The black dot of doom fun shoot - anyone game?

[caorach]

Back at the end of 2012 we had a bit of a fun shoot and most people seemed to enjoy it and as a bonus they also got a laugh at my groups. It was just for fun so the spirit was more important than the "rules" but I thought to see if anyone was game for another go at it. The bottom line was -

3 rounds only at a one inch black dot on a bit of white paper at 100 yards, or meters f that suits you better. The aim is to hit the black dot not to shoot a small group so if you aren't zeroed at 100, as is my case for example, then you'll have to aim off into the white paper.

The key to the shoot was that it was a "stalkers shoot" so there were no practice shots, or reshooting a dodgy group, or ignoring some rounds because of wind, or gravity or whatever. There was also no changing your 200 yard zero to 100 or fitting a target scope because the crosshair on your stalking scope obscures the black dot. You got out of the car, put up the target, fired 3 rounds using your normal stalking rig and that was you done. Then you posted the photo.

Again as it was a stalkers shoot bench rests and rear bags and so on were not allowed. The maximum support was a prone with a bipod, preferably in a wet ditch in driving rain Of course you could use less support so sticks or leaning on a tree root were allowed. The key was to act in the spirit of a stalking fun shoot.

However, the whole thing is a bit of fun so if your land only allows for a target at 70 yards then go ahead and do that, or if you normally shoot with a .50 Barret with a PMII at 50 times magnification on top then feel free to go with it, or if you have to shoot from a highseat on your land then that is just fine. The key is to keep with the "spirit" of the thing so it must be the black dot (because deer don't really have good aiming points on their shoulders) and the only shots that count are the first 3 with no practice or discarding of groups because they aren't great. However, if you want to shoot 3 off bipod and 3 off sticks then that seems like a bit of fun, in that case you'd only shoot 6 shots, no practice, no discarding groups etc. etc.

Apache helpfully posted a target last time and if this link works then here it is again:

The Stalking Directory

If that doesn't work you can see the first run of this idea here, and Apache's target is on the 2nd page:

Stalking fun shoot - anyone game?

 

[VSS]

Good idea.
I was just thinking about this the other day, and thinking it was about time for another one.
Now I've got a proper man-size rifle (or girly size, depending on what you think of .243) I might actually join in!

I'd also like to resurrect the .22LR fun shoot that ran parallel to the "grown ups" version. Any takers?

 

[bewsher500]

Good idea.
I was just thinking about this the other day, and thinking it was about time for another one.
Now I've got a proper man-size rifle (or girly size, depending on what you think of .243) I might actually join in!

I'd also like to resurrect the .22LR fun shoot that ran parallel to the "grown ups" version. Any takers?

yes!
should just run it as any calibre
will have a crack with whatever comes out the cabinet next time!

Actually thought I would go one better and ramp up the pressure on myself to do it properly this time.

I have put five 1" shoot'n'see dots on one pizza base
(so one cock up and you can't just post the good ones!)

going to do 5 calibres on the same target

.177pcp air rifle (33yds)
.22lr and/or .22WMR (50/100yds)
.222 (100yds)
.270 (100yds)
.300WM (100yds)

 

[Crosshair243]

Gutted, I had a target out earlier- would have done this if I'd seen it in time.
If I get a chance, I'll print one off and have a go tomorrow. I'd like to think I'll score 3 black dot hits but then don't we all

Edit- I've printed off three. I'm thinking .22lr, .223 and .243 all at 100m

 

[caorach]

If I get a chance, I'll print one off and have a go tomorrow. I'd like to think I'll score 3 black dot hits but then don't we all

Last time around I think there were 53 rounds fired at the black dot, and 7 hits.

Remember you only get one chance, 3 rounds, that's it. Of course you'll need to shoot 3 with each rilfe but even so keep to the spirit of the thing.

I must confess that last time I shot 3 off the bipod and then 3 off sticks and I did better off the sticks because I'd had the little bit of practise off the bipod.

 

[Crosshair243]

Last time around I think there were 53 rounds fired at the black dot, and 7 hits.

Remember you only get one chance, 3 rounds, that's it. Of course you'll need to shoot 3 with each rilfe but even so keep to the spirit of the thing.

I must confess that last time I shot 3 off the bipod and then 3 off sticks and I did better off the sticks because I'd had the little bit of practise off the bipod.

Of course! I will play fair The wind will be my biggest enemy.

I do have a slight advantage in that I've always used a 100m zero so will be aiming dead on with the centrefires.

It will be a Steyr Pro-Varmint .223 with Swaro z3 using PPU (I'm low on Norma Vmax which are a bit more consistent) off of a Harris 9-13 tilting bipod.

I reckon 1/3 of those will touch the circle with the other two touching close by.

