Accuracy Problems? Put Another Shooter Behind the Trigger to Rule Out ‘Driver Error’ Issues
When a rifle isn’t shooting up to it’s potential, we need to ask: “Is it the gun or the shooter?” Having multiple shooters test the same rifle in the same conditions with the same load can be very revealing…
When developing a load for a new rifle, one can easily get consumed by all the potential variables — charge weight, seating depth, neck tension, primer options, neck lube, and so on. When you’re fully focused on loading variables, and the results on the target are disappointing, you may quickly assume you need to change your load. But we learned that sometimes the load is just fine — the problem is the trigger puller, or the set-up on the bench.
Here’s an example. A while back we tested two new Savage F-Class rifles, both chambered in 6mmBR. Initial results were promising, but not great — one gun’s owner was getting round groups with shots distributed at 10 o’clock, 2 o’clock, 5 o’clock, 8 o’clock, and none were touching. We could have concluded that the load was no good. But then another shooter sat down behind the rifle and put the next two shots, identical load, through the same hole. Shooter #2 eventually produced a 6-shot group that was a vertical line, with 2 shots in each hole but at three different points of impact. OK, now we can conclude the load needs to be tuned to get rid of the vertical. Right? Wrong. Shooter #3 sat down behind the gun and produced a group that strung horizontally but had almost no vertical.
Hmmm… what gives?
Well each of the three shooters had a different way of holding the gun and adjusting the rear bag. Shooter #1, the gun’s owner, used a wrap-around hold with hand and cheek pressure, and he was squeezing the bag. All that contact was moving the shot up, down, left and right. Shooter #2 was using no cheek pressure, and very slight thumb pressure behind the tang, but he was experimenting with different amounts of bag “squeeze”. His hold eliminated the side push, but variances in squeeze technique and down pressure caused the vertical string. When he kept things constant, the gun put successive shots through the same hole. Shooter #3 was using heavy cheek pressure. This settled the gun down vertically, but it also side-loaded the rifle. The result was almost no vertical, but this shooting style produced too much horizontal.
A “Second Opinion” Is Always Useful
Conclusion? Before you spend all day fiddling with a load, you might want to adjust your shooting style and see if that affects the group size and shape on the target. Additionally, it is nearly always useful to have another experienced shooter try your rifle. In our test session, each time we changed “drivers”, the way the shots grouped on the target changed significantly. We went from a big round group, to vertical string, to horizontal string.
Interestingly, all three shooters were able to diagnose problems in their shooting styles, and then refine their gun-handling. As a result, in a second session, we all shot that gun better, and the average group size dropped from 0.5-0.6 inches into the threes — with NO changes to the load.
That’s right, we cut group size in half, and we didn’t alter the load one bit. Switching shooters demonstrated that the load was good and the gun was good. The skill of the trigger-puller(s) proved to be the limiting factor in terms of group size.
Similar Posts:
- Rule Out “Driver Error” — Test Accuracy with Multiple Shooters
- Accuracy Woes? Multiple Shooters Can Rule Out ‘Driver Error’
- Load Development — Changing "Drivers" Reveals Human Factor in Gun Performance
- Pistol Skills — How to Diagnose Handgun Accuracy Issues
- Handgun 101: Diagnosing Accuracy Problems with Pistols
Share the post "Accuracy Problems? Put Another Shooter Behind the Trigger to Rule Out ‘Driver Error’ Issues"
For most of us, shooting is an exercise in self instruction. Early on in our shooting experience, we settle into a shooting style, that eventually becomes what feels natural. There is no equivalent to taking a golf lesson. Also, I find that shooters do not do much experimenting, with different techniques or equipment, or do any dry firing. In the various types of benchrest competition shooters may try several different front or rear bags, and shooting styles, looking for the combination that works best with a particular rifle, and the requirements of the kind of shooting that they compete in. Typically, this is not the case with shooters that do not compete. They tend to try harder, instead of trying “different”, and they tend to operate under the assumption that there is one particular method that is correct. As you have undoubtedly concluded, my suggestion is to try different equipment, and shooting styles. What works well for one rifle, may not be the best for another, and even though one normally associates dry firing with position shooting, IMO it can be very useful for improving ones bench shooting as well, identifying problems that are not seen when firing, because recoil and sound draw ones attention.
It’s embarrassing enough when friends shoot my rifles better than me, but there is nothing more embarrassing than being outshot by my 88 year old father.
We have also found useful to take an already proven rifle and load to see if any of it might be conditions!