Thread: Teaching newbie target shooters to use a scope

What are the best ways you guys have found to do this ?

We run a intro to target shooting series and so far it has mostly been focussed on aperture sights. Put the rifle on a rest, explain how to line up the aiming mark circle on the target with the front and rear rings, and then focus on good trigger pull. Easy, peasy...

For some reason it seems much harder to get newbies to understand how to shoot using a scope.

Interested to hear what works for you...

Ensure correct head position to get clear sight picture, no black half moons etc
Focus the eyepiece for their eye
Check parallax,wobble head with no target movement

Later on we'd need to teach them about MOA, which way the turrets move etc, but this is just to get them shooting consistently...

thought it would come rather naturally to most people ? just don't get too close to end up with a half moon somewhere other than looking through the scope was pretty much all the instruction my soon to be brother in law gave me when i started shooting with a scope

Depends a bit on the discipline you are trying to teach and to what accuracy levels you are expecting to teach.

If you are wanting to get them to just hit a small bore target then don't worry too much about perfect parallax, focus and exact positioning. If you are trying to teach them extreme accuracy them I suspect that there is a lot you need them to master before things like exact parallax will be noticeable in the scores or practical accuracy.

For example, there is a lot more to "Ensure correct head position to get clear sight picture, no black half moons etc". Rifle fit makes a significant difference to a persons ability to shoot a rifle well and even more difference when you start talking extreme accuracy.

What is the purpose of you targets shooting class? Is it understand the basics or amateur coaching? When you say target shooting are you talking small bore, f-class, 3 or 4 position, running target, etc.?

We used to mount an eye blind on scopes, found newbies could concentrate on looking and shooting 1st, rather than the effort of closing one eye/screwing up face, etc.



Made mine out of an old 2l milk jug.

Good point Gillie, it is fullbore, pretty much intro to the sport. We want to give them a taste and if they are keen, start teaching the basics.

Some of the guys have never fired a rifle before, so can't make any assumptions.

Yep, ok. Probably more important to get them shooting consistently first and then try and teach them the finer details. I assume you have them off a bipod and not sling shooting.

Sort out eye dominance first, a pointed finger and winking soon sorts out who is going to be difficult! If they have clear vision in the eye associated with their master hand then I suggest patches over winking. Kscott, the "eye blind" is an eye dominance issue and is common for both open sights and scopes.

Sort out rifle fit second - they have to be able to lie there comfortable for an extended time period they have to be able to do this before they have to have perfect vision through the scope - things like parallax might make you miss by a MOA, bad rifle fit will put you off the target on a regular basis. Bad fit will make coaching bloody hard as you won't be able to trust what they tell you from one shot to the next (i.e. their ability to call a shot is compromised as they are constantly fighting to be comfortable and trying not be beaten up by the recoil). Things like parallax, focus and "shadows" mean nothing if you consistently look through the centre of the scope.

Try and match students with rifles belonging to someone with a similar stature? To at least try and get the fit halfway close? Focus the scope with them with a piece of white paper in front of the scope. Don't worry about parallax. Use MIL scopes as the maths is far easier to explain. I find peaked caps really good because as a coach because if I see the peak out over the scope I know they are too close and if the peak doesn't get close to the scope they are too far back. You could mark the stock at the scope eye relief point if you want. If they are recoil shy start them sitting at a bench instead of prone. Sitting will allow their body to move back with the recoil whereas prone the body pretty much absorbs it all.

Teach good trigger control and natural point of aim above everything else.

Absolutely agree about sorting out eye dominance, we just used the blind before the test to get people behind the trigger, shoot, hit the target, get the smile on the face and then go "ok, want to shoot more... ?"

I think what you are aiming at doing is giving them a good 1st experience to hopefully hook them in to the sport .
So I woud not use a lot of ammo , its not needed , once they have hit the tiny target a few times , stop them on that high , ie quite while a head .

Me , I take all the rifles are adjusted for the range you are shooting , so to me , all thats really required is to get the new shooter to line up the crosshair with the center of the target
and squeeze the trigger to ensure a hit .
Before this I would have them adjust the diopler focus to suit their eye , tell them to say stop when the crosshair is in sharp focus , they should be either aiming at clouds or a blank piece of A4 paper put in front of them , on a range with others the A4 white paper will do fine .
Know show them a drawing with the crosshair centered as it should be on the target & explain that you want them to put the center part of the reticle on the center of the target , it pays to point to the exact spot on your drawing , as some will think you use a different part of the reticle , avoid all confusion .
Then I would set the para knob to the range , some scopes have range markings , this makes setting a little easier , and get them to say when the image is in sharp focus .
tell them the recoil is not alot , but it does have more push than say a 22LR .
have the rifle fully supported , front and rear ( either bags , bipods , rests etc ) , so its no effort for them to maintain hold , shoulder touching with slight pressure , and tell them when the reticle center is aligned with the center of the target , fire , with tgt rifles , they will not have to worry with heavy pulls etc .
So they have something to take away with them either have a photo taken of their shots on target , or the actual target center .

Later Chris

As a newbie myself I had the rifle sighted onto the target by my more experienced, younger, shooter.
Then I lay down on the rifle getting my body positioned correctly, including my head position so I could see the target.
Found I had to raise the bipod legs as I couldn't get as low to the ground and put a board under the rear bag.

Of course, because of my eye sight I'm shooting kack-handed, left hand set up on a right hand rifle.

Once we had that sorted I could fire my first shots. A 10 shot detail, score 55.2 at 300 yards.
Enough to have me try again the following weekend at 600 yards, 56.1.
Perhaps I should stop while I'm ahead.

My lessons.
Get the rifle set up on the target, then get the shooter to position correctly, then get them to sight the target through the scope. Then fire.

Get them to fire a couple of dry shots before live rounds to establish a bit of open eye follow through even if you don't call it that. Tell them the scope should be about 3 finger widths from their eyebrow and to check with a salute - could save a nasty surprise on the first shot.



Use a large exit pupil for a start. eg 44mm obj @6x = 8mm. Even bigger would make it easier.
To use anything less than 4mm you need stock fit pretty good.

Don't try and teach them much technique, just keep an eye on the basics of equipment set up so they don't have to contend with some simple but screwy maladjustment that they won't recognise.

Have the reticle (ocular focus knob) preset up by someone with pretty normal vision ie not short or long sighted. With a fine target hair a little bit of unfocus from the last shooter can make it very hard.
Most people will be using their ordinary glasses or contact lens so won't need it adjusted much away from zero dioptre. If they have trouble looking through the edge of their glasses at an angle and they are just short sighted try shooting without glasses and refocus the reticle against a piece of white card. Recommend people wear their contacts rather than glasses first time they come.

Check the scope's parallax (target focus) is set more or less right for the range they are shooting at - that should enable them to see target fairly clearly. Specially important if shooting at a short range like 25 yd.

Check the sight settings are right for the range and not been wound way out by the last shooter. Adjust windage for them yourself to make sure its the correct turret that's adjusted.

Well just send them over to PRC.



From my experience new ppl do not realise the eye has to be a certain distance from the scope so they get a black ring, or moon and dont know its wrong and dont shoot well. So when I lie down with someone its one of the first things I try and remember to explain.

Thanks guys, lots of very good points and useful tips

Originally Posted by steven

Well just send them over to PRC.

The idea is that the clubs work together (WRA initiative)... Training people to shoot better and encouraging new members benefits us ALL.