Effects of Practice?

[Groundhog]

If you were to practice shooting a .22 rifle, would that improve your skill with any other rifle? Or, to get good with a particular rifle, must you practice with it most of the time?

 

[Dave Haven]

If you were to practice shooting a .22 rifle, would that improve your skill with any other rifle?

Most certainly. It will improve your aiming skill and muscle memory. Air rifles are also good training aids.

 

[CarbineCaleb]

Most certainly. It will improve your aiming skill and muscle memory. Air rifles are also good training aids.

+1 on that. Grip, stance, trigger control, breath control - all are the same with a little caliber as they are with a big one. And you still get to see where your rounds hit, to experiment with and improve those skills.

 

[BlueTrain]

I go along with the general theory but if you had two identical rifles, or rather, had someone else's rifle identical to yours, you might expect that you would have to learn to shoot it all over again. Because it isn't identical.

 

[longtooth50]

Shooting the .22 will help you general shooting skills. It will not replace completely shooting the other rifle. Shoot the .22 a lot & the other rifle some & then just before going out hunting or what ever you will use it for.

Same w/ a pistol. Good to shoot a .22 or have a conversion kit for your 1911. Good to shoot a 9mm round for cheap in one that has a .40 or .357 mag barrel. shoot the cheap for practice then shoot the main round some.

 

[Jim Watson]

Jeff Cooper said: "You can learn about 80% of what you need to know with a .22."

I figure the other 20% is recoil control and operation of the individual gun.
I have .22, .223, and .308 target rifles of completely different types, but I find that most of what I learn on one applies to the others. And .22s are cheap and accurate.

 

[jhgreasemonkey]

Yeah it definitely helps. My grandfather uses his benjamin air rifle for practice before hunting season.

 

[Scorch]

Having taught hundreds of US Marines to shoot, I heartily agree with the statement "You can learn about 80% of what you need to know with a .22."
"Snapping in" or dry-firing will also help immensely.

And yes, most of the rest is learning the feel and handling of the individual rifle to be shot.