Then it will be my trusty cz .22lr with cheapo 3-10x40 hawke on it firing Winchester subs. That is zeroed for fifty yards but I know where to aim for 100.

I reckon 0/3 of those will touch the circle. I predict the first will be low, then I'll try and walk the others on and fail miserably

Last but not least will be my .243 bog standard Steyr Scout using the inbuilt bipod and 8x56 Habicht. I'll be using 55g Norma Vmax bullets.

I reckon if it is still then 3/3 of those will touch the circle. If it's windy, I'd still hope for 2/3!!!!!!!!

I could be eating humble pie tomorrow but that's half the fun surely?

 

[caorach]

I could be eating humble pie tomorrow but that's half the fun surely?

That's just about it - in the end it is about having a laugh and I'd guess some will do better than they expect and some worse. Having a 100 yard zero is an advantage as I need to aim into the white paper which is hard to judge, but the situation is the same when I'm shooting a deer so it is no excuse

It will be at least a week before I get out as working lots of shifts this week but the targets I shot first time around are on the first thread and they aren't pretty. The last time it encouraged me to practice a bit and that in itself was a good thing and, of course, I've let that slip in the last while so if the new target is good I'll be pleased and if it is bad it will encourage me to practice which is also a good outcome, plus it is a laugh.

 

[Crosshair243]

Well, that was tough! It was windier than I would have liked but then that's the whole point I guess. It makes it fun aiming for the dot rather than just printing a group- although perhaps magnifies any errors of judgement!

First up was the .22lr.
It has no bipod so I was shooting off of my foxing Hazel stick tripod.
Wind was gusting to 15mph from around 8 o'clock. I tried to aim for the wind at that moment rather than waiting for the wind to fit my shot so to speak and it was tough!
I discovered years ago on my original cz that with the scope on 6x, with a standard 40-40 ret, the point where it goes from thick to thin on the bottom post is 100y with Winchester subs.
It has proved to be the case on my latest one too and 100y crows and rabbits are usually dead cert. I've never 'proved' it on paper though so I was interested in my vertical group even if windage was going to be a shot in the dark.
For shot 1, I aimed at the left hand edge of the dot.
Shot 2 was in similar wind so I aimed further left to compensate for shot one.
Shot 3 was aimed a fraction wider and unfortunately, the wind died as I fired and it went exactly where I had aimed

Bloody pleased with the .25" vertical group though!!! That's why I've never needed a .17

Next, was the .223.
The wind at this point increased significantly and it started to drizzle. Still, I go after live quarry in worse conditions so nothing to fear I hoped!
To be honest, I was a bit gutted with the result.

Shot 1- I aimed about an inch left which was a good call but it was oddly an inch low.
Shot 2- Wind was gusting for this one but annoyingly, it dropped as I fired and the result was 1.5" left.
Shot 3- Wind was settled again so I tried to compensate and aimed an inch high. Of course, this one would have been spot on and as a result ended up exactly two inches high!!!! Grrrrrr!

Well, after bigging myself up, I was currently on 0/6 and the pressure was mounting. Time for my favourite old girl to do me proud

I only swapped my 8x56 back on to here yesterday as I'm fed up with taking the .308 out in the evenings fox calling. It was bang on at 100m yesterday and the last two shots were touching at point of aim- hence my confidence.

Shot 1- Exactly 1" high!!!!!! Grrrrr
Shot 2- Touching the first.
Shot 3- Aim off an inch low and whoop whoop! One point

So, what did I learn?
Shooting is fun! (Ok, I knew that 18 years ok but it's no less fun as a serious adult )
Shooting with added pressure is harder!
The wind is our main obstacle. Trajectories are a **** of **** to read in comparison.
Aiming to hit something is far harder than shooting a group.
Im not quite as good as I thought

Thanks for resurrecting the thread guys, great fun!

 

[caorach]

Well, that was tough! It was windier than I would have liked but then that's the whole point I guess.

Glad you had fun and were brave enough to post the first set of targets. It will be the end of the week before I can get out put I have some targets printed ready for action

The wind was clearly a killer with the 22 and as you say the vertical is next to nothing with it.

If you look back at the last thread you will see that your targets are completely in keeping with what everyone else shot. Out of 53 shots I think 7 hit the dot so you are doing just as well as everyone else did last time.

As you say it is not as easy as you imagine to hit that black dot floating out there in space. One thing I did notice was that after I shot my first targets (one prone and one off sticks) which I posted on the thread I then shot a few more and with the little bit of practice things improved significantly in only a few shots. I'd bet if you'd put up a fresh target and fired another few groups you'd soon have seen an improvement however it is rare you get that opportunity with deer.

Well done, and let's hope a few other people take up the challenge and have themselves a bit of a laugh.

