Zero-Sighting in Offhand vs. Bench...

[Dee]

I use a bench to test ammo and get a zero at chickens and get numbers for the 3 other distances. After that I use Offhand to warm up and never touch the bench unless I am uncertain. Being able to call your shots is imperative when checking your numbers and that only comes with time and practice.

When I show up to a match I go with my tried and true numbers and if they are falling where I am breaking I roll with those numbers for the match. If for some unthinkable reason I am not hitting where I think I am breaking I lean ona post or rest on my rifle tote box and shot a few. When those hit as they usually do I know it is just the trigger nut is loose.

Your rifles stability from day to day and environment to environment also comes into play a lot IMO. I also find that your offhand POI can vary slightly between the bench and offhand.

So what do you do and what do you feel makes it the best technique for your shooting?


Dee

[Innocent]

Bench it when traveling for the chickens, then check the rest from the offhand position unless there are problems. Prefer to check offhand, due to the cheek/stock weld, but new ranges, conditions can push a bench test.

Mary

[Jerry G]

If your offhand zeros are different than your bench zeros you need to work on your bench technique.

I think when you go to a match you need to check your chicken zero and then go to the animal you will be starting on for a quick bench check and then offhand practice.

[Travelor]

I have found that the zero's will change from mornings to afternoons on occasion, so I try to bench the rifle and check for each "chicken zero" and write that down. My come-ups from the chicken zero's do not change unless there is a rolling wind causing high or low POA being needed.

All the above being said, I shoot like a gross novice most times and no matter what I do I miss a bunch of animals due to stupidity - it seems that when I do all the preparations, practice, ammo testing, buying all the "needed" paraphernalia and still press the trigger when the sight is off the animal, I miss. Go figure............


George

[Jerry G]

Setting do change during the course of the day. I have seen the ram settings change as much as 1 1/2 min from morning to afternoon. Ya gotta pay attention to your spotter's calls if you have a good spotter. Otherwise you better have a great follow-thru so you can see your own hits.

[Jeaux]

Good topic.

I hear most of you saying to check your chicken zero. I would think that the chicken numbers would seem to be the least affected by the conditions at any given range and the ram setting being the farthest would be the most affected and therefore the most telling as to what changes you might expect to make to your settings at that particular range.

I like to shoot swingers during match warm up/sight in to get virtually instant feedback on all shots. That is only good for a limited time until most of the paint is gone, but it can tell you a lot about what is happening if you can call your shots and then see where the hits are. I often can see the hits as they happen at the longer targets, but it is harder at the close in shots and can get feedback from them sometimes, but swingers or paper will usually tell me everything I need to know to make corrections if necessary.

I also find that during the warmer months, mirage can have a significant effect on POI between mid morning and even late morning. if I can see some rising mirage at a later match, depending on how significant it looks, I will dial down a little bit. In mid summer, it can be as much as a minute difference between early to mid morning and afternoon settings here in South Louisiana or South Mississippi. Experience has been the best teacher for me on this subject over the past few years. I now look for the mirage and see what it is telling me and then use what my spotter tells me to make the corrections necessary during the later matches. It is for things like this that a spotter can be invaluable during a match especially at matches that run over several hours during the day. If your first shot can be on the animal and tell you what you need to know, then you can minimize the animals lost due to changing conditions.

[SqHunter]

Well... as stated in another thread, on my home range the range is cold on match day. No warm ups, no sighting in. I thought this was normal.

But after going to my first sanctioned match yesterday, first time every traveling to shoot, I know what the heck you are talking about now

Distances at Chattanooga were not any where close to those where I normally shoot at. Best I can tell, rams were 10 yds farther, turkeys 8 yds or so, etc etc. I was shooting between there legs Chickens were five yards closer. I am confident the Chattanooga range is correct and everywhere else I have ever shot has not been. I am in Alabama after all Do you folks use laser rangefinders to estimate differences between normal zero and actual range conditions?

And I learned when traveling every thing goes wrong. From the hotel to the ammo temperature. So I left over 14 hrs early to get there in time for sighting in, only to arrive 20 mins before the match and get no warm up at all.

NOT THAT IT WAS NOT OFFERED. They actually offered to hold up the match for me, which I appreciate but I am slower than the formation of dirt so I just went with the flow.

I will get there earlier next time, and fire from the bench at every station.

[mordecai]

Yes, distances can be +/- 10% sometimes but the really sneaky part is the grade. By this I mean the angle of the firing line to the four animals.
Some ranges are nice and flat across all four animals. Some ranges the chickens can be low or negative grade while the rams are 10 feet higher than the pigs.
Even a three-tier rack system can change elevation enough to monkey up your hold - and that's what this comes down to, your hold is different if you're aiming "down" or having to aim "up" beyond what you're used to maintaining...

[SqHunter]

Mordaci,

The chickens at Chattanooga were low, in a pit as you say, and close so the zero would have been off if I had used the right yardage. As was, I accidentally did better on chickens than anywhere else.

On my home range, chickens are elevated on a rack and pretty much straight on.

Need to practice at every range.

Quick question: how does zero and practice work at the big matches? Like the southern nationals? With so many people there do they get time to practice? Coordination of such an activity would have to be a nightmare, but would be useful too.

-Rex

[mordecai]

The big-matches usually come down to Survival of the Fittest.
Honestly, it's come early or have a stellar spotter who will get you back on target fast.

[SqHunter]

Practiced yesterday. The metric distances were a good 1.5 MOA or more different than the standard distances at my home range. One reason for shooting between the legs of the rams.

But it also means the hits I made in the match were accidental

[mordecai]

Yea - kinda sucks eh? LOL

[Jerry G]

Practice shooting paper at the real distances. That way you don't have to rely on a questionable spotter. If you had a spotter board to mark where you thought you broke the shots, you would quickly learn if its not concertrating on your shot when you compare the holes in the target with your board.

[SqHunter]

Good advice Jerry, paper is the only way I have to practice at my home range. Trouble arises when the ranges are calibrated different, yards versus meters. Got it marked now

[steve b.]

I do see a big difference on my 9003 air rifle for this. my bench setting is about 1/4" high to my off-hand zero. s,