Target Shooter Magazine

Originally Posted by zimmer

What Maca was describing is the Estonian position. Takes the pressure off the diaphragm.
This Smallbore Business by Brooksie January 2014 | Target Shooter Magazine

Which lead to a version as modified by the Yanks where the right leg is bent and drawn up which raises the diaphragm off the ground and is overall more steady than the older prone positions.

The thing I find annoying is that I seldom have a pack that is completely full so end up just packing it with stuff I don't really need.
Do most people have a framed pack or just pack it out with a jacket or other bulky item?

Shooting off a bipod certainly isn't perfect though, it can be a huge pain in the ass when shooting in tall grass, or on uneven ground (like in the mountains).
I found that a bipod was useful for long range shots were time to find a suitable position was available, and practice prone with a sling or sitting.
I don't think I have shot any large game off a bipod, most have been prone without one or standing. But with rabbits and magpies and the like I use one almost exclusively.

Would definitely agree that practice shooting from multiple positions (especially standing/off hand) is your best bet and just use whatever fits the situation.
Shooting offhand sucks when you aren't use to it, but it's amazing how good you get after a brick of 22lr ammo.

dry bag packed up tight with your gear (first aid kit, jacket, warm layers etc) in the bottom of the pack makes a solid rest even with a half empty pack.

Now shooting off a solid object such as a tree or post, I always get my hand to cushion between the object and the stock, never have the stock in direct contact. Correct?

Originally Posted by gimp

Ah the old fashioned cocked leg prone. I've tried most shooting positions & settled on the straight leg prone for me, I experience no discomfort lying flat and find it better for consistently finding npoa & for recoil control, it's also more practical off a flat range imo & I have no more instability in that position than cocked leg. It's a more relaxed position and muscle tension = bad when shooting. imo. Anyone else have thoughts/experience on leg position when prone?

Bring the leg up cocked and breath into your stomach instead of chest.
That's why it was done. My Grandad taught me that. He taught a load of WW2 guys before they went off. He was WW1 vet. Nice guy had some pretty mean burn marks on his body from mustard gas though.

You're talking about unsupported prone which is different to supported prone & the cocked leg prone offers less recoil control for followup shots & self spotting. I can find no accuracy advantage to cocked leg over straight leg when shooting supported prone, have those declaring cocked leg prone to be "correct" tested both?

Additionally if one does not have a beer gut, one does not have such a desperate need to cock the leg. Just sayin'

Twitchy bugger alright. 😆


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