Gun Review: Adams Arms C.O.R. Ultra Lite Rifle

By Nick Leghorn on November 27, 2014

Over the last couple years, there has been no bigger influence on the firearms market than the emerging sport of 3-gun shooting. As the number of participants has skyrocketed, so too has the number of rifle manufacturers producing firearms to feed that voracious market. Everyone and their brother has a rifle optimized for 3-gun shooting these days, and figuring out which rifle manufacturers have got their heads screwed on straight and actually understand the challenges of the sport can be a challenge. Adams Arms recently introduced a line of rifles specifically designed for 3-gun shooting, and they sent one to me to test out.

The name for their line of high-speed low-drag rifles is “Competition Optic Ready” or “COR.” The way they market these rifles is that the guns are designed and built by pro 3-gun shooters, and therefore the only thing you need to do after it shows up on your FFL’s doorstep is to add the optic of your choice. When it comes to optics, some people like red dots. Others like massive 3-9x power scopes. It’s all a matter of preference, but what generally isn’t contested is the overall design of a great 3-gun rifle. The details are up for debate, but if the overall package is solid then you should be good to go. In general, it looks like the COR line has lived up to those specs.

The tagline for this specific rifle is “Ultra Lite,” indicating that it was designed with an eye towards shedding as many ounces as possible. One of the first things to be sacrificed in the name of shedding weight is the buttstock, and Adams Arms has gone with a Magpul MOE fixed rifle stock instead of a more traditional ACS-L or even PRS stock. It’s definitely lightweight, and for me personally I find it to be the exact right length to fit my body, but it’s not perfect for everyone. You trade off weight savings for comfort, but in general this stock should fit most people just fine.

Moving slightly forward, we come to the fire controls. Adams Arms has been using the Hiperfire triggers for ages now, and personally I’m a fan. They are easy to tune and offer a crisp and clean break, which is a huge improvement over the standard mil-spec garbage that most companies half-heartedly shove in their firearms on their way out the door. The trigger is one of the most important bits on a rifle, and I’m glad to see that the Adams Arms guys haven’t skimped.

The other fire controls are acceptably nice as well. The safety selector is right-hand only, but lefties can easily swap that out if need be. The grip is a Magpul MOE grip, which isn’t as nifty as a MIAD but it’s perfectly fine. There’s a plastic trigger guard (again, weight savings taking a priority here) underneath, but only a standard charging handle up top. The rifle also comes in a variety of paint jobs, for those wanting to stand out visually. Or you can get it in plain black and be boring.

The real nifty stuff, though, is out front.

The rifle sports a 16.5 inch barrel, and a Samson free float handguard surrounding it. Samson makes some good stuff, but they are still using semi-proprietary screw-in rail segments when the rest of the industry seems to be quickly moving to either keymod or M-LOK based rail mounting systems. It somewhat limits your choices when it comes to sticking things on your gun, but for 3-gun you’re going to want to be running as slick as possible anyway.

The muzzle brake is a competition legal VDI Jet comp, which does a fine job of mitigating the recoil of the 5.56 NATO based platform. The gun is rather lightweight, so while the “punishing recoil” of a 5.56 cartridge would normally not be an issue it becomes slightly more annoying in a featherweight gun. With the brake installed the recoil is still a touch heavier than in my usual competition rifle, but it isn’t terrible.

The real difference between any old rifle and an Adams Arms rifle is the gas system. Adams Arms uses a short stroke piston system instead of a direct impingement / gas expansion system like the normal AR-15 rifles, which seems to keep the gun cleaner and operating longer than with conventional systems. Of all the short stroke piston systems on the market I like the Adams Arms adaptation best, simply because it is a dead simple design executed very well that is incredibly easy to disassemble and clean.

For their COR rifle, Adams Arms has designed a low-mass bolt carrier. Havng a lighter bolt carrier does slightly reduce he overall weight of the gun, but the real benefit is that a light bolt carrier requires less force to move around than a standard BCG, which means reduced felt recoil due to the operating parts moving around. It’s a good theory, but in practice it still seems to have some issues. The first time they sent me the COR rifle the gun refused to cycle — it would eject the spent cartridge but fail to pick up the next round off the magazine. It’s a classic symptom of an under-gassed operating system, but even running the adjustable gas block in the widest setting available the gun wouldn’t cycle. Adams Arms’ guns are all under a lifetime warranty, so I sent it back and the one they returned worked perfectly. It would be nice if it had worked the first time, but they made it right so I’m not that concerned.

What does concern me, though, is the barrel.

This is a “lightweight” rifle build, which means they have taken every ounce out of the gun that could possibly be removed. From a low mass carrier to a lightweight buttstock, there’s nothing left on the rifle that is extraneous. So when it comes to the barrel, the same thing has been done — to disastrous results.

