So if there's something I learned....

[Tim K]

The purpose of Mike's visit was to develop a basic prone position that is repeatable and gets good accuracy from the rifle. The goal was to be able to plop down behind the gun and put a shot into some acceptable zone of accuracy each and every time. The size of the zone (say 1/2 moa) is determined by shooting traditional groups to see the rifle's capabilities. This shooting can be done my Mike or by some other skilled shooter.

I'm advocating shooting a few groups where Mike stands completely up after every shot. Shoot one, stand up. Shoot another, stand up, etc. When his groups shooting this way are equal in size to the groups shot without breaking position, it's reasonable to assume he has achieved his goal of a good basic prone position.

All this is to get to the point of learning to shoot at distance and in the wind. You learn nothing shooting in the wind if you are not confident that the bullet went where you were aiming. If there is much variability in your position, a miss or a hit will teach you nothing about shooting in the wind. So, say you missed 2 moa to the right. If you're a 2 moa shooter, you don't know if it was wind or you or some combination of the two. If you're a 1/2 moa shooter, that shot will teach you something about the wind.

The group shooting (standing up after every shot) is simply a way to measure progress and know when it makes sense to burn up ammo shooting at distance and in the wind. It could be done shooting at individual dots if that's what you gotta do, but that just makes it harder to measure progress. If you're standing after each shot, it's at least as difficult as shooting the dot drill.

Once the position has been developed and committed to muscle and mental memory, I'm not an advocate of group shooting. It might be smart to shoot one periodically just to make sure nothing has changed, but as practice it's essentially useless.