How do you shoot these stages?

[Wheres-Waldo]

Example: Target A is 350 yds, Target B is 625 yds, & Target C is 800 yds.

One round on each from close to far, for three cycles.

Do you dial for the closest target and hold over for B & C? Do you hold over for all 3? Dial for all 3?

 

[roostercogburn98]

My guess would be dial for the one that would give you more points, and which you have the most likely chance of hitting with one shot. I don’t shoot comps, so purely skepticism on my part.

 

[OREGUN]

I would dial for all three unless dialing was specifically prohibited or the time was super short.

 

[Shoots 700's]

I would dial, 90 seconds is plenty of time.

 

[Rob01]

Would depend on target size, position shot from and wind.

 

[davsco]

sounds like 9 shots, not 3. whether 3 or 9, i'd dial (before the stage started if allowed) for a and hold for the other two.

 

[longgunJR]

Unless the COF say's otherwise I'd dial.

 

[Mormegil87]

Dial for all of them. 90 seconds is a long time.

 

[tnc]

Dial for each one

 

[Wheres-Waldo]

So the majority of shooters would dial for each of 9 different engagements?

Why dial for everything when using a hold is quicker? Weather you have 90 seconds or 90 minutes, time is also a factor in scoring.

Assuming you don’t incur any misses.

Do you just find you have a higher hit percentage when dialing for everything vs. using your reticle?

 

[Simonsza1]

Time is not a factor in scoring. If you get all your shots off in 89.9 seconds or 50 seconds your hits are all that matters

 

[OREGUN]

So the majority of shooters would dial for each of 9 different engagements?

Why dial for everything when using a hold is quicker? Weather you have 90 seconds or 90 minutes, time is also a factor in scoring.

Assuming you don’t incur any misses.

Do you just find you have a higher hit percentage when dialing for everything vs. using your reticle?

I usually do better than I expect to on “no dial” stages but I’m hugely more comfortable dialing….especially if the wind is blowing. It’s hard enough to hold off for the wind. Hold if you want, no one cares what you do. There isn’t a right answer.

 

[Rob01]

It comes down to comfort level also. If you don't pracice holds then you won't be as comfortable using them in a match. If in a fairly stable prone or on a prop I would probably dial those also but if more more unstable or movement in between then a hold would be what I would use especially with more generous targets.

 

[rothgyr]

I would dial the closest and hold the rest. I'm not fast enough to dial all of them and not time out yet. I use the most hated reticle of all time, but on stages like that, the wind dots are my friend.

Most importantly, practice doing it with a DFAT and do what you're most confident with. Your skill level should dictate your decision, not a bunch of guys on the interwebs.

 

[Meety Peety]

Depends on a lot of factors.. time, position, target size. How stable am I? How much wind is there? All of these things may change how I approach the stage.

But since its a general question, my general answer is if time permits, I will dial all of them. If time doesn't permit, I will dial the hardest target and hold under or over from there. If there's big wind that might change which one i determine to be the "hardest target" or I may decide that I don't want to hold under on a certain target and change my approach, etc. All just depends on the situation.

 

[ZY100]

As a general rule I dial the first, hold then other two. If I am feeling froggy, dial the second, hold under the first and over the last.

But then again I have been shooting either an H59, AMR or MPCT2 for the past 5 yrs. I am very comfortable with holding over. The center dot or the 3.2 hash is just as precise…and the above mentioned reticles seldom have me holding in space wothout some definitive horizontal reference on the target some place.

I would rather invest the few extra seconds in stability, breathing, trigger press, etc. If it takes you 2-3 seconds to take your eye off the the reticle and onto the turret, dial and back to the reticle, in this scenario thats 18-27 seconds. Not insignificant.

Even if it was three shots at each then move on, unless they are extra small, extra windy or an odd shooting position, I would still hold over.

No wrong answer….just different ways of doing it. YMMV.

ZY

 

[captainmorgan460]

Ill dial all unless the 1st and second are within a couple tenths or all within a couple tenths. If theres a big spread Im much more precise dialing.

 

[Feniks Technologies]

Depends on:

Amount of time allowed
Stability of rifle
Number of positions
Target size

I’ll always dial everything unless a combination of the above dictates otherwise.

 

[b6graham]

prefer to dial for sure

sample dasher data
350: Down 2.25
625: 0
800: Up 1.75

not awful holds. especially if wind is minimal. if it's blowing 8-12 or more im dialing for all

 

[Lowlight]

above has the right idea for speed and combining the two, holds and dialing.

It would depend on target size, wind as people noted, but if you look at your data like this:

350 = 1.1
625 = 3.1
800 = 4.7

You see you can easily round the 1.1 and 3.1 to 1.0 and 3.0 then you are adding 1.7 for the 800 pretty simple.

So I think the method above is the smart start depending on the conditions of the day and the target size.

350 hold under 2.0
625 = 0 hold dead on
800 = 1.7 hold over even use 1.8 hash mark

but odds are you'd have time to dial all of it

 

[Leland T]

Short answer, Time yourself

 

[Da Blues]

I would dial on to target B then hold over for target C and hold under for target A. I almost never dial for a wind correction so I am holding left or right for those corrections anyway. I find that holding over or under, left or right allows you to make the needed corrections as you are seeing the last second data to make the shot.