With barrels, despite what some people might believe, the length of the barrel doesn’t have any appreciable impact on accuracy. Long or short, it doesn’t matter that much. What does matter, however, is the quality of the barrel. A stiff short barrel will do wonders for accuracy, but a skinny long barrel is damn near useless past 100 yards. With the Adams Arms COR Ultra Lite rifle the barrel has been profiled down to a pencil thin strip of steel containing the expanding gasses, and as a result the barrel has a tendency to whip around a bit when firing. In fact, the barrel is so thin that I can make it deflect about a half an inch at the muzzle using nothing more than my thumb and forefinger. That barrel movement translates into some painfully dreadful results downrange.

This five round group was shot at 100 yards off a rest, and is the best group I had all day out of the gun. The extreme spread of the group is right around 2 MoA, which is OK for a off-the-shelf bargain bin rifle but terrible for a “competition” gun. I take that back — it’s terrible, depending on what you need it to do.

It seems like this gun was designed for the 3-Gun Nation series courses of fire, where the furthest targets are 6 inch steel plates at 50 yards and the whole point is to go really really fast. In that situation, this gun wouldn’t be too bad. It cycles quickly, recoil isn’t bad, and the light weight means you have less mass to lug around with you through corners and around tight bends. It should do just fine in that environment.

The problems start when you move out into the “real” world of 3-gun. 3GN matches are designed to look good on camera, but th average 3-gun match is much different. I don’t think I’ve ever been to a match that didn’t have at least one difficult 100 yard shot, and testing the shooter’s ability to transition from quick close-range targets to small long range targets in a single stage is something that match designers love to do. The best plan for those kinds of matches is to bring an accurate rifle, as the more accurate your rifle is the less accurate you need to be. When seconds count and you need to take a less than ideal shot from a compromised shooting position, having a smaller “cone of uncertainty” with your rifle means you can get good hits with an okay sight picture instead of needing to be dead-on every single time. It saves time, and in matches where the targets can be 500+ yards away it can make all the difference.

There’s nothing necessarily “bad” about the AA COR Ultra Lite rifle, the designers have simply made some compromises in order to maximize one statistic over another. In this case they prized a lightweight gun over a super accurate gun, and the result is what you see here. This is a rifle that would be absolutely perfect for the 3GN style matches or most east coast based 3-gun clubs, but for anything in Texas or Arizona (where the long range stuff is king) I wouldn’t even want to try running it with this gun. The only real problem is the barrel — if the guys at Adams Arms had used a slightly thicker profile (and therefore increased the weight a touch) it would be a much better all-around gun, but then it wouldn’t have been as light.

No gun will be all things to all people — all guns make some trade-offs. In this case, the trade-off wasn’t advantageous for me in Texas. But if you’re looking for a featherweight AR-15 rifle with a great piston system that’s ready to go for short range 3-gun matches, this is a great choice.

Specifications: Adams Arms C.O.R. Ultra Lite Rifle

Caliber: 5.56 NATO
Action: Semi-auto
Barrel: 16.5″
Magazine: Standard AR-15
MSRP: $1,799.61

Ratings (out of five stars):

Accuracy: * *
For the price, definitely sub-par. But then again, that was by design.

Ergonomics: * * * *
Lightweight and maneuverable, this thing is definitely very cool. It loses a point for the fixed rifle stock, though.

Ease of Use: * * * * *
Light recoiling, easy to disassemble gas system, and dead nuts simple field stripping make this a breeze to use.

Reliability: * * * *
I have to knock off a point because the gun didn’t work out of the box, but a trip back to Adams Arms and they fixed it. Zero malfunctions since the trip to the shop.

Customization: * * * *
I’d really love to see a slightly thinner handguard with some keymod or M-LOK attachment points. The Samson rail is cool, but keymod is cooler.

Overall Rating: * * *
This one was really hard for me to decide. I like almost everything about this gun — the stock, handguard, and trigger are all quality stuff, the piston system is really nifty, and even the bolt carrier is decidedly cool. But I think they went a step too far with the barrel profile, and traded off too much accuracy in the pursuit of weight savings. For a 3GN shooter this might be perfect, but for the average Joe dropping over a grand and a half on a competition rifle they need to use it in more than one hyper-specialized subset of 3-gun. As an ultra-light rifle this is a great choice, but it isn’t versatile enough to use for any other purpose. I’d be less disappointed if there were a version with a slightly heavier (and more accurate) barrel available as well, but alas this is all Adams Arms has at the moment for the C.O.R. line.

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S&T Daewoo K11: The Dual Barrel Monster

S&T Daewoo K11 DAW or Dual-barrer Air-burst Weapon is an assualt rifle equipped to fire 5.56x45mm NATO rounds and also is capable of firing 20x30mm air-burst smart grenade from a launcher which is topped over the barrel. Grenades which can be used with K11 DAW smart grenade launcher can be set to either detonate immediately on impact with a solid target or have time fuse which is triggered after the impact.

