How do you see your hits at 100 yds or further?

I have a 60x spotting scope that I picked up for $30 at Cabellas on sale with a rebate. My goal was to try it out in case it was "good enough". It's good enough. In fact I've knocked the thing off the bench onto the concrete at the range three times and it's still good enough. Best $30 I've spent.

Tracers.

20-60x80 angled eyepiece Celestron, Shoot-N-See or similar targets up to 250meters.

Would get a 1000yd Bullseye camera system or similar if shooting practice at longer ranges regularly. I also have access to an 800 meter range.

http://www.bullseyecamera.com/

In competition the pit crews mark my targets with indicator discs, and I mark theirs when I'm working the pit.

Spotting scopes are the best bet, wish I could afford a much better one than what I have. But I heartily recommend mounting it on a good, sturdy camera tripod! I set mine up next to the shooting bench where I can just look in it easily, rather than on the bench with my rifle and other stuff. It's not in the way and doesn't get knocked off target either.

Hang a weight in the center of the tripod like a shotbag or sandbag, and that'll help a lot with vibrations and wind. The more solid and stable it is, the easier it is to use and see through. And the more you can keep from having to touch it, the better also.

I can spot my shots with a 4-16x44 scope on regular white paper with .223. Try moving the crosshairs and looking in the upper corners of the scope.

I have a 6-24x50 scope and the eye relief just goes to crap at higher magnifications(budget/midrange scope market).

I walk out and look.

I'll probably get a spotting scope eventually, but glass isn't cheap enough to spend money on when isn't necessary, for me, at the moment.

With my cheap spotting scope I can just make out 22 caliber holes at 100 yards when it's at 45 magnification.

When I shoot my 45-70, I can turn the magnification down somewhat.

I use the Leupold gold ring out to 200 yds which is not bad for a 10X20x40. It is great for bench shooting and hiking, great glass. If temperatures are above 90 degrees it is hard to see 22lr bullet holes at 200 yds with the mirage but still doable. At 100 yds it is great even for rimfire without shoot n c targets.
http://swfa.com/Leupold-10-20x40-Compact-Golden-Ring-Spotter-P5905.aspx

I use a bright white paper plate with stick on dots in the middle for targets. Using quality scopes made by Zeiss, Burris or Leupold I can easily see .30 cal holes to 200 yards on 7X or greater. At 300 yards I can sometimes see the holes, but not clear enough to be certain. I always have to walk or drive up to the target see at that range.

Quality is certainly more important than lots of X's. As well as knowing how to focus your scope. Lots of guys don't even know they need to do so. I've looked through some quality scopes belonging to other shooters so out of focus that I couldn't see holes at 50 yards.

Our range is pretty informal and If I go during the middle of the day on a week day I almost always have it to myself. If other shooters are present anyone shooting beyond 100 yards is encouraged to hop in their truck or ATV to ride down and replace targets during breaks in order to speed things up.

I have one similar to this, it fills all my needs out to 200 yds, don't know about beyond this as that's the limit of our range.

http://www.opticsplanet.com/tasco-world-class-20-60x60mm-zoom-spotting-scope-wc206060.html

I use a 20x scope to work up loads on all of my rifles. After I am done with the load work up, I take it off and install the scope I am going to use on that rifle. A nice spotter helps, I have a couple. Plus, I also only use those 1" orange dots on white paper. With the 20x I can center the crosshairs in the middle of em and see where I am hitting.

Decades back I bought an el-cheapo telescope, 20X to 60X zoom. It works just fine up to 40X before getting fuzzy. Adequately sharp at 40X and below.

I have a Kowa with a 20x fixed magnification eyepiece. It's crystal clear, and 30 cal holes are visible most of the time out to 300yd, and I can see them on the white sometimes at 600yds.

Clarity and brightness beat magnification any day. Zooms are generally lower quality optics than fixed lenses at the same price point.

Mirage and poor lighting trump everything else though.

Some day I'll get a 20-60x zoom eyepiece for the scope, but I doubt that it will help much with seeing bullet holes.

-J.

I have a couple Swarovski ATS 80mm HD's with 20-60X eye pieces. They are pretty good pieces of glass though a bit pricey. I use Manfrotto tripods with pistol grip heads when out in the field. Also have a mount that goes directly on my benchrest.

Or you can go cheapskate like I do and mount your digital camera on a tripod and focus in, assuming you have the zoom to support it. Most cameras have ample digital zoom and you won't be taking pictures anyway. My HX9v has 16x optical zoom good to about 50m and 64x digital that will snap lower quality photos where heat distortion starts to play up to two miles out. By that point any real photography has gone to crap, but that's not our goal here. We're only looking at 100y through a lower resolution LCD, through which spotting is easily achievable.

