I am new to benchrest shooting (Rem 700 VLS .223). Why do the official benchrest targets use a sighting square with wide edges instead of using the target ring center for sighting. I shot at some today and found having to line up my crosshairs inside the box more difficult than just centering on the 1/2" center ring. There must be a good reason for it, right?
Benchrest target question.
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Jim Watson
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You can line up on a corner of the square, inside or outside and get a very precise aim. Some benchrest shooters use small dot reticles to center in the square. Quartering the square with crosshairs is not the best.
Smokey Joe
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Been wondering about this...
Well, then! Why have the "bullseye" type target there at all, over which the square is superimposed?
(Not being facetious; I'd really appreciate knowing.)
Isn't "official" benchrest scored on total group size, not on the score of each shot on a bullseye?
Just began benchrest competition myself, but my club scores the shots on bullseyes.
The .22 rifles some of the shooters use are awesome! (I mean that literally--"awe-inspiring"--not as a generic yuppie term.)
Well, then! Why have the "bullseye" type target there at all, over which the square is superimposed?
(Not being facetious; I'd really appreciate knowing.)
Isn't "official" benchrest scored on total group size, not on the score of each shot on a bullseye?
Just began benchrest competition myself, but my club scores the shots on bullseyes.
The .22 rifles some of the shooters use are awesome! (I mean that literally--"awe-inspiring"--not as a generic yuppie term.)
The big black square is there for mirage, and nothing else. With 36X and higher scopes sometimes the mirage is so bad it will wash out all the lines on the target, but the thick black square will still be visible, blurry as heck, but visible. Then you still have something to aim at.
Varmint shooters usually use variable power scopes. That way when the mirage is real bad they just go to a lower power to clear things up.
Yes, as long as the group is inside the box it counts with no penalty. Group size is measured. What ring it is inside doesn't matter.
Jim Watson
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There is getting to be more and more interest in score benchrest shooting. I read of one event in which you fire your first shot and then have to declare if you will be competing for group or score. My club shoots .22 score benchrest at 50 yards. The ten ring is about .16" diameter, score an X if you completely punch out the ten ring.
krs
Member
It may be changing a little but when I was shooting centerfire benchrest groups size was all that mattered, and it didn't really make a difference to the scoring WHERE your five shot group was so long as it wasn't on the next guy's target. Crossfire is pretty easy to do when using 36 or more power scopes - it happens almost often enough to call it a frequent situation.
The bigger lined square was as described above - an aiming point that you use any way that you think works best for you. You can most always see the square and plopping your rounds into the target below just keeps everything orderly while helping you keep from committing the big error of crossfire. No score for hitting another shooter's target and there have been people happily shooting a five shot group on the next guy's bull without either shooter realizing what's going on.
As to why have the targets like that - it's just a method that was developed back when rifles, scopes, and shooters were less capable than now. A hangover sorta' - lots of rules in shooting sports are like that and most of the time it's not a big deal. Getting some of the old dogs in Benchrest to change their ways could be a very big deal though - there's guys in their nineties still able to play that game.
This is Benchrest Central. Tell Wilbur I said hey...http://benchrest.com/
The bigger lined square was as described above - an aiming point that you use any way that you think works best for you. You can most always see the square and plopping your rounds into the target below just keeps everything orderly while helping you keep from committing the big error of crossfire. No score for hitting another shooter's target and there have been people happily shooting a five shot group on the next guy's bull without either shooter realizing what's going on.
As to why have the targets like that - it's just a method that was developed back when rifles, scopes, and shooters were less capable than now. A hangover sorta' - lots of rules in shooting sports are like that and most of the time it's not a big deal. Getting some of the old dogs in Benchrest to change their ways could be a very big deal though - there's guys in their nineties still able to play that game.
This is Benchrest Central. Tell Wilbur I said hey...http://benchrest.com/
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