Soldier holding the k11 assault rifle

“Smart” capability of this fine weapon is special function integrated into weapon’s electronics that can be used to explode a shell few meters away of the target. Shell will produce air-burst-effect capable of destroying targets within 6m, and incapacitating others at 8m area. Using a smart shells give uncanny advantage on the battlefield as it can destroy targets in buildings, behind walls or in trenches with a press of a button.

But this high-tech weapon comes at a steep pricing tag: first order went to the United Arab Emirates – 40 K11 assault rifles were purchased for evaluation purpose and single unit cost was estimated around 14,000 US dollars.

source:  http://weaponsmedia.com/st-daewoo-k11-dual-barrel-monster/

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3 Tips to Turn a Profit with Your Outdoor Passions

The 2014 State of the American Workplace survey by Gallup found that nearly 70 percent of U.S. workers are disengaged in their jobs. Stated more bluntly, a vast majority of Americans hate the places they’re forced to be for 40-plus hours per week to keep a roof over their heads and food on the table.

Few people are privileged enough to wake up every day and do a job they also consider a hobby. Avid outdoorsmen have many opportunities to turn their favorite activities into money-making endeavors. Granted, it’s likely to take several years and a lot of commitment to turn those passions into careers lucrative enough to support the family. That being said, here are three tips to start earning part-time cash from your hobbies.

GUN CLEANING & ASSEMBLY

A 2014 General Social Survey by the University of Chicago found that American gun ownership reached lows not seen since 2010. Despite the downward trend, Pew Research Center data found that more Americans think protecting gun rights is more important than controlling gun ownership. First-time gun owners are aplenty and continue increasing in numbers as Democrats have made gun control their capstone issue since Obama took the White House in 2008.

Gun maintenance is important to ensure reliable firing when that emergency moment arises. Disassembling, oiling and reassembling your personal firearms is a simple process when you’ve done it several times before. But new gun owners, who have a 9mm in their nightstand drawers to protect their homes, are likely not as diligent with maintenance. In fact, many first-timers let their firearms sit around and gather dust for years without ever moving them.

Offer your gun cleaning and assembly expertise to newbies. Use Craigslist, Facebook and other social media platforms to inform friends and locals of your services. A great way to make continuous, residual income is by setting up a simple WordPress website. Make instructional videos about cleaning guns, and post supplemental written instructions. Add royalty-free musicbackgrounds to make the videos more professional. Free WordPress plugins like Wishlist allow you to charge members for this premium content.

The amount of money you make is determined by how much you charge and how frequently you update content on your website.

FISHING CLUBS

Let’s face it: pride sometimes interferes with a man’s ability to ask for help when needed. But there’s a lot more to gain from joining a fishing club than advice from other fishermen.

Join a local B.A.S.S. club by contacting the president of your state’s Federation Nation chapter directly. Members are allowed to participate in tournaments with cash prizes. Some have buy-in fees, but it takes money to make money no matter the type of business.

Club members have the opportunity to make and sell their own lures, jigs and weights, too. Anglers are always looking for the newest, most-effective bait. Fishing clubs give you an instant customer base to sell high-demand items.

COACHING

USA Archery, the Olympic governing body for the sport, experienced a 77 percent increase in membership from May 2013-14. Though the organization credits the efforts of several archery associations for the surge, movies like “The Hunger Games” and “The Avengers” have also contributed.

The same techniques used to advertise gun cleaning services can be used to promote your coaching availability. Make certain to highlight your years of experience and even show off photos of all the trophies you’ve accumulated. The more you can demonstrate your competency and proficiency in the sport, the easier it is to secure clients.

You’re unlikely to get rich by turning your hobbies into part-time jobs, but it sure feels good to make extra money doing something you love.

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The Sig Sauer P226 review

Adoptable,  reliable and adjustable, the Sig Sauer 

P226 is a handgun we highly recommend.

This was one of the first ever handguns we had a pleasure to review and is still what keeps our hearts warm at night. The Sig Sauer P226 is a prime choice for first firearm to purchase. It’s highly adoptable, flexible and really comfortable to use. As Sig was initially designed for law enforcer and military usage we can all agree this is a fine piece of equipment.

From 1984, the U.S. Army was trying to replace M1911 A1 Service Pistol and find suitable replacement. It wasn’t untill Beretta 92F and P226 came and gave them performances their required by specialized sidearm. U.S. Army after careful consideration opted for Beretta 92F over P226 but some years later Navy SEALS took P226 and adopted it as their secondary weapon of choice. Even in today’s modern world, law enforcer officer around the world still pick Sig Sauer P226 as their prime sidearm.

Design of the Sig Sauer P226

Double action or single action locked breech with short recoil managed pistol – the Sig Sauer P226 design is what makes it stand out of his competition. Even after first and final part of firing This means that during the first and then the final parts of the firing placement, the gun’s barrel and slide are locked in one place.