I understand that you need glass to see the holes if you have difficulty walking or are shooting in a group.I belong to a rural club and have the range to myself most weekdays.I take a shot,walk out and mark it,walk back and repeat.Its my fitness program for hunting as I participate in deer drives in mountainous country.It simulates the hunting situation where you are walking and jump a deer.I did this 35 times with two rifles 3 days ago.My calves were a little sore as I'm 70 years old.

Make your own shoot and see targets. There are lots of sites, and you tube videos on how to make your own. Basically, take some fluorescent poster board and cover it with clear shipping tape. Then spray the tape with flat black paint. When you hit the target, the impact flakes off some of the paint and the fluorescent color of the paper beneath it shines through. They work great and are very cheap to make. Give 'me a try and you'll never again purchase targets. You the money you save for ammo and components.
Enjoy....

1. STOP using black targets. You can't see holes in black targets.

2. I like the florescent orange or lime printing. The bullet holes show up on these. Look for a WHITE or off white background

3. I have had great luck using a Hi Liter instead of a black magic marker for 'home made' aim points. The Blue, Orange and Pink all show well on white poster board all the way back to 600 yards. I like a 2 in x 2 in solid square of color Hi Liter in side a 6 or 8 in box that is one inch wide. It is very much like the 14 x 14 inch gridded Scope Sight In targets. The known inner and outer square sizes help you estimate shot distances from center for plotting.

4. The 14 x 14 inch Gridded (1 inch grid) Scope Sight in Targets that are printed in Orange work very nicely out to 300 yards, even out to 600 yards.

With a 20X Kowa Scope it is no problem recording 300 yard groups ( as in 1.4 inch Left; 2.8 inch Low from center) on white backgrounds with Hi Liter Aim Points or Commercial florescent printing. It's possible to see hits on these targets at 300 yards with a 7x35 or 8 x 40 binocular.

I have had pretty good luck making my own shoot&see type targets using neon light green or neon pink poster paper sprayed over with black stencil spray. You can find at most printing supply stores, or places that sell surveying equipment and supplies. It sprays on dry on contact and flakes off really easily. Just use a white paint pen or silver sharpie and different size round pie pans, saucers, etc. to trace your rigs onto it.

777funk said:

use a shoot n see type targer (by the way are there any cheap versions of these???).

Click to expand...

Midway regularly has the Birchwood Casey Shoot n See 5.5 inch targets on sale for $7.99 per 50. The add says they are "defects" or "seconds". We order 250 at a time when they go on sale like that and I've not yet seen one that didn't work like it was supposed to. We use the 5.5 inch target for everything from 10 yards to 300 yards.

when i go to the range i go early and drive out and put my targets up 5-10 depending on how many guns i,m going to shoot. i then set my spotting scope up(B&L discover 15x60-60) and get my record book and rifle rests out along with my rifles, now i am ready to start shooting and recording my results in my book. i start with one gun and work thru the rest i have along. after i have shot the rifles and recorded the results i drive out and pick up the targets when another shooter-shooters put their targets up. i then go to a burger king and have coffee while going thru my record book to check my results. eastbank.

Want to see your shots better? Steel is the way to go. I use a 1/2 inch AR500 steel upper torso and head target from Wideners that is painted with brown rustoleum primer. The color contrast is perfect for me and everyone else that shoots at my place. Even with a 4x scope I can see the silvery "splash" marks. Of course I live in the country so my range is out back and my back porch is my shooting platform

My new Nitrex TR1 3-9X scope has no problems resolving .6mm and up bullet holes at 100 yards. Haven't tried the .22's with it yet. It has a tougher time at 200 yards, but my old Tasco 25x50 fixed power spotting scope has no problem with .277 holes in white paper at that range. My Nitrex scope was only $99.99 in gloss finish, and I paid $58 for that Tasco spotter, (of course it was 30 years ago, but am still using it!) I believe it was actually made in Japan back then.

The Konus 80 is really nice scope and at a reasonable price.

Konus is better than a lot for the price.

Besides the scope what is is mounted on makes a difference. Do not touch the scope when viewing. Heavy wind or mirage does not help either. You need a stable stand. Everything seems to work against you making out holes. Image quality / clarity beats magnification.

Most of what the scope is used for is reading mirage to determine prevailing wind.

1oo - 200 is not that hard almost anything will do. Keeping track of what was the last shot is the hard part after too many shots.