Alright fellas how did I do? I picked up this AR-15 back in February when the economy needed stimulating (and Obama had a rifle ban on his to-do list on his website...) It's the only rifle I've ever shot, and this is my third time shooting (although I was on an air rifle team in high school).

LMT 16" AR-15
Iron sights
Blue Force VCAS Sling



Range = 50 yards
Target rings are 1" apart

Slow, accurate fire:



Rapid fire:



Any tips on how to quit pulling shots to the left would be appreciated.

 

I say damn good for your third time putting rounds downrange. All of those would be center mass hits resulting in leakage. Keep up the practice and proficiency.

 

You were pretty consistent on slow fire. Ya got a little bit of everything in there, but over all not bad. That, your largest group in that slow fire is the four within the center ring. Those are in that area because of latent pressure on the trigger and from jerking the trigger slightly. This is strictly nitpicking, but it is worthy exercise since at longer rangers, those gaps become larger. One thing to remember on short range targets, which 50 meters is, is that you have very little time to shoot it. OR, you should take very little time to hit it. In the military basic rifle marksmanship requires that you hit the 50 meter target in 2 seconds with iron sites. Keep that in mind when taking a shot at that target.

As for the rapid fire, not bad what so ever!

You went from slightly jerking the trigger and holding it tightly to anticipating the recoil, which is why the shots are in the left quadrant. Even still, very well done in deed bro. Best way around this is to train yourself to be surprised every time the weapon discharges. Sounds silly, but you can do that quite easily.

One neat trick that we used in basic training that taught proper trigger pull is to take a prone shooting position. Place a penny at the end of the barrel, and try to squeeze the trigger in such a manner that the penny does not fall off when you squeeze the trigger.

 

not bad cowboy, not bad.

 

Are you a lefty? If so, you may be jerking the trigger during your rapid fire. Focus on trigger squeeze and that should clean it up a little bit.

 

Not bad at all for your third time....Practice makes perfect.

 

I still say consider the application. If you are wanting to shoot more accurately (tighter groups) for the sake of shooting more accurately or because you may want to compete, then of course keep working to those ends. But, if your desired goal is to be able to engage an actual threat out to 50 yds (SHTF, self defense, whatever) you have that level of skill as evidenced above. You still need to shoot regularly to maintain that skill, but all of those shots would count as torso/center mass shots on a man sized target.

 

Adding to what the guys said above regarding trigger pull, instead of immediately letting off the trigger to reset, hold the trigger back until the trigger resets on its own (you will hear a click as the AR cycles). This will force you into squeezing and holding, which should help with the jerky slapping the trigger-ho habit.

 

Carbon Cycles is right, trigger follow through is quite important and often overlooked.

 

What Carbon is referring to is called followthrough. Hold the trigger back after firing, then slowly release it. Upon releasing it, you will hear a "clunk," which means that the trigger has reset itself as he said. Here are some basic steps to practice in your head while firing: use the acronym BRASS-F.
B- breathe
R- relax (clear your mind and focus on a clear front sight tip; if you stare at the target instead of the tip, your rounds will be off target) Remember, clear front sight post, and fuzzy target
A- aim (align your sights and find your natural point of aim)
S- stop (stop breathing at your natural respiratory pause)
S- squeeze the trigger, causing the rifle to fire (skillful manipulation of the trigger is key!)
F- followthrough (described above)

Try and repeat this in your head and in application until it is muscle memory... Good luck!