D.O.P.E change with electronic target?

[BongEyes]

Hi all,

I shot my first "F-Class" match at 300 yards over the weekend, the club makes use of electronic targets which I have never shot with before.

I had tested some rounds and settled on one load that worked well. Plugged all the relevant data into my ballistic calculator and it gave me data to dial up +0.7 Mrad from Zero to be on at 300 yards. Weeks before the match I shot at a steel plate at 300 yards using that data and put 3 shots right in the centre of the plate. I was happy with this.

Fast forward to the match and before shooting at the electronic targets the range officers asked me to fire at a ring to the side of the berm just to verify that I would be on target. So I dial up 0.7 and sent one round and it middled the ring. Range officer was pleased and onto the electronic targets I went.
First shot was 6 inches low and 3 inches left. So was the 2nd. I had to walk my rounds up and across the target to find the bullseye. Overall I had to adjust elevation +1.3 Mrad which according to my ballistic data would put me on at 410 yards which seems like a pretty big error.

I use Berger bullets and a Xero coupled with a weather station so trust that the B.C and muzzle velocities/weather inputs are correct so it has me a bit baffled.

Do electronics shift your POI at all? E.g are the sensors offset or something? What do you think has happened here because I am a bit stumped.

 

[patriotnation]

Maybe the target was not stapled in the middle
I don’t see how sensors can affect POI
Good luck

 

[pronelife]

Yes, some ranges set up their electronic targets to have your POI offset 3+ moa above the x-ring so the X (POA) doesn't get shot out.

 

[JerkyFreak]

They do not reface the target regularly. So, to preserve the rings that shooters use as aiming points, they offset the e-target so that impact is either above or below the point of aim.

When shooting F-class, at least in South Africa, you have 2 sighting shots. These are used to "calibrate" your scope for the target, i.e. adjust your zero.

 

[BongEyes]

That makes sense. No one had explained that to me.

So, I gather that I can trust my ballistic data then. Thanks for the explanation.

 

[memilanuk]

They do not reface the target regularly. So, to preserve the rings that shooters use as aiming points, they offset the e-target so that impact is either above or below the point of aim.

We routinely offset the 'center' of our club e-targets by 900mm in the vertical axis, or roughly 1.5 moa @ 600yds. At most halfway serious mid-range F-class matches, the X/10 ring would be a ragged hole with no center left to aim at within one relay, maybe two max (if it's windy). At 300yds, for sure.

The whole point of e-targets is get people out of the pits down range, so there's literally no one down there to re-face the targets between relays. We often go an entire season without putting new centers on the targets - no one cares about that gaping hole up in the 8 ring

When shooting F-class, at least in South Africa, you have 2 sighting shots.

There's matches with two 'convertible' sighters, two non-convertible sighters, and matches with 'unlimited' sighters (sadly, more common than they should be in my opinion).

These are used to "calibrate" your scope for the target, i.e. adjust your zero.

Some people use them to foul the barrel, some use them to adjust their dope for a new (to them) range, but ideally the best use (assuming you've shot enough that you have notes on the first two) is to explore the wind conditions ie if it looks like 'this', and I dial/hold like 'that'... how far does it *actually* move the bullet. Different ranges have different flags, differe6 mirage, and different terrain in between the firing line and the target, all of which make the wind effects slightly different for otherwise apparently similar conditions.

 

[Slides]

Not that hard to have Velcro corflute replaceable target faces. I haven't seen any Australian F class clubs messing around with offset target centres.

 

[JerkyFreak]

Tr shooters in Australia have almost stopped shooting short range as the centres are a pain to replace each time.

 

[memilanuk]

When it comes to F-class, Oz kinda does it's own thing. F-Standard, X/V's count as six points, etc.

They more than hold their own on the world stage though, gotta give them that.

 

[BongEyes]

Tr shooters in Australia have almost stopped shooting short range as the centres are a pain to replace each time.

I can understand that. This was an introductory shoot for new members so that's why we were at 300 yards.