At 100 yards Im shootind 3/4 inch groups with 1/2 inch groups showing up when Im really on my game. But at 200 yards, I cant get better than about 3 inches. I think one of the reasons is that I cant see the holes at 200 yards when they are in the black.
What Outlaw and Oldnamvet said!
We shoot iron sights out to 1000 yards in competition. All that is necessary is to be able to see your sights
and target. Suggest you experiment with different sizes/colors of targets. At 9 power, I suspect that a 2" florescent (sp?) orange self adhesive center would be just about right. Black crosshairs on a black bullseye is
not the ideal sight picture.
Walmart sells these stick-ons;
pick the size that leaves just enough orange visible on all four corners of your crosshairs to gauge and I think you will find your groups will shrink (this is also true @ 100...try a 1" orange dot and adjust your power to get the proper sight picture). If your rifle is accurate at 100, it will shoot equally as well @ longer ranges (subject, of course, to external forces such as wind/mirage).
I have a Leupold Mk4 3x9 on my Savage 10FP. I use this gun for target shooting out to 200 yards and at this distance, I find it hard to get good groups. I would like to get a higher powered scope.
The picture below proves that high power scopes are not necessary to shoot good groups at longer ranges. The white circle is a 3" spotter placed in the bullet hole by the target puller in the pits to enable the shooter to see his bullet holes at extended ranges. The spotter was placed in my first shot @ 600 yards (it is held in place by placing a wooden spindle at it's center in the bullet hole). The subsequent 14 rounds, visible in the 3" spotter, were fired from prone position using iron sights.
Pick the correct target for the range used, I'm sure your groups will shrink.
Regards,
hps