High quality materials such as aluminum alloy body and a nitron-coated stainless steel slide are were used while compacting this gun. Usage of these specific materials make these parts stronger and more resistant to high pressure which  .40 S&M and .357 Sig rounds provide. External hammer on this gun can be used by hand and allow for single action mode of the first shot.

For safety feature there is no manual safety we can use but a decocking lever is incorporated to allow the hammer to be decocked safely and just like that user can put it in double action mode. With decocking lever system, this gun is drop-safe, as it protects the firing pin from accidentally hitting and setting gun off.

P228 and P229 are sub variants of P226 and both designs were inspired by P226. We estimate there are 15 different P226 sub variants (“Tactical”, “the Equinox”, “the Navy” and “the MK25”) – to list just a few. Steel staggered double stack magazine is used while designing P226. And for .22 LR version there is a polymer single stack designed magazine.

Wide Selection of Calibers

The P226 is equipped with wide variety of calibers for everybody’s taste. Available calibers are .22 LR, 9mm Parabellum, .40 S&W and .357 Sig. Switching between .40 caliber and .357 is easy with Sig Sauer P226. All you have to do is switch barrels from .40 to .357 and you are ready to fire second caliber from the same gun frame. It’s so easy to do, and fun to play around with.Sig used to steel conversion kits that were available for all versions of the P226 and they allowed caliber changes. Most of them are still accessible for purchase.

Conclusion, the Sig Sauer P226 is a stable, finely crafted handgun that would make any gun owner proud. It is number one purchase for any gun lover and will stay in your good memory for a long time.

Source : http://weaponsmedia.com/sig-sauer-p226-review/

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Secret Service – Secret Weapons

Have you ever wondered what kind of weaponry does Secret Service use? You have? Great,so did we. In this video we will show you exactly which type of rifles and guns are commonly used by Secret Service Agents when pinned down in a difficult spot. Weapon’s Media present to you Secret Weapons of Secret Service video made by FPSRussia:

As we did a showcase video earlier on P90 HERE – we didn’t focus much of our attention to it. It was already clear to us that P90 is a fine piece of weaponry. H&K MP5 was what interested us the most and as it turns out, it seems Secret Service agents also prefer it’s unique firepower and effectiveness on the field.

Which of these fine assault rifles you prefer the best? Weapon’s Media Team is looking forward to your comments!

Read more at http://weaponsmedia.com/secret-service-secret-weapons/

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Solid Concepts 3D Prints Another Metal Gun, ‘Reason’, a 10mm Auto 1911

In yet another move which may send shivers down the spines of law enforcement agencies around the world, while at the same time exciting techies and firearm advocates, Solid Concepts has revealed yet another 3D printed metal gun.

The gun, with the word ‘Reason” printed onto its slide, is chambered in 10mm auto. This new firearm is much more stylish than its predecessor, with a wave-like design printed into the grip, and a gradient of parallel lines throughout the barrel. What will make this 1911 pistol stand out the most, however, is the preamble of the Declaration of Independence printed onto the front of the grip, making a statement obvious to anyone who sees the weapon.
Solid Concepts has not officially released any information on this new pistol, meaning that future plans by the company on whether or not they intend to sell printed copies of this new design like they did with the original 1911, have yet to be announced. Either way, this is another incredible print, one which is sure to be a bit controversial, yet stands out as a symbol of how quickly technology is progressing.

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50BMG Armor Piercing Incendiary -vs- ENGINE

GY6vids – Time to punch some holes into an Engine with 50BMG Sniper Rifle, full of Armor Piercing Incendiary Ammo….This is a fun video, I hope you all Enjoy it…..It took a lot of time and effort to make it happen.

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American Rifle Company – Most Innovative Product of SHOT Show 2014

The firearms industry usually advances through incrementalism … a company just improves over last year’s design somehow by making it lighter, faster, more accurate, higher capacity, more reliable, orincrementally better. It is rare to find a completely fresh, innovative design, but American Rifle Company (ARC) is a young startup that brought a new product to the SHOT Show 2014 that caught a lot of people’s attention. Theodore “Ted” Karagias is a brilliant Mechanical Engineer and President of American Rifle Company. Ted has packed so many innovative features into his new product that it can be a little overwhelming. But hang on tight, because it’s well worth the ride. Here is a video of Ted explaining some of the new features integrated into American Rifle Company’s M2 rifle.

So Ted actually designed the chassis, receiver, bolt, barrel swap system, magazine, trigger, and even the patented scope mounts. Many of his designs are things that have never been done before, like the completely ambidextrous design of both the bolt, and a chassis that can be configured to fold on either side. And he did it all while shaving off 30% of the weight of comparable rifle systems, such asAccuracy International’s PSR. Does this guy ever sleep?

