Shooting Prone

[GarandTd]

I've been toying around with the idea of attending an Appleseed event. I spoke with the gentleman that runs it in my area. He offered to meet up with me at my local club sometime to do a qualifying shoot. It was a generous offer, but I want the full experience and I don't think I'll take him up on his offer. He did give me a few targets to test my skills, practice, or whatever.

Today at the range, I decided to try shooting prone. I've never tried before. I did this at the 50 yard range on a foam mat. I used my 22lr Marlin 981t(bolt action) with a cheap 3-9x40 scope and my recent PSA 5.56 AR-15 build with back up irons. I didn't use a sling on either...although, I know that is part of the Appleseed shoots.

I was impressed with the results and would like to work on honing this skill. The sights definitely moved more and shooting this way was a little tougher than bench shooting. Do those of you well versed in this position have any tips for me?

 

[Don Fischer]

Yes. Be sure you get the tension out of your lower back. Sight on the target and when you think you have a good hold, close your eyes and really relax. Few moments the open your eyes and see if your still aiming at the same spot. If not, move your feet toward the direction your off till you get the tension out. You'll find it works in every position and the more you do it the easier it is to simply fall into the right position.

 

[DaleA]

Sight on the target and when you think you have a good hold, close your eyes and really relax. Few moments the open your eyes and see if your still aiming at the same spot. If not, move your feet toward the direction your off till you get the tension out.

This is an excellent tip.

When you get your sling (and you might as well get one from the Appleseed folk if you're going to an Appleseed shoot) adjusted right you'll be able to relax in the position and your rifle will still remain pointed at the target. Like the above man said don't "muscle" the gun onto the target. Adjust your position so the gun points naturally at the target.

Appleseed Store for a sling:
https://store.rwvaappleseed.com/page13.html

And here's a video on shooting prone from the national para-Olympic shooting coach.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkrBN5Is5Z8

 

[GarandTd]

Here are a couple pictures of my targets from today. The target with 4 outer red dots and 1 center red dot was with the 22 Marlin. The outer dots were 5 shot groups off the bench while zeroing the scope. The center was 10 rounds prone using the scope after sight in.

The target with 2 large green circles was shot at with the AR-15. The bottom circle was off the bench. The top circle was prone. Both were 10 shot groups. I found the AR to be much better balanced and easier to keep on target with less movement. I was still happy with the results of both.

 

[GarandTd]

Don, while I didn't close my eyes, I did find that shifting my legs and body to the left to create an angle was more comfortable and made holding on target easier.

 

[Aguila Blanca]

Keep in mind that when shooting from the standing, sitting, or kneeling position your head is essentially above your neck and shoulders. Your scope's position and eye relief are probably adjusted for that.

In the prone position, your head is forward of your neck and shoulders, shoving your eye significantly closer to the scope. In my case, the difference was enough that I had to struggle to get my head back far enough that the scope didn't knock off my shooting glasses. Even then, since I was shooting at 25 yards and my scope (an "affordable" rimfire scope) was parallax-free at 50 yards, I had problems with vignetting and image shift.

At the very least, I would suggest a scope with adjustable parallax. These are usually sold with "AO," for "Adjustable Objective," in the name. Look for one with long eye relief so you can place it where you can see through it from both the standing and prone positions without vignetting. Set the parallax for the distance at which you're shooting to help alleviate image shift if your eyeball isn't dead center on the axis of the scope.

 

[pwc]

This os called finding your "natural point of aim", and should be performed in every position. Muscles support the position only and should not be used to "muscle" the front sight onto the target.

 

[Unclenick]

The above is correct. If you can arrange it, though, have a coach adjust the position of and spread between your feet. Unless you are practicing your position indoors at a house of ill repute, you are unlikely to have enough mirrors to see exactly how you actually are, and may folks think they are more classically positioned than they actually are. Perhaps you can rig something with a Bluetooth camera and your tablet or cell phone. You want to find a point on your support arm that doesn't transfer a pulse from the arteries in it into the sling and make the sights pulse (though this tends to be a bigger problem in sitting position than in prone) and try to plant the support elbow where the arm doesn't tend to tilt left or right, but, as the others said, stays put. The sling should be tight enough that if you take your trigger hand off the gun, it stays in your shoulder.

 

[Unclenick]

Another source of a pulse I should have mentioned is arteries in your abdomen. Some people can lie flat and others have to get the stomach angled slightly off the mat by bringing their trigger hand elbow in. That has to be judged case-by-case. I always liked the Garand for 600-yard slow fire over the other self-loading service rifles because I could lie very flat and low and stretch my gloved support hand out and lean against the sling swivel with the web between the thumb and index finger. Some people hate that position, but it sure lets you relax the support hand and can't slip on the stock.