Positioning your shooting arm parallel to the ground wedges the stock between your shoulder and cheek and provides a more stable offhand shooting platform.

The trigger is even more important. It’s the “go” switch and must allow surgical-like manipulation. For about a hundred bucks most triggers can be tuned by a gunsmith, and for most bolt-action rifles, quality replacement triggers, like those from Timney, are available and are usually easy to install.

Proprioception & Kinesthesia
Proprioception is how the body immediately varies muscle contraction in response to external forces and vision. Kinesthesia is the sensation of joint motion and acceleration. Proprioception and kinesthesia are the mechanisms for control and posture of the body. They are what let us shoot accurately.

Repeating the same action 3000 to 5000 times, or performing a task approximately 30 minutes for a period of 21 days, is necessary to create muscle memory so that a physical activity can be performed, seemingly, without conscious thought. It is cost prohibitive for a shooter to fire that many shots a month. This makes dry fire viable for allowing proprioception and kinesthesia to flourish. In short, it trains your eye to pull the trigger.

Take about 20 minutes out of each day for dry-fire practice. Use an unloaded rifle and a target that will let you observe your sight alignment at the moment the trigger breaks. By the end of a week you will start to feel where the sight was orientated on the target when the trigger breaks.

A cliché that is repeated by firearms instructors and others claiming to be masters of the art of shooting is, “It should be a surprise when the rifle fires.” Not true. A shooter should know the exact moment when the rifle will fire.

Learning to dictate the exact moment the trigger will break and coordinating that moment with the instant the sight is properly aligned is the key to accurate shooting. It’s all about the eye and the trigger.

Before you can improve your shooting you must establish your current ability. Zero your rifle at 50 yards then select a visible target about six to eight inches in diameter and place it at that distance. From the standing, offhand position fire five shots. Take your time, lowering the rifle between each shot, but try to complete all five shots in 60 seconds. Do this three more times for a total of four five-shot groups. The average group size is your score.

For the next week conduct daily dry-fire practice. During weekly range sessions work to reduce your average group size by a half-inch or a full inch each time out until you reach your goal—whatever it may be.

Then double the range like Uncle Bud did with Ned and keep practicing until you are shooting groups no more than double the size you were shooting at 50 yards. Keep up the dry-fire practice, and if your ability starts to fall off, go back to 50 yards and start over.

An excellent rifleman can put five shots inside a one-inch circle at 50 yards from the standing offhand position. A very good marksman will do the same inside a two-inch circle, and if you can keep four out of five shots inside a two-inch circle at 50 yards, consider yourself a good shot and ready to square off against old Ned Roberts.

Don’t overlook target selection. Select a target that is easy to see and not too small. Itty-bitty circles and squares are made for shooting from a bench, so use robust targets for offhand training. The target creates the visual impression your eye relies on to signal your finger to activate the trigger.

In short, make sure your rifle fits you, make sure your trigger is crisp, and practice, practice, practice! The end result will be worth the effort. When in the field you will have the experience to help you decide what shots you should take and the confidence in your equipment and ability to make the ones you do.