ARC plans for the M2 rifle to retail for $6,000, complete with a ½ MOA accuracy guarantee. They’re working to ship the first rifles in July 2014.

      

Photos from SHOT Show 2014

Let me try to recap some of his product features:

M2 Weapon System, Chassis, Receiver & Bolt

• Multi-caliber platform for 308 Win, 300 Win Mag and 338 Lapua Mag (field-interchangeable)
• ½ MOA accuracy guarantee
• Patented receiver isolation system ensures that as loads are imparted to the chassis they aren’t transferred to the receiver, which preserves the relationship between the scope and the barrel. Unlike most chassis that bolt into the bottom of the receiver, the M2 is pinned from the side with one pin in a hole and pin in a slot that allows for axial compliance.
• Lightest rifle in its class at 12.5 pounds with a 27” barrel with muzzle brake and magazine. That is 5 pounds lighter than the 17.5 pound AI AX PSR.
• Patented ambidextrous folding, adjustable chassis
• Patented ambidextrous bolt
• Ambidextrous AR-style 3 position safety
• Double-stack 10 round, center-feed magazine
• Integral 30 MOA rail
• Integral recoil lug
• Proven Mauser style extractor
• 1903 Springfield ejection system that is completely passive
• Bolt lugs do not need to be lapped, because the bearing surface of the bolt lug is toroidal in shape (think donut) and the inside of the receiver is a spherical shape. The physics behind this innovative new design causes the bolt to automatically find its lowest energy state when the bolt is closed, which is properly aligned and perfectly centered … every time.

Trigger

• Patented trigger design that allows a small trigger pull force (light trigger), small trigger pull distance (i.e. crisp trigger with no creep), while also having a large sear engagement (safe). First trigger with a sear engagement larger than the trigger pull distance. (Read the patent)
• 0.04” of sear engagement (1mm), which is huge by industry standards and adds an addition layer of safety.
• Trigger only moves 0.02” when engaged with no perceptible creep, which is a very small number for that much sear engagement.
• Adjustable down to 2.5 pounds (may make this lower in the future)

source : http://precisionrifleblog.com/2014/01/28/american-rifle-company-m2/

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Low Pro Products Extended M1A Rail

Now here is a rail that I can get behind. Rather than be forced to use a “scout” scope or have to use a complete chassis, Low-Pro Products 15″ extended rail allows the shooter to use their standard optics and provides enough rail real estate to mount all the needed accessories in-line with the optic.

The extended rail mounts in place of the factory 4″ rail on Springfield M1A Scout/Socom rifles. It features a cut down the middle of the rails to allow one to use the factory iron sights. The rail is made of 6061-T6 and anodized to military specifications. 

Check out Low-Pro Products for additional adapters. The extended rail adapter is currently available for ~$197.

Related

- See more at: http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2015/02/25/low-pro-products-extended-m1a/#sthash.7YRxVhDI.dpuf

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How to Snipe or Be a Marksman With a Rifle

Being a good rifle marksman takes a lot of practice, patience, and knowledge. The amount of effort put into training your skills directly affects your ability to use the rifle in any situation, especially while under pressure, such as competition or even combat.

PART 1 - Choose a rifle

1

The rifle must, in all respects, fit the needs of the marksman. Choosing a rifle of insufficient quality or too expensive to shoot may greatly reduce your ability in the field.

• Consider the brand of the rifle. Most brand names are good buys, but, in the current active gun-buying market, can often be overpriced. Shop around, as prices at local dealer and on-line auction prices can vary considerably.
• As a rule of thumb, bolt-action rifles are usually more accurate and have a slightly higher muzzle velocity than an equivalent (price and quality) semi-automatic (auto-loading) rifle. The current crop of AR15 variants have achieved much higher accuracy, and are often advertised as capable of sub-MOA (Minute Of Angle) accuracy. This means they can group shots within one "minute" of angle (roughly 1" at 100 yards) which is competitive with the better bolt guns.
• Faster rifle twist ratios allow for heavier bullets to be shot more accurately through the rifle. For example, a .223 barrel with a twist ratio of 1:12 may only be able to shoot a 40-52 grain bullet accurately, while a barrel with a twist ratio of 1:9 will be able to shoot, accurately, any bullet between 40 and 65 grains, it will also compensate (to a point) the .223's tendency to tumble after penetrating a target.
• There are drawbacks to higher twist ratios though, muzzle velocity may be reduced by a percent or two, there can be extra wear and tear on the barrel, and over-stabilization of the bullet can result in less damage to the target (these are minor drawbacks, however).

