scope sighting

[Vern Humphrey]

I like to sight a .22 in at 50 feet. This puts you a tad high at 25 and 50 yards, and dead on at 75 yards. Most squirrel hunting is right around 50 feet, give or take, so this is ideal, and with practice, you can take shots well out to 100 yards (when the leaves are off the trees.)

I'll second the recommendation for a 4X scope -- a good quality 4X designed for a .22 (with parallax set for a .22.) Mine is a Burris mini 4X.

I'd also recommend quality mounts. Degrease everything -- receiver grooves, mount, screws and rings and mount. If you get slippage then, go the loctite route.

 

[bowfin]

I too, am not a big fan of see thru scope rings, but I guess if a guy had a lace on cheek pad that raised the head high enough, that might let a guy use a scope mounted on see thru rings without stretching his neck like an ostrich.

I don't know if they make a quick detachable mount that rezeros for .22s, that would be better yet.

I am not a big iron sight fan, so don't expect me to take any of my own suggestions, I'll live and die with a low mounted scope for hunting.

 

[mustanger98]

PITBULL:

across a table with a pillow under the gun. don't i need to hold my breath when i shoot? im new to rifle shooting.

R.O.F:

+100 on Mustangers post.
Breathing control is the most important part of shooting. I kinda threw that info at a couple deer hunters I know and they came back thanking me for it. Breath in...hold it...find your sight....shoot...release. It works wonders, just don't tell a forum or anything, everyone will be an expert then.

Sounds like good shooting, but for benchresting, I'd recommend getting yourself a good sandbag. If you fill that sandbag with either sand, corncob madia, or shot, it'll sit firmer than a pillow.

On breathing control, and this is just my take on it... I like to breath deep a few times, then let out half a breath and hold it. Then find your sight, relax and start your trigger squeeze. Just wait for the shot to break. Don't anticipate it. Just relax and don't rush the shot.

FWIW, on the see-through mounts, I have a set of Weaver type on my Savage M11GL in .243Winchester. They work real well for me because I don't have to fight my stiff neck to get my eyes down on the sight plane. Therefore, I'm able to relax with it.

I recommend sighting in for whatever distance you like... I recall you said a Coke can at 50yds and a 2liter at 100yds and that sounds pretty good... and then shoot it at 25yds, 75yds, and any other distance you can think of. Try it out to 200yds too for that matter. What do you have to lose? There's a club out in southern California I read about once... they shoot .22LR's out to 400yds just because they can.

 

[Farnham]

Breath in...hold it...find your sight....shoot...release.

Point of order, yer'onner.

There is a point between exhalation and inhalation, called the respiratory pause. At this point, your chest and shoulders and arms are supported by bone (see also: bone support, a VERY important part of marksmanship), not air. Your chest is not expanded, you're relaxed, and most importantly, you are not straining to hold your breath, line up the sights, and squeeze the trigger.

When you find your "natural point of aim" (the position in which you are required to lay, sit, kneel, or stand, to have the sights in the black), the natural alignment of fuzzy rear sight, crisp front sight, and fuzzy target into one lovely picture, and the respiratory pause will coincide with the break of the trigger.

You will then have achieved the Zen of the longarm, grasshoppa...

Get off the pillow, get on the ground.

S/F

Farnham

 

[mustanger98]

When you find your "natural point of aim" (the position in which you are required to lay, sit, kneel, or stand, to have the sights in the black), the natural alignment of fuzzy rear sight, crisp front sight, and fuzzy target into one lovely picture, and the respiratory pause will coincide with the break of the trigger.

Being a fan of apertures, I really agree with that. And that's my favorite sight picture. I shoot with a group of guys who shoot service rifles as well as buffalo rifles and scoped .22caliber sillouette rifles. What's crazy though is when you get a guy who shoots a rifle with an aperture on the front end too. I know a guy who does and he hits as good as the guys who shoot post fronts.

This comment though...

Get off the pillow, get on the ground.

In a lot of cases, I'd consider it good advise as far as a steady position goes. However, when we don't know the physical capabilities of the individuals we're talking with, it may not be the best advise. I know a lot of guys trained to shoot from those four positions in the military and I'm not saying those four positions are wrong by any means, but in my position, I have to say they're not the only way. Now, I don't know about PITBULL, but in my own case, I shoot across the bench and from standing or from sitting as I would sit in the deer blind without a rest. I do this because I'm disabled and physically unable to shoot from other positions. When you learn how to shoot from standing with a proper stance, it may not be as steady as from prone, but it can work amazingly well compared to "snap" shooting from standing.

Like I said, I shoot with some guys who shoot apertures and also shoot smallbore sillouette, although not necessarily in the same matches. So, something I learned is how to use the sillouette stance to my advantage which means you learn how to use skeletal support and breathing to a bigger advantage from standing. I hate to get confusing trying to explain the stance on here, so I seriously recommend getting with some sillouette shooters and learning that game. It'll also help you get to know your rifle better.

 

[xmaster]

tight

I once killed a crow at 90 yards with a 22 short. I take a deep breath, blow out about half, sight, squeeze......dead.


X

 

[Guyon]

PITBULL, note that there are grades of loctite.

The red stuff, IIRC, is industrial strength and damned hard, if not impossible, to break loose without some heat from a torch.

The blue, I believe, is medium.

The purple stuff, sold for guns, is probably even less binding than the blue, but it does the trick on gun scopes. I've also heard of using clear fingernail polish on the screw threads.

Someone else back me up on these color distinctions???

 

[xjmox14x]

"+100 on Mustangers post.
Breathing control is the most important part of shooting. I kinda threw that info at a couple deer hunters I know and they came back thanking me for it. Breath in...hold it...find your sight....shoot...release. It works wonders, just don't tell a forum or anything, everyone will be an expert then. "

Actually, it is better to fire on the exhale. If you hold your breath you are contracting you muscles causing you to shake slightly. When exhaling, your muscles are completely relaxed and you'll notice the crosshairs don't move at all.