FTR & Recoil Management

[superx10]

Any advice on recoil management and staying on target after a shot while shooting FTR would be appreciated as it is a real challenge to stay on target and easy to have your rifle jump 2 targets to the left .
Thanks

[PeteFox]

Any advice on recoil management and staying on target after a shot while shooting FTR would be appreciated as it is a real challenge to stay on target and easy to have your rifle jump 2 targets to the left .
Thanks

Two things work against keeping the rifle under control in FTR,

1. The bipods I see in use have the barrel and stock mounted above a very light weight bipod. The rifle tends to pivot on one foot and lift the other because the rifle is too high. Ideally the rifle should sit below the top of the legs so it has less leverage. A Dolphin bipod goes someway to fix this.

2. FTR rifles tend to use thinner barrels because of the weight limit. With a carbon fibre or other light weight stock, more weight can be put forward into the barrel to resist lift and torque or into the bipod.

[Barossa_222]

It's not the recoil that is moving the rifle off the target. If the guns is "hopping" to the left it is your body position and probably the balance of the gun is incorrect. It has absolutely nothing to do with the type of bipod or the height of the rifle above the bipod. Fix your body position and rifle balance and the gun will start to track.

I was taught by one of the best is the country and spent many hours trying to perfect my body position and technique. If you are set up correctly and shooting well, the reticle won't move out of the 5 ring. You need to find an experienced FTR shooter and work with them on gun set up, balance and technique/body position. If you have a look at the guys who are at the top of the list, the one thing they all have in common is good technique and gun set up.

[Redhawk]

What Mick said:)

[superx10]

Thanks guys for your response the mounds I shoot on vary so much in grade that it is difficult to do anything consistent, Barossa_222 yes i need to work with one of the FTR shooters who is at the pointy end of the competitions.

[Barossa_222]

The mounds vary everywhere you shoot. That's part of working on your gun setup. You need to consider these things with regards to your rear bag setup and whatever you're putting under your bipod. My setup is adaptable regardless of mound angle.

[Weairy]

Switch to a .223

[PeteFox]

bipod.jpg

Yep that ought to do it. Position is perfect, never going to move off the X ring

[Redhawk]

LoL, looks like you will need to change the setup there Peter or swing in way to the left:) Enjoy shooting that:)

[GregW]

I shot FS, FTR, and FO off a bipod for about 14 years, so I've had a bit of practice. It's about body position. If the rifle jumps to the left, move your lower body to the left until the recoil is neutral, and vice versa. You will eventually find the ideal body position. You can change as you go without losing points, I've found. Fortunately, there is a tendency to put numbers on the targets these days.
Greg W.

[BenW]

Yes putting numbers on targets helps so long as you actually look at them

[wsftr]

What is everyones thoughts on having a pin on the butt of the rifle that contacts the end of the rear bag when pushing the rifle forward after the shot is fired to prevent the rifle from being pushed too far forward. I can't find anything that says its not allowed.

[Tim L]

What is everyones thoughts on having a pin on the butt of the rifle that contacts the end of the rear bag when pushing the rifle forward after the shot is fired to prevent the rifle from being pushed too far forward. I can't find anything that says its not allowed.

You will find most FTR shooters use something along these lines. Not everyone, because some bipods rely on the rise and fall of moving the gun back and forth to get elevation (the mpod or flexpod). But mst will have a bag stop of some sort.

Recoil management is the biggest challenge when throwing big 308 pills down range. I spent years achieving pretty decent results just letting my gun do its thing and bounce left. The bullet is long gone before it happens so it's not an accuracy issue. It also teaches you to check the target number !
But if you want to eliminate it, do as Greg says. If you end up at a massive angle, take a look at what you're doing with your right elbow. If it's in close, move it out, this drops your shoulder back. Good luck.

[wsftr]

What is everyones thoughts on having a pin on the butt of the rifle that contacts the end of the rear bag when pushing the rifle forward after the shot is fired to prevent the rifle from being pushed too far forward. I can't find anything that says its not allowed.

You will find most FTR shooters use something along these lines. Not everyone, because some bipods rely on the rise and fall of moving the gun back and forth to get elevation (the mpod or flexpod). But mst will have a bag stop of some sort.

Recoil management is the biggest challenge when throwing big 308 pills down range. I spent years achieving pretty decent results just letting my gun do its thing and bounce left. The bullet is long gone before it happens so it's not an accuracy issue. It also teaches you to check the target number !
But if you want to eliminate it, do as Greg says. If you end up at a massive angle, take a look at what you're doing with your right elbow. If it's in close, move it out, this drops your shoulder back. Good luck.

Thank you - I have been wanting to use the pin/bag stop concept for some time but held off as I was concerned it might not be considered in the spirit of the rules for FTR.