PART 2 - Choose a caliber

1. 
   1
   For target practice (AKA "plinking") Always use a .308. Stick to rifle-style rounds (easily identifiable by a necked-down casing, unlike the .22 where the case is the same diameter from end to end). These rounds have a much higher powder to bullet weight ratio, which results in higher muzzle velocities. Of course, if the cost of doing so is too high, .22lr practice will at least get you trigger time with plenty of economy.
2. 
   2
   For competitive target shooting, match-grade ammunition is preferred. It is more consistent and uses higher quality bullets; for plinking, cheap ammunition selection is fine.
3. 
   3
   For small varmint shooting (smaller than coyote – such as squirrels, rabbits, birds, etc), favor the .22lr. Low report (noise) and low recoil make it less likely to startle your prey if you miss, and quicker on follow up shots. Some of the more powerful .224 caliber rounds work quite well and will extend your range well past that of the .22lr.
4. 
   

   
   

   
   
   4
   For large varmint shooting (sizes such as coyotes or even small boar) a .223 round is likely the smallest round you would want to use. Though it is possible to kill this size of animal with smaller rounds, it becomes essential to get a head or heart shot; else the animal may die a slow painful death, or not die at all. Though for smaller animals a round as large as a .308 will be approaching the range of overkill, something in between these sizes is recommended.
5. 
   5
   For wild game (boar, deer, etc) a 6mm to a .30 caliber round will be sufficient to put a good portion of traditional game down quickly(deer, elk, bear, moose and almost anything else). Even a .223 could kill these animals, but with smaller rounds, the bullet precision is much more important. If using smaller diameter rounds for large game, heavier bullets will transfer energy more quickly into the target.
   

   • Larger calibers such as the .338 Winchester Magnum or 45-70 and larger are helpful for use against very large wild game such as buffalo, or dangerous game abroad. However many people will suggest that accuracy is more important for hunting than caliber size, for instance some guides would have a client use a .270 for animals like bear and moose if they can shoot it accurately over a higher powered cartridge like the .300 Winchester Magnum.
6. 
   6
   Though we will be dealing more with targets and animals, if a situation arises which a human must be shot, a .223 round to a vital area is plenty, but a .308 or other .30 caliber round is arguably a better bullet as it will cause more damage if vitals are missed and will impact a human wearing heavy clothing more than the much lighter .223 round.
7. 
   7
   Weight of the bullet is something to consider, but in most situations it matters less than bullet design. Bullet weight is expressed in GRAINS, a common measure of gunpowder and bullet weight.
   

   • Light bullets are often favored for varmint and target shooting. The higher velocity allows a flat trajectory within a couple hundred yards of the muzzle. The bullet reaches the target quicker, so less leading is required as well.
   • Heavier bullets are preferred for game shooting. On contact with target, it delivers more energy in a shorter amount of time (which is more lethal). It may also reduce the likelihood of over-penetration. Over longer distances, due to ballistic coefficients (how streamlined the bullet is as it flies through the air), heavier bullets can produce flatter trajectories than light bullets, and are ultimately less affected by crosswind.
   • An example for a .223 (each caliber and rifle will behave differently): a 42 grain bullet (3700 FPS) at 100 yards (91.4 m) will drop (with no sight-zero) about an inch and a half. At 500 yards (457.2 m), it will drop probably around four feet and maintains about 80% of its velocity. A 65 grain bullet (3000FPS) at 100 yards (91.4 m) will drop two inches, but at 500 yards (457.2 m) will only drop three feet. At 500 yards (457.2 m) the bullet maintains about 85% of its velocity.
   • As a point of interest, if a bullet is dropped from your hand at exactly the same time as the same weight bullet leaves the muzzle of the rifle (fired horizontally to ground), BOTH bullets will hit the ground at the same time. Gravity has the same effect on a bullet that is stationary as it does on a bullet that is flying through the air.

PART 3 - Stay safe

1. 
   1
   Assume ALL firearms are loaded and ready to fire until you personally seethat there is no ammo in the chamber. Insert a yellow plastic "empty chamber indicator" when handling guns.
2. 
   2
   Be aware of your surroundings, specifically in the direction you are shooting. High velocity rifle rounds are capable of traveling miles. Most bullets can easily penetrate drywall in a home.
3. 
   3
   Point your rifle ONLY at something that you intend to shoot. Otherwise, keep the muzzle pointed in a safe direction (at the ground).
4. 
   4
   Keep your finger off the trigger and the safety enabled until you intend to pull the trigger.
5. 
   5
   Ensure that your firearms and ammo are secure from anyone when stored in your home.
6. 
   6
   Be sure you have read and understand How to Handle a Firearm Safely. All the rules should be followed at all times.
7. 
   

PART 4 - Pick a location

1

Pick the right location (keeping safety in mind). You want to be able to position yourself comfortably. When shooting paper targets (and the like), comfort is your number one goal. You want to be able to practice at your optimal performance. When shooting animals, you want to be invisible to them. Even squirrels have a very keen sense of predators (that's you). If they see you, they'll likely run, and it may take several minutes before they brave the open land again.

