Rifle red dot vs. Open gun sight tracking

[DRichardson]

So I've shot quite a bit of uspsa in the open division and feel confident in my abilities there. I play in 3 gun on occasion and am really not happy with my rifle performance. I'm not sure if it is unrealistic to expect the dot on my rifle to track up and down, like a open gun, or if I have a fundamental technique prooblem. The dot on my rifle always seems to track in a circle to the right clockwise. Rifle setup is a 16 inch midlength barrel, full weight operating system, and lantac dragon brake.

I'm thinking it's a technique issue but having the dot track in a more familiar, reliable pattern would make it easier.

Thanks for any help.

[Moltke]

I'll assume that you have a recoil reduced/controlled rifle already so I won't get into a technical answer and instead a technique answer. Your dot is not going to recoil straight up because unlike your pistol where you have tried hands on the gun at generally the same point in space, with the rifle you probably have one on the pistol grip and the other pretty far forward. As a result of that alone and the sway in your stance from supporting a rifle you may see a circle in the dot before and after recoil. Personally I see a figure eight wobble before recoil and a jump up when fired, and a messy figure eight when it settles. However this instability isn't something to be feared, just noticed. Stay on your sights and as long as your gun isn't recoiling off target send the next round.

[TonytheTiger]

Got any video of your rifle shooting? That might be more indicative of whether what your experiencing is normal or a result of poor technique.

[Dr Mitch]

You'll need to get used to what you are seeing unless you do more tuning on the rifle. Full mass is going to cause big disturbance. Is the compensator biased (extra hole drilled on right side in first chamber) for a right handed person? Probably not. I assume you must be right handed based on the description you gave of what every right-handed person experiences with a similar setup.

[DRichardson]

Yes i am right handed.

I got one good video from sunday with some rifle shooting that I'll post when I get home. Haven't tried it yet but i slightly opened the right hole in the v ports on the top of the compensator last night. Probably didn't do enough to make a difference but we'll see. Also the rifle has an adjustable gas block that I tuned to just lock the bolt back on a empty mag.

Also the description about tracking and multiple points of contact make a lot of sense.

Edited April 13, 2016 by DRichardson

[AustinT]

Lantac brake has a weird recoil impulse in addition to all that. It drives the gun down on me and 75% of the shooters I've watched.