I recently added a cheek riser pad to a bolt gun to help give me a better cheek weld. The height seems perfect, and it’s very solid when I mount up on the rifle. The only problem is I can now see the crosshairs jump about a half inch (maybe more) with every heartbeat. Since I don’t see this without the new riser, I’m assuming a vein somewhere in my face is what’s causing this?

I’ve never noticed this with other rifles that I can get a good cheek weld on with the hard stock.

Is it maybe because the scope at 25x is too high of magnification?

I ended up taking it off, and it shoots great… just not a real solid mount.

I can see my heartbeat in both of my higher end scopes. Nature of the beast When shooting high magnification and long range. I try to time my trigger pull between heartbeats.

Sniper's rule - take a big breath, exhale half, wait between HB to pull the trigger.

Exhale it all.

Are you prone or bench?

I take a breath and let out about half, just like my grandpa said. He was a rifle and machine gun instructor in WW1. Got to the Marines and they repeated everything he told me, though they weren’t as nice about it. I have read that you have about 8 seconds to shoot before your sight degrades slightly, so I think keeping some air in the lungs isn’t a bad thing.

In the last 50-80 years more has been learned.

Exhale, squeeze, follow through.

I've said it a million times if I've said it once.

It’s called the “respiratory pause”, that moment at the end of an exhalation just prior to an inhalation. It’s the only time during the respiratory cycle where there is no respiratory/voluntary influenced movement. It’s physiologically an involuntary part of breathing.

To do anything else adds a voluntary action and thus an added/unwanted voluntary movement. Yes, there are several schools of thought here and not all work for everyone, but as JG mentioned, firing during the respiratory pause is widely accepted as the moment of least voluntary movement which is equated to a likely more accurate shot.

And the more magnification you use not only will the target get magnified but so will your movements (breathing, or arterial pulsations).

I was on a bench. I always try to slowly let my breath out and then press the trigger straight back like you described. Just never seen the crosshairs jump like that.

Thanks guys

Respiratory pause works best in situations where you get to choose the exact timing of your shot, such as when shooting stationary targets. Exhaling part way tends to work best in situations where you are waiting for the target to move into position or a moving target or targets where there may be some delay between when you exhale and when you finally pull the trigger or pull the trigger multiple times. The issue here is one of oxygen deprivation where the body involuntarily starts fighting you to breath. It happens much quicker when you exhale completely.

One day I’ll shoot good enough to tell the difference. I’ve never noticed my heartbeat or my breathing being an issue.

When not wearing a heavy coat, the position of the stock on my shoulder can cause that "arterial bounce" at high magnification for me.

Back you and the rifle up just a bit to get your chest off the bench, not touching it anymore.

Yep there will be a natural pause once you fully exhale

Try drinking 32 ounces of coffee and eating a few sugary donuts… seemed to help me at JG’s matches

Bracing large bone against ground or bench instead of ribs and muscle will eliminate a good bit. If you are snubbed up solid to the rifle and see the crosshairs bouncing, your whole body is doing that and you are taking the rifle with you.

Do what?

Yup, Elbows, bottom edge of forearm, knees, pelvis.

Not shoulders, ribs, and gut.

Meat pressed against a hard surface will cause blood circulation to show your heartbeat through the scope at distance. Hard bone will not. Learned that before you were alive sir. It was true then. It is true today.

What are you shooting from or on?

Bench and prone on tarmack shooting 400-600 yards in the late 60’s is where I was taught that. I was fortunate growing up. I had a very skilled teacher that had recently came back from South east Asia and a great place that was set up to shoot at home when I was a kid. Looking back at all the time he spent teaching me to shoot, I think he was concerned I would be drafted when I came of age…