Recoil
Objective: Evaluate your recoil
Skill level: Anyone can try this, but it probably for those who are at least 6 months into shooting
Time: Do it on every card
Background
Getting a good zero point the Neutral Point of Aim (NPA) is essential to good shooting.  By observing where the front-sight finishes after a shot you can frequently obtain an insight into where the rifle was actually pointing.  It takes years to get a good NPA so dont expect a 30 second exercise to sort all your problems!
Technique
You can perform this analysis on every shot.  First you have to train yourself to see what happens at the instant the round fires and in the second or two following that.

"The ways of the rifle" does a much better job of explaining this exercise than me.

As you pull the trigger you should try to get an appreciation of the "jump" of the front of the rifle.  Does it go left/right or up/down or both or (I dont believe you) neither.

Once the shot has completed, and before you dive to your scope you should analyse where the barrel finishes up?  Is it exactly back on the aiming mark?  If not analyse
  • a bit or a lot
  • left or right
  • up or down
Come up with a shorthand notation and scribble the results down for each of a series.

I use C for a bit left, D for a bit right A for a bit up and I for a bit low.  I put a + in front of each letter to mean "a lot"
so, for example:
  1. +CU is a lot left and a wee bit hit
  2. <>+D+A is a lot to the right and very high
Note: Cli->Left, Ard -> High, Iosal -> Low, Deas->Right

If you can do it - and it IS hard - you may be able to put an arrow to show the muzzle jump.
Once you have finished a series of 10 shots analyse what you recorded with where the shot on the card actually landed.  Discuss.


Shot Number
 Recoil
 Shot number
 Recoil
1
6
2
7
3
8
4
9
5
10