Others Shooting Freehand can be a humbling experience for some of us

[ernroe]

Backyard shooting by yourself can get a little boring so I try to change things up from time to time. Heretofore I have always shot off shooting table fully supported,so yesterday I decided to shoot freehand using my HW30 and HW110 both of which are .177 cal. I set up a target at 30 yds and I must say it was a humbling experience. I have shot Deer free handed but they are a much bigger target and the bullet was much larger and faster. After looking at the results I knew I could not leave it at that and I got out my trusty Tripod. It was not as a good as the shooting table but it was more like shooting Deer out of a Deer stand.
I used the crosman 7.9 gr pellet
The 1st photo: HW30 FH at 30yds x 10shots
The 2nd photo: HW110 FH at 30yds x 10shots
The 3rd photo is 2 groups each off Tripod. The 12 and 3 o'clock groups are from the HW110. The 6 and 9 o'clock groups are from the HW30.
Overall, in my opinion it is not a lot of difference, although the HW30 was easier to handle, the HW110 was more stable probably due to the weight.
What say Ye?

 

[Danman]

It takes a brave soul to shoot paper offhand, is what I say
I usually reserve that for plinking popcans out 20 to 40Y vs my brothers.
Oddly enough i have never shot paper off a tripod either, i do pest with one though! Will have to try that.

 

[pan60]

It takes a brave soul to shoot paper offhand, is what I say

plus one

 

[BanjomanMI76]

It takes a brave soul to shoot paper offhand, is what I say
I usually reserve that for plinking popcans out 20 to 40Y vs my brothers.
Oddly enough i have never shot paper off a tripod either, i do pest with one though! Will have to try that.

What are you supposed to do when a pesky squirrel tempts you at a range that you know you can hit?
You practice for that moment instead of saying "hold my beer and watch this .... "

 

[PapaT]

I say even rested my break barrel shooting tends to look scatter plot. I like to off-hand at least semi-regularly to improve my everything, because it needs it.

 

[Grunt64]

Backyard shooting by yourself can get a little boring so I try to change things up from time to time. Heretofore I have always shot off shooting table fully supported,so yesterday I decided to shoot freehand using my HW30 and HW110 both of which are .177 cal. I set up a target at 30 yds and I must say it was a humbling experience. I have shot Deer free handed but they are a much bigger target and the bullet was much larger and faster. After looking at the results I knew I could not leave it at that and I got out my trusty Tripod. It was not as a good as the shooting table but it was more like shooting Deer out of a Deer stand.
I used the crosman 7.9 gr pellet
The 1st photo: HW30 FH at 30yds x 10shots
The 2nd photo: HW110 FH at 30yds x 10shots
The 3rd photo is 2 groups each off Tripod. The 12 and 3 o'clock groups are from the HW110. The 6 and 9 o'clock groups are from the HW30.
Overall, in my opinion it is not a lot of difference, although the HW30 was easier to handle, the HW110 was more stable probably due to the weight.
What say Ye?

Do you have a sling on your HW's? wrapping the sling around your arm can make a big difference. A few weeks ago, I was wondering if I could hit anything because I have gotten away from it, shame on me. I was able to hit a spray can several times free handed at 60 yards with 308 Texan thanks to using my sling. After coyote season, yes, we have a season for them. I am going to start practicing free hand shooting. ernroe, outside of one shot that looks good to me also.

 

[ernroe]

Do you have a sling on your HW's? wrapping the sling around your arm can make a big difference. A few weeks ago, I was wondering if I could hit anything because I have gotten away from it, shame on me. I was able to hit a spray can several times free handed at 60 yards with 308 Texan thanks to using my sling. After coyote season, yes, we have a season for them. I am going to start practicing free hand shooting. ernroe, outside of one shot that looks good to me also.

Thx for the advice. I have used the sling method before when stalking Deer.

 

[Jaabaa]

Absolutely and today I may do great and tomorrow I couldn't hit the side of a barn if I were 10 ft away.

 

[Scriv]

It takes a brave soul to shoot paper offhand, is what I say

That's why one of my favorite airguns is my Walther LP500 10 meter air pistol. Hoist her up, and let's see what you've got.

 

[BanjomanMI76]

It takes a brave soul to shoot paper offhand, is what I say

For that matter, when I was in the Marine Corps we used to fire 5 rounds from the 200 yard line in qualifying. (KD course). Yes I know that is a powder burner in .223 cal M16.
But it can be done at shorter distances if you train for it with a pumper, springer or a PCP.