Target interpretation

[Lucky Shooter]

I haven't done a good job keeping the old man out and have turned into a fall hazard
but am not ready to quit shooting.

The terrain around our 100 yard target frames is not good and I've considered shooting
at 50 yards to get on more level ground.

Do your targets give you any useful information at this shorter range ?

Just another one of life's challenges.

A. Weldy

 

[K22]

That's a good question for which I do not have an exact answer, at least technically. I can only share my experiences which I have used for the past 50+years for precision varmint and predator hunting applications.

The only time I use 50 yards for center rifle shooting is to initially sight in a scope to get on paper. Thereafter, I do all my load development at 100 yards trying to select days with minimal mirage and wind, and moderate temperatures. I have used this system out of tradition as opposed to any technical justification. However, it has served me well for my purposes.

Final sight in is performed once I find a load that meets my standards. I sight in at 100 yards off the bench then fine tune the sight in using the shooting system I am going to use in the field. For me, that's off shooting cross sticks. I like to verify as much as possible shooting at the distances I intend to shoot, example, 100 to 300 yards. I adopted this system several years ago because I discovered that my rifles shoot to a different POI off the sticks versus of the bench with a front and rear rest.

 

[std7mag]

I'll agree with @K22.

I typically use 25 yards to look through the bore when putting a scope on. Followed by a shot or two at 50 yards, then depending on the scope zero in at 100 yards.
My BDC scopes get zero in at 200 yards.

Although final zero is done how I'm planning on shooting the rifle.

 

[Lucky Shooter]

I didn't ask the question clearly.

Will the best tuning range at 50 yards also be the best
tuning range at 100 and 200 yards ?

A. Weldy

 

[Fuj]

I didn't ask the question clearly.

Will the best tuning range at 50 yards also be the best
tuning range at 100 and 200 yards ?

A. Weldy

No.....

 

[Lucky Shooter]

No.....

Thanks Fuj----not the answer I wanted but I also wanted the truth.

Maybe I should follow Boyd's advice----"Do your own testing."

A. Weldy

 

[BarnDweller]

I have a 50 yard range at home. Have used it for years. I am lucky that its on a hill so when I had the man dig it out we put in a culvert so it does not hold water. We dug down into the earth like 12 feet or so and piled all that clay up on the back and the sides. I started as a pistol range and has changed to a rifle range. Now I have found a 500 yard range I enjoy shooting my precision rifles. I have lots of steel on my range. I have a special paper target holder I built that as a 1/2 inch ar500 target on the back of it angled back. This forces the pieces of the bullets down. I have some 2x6 wood that hang out the sides and catch anything. It does require I replace two 24" 2x6 every couple hundred rounds. I have been shooting 6.5 Creedmoor, 6mm ARC, 6 Dasher, 22 ARC, 223 ect.

As far as is it useful, I do all my load development on my range and when I get to go to the 500 yard range I get good groups. Ask me in a couple weeks, I just joined a range in northern Michigan that is 1000 yards. Saturday I go to the safety briefing and hopefully I will get a chance to stretch my 6 Dasher out farther than 500 yards.

My range is about 50 feet wide, if you have the room and a little hill (need that or it will just fill up with water) spend the 2000$ to pay an excavator to make it safe. remember you can never get a bullet back.

 

[Bottom Fodder]

Yes I think it can, but they won’t tell all you probably would like to to know.

 

[TA17rem]

I discovered that my rifles shoot to a different POI off the sticks versus of the bench with a front and rear rest.

Yep and will do the same off of a tri-pod.

I site my thermals in at 50 yards for personal reason. If load is up to par and good bullet choice you should be almost shooting hole for hole if you do your part. If you got a few flyers the group will open up x 2 at 100 and soon on. Once I site my thermals in then I do a 100 yard test to adjust for rotation or windage but leave elevation setting as is. just way i do it with thermals.

 

[Coyotefurharvester]

If your groups are terrible at 50, they won't look better at 200 yards. I think you can tell a lot about how well the rifle plays with the support and your shooting technique at 50.

 

[jelenko]

I disagree. Groups at 50 yards provide lots of useful info. They respond to changes in loads just like they do at 100 yards. But, the load with the smallest group at 50 yards may not be the smallest at 100.

The question would be: Do you care?

 

[Coyotefurharvester]

I can't recall any of my rifles(hunting/varmint) with less deviation from center of group at 100 or 200 yards than at 50 yards. I zero optics from group centers.

 

[gunsandgunsmithing]

I think tuning at shorter range can get ya really close but ya just have to do what the target tells ya as you move out, from there. It beats starting from scratch and you can trust what you see better at shorter distances just because of the wind, if nothing else. But that's not the same as saying your tune will be spot on at all yardages.

When I talk tuners, I start with my tuner test at 100 yards but what a lot of people misunderstand about that is that the test is all about deciphering what the target is telling you and how that relates to moving the tuner(or changing the load) when you see specific group shapes. Those group shapes hold true at any distance. And...IME, going from say 100 to 1000 is only worth about 1 mark on my tuner but it's the shape that tells me that. A lot of long range guys run backward when they see a little vertical creep into their groups but actually, when ya see that, you're really close to tune.

So, by whatever method, ya figure out what the gun is telling you AND what ya need to do to correct it for whatever change that took it out of tune. Since the group shapes are consistent between yardages, it's a lot easier for me to establish a base setting at shorter distance, then carry that over to longer range, and tweak accordingly.

To me, it's the easiest way to go and it undeniably introduces less "noise" into a good starting point. What ya do from there is what matters most though. Just don't do anything without a predictable outcome. Be very methodical and don't guess. You can stumble upon a sweet spot but it's what you learn it takes to correct it WHEN the gun gets out of the sweet spot that makes a good tuner(the shooter), by any tuning method.