However that solution works for me. Your real answer is shoot what works for you. Don't switch up your personal shooting style to do something that someone says here. Do what you've been doing in practice, what you know works for you and your rifle + optics + ammo = hits for you.

 

[Voroshilovsky]

above has the right idea for speed and combining the two, holds and dialing.

It would depend on target size, wind as people noted, but if you look at your data like this:

350 = 1.1
625 = 3.1
800 = 4.7

You see you can easily round the 1.1 and 3.1 to 1.0 and 3.0 then you are adding 1.7 for the 800 pretty simple.

So I think the method above is the smart start depending on the conditions of the day and the target size.

350 hold under 2.0
625 = 0 hold dead on
800 = 1.7 hold over even use 1.8 hash mark

but odds are you'd have time to dial all of it

For what it’s worth, as a newbie, I agree. I would probably dial, unless the math and wind holds are easy. Eg, if there’s no wind, and the difference in elevation adjustment between each target is 1.0 mils, I’d probably dial the nearest and hold the others.

If the difference in elevation adjustments could make the math a distraction, or remembering the numbers difficult, I wouldn’t hold. Even if I could write all this stuff on my dope card, or have an IQ above room temperature to calculate on the fly, in this scenario I’d still dial and focus on my wind call instead.

 

[Cardboard Assassin]

Short answer, Time yourself

This makes the most sense to me.

Trying both will give you a feel for what is involved and how confident you feel with each.

You will also end up with data (time from each) to help make your decision.

 

[Northfl]

Also , if you choose to dial each one, before moving to the next position dont forget to dial back down for the first shot in the next position. This is very important as it will mess you up big time on impacts possibly for the rest of the stage. If you have a brainfart and get flustered easily.

 

[Jefe's Dope]

For this stage, regardless of positions, and assuming a par time of 2 minutes, I'd dial and adjust parallax for 625 and hold under for 350 and over for 800. If the par time was there minutes, I might dial. But, since it's one shot and move to the next target and considering you do this a total of nine times, it makes sense to not dial and the differences in reticle position is minor.

In my case, it would be dial to 3.8 for 625 with a hold under of 2.3 and a holdover of 1.8. Depending on target size you could possibly dial for 625 with a hold under rounded to 2.5 and a holdover rounded to 2.0 and favor the the top of the target for 350 and the bottom of the target at 800.

 

[Rob01]

Two or three minutes? Lol Try 90 seconds. That’s the usual time for a drill like that.

 

[Jefe's Dope]

Ok, bro.

I was responding with examples of how I'd approach the stage and no par time was given. The match I shot yesterday was 2 minute par times. I've shot 1:30 par times and 3:00 par times. They vary match to match, MD to MD. But you knew that already.

 

[Rob01]

Cool bro. Lol

 

[beetroot]

I would dial if had the time, if I needed to hold I'd do it as Frank a Driver said, dial for the middle and hold under and over for the other two.

I don't like having to hold more than 4mils if possible, it's just easier to use the centre of the reticle.
Holding +/- 2mil would be easier than holding 4mil on the last target.

 

[SteelShooter24]

So many things come into the decision to hold over or dial. If the stage setup, positions, target size, and time limit allow it, I will dial any time that I can. It is much more precise and allows for easier wind holds. If the wind is a big difference from one target to the next, holding over could actually cost you more time as you try to find your exact elevation and wind holds on your reticle.

I also try to memorize the numbers to dial as well as the holdovers from the first target before going up to the stage. If I get into a time crunch I can do a quick holdover if the position, target size, and wind allow me to easily do so.

 

[RichMangus]

Small targets / windy day, I would likely dial.
Big targets or a lot of movement I'd holdover for sure.

 

[4O6shootist]

Where I shoot, typically I'm always holding half to a mil half wind for targets in that distance. I'm not gonna hold wind and elevation unless it's a specified NO DIAL stage. I'm dialing elevation and holding wind. Been shooting larger matches last half of season at rock lake with 90 second par times. I was worried about timing out. Surprisingly I didn't but only on 1 stage and it was my fault completely.

 

[VVhoisJohnGalt]

Plenty of time to dial on a stable barricade.
Even if you have three different positions.
For me: 13 seconds to first shot then 5 and 5.
Total of 69 seconds which gives me an extra 21 seconds on my first position to center up wind holds on the plate.

On an unstable barricade you still have time to shrink your wobble zone.

If it’s one position but three sets and tiny targets with heavy/switch winds you will still have time to dial elevation and wind for each plate.

Just need to know how much time it takes you to settle and break a shot plus your splits on follow up shots.

Use the entire 90 seconds and make your best shots…no sense holding over and running the stage down in 60 seconds and risk breaking a bad shot.

 

[Kane0519]

Lots of good advise here. Really it comes down to the field conditions and how you’ve trained up to that point. I tend to lean towards holding, but this thread has me wanted to try dialing more in my practice.

 

[Bb214]

Definitely practice hold overs when you’re not at a match, if you are at a match and the subject comes up and you’re not comfortable holding over then just dial. I mean even if you time out and hit 7/9 and only got 7 shots off you’re better off than if you rush being uncomfortable holding over/under and getting 10 shots off but only 5 hits. I always dial if time allows,