 

[Crosshair243]

The thing is, one gun or another is out of the cabinet most days but this is the first time for years I have shot for shooting's sake. Normally it's a tool doing a job but today was good fun.

I think I just over-thought the .22 and .223 to be honest. I've never been afraid of aiming off but I just got a bit carried away

As I said, it's harder on the ego to actually aim to hit the dot- the results don't look as pretty as a nice tight group

I reckon the .243 has 'moved' since yesterday as I attached my new Led Lenser torch to the scope since then which has clearly shifted the poi up an inch- which is no bad thing. That gives me dead-on aiming for crows and foxes to around 275y and very few of our fields are even that long

 

[caorach]

I think I just over-thought the .22 and .223 to be honest. I've never been afraid of aiming off but I just got a bit carried away

I think getting the concentration going is hard on paper. When you've spent an hour getting in on a deer your concentration is already up and running but when it's just a dot on a bit of paper you tend just to lie down and fire a few off and sometimes, certainly for me, it doesn't work out so well

One thing that must be said though is that you stuck your neck out and did it, there have been over 400 views of this thread and there is no shortage of claims of excellent shooting on this forum, but so far you are the only stalker who was actually confident enough in your shooting to give it a go. In some ways that should tell you more about your real world performance than the groups you shot.

So folks get the target up and get shooting at it, I will be doing it next weekend hopefully and you'll not do any worse than me so you've nothing to worry about plus it is always a useful learning experience.

 

[badbob]

I use a red mark but Ive printed some black spots out for next week.
my 308 tikka /leupold never goes off zero so Im confident ???pretty sure
of hitting the spot next time.
I dont use a bipod just rest on my elbows or
on my roesack with a coat in it.
last weeks..............

 

[Crosshair243]

One thing that must be said though is that you stuck your neck out and did it, there have been over 400 views of this thread and there is no shortage of claims of excellent shooting on this forum, but so far you are the only stalker who was actually confident enough in your shooting to give it a go. In some ways that should tell you more about your real world performance than the groups you shot.

I'm not proud but I am ever so slightly arrogant

 

[Dalua]

There's mine - five rounds from force of habit - rested on my hand on a sandbag. Wiped the oil from the bore with a lighter-fluid patch and fitted a mod.
The rifle has not seen the light of day since last summer, as its fine walnuttiness causes me anxiety on the hill when at the hinds.
The POA was with the top of the horizontal bar just on the bottom edge of the dot. Zero is meant to be 2" high at 100yds, so it looks as though it hasn't shifted since I put it away.
The position of shot 1 is rather upsetting - perhaps the rifle needs a fouling shot? I think not though, as it never has before.
More likely the first shot was misdirected by the operator

 

[Crosshair243]

View attachment 38692
There's mine - five rounds from force of habit - rested on my hand on a sandbag. Wiped the oil from the bore with a lighter-fluid patch and fitted a mod.
The rifle has not seen the light of day since last summer, as its fine walnuttiness causes me anxiety on the hill when at the hinds.
The POA was with the top of the horizontal bar just on the bottom edge of the dot. Zero is meant to be 2" high at 100yds, so it looks as though it hasn't shifted since I put it away.
The position of shot 1 is rather upsetting - perhaps the rifle needs a fouling shot? I think not though, as it never has before.
More likely the first shot was misdirected by the operator

Why did you not aim another inch low to try and hit the circle?
Lovely group but in Eurovision stylee "Nil Points!"

 

[Dalua]

Why did you not aim another inch low to try and hit the circle?
Lovely group but in Eurovision stylee "Nil Points!"

Force of habit! When I see a spot on a sheet of paper on a range, I just want to make a lovely, lovely group an inch or two above it.
80% of it is a lovely group - the remaining 20% is decidedly suboptimal, and as you say nule pwang.

 

[flyingfisherman]

Ive not used my 7-08 in about a year (due to having a death-laser now, also known as a 6.5x284). Anyways, i have decided to get it out and use up some 140gn SGKs ive got for it. Nothing fancy, just testing powder weight, prone off the bipod. forgot how well this rifle shoots. 5 round group.

 

[bewsher500]

Ive not used my 7-08 in about a year (due to having a death-laser now, also known as a 6.5x284). Anyways, i have decided to get it out and use up some 140gn SGKs ive got for it. Nothing fancy, just testing powder weight, prone off the bipod. forgot how well this rifle shoots. 5 round group.

there is your benchmark chaps!
but you don't win the teddy as I can still see the red spot!!

 

[AnthonyR]

You didn't use the Black Dot of Doom though, so it won't count.

I got left out last year for the same reason.

Will have another go soon but don't think it will be as good as last years

 

[flyingfisherman]

Yeah, I thought the same Anthony.. I was having an impromptu session.. Happy to be discounted as a contender lol. I've got enough fluffy bunnies at home!