Bench shooting tips for dummies (me!)

[PathfinderNC]

I recently started shooting BP again, after about twelve or more years away from the sport. (Its amazing in this wonderful new home to be able to just shoot a rifle in my own yard (unlike NJ).
Anyway, I have been working on sighting in a new rifle build (from Pecatonica, their Verner model). I was using a bench with a sandbag rest and hitting nice groups (for me) of 1.5" at 25 yards. As I ventured my target out farther, my shots began to go wild, which prompted me to adjust my load to a .445 round ball and .018 ticking.
Now my shots at 35 to 50 yards went ok, but not great.
Today I tried at 65 yards and 4 out of six went wayyyy off... by like 4 inches to the right!
Needless to say, I wasn't smiling.
So I tried to remember what it was I was doing. And I realized something.
I was shooting baldly when I was not holding the forearm of my rifle securely on the sandbag, but just resting it across while holding the toe of the buttstock with my left hand. I imagine the recoil was throwing my shots wild.
I consciously held my rifle more securely and I saw an immediate improvement and was hitting close to 3" groups at 65 yards which was dandy as I was really trying to see if my form was what was screwing me up. It's going to take much practice to catch up after these many years.
So today I learned how to properly shoot off a bench rest... all over again

 

[ohio ramrod]

Weather you are shooting off a bench or off hand,you must hold the gun steady if you want good groups.

 

[hanshi]

I think we've all experienced what you describe; I know I did. Shooting technique can make a rifle super accurate or super wild.

 

[Don Steele]

Pathfinder....
So long as you're still able to learn...you'll do well.
I don't do very much shooting off the bench but when I do...I have learned that in order to generate results that have any real meaning, I need to plan to do it a LOT before drawing any conclusions. My results ALWAYS improve and are ALWAYS much better (read: more consistent and reproducible) at the end of a period of bench shooting than they were when I began.
The improvement I always observe is the result of my technique improving and becoming more consistent.

 

[PathfinderNC]

I think that, especially without another knowledgeable shooter observing to give feedback, it is important to be really conscious of every step along the way, from loads to pulling that trigger. I was killing myself trying to figure out what was going on. My off-hand shots were far better than the bench rest ones!
That’s when I remembered what I did when my bench shots were on point- held the barrel down!
So practice makes more perfect and being aware of every step in that process keeps things in focus. Lessons learned by personal experience are the best ones.