7 Things to Track in Your Shooting Journal/Dope Book
Whether you're tracking your shooting improve and get more accurate, for load development, or tracking barrel wear, it's important that you have a record of your information.
With the obvious being out of the way, what should you actually be tracking in your shooting journal?
Target Distance
One of the most important things to track is the distance from where you're shooting to your target. This will give all the other metrics in your notebook some context, like seeing how accurate you are at different distances.
Distance, being one of the things that make it harder to be accurate, will change all of your other accuracy metrics, which I'll go over next
Shot Group Offset
Group offset is my favorite metric to track. It's a little less technical than bullet drop or some other measurements, but it shows exactly how you're off in your aim.
Tracking group offset allows you to see if you need to adjust your scope up or down or if you're shooting to the left or right.
Basically, your group offset will show you the difference from the POA (point of aim) to the POI (point of impact).
There are different ways to measure it based on how you measure your groups, but as long as you're consistent with how you track it you can measure however you'd like.
Group Size
Tracking your group size in a dedicated shooting notebook will show you how precise you are.
If you're shooting 3 inches off from where you're aiming, but each of the shots in your group are overlapping, this means you're precise but not accurate.
This is just as important as your group offset, because tracking the two together will show you whether you need to improve accuracy or precision, and help you figure out what you need to do to improve.
Round Count
Round count is less vital to track for reviewing your range sessions, but it's still important, especially if you want to track wear on your firearm or its barrel.
Tracking round count consistently can show you when it's time to clean your gun, replace parts, and do important maintenance.
It can also show you how accurate your own information. For example, if you're tracking group offset with only 2 rounds shot vs 10 rounds, the 10 round group is much more reliable data.
Weather Conditions
There are a few different weather conditions that you should be tracking in your notebook:
- Temperature
- Wind speed and direction
- Humidity
- Cloud cover
Metrics like temperature and humidity can change the way that your gun shoots. If you're winter shooting at 20 degrees vs a 90 degree day, your gun will behave differently. It's important to understand this information so you can adapt to whatever situation you're in.
Wind and its direction are just as important. If you're shooting in high winds, it will affect your POI. Knowing the wind speed and its direction will help you plan before shooting and be accurate right out of the gate.
Ammo Info (Grain, Velocity)
Tracking the data on the ammo you're using can help you know which ammo performs best in your gun.
Things like the manufacturer, grain/weight, and velocity, will let you understand how your firearm performs in different conditions. Especially when you combine this with weather data, you'll know when to use which ammo in which guns.
Scope/Firearm Specs
It's also important to track what scope/magnification you're using. If you're shooting at a certain yardage with iron sights, red dot, or a scope with 1x magnification or 3x, your accuracy and precision will vary greatly.
You could also track what parts you currently have installed. Different barrels and lengths, triggers, stocks, etc will all affect how you shoot as well.