Not best practice is NOT practising with one's fowling piece so fear not your 1" group!
K
What range you zero at?
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Not best practice is NOT practising with one's fowling piece so fear not your 1" group!
K
You don't shoot anything in the neck then.
Hereford
Well-Known Member
+1 - kneeling off sticks is a whole different ball game to a lead sled on a bench - real world....
Hereford
Well-Known Member
+1 - good honest post - I've had a follow up shot at 260yds and thanked the lord for the L4a reticule on my Z4i - sometimes the situation is not all about the first shot
achosenman
Well-Known Member
Just an observation. Just because it works doesn't mean it's the best way. Your 1 inch group will still have a centre, and that needs to be .5 inches above the aim point at 100yds for the method I use. Some stalkers practice with their rifles and don't just fire the odd shot whenever they go stalking. Despite what modern PC wets will have you believe, not all shooters are equal.
Atb
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I understand and respect that perspective, but this implies you are now reliant upon having access to a rangefinder as well. I happen to have one, but I only ever use it for measuring out the zeroing target!
It sometimes seems to me that we are becoming more and more dependent upon gadgets and gizmos. On the hill this might be more useful, but for Southern woodland stalking it strikes me as a tad unnecessary. If a deer is that far away I'm prepared to pass up the shot. A 420 yard shot in Berkshire is a whole different proposition to a 420 yard shot in Sutherland!
Then again, I'm far less preoccupied these days about measuring successfull outings in terms of killing things than I used to be, and I wouldn't countenance a client taking such a shot whatever the reasons and whatever their skill level.
Apologies, as I seem to have rambled off the subject here.
mattic
Well-Known Member
The initial zero is about 25 yrds so ok for close range neck shots. I basically zero at 200 as full MPBR does not take into account we all shoot to a group, especially from field positions. Thats why its never a good idea to 'hold-over' the back on long range shots, as you run the risk of 50% of them missing high.
Not rambling Willie, I agree entirely. I have not been to Scotland on the Hinds this year for various reasons (mostly bloody work related) and of the 16 Roe I have shot down here so far the furthest has been 140 yds. I have not had to touch the turrets or get the rangefinder out. But the hill can be a different story depending on the conditions and the job to be done.
And your camera doesn't have a trajectory to worry about thankfully, as your pictures have been stunning
What a pity there is not far more clamouring for the use of the 22 Hornet on woodland deer - at woodland ranges - as distinct from the desire to justify extended shots of evermore impressive statistics.
K
K
Indeed it can.
I've taken shots in Sutherland at 300 or so yards that seemed much closer, doubtless because there are not many features to help you gauge the distance. Psychologically I find it much easier if you're not actually thinking about the distance.
I also mentioned to the stalker one time that there wasn't a backstop to the stag that happened to be standing conveniently broadside on - "there's 20,000 acres of flipping Sutherland acting as backstop" he replied (though perhaps a tad more fruitily), at which point I squeezed the trigger. The Hill can be quite, quite, different.
As for the camera, I may not need to worry about the trajectory but by golly I have to worry about the distance
Might be because on most Woodland deer it would be illegal and considered by many as marginal for the job unless you can guarantee perfect placement, which you can't.
And I don't think we are justifying regular shots at extended ranges, as I said I have shot nothing this year outside 140 yds, but on the odd occasion that you need to (wounded beast etc) it's nice to know that you can, accurately. That's nothing more than good practice in my book.
Just an observation. Just because it works doesn't mean it's the best way. Your 1 inch group will still have a centre, and that needs to be .5 inches above the aim point at 100yds for the method I use. Some stalkers practice with their rifles and don't just fire the odd shot whenever they go stalking. Despite what modern PC wets will have you believe, not all shooters are equal.
Atb
I was not suggesting my way is the best, just that it has worked for me.
I'm afraid the term 'best practice' (which I generally support ) has come to imply that anything other than that must, by default, be worst practice!
By the way, thanks for explaining that my lame one inch groups still have a centre (I have heard it called an MPI?) and where that centre should be. Never too old to learn.
