[dakota.potts]

I disagree that you haven't made progress. You've opened up to new paradigms you wouldn't have before. You've sought out instruction and got feedback from experienced teachers. Your groups have improved and you've singled out bad habits of your shooting. You've researched lots of different firearms types and made decisions based on pros and cons of each, learning what's good for you along the way.

Two words of advice for you (and then a lot more)

Don't try to buy your problems away. You've considered an awful lot of firearms. That's OK. We love firearms. I've done the same with a godawful amount of guns and bass guitars. Just make sure you're not looking at or buying guns as a means to practice at this point. What you have should do you great.

Don't be too eager to jump on the big guns. Set up a target at 25 yards and use the iron sights on your Ruger. Put it on a bipod or bags benchrested or prone if you have to. Focus on breathing and trigger pull and shoot 5 shot groups. At 25 yards, you should be able to shoot them into a group the size of a half dollar without too much struggle. The gun itself shouldn't need to be upgraded until you're shooting consistent half inch groups at 25 yards, which translates to 2 inch groups at 100 yards. Even then you could probably squeeze some out of the ruger. Until the point you can get 5 shots into a group at least the size of a quarter to a half dollar, any other gun will likely result in frustration for you, as you're seeing.

The Mosin is not an easy gun to group with in any regard. It bucks like a mule. Trigger pull can be horrible (I got lucky on mine). Sights are crude and often not sighted in at distances people target shoot at. It's hard to follow through and see a shot because recoil is bouncing you off your line of sight. No trigger return also hurts follow through to some extent.

Any problems you have grouping with an easy to control rifle like the .22 will be amplified on a bigger caliber, especially in a crude gun with poor ergonomics. I intend to put my Mosin away myself until I can get better groups out of my .22. I know my breathing and trigger control are not where they need to be.

Keep shooting for the love of shooting. Don't be afraid to shoot the Mosin. Destroy milk jugs if you want. Shoot at paper targets. Just remember to learn your fundamentals if you want to increase your shooting skills.

A bit off topic, I joined my first serious skills-based forum when I was 14. It was bass guitar. I remember getting a lot of the same comments about being mature and well-spoken. Internet forums are great because you will generally be accepted for who you are as long as you are respectful and well spoken. It gives you a chance to be on a level playing field with people you may not consider peers. The level of expertise, science, repetition, passion etc. given off by those around here may be different than what you're used to with peers or friends and family who are casual shooters. We are all very passionate about what we do and it shows in our need to improve. You have it too. You may find that being treated as a member of this group means you are treated a little differently than in other relationships, and that's as a member who is trying to improve as all of us. What you may see as being hard on you, frustrating, elitist, etc. is just part of that drive to share information. We want to see you succeed because simply by signing up here we sense that you want to succeed and we tend to push you in ways that others don't. I don't mean to speak for you, but these are the feelings I remember having and the frustrations I had and hope that it may help you feel like I am not picking you apart for your skills or enthusiasm. Maybe it's unwarranted, I don't know.

We all wish you the best of luck in reaching your goals.