• With animals, height advantage is good. It allows you to see more area. But be sure to conceal most of your body in a thicket, tall brush, or by crawling.
• With larger game, studying their patterns and location over multiple trips to the same area can be very useful; if you know a deer's escape route is past a long straight path, force them to run their escape, post on the path, and wait for them to cross.

PART 5 - Stance

1. 1
   Bench rest: This is the most accurate stance. Although, this is less of a stance and more of a location of your rifle. This allows your rifle to rest on something other than you or the ground.
   

   • It gives the most stable platform without human input. This allows you to sight in your sights or scope, so you know when you are holding the gun that it is your fault when you miss. If you are planning on hunting you should get better at the below stances because you are probably not going to take a bench with you on your hunt.
2. 
   2
   Prone: By far, this is the most accurate field position for "sniping". The most common position is lying on your belly with your legs spread out, your feet arch down partly embedded in the ground and the rifle tight in your shoulder. The position will look like you are in a " Y " shape. This position is the most stable prone position as to have the recoil be absorbed through your body. This will cut the recoil enough to give you better accuracy at longer ranges. Also as a note, your breathing has the most effect on your shot.
   

   • With a bipod or some other way to hold the front of the gun, it is often best to put your support (non-trigger) hand under the butt of the stock. This allows you to position the elevation of the sights or scope more precisely.
   • If there is no bipod or other item to hold the front of the gun, your support hand should hold the front of the gun, this is less accurate than a bipod so invest in a good quality leather military style sling. Use a "loop sling" position. This is made by having the sling connected to the front swivel and the other end in a loop to go as high up on your bicep as possible. Then put your arm through the area between the rifle and sling. Then in a clockwise motion end up with the forward hand gripping the rifle under the front stock close to the swivel.
   • You also have the option of making a make-shift bipod or tripod, or resting the front of the rifle on some other stable platform, like a backpack.
3. 
   3
   Crouching/Kneeling: This stance is considerably less accurate than a prone position. There are many stances for crouching.
   

   • A common one is to sit on one foot laid sideways on the ground while putting your other foot in front of you as tight to your body as possible, this will bring your knee toward your face. Having something against your back is never a bad idea. You then place the rifle in your hand which is resting on the knee in front of you.
   • You can also kneel or crouch behind anything hard, and rest the front of your gun (or bipod preferably) on it. Or you can use a "kneeling roll", this is nothing more than an old carpet, shirt or old pant leg rolled up and duct taped stuck up where the laces in your boot are and the ground. This position also requires a "trick", to make you more stable, point your forward foot's toes inboard to your trigger fingers arm. You should be able to make accurate shots at 450 yards (411.5 m) with this position.
4. 
   4
   Standing: This is not a recommended stance, as it is very inaccurate compared to either of the other stances. However, the best way to stand is against a tree or a rock to reduce some of the sway.
   

   • Yet another trick is to start with the rifle in your shoulder, pointed up at the sky, your trigger hand on the stock and your supporting arm on the fore-end stock. Bring the rifle down meanwhile tuck your supporting arm into your hip, lean back and calmly breathe at the same time your cheek weld is being applied. You can shoot accurately up to 300 yards (274.3 m) like this with proper practice.

PART 6 - Techniques

2. 
   1
   Choose your rifle position. This often changes from person to person and changes a good deal depending on the situation. But the most common rifle position is the butt of the stock in the pocket of your shoulder (just above your armpit), your cheek lightly against the stock, looking down the sights or scope in the most relaxed position possible. For larger caliber rifles with more kick, the rifle should be brought in some so the butt is resting partially on the pectoral muscle.
   

   • A critical component of sniping is acquiring a good "cheek weld" or "stock weld". This means your cheek bone is held fast against the butt stock to insure proper sight alignment and sight picture. The pocket of your shoulder will absorb the recoil. Without a good cheek weld, parallax in your scope is guaranteed and you will never become proficient with any sniper weapon system/ optic-equipped rifle.
3. 
   2
   The forearm under the stock (if prone) or under the front of the gun where there is obviously a grip. The forearm should be pretty far forward on a traditional length grip which goes about 14 inches (35.6 cm) in front of the receiver.
4. 
   3
   Become aware of your breathing. This affects the sway and oscillation of the gun, which in turn affects how consistent your shots can be.
   