Zero will depend on rifle and purpose. If head/neck, then zero in relationship to calibre should be in line with expected shot distances.
if heart/lung, either your 80/20 average shot distance should dictate zero or if quite varying distances you shoot at then use MPBR
if heart/lung, either your 80/20 average shot distance should dictate zero or if quite varying distances you shoot at then use MPBR
paul o'
Well-Known Member
+1 Correct in your findings lol .
1" high at 100 and then you're good out to 200. Most of my shots are 100 or less, but if I do catch something in the open then I can be confident it will still hit the mark.
Ballistic turrets...dialling things in.....why make life so complicated??
Or is it more a case of "boys and their toys?"
Exactly, nothing wrong with dialling thiough, IF one knows what they're doing. Dialling for range can be done by a monkey, but adjusting for wind at range is a different matter, hence I HATE these new coulor coded rings and holdover systems. Ok, fine if you learn to adjust for wind but I fear many do not realise that wind is much more influential than gravity on bullet movement
pitiliedon
Well-Known Member
hitting 1" high of the aimpoint on 100yrd target , confirmed good at 200yrds,works for me. As long as the rifle set up, and pilot works and can group, I just need my first shot to hit the mark, I don't get hung up on cloverleafing, deer and foxes seldom stand still for the second or third shot !
don't have ballistic turrets or range finders(not that I wouldn't like all the toys) but just got comfortable with what size deer and foxes are between the posts in the scope and happy to shoot at what looks right. Can come slightly un-stuck on featureless open hill when you see a red cub and assume it's an adult further out if it looks too small in the glass but this doesn't happen very often and most likely at night. Practice makes perfect but a good discipline rather than plinking away for grouping is once zeroed, to take single shots at various marks from prone , sitting ,kneeling , leaning , curled up. You can get a perfect lie on the open hill but more often than not there will be a pointy rock in your hip bone or groin , or you'll be twisted round a rock or dangling head down a slope trying to grip with your toes while all the blood start to pulse in your eyeballs and the one or three drams from the night before feel like less of a good idea than they were at the time.
don't have ballistic turrets or range finders(not that I wouldn't like all the toys) but just got comfortable with what size deer and foxes are between the posts in the scope and happy to shoot at what looks right. Can come slightly un-stuck on featureless open hill when you see a red cub and assume it's an adult further out if it looks too small in the glass but this doesn't happen very often and most likely at night. Practice makes perfect but a good discipline rather than plinking away for grouping is once zeroed, to take single shots at various marks from prone , sitting ,kneeling , leaning , curled up. You can get a perfect lie on the open hill but more often than not there will be a pointy rock in your hip bone or groin , or you'll be twisted round a rock or dangling head down a slope trying to grip with your toes while all the blood start to pulse in your eyeballs and the one or three drams from the night before feel like less of a good idea than they were at the time.
So much wisdom in the above post I frankly can't be doing with singling out but one observation to concur with.
Cheers
K
Cheers
K
Chasey
Well-Known Member
Thats a great post
Personaly 100m dead on with 100g soft point
Then see where my 75g balistics end up so I can adjust for it
Same again at 150m three soft point 100g and see where they end up and three balistic tip 75g
I havent had the oportunity to do a 200m test but it would be interesting no doubt.
ATB
CHasey
tackb
Well-Known Member
100m bang on , left alone for general southern stalking but use my turrets if a long shot is required . on the hill I set the turrets for a 200m zero (5 clicks) as the shots tend to be a little longer , and again if a longer shot is required I use my turrets but the 200m zero is fine if you get amongst a group of hinds and need to flatten a few in short order.
my scopes all have zero stop so it's easy to return to the 100m zero.
I practice with my rifles to 1200yds as regular as I can.
the trick whether you hold off or dial is to practice and become familiar with your kit so it becomes second nature whatever system you use.
my scopes all have zero stop so it's easy to return to the 100m zero.
I practice with my rifles to 1200yds as regular as I can.
the trick whether you hold off or dial is to practice and become familiar with your kit so it becomes second nature whatever system you use.
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