J-Bar
Member
Only two of my guns have scopes; my deer rifle, a Ruger #1 in .270 W, and a Ruger 10/22. All the rest have open iron sights (not peep sights or ghost rings). As my eyes age, the groups I shoot with iron sights have gradually enlarged. No surprise.
But it got me to thinking, maybe the solid black ball bullseye is not the best target for me now. I wondered if changing the shape of the target would reduce group size.
And I think it does.
I tried several different target shapes...inverted "T", big "O" with nothing in the middle, quarter-sized solid dots...etc.
The best I have found so far for my eyes is an "M with wings". Attached are photos of two targets I shot today. I nestle the front bead down in the rear sight notch until only the bead shows, no post. Then aim so that the bead is between the legs of the "M", with the middle point of the "M" just touching the top of the bead.
Photo #1 shows that I got the legs of the "M" too narrow, but I still got a respectable group. Photo #2 shows an "M" with wider legs. When I shot at this one, I could see space between the bead and the legs of the "M" and could actually aim more precisely. I doubt that my old eyes can do much better than this.
I was shooting a 1946 Marlin 39-A, 10 shots with Eley Sport .22 Long Rifle standard speed, and the distance was 25 yards, shooting over a rest, naturally.
Have any of you played around with different target shapes to see if something suits your vision better than a conventional bullseye? If nothing else it is a good excuse to go out and burn some ammo!!
But it got me to thinking, maybe the solid black ball bullseye is not the best target for me now. I wondered if changing the shape of the target would reduce group size.
And I think it does.
I tried several different target shapes...inverted "T", big "O" with nothing in the middle, quarter-sized solid dots...etc.
The best I have found so far for my eyes is an "M with wings". Attached are photos of two targets I shot today. I nestle the front bead down in the rear sight notch until only the bead shows, no post. Then aim so that the bead is between the legs of the "M", with the middle point of the "M" just touching the top of the bead.
Photo #1 shows that I got the legs of the "M" too narrow, but I still got a respectable group. Photo #2 shows an "M" with wider legs. When I shot at this one, I could see space between the bead and the legs of the "M" and could actually aim more precisely. I doubt that my old eyes can do much better than this.
I was shooting a 1946 Marlin 39-A, 10 shots with Eley Sport .22 Long Rifle standard speed, and the distance was 25 yards, shooting over a rest, naturally.
Have any of you played around with different target shapes to see if something suits your vision better than a conventional bullseye? If nothing else it is a good excuse to go out and burn some ammo!!
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