   • Note: It also helps to practice 'stress firing', where you must take hasty shots with fatigue. Try running a quarter mile or whatever will bring up your heart rate and do enough push-ups so that your arms are twitching. Learn to compensate for the trembling in your muscles. If you only shoot paper targets, you can skip this, but in hunting or combat you may not have the luxury of rested muscles. At a minimum, try it as an experiment just to see to what degree stress impacts your ability to engage targets.
   • There are many different techniques for breathing while standing, often it is recommended to have your lungs most of the way full. Hold your breath and wait until the reticle goes over your target.
   • If you are a sniper, a sling is essential. Firing in a standing position is very fatiguing, especially supporting the barrel. A sling will help support the weight and allow the shooter a much higher degree of accuracy.
   • For prone and kneeling, it is best to open your mouth and throat until your body is relaxed, this is when most of your air has exited your lungs. Relax, if your heart rate is slow enough, you can stay like this for 10 or 15 seconds, be patient and wait until the reticle stops over your target.
   • Once you practice while exhaled a few times you will notice the reticle bounces in sync with your heart beat. You want to fire between beats (on the downbeat of your heart) which allows the most time for a stable shot (this will be only a fraction of a second, but that is when you are able to be most accurate).
   • Try to avoid eye fatigue. If you stare through the scope for more than 15 seconds, you are bound to develop parallax or lose focus on your target.
5. 
   4
   Consider trigger pull. When pulling the trigger (with any type of trigger), be sure to pull the trigger straight back toward your shoulder. Keep your firing hand and support hand loose and relaxed. You want to squeeze slowly, and release the hammer precisely when over the intended target.
   

   • If it will not damage your weapon, practice 'dry fire' exercises to develop good trigger control. It can help you develop skill without wasting ammunition or being so 'spooked' by the recoil you cannot focus on the trigger tension.
   • If the gun does not have a set trigger, then it likely has a trigger pull of about 2-5 pounds. In this case, you must get used to your trigger. Practice pulling the trigger most of the way back, just before the point the hammer releases. Try doing that until you are at the point that you can release the hammer (smoothly) on command. It is important never to fire before you want to, so be sure there is some threshold where you stop.
   • NOTE: Precision sniper rifles have two-stage triggers, so that you will know when you are about to fire. Otherwise the advice above is golden. If you do not pull the slack out of the trigger before committing to the shot, you are virtually guaranteed to miss your target. This applies to ALL firearms. Even black-powder rifles had two separate triggers, the second being the 'hair trigger'.
   • With a set trigger, the trigger pull is closer to 8-14 ounces. This makes life much easier. The effort to pull the trigger can be done as soon as you intend to shoot. Be sure to practice and get used to the light pull.
   • 
     

PART 7 - Scopes

1

Scopes assist riflemen by allowing them to see more precisely at further distances. The power can range from 1.5x to 50x for conventional rifles. Standard combat rifles or varmint rifles are usually zeroed at 100 yards (we will assume, from now on, 100 yards is zero distance).

• Depending on the selected zero range, bullet, and rifle (you must do research or testing to find the case with your setup) this may mean the bullet is below the reticle before zero, then above after zero, and eventually falls again to (at a different distance) be lined up with the reticle again (this may be 120 yards or 300, and it will likely change from rifle to rifle, even in the same caliber).
  • Another scenario is that the bullet climbs sooner, and from (say) 40 to 100 yards (36.6 to 91.4 m) is above the reticle, it then falls to meet your zero, and from then on (100 and more yards) is below the reticle (this is likely low-power rifles like .22LR).
• The most conventional way to zero the scope is to fire a shot. Determine how far off target the bullet lands, then adjust the scope accordingly. Most scopes have windage and elevation knobs which can be turned to compensate for inaccuracies. The elevation is usually on the top and affects the bullet's point of impact (POI) vertically. The windage is usually on the right side of the scope and affects the bullet's POI horizontally.
• Most scopes have either mil-dot or ballistic plex reticle which allows the shooter to easily line up a shot at distances further than the zeroed point. Most scopes come with a chart to show based on the bullet's caliber and weight where to line up the reticle. Though it would be much more accurate if you make your own chart.
• While military snipers practice adjusting the windage and elevation for the specific situation, it usually isn't practical for hunters or recreational shooters to measure wind speed and other factors to the target and adjust the scope. It is often best just to do approximate calculations and "hold-off" the reticle, so re-zeroing the scope is not necessary. There are many factors that need to be taken into account when adjusting the scope, here are a few of them (in general order of priority):
  • Distance to target, bullet velocity, cross wind, bullet weight, shot angle, and others.
  • There are computer or PDA calculators which can calculate the exact landing position of the bullet based on all the information above (at least the major points). The calculators usually assume you re-zero your reticle. That is the best way to be perfectly accurate, but for target shooting where you don't need a one-shot-one-kill, re-zeroing is a lot of hassle.
• Scopes (except low-end scopes) also have adjustable parallaxes which allow the shooter to essentially place the reticle on the same distance plane as the target. This is essential to take an accurate shot. Most parallaxes have distances listed on them, use them as basic guidelines.
  • A way to "cheat" the parallax is to place your head in a relief position where you can see black around the edge while viewing down the scope. Move your head and eye to make the black area even on all edges around the reticle.
• Read How to Use a Rifle Scope for more information on most of the points in this section.

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