After 15 years of shooting highpower, this scope shooting off a bipod is starting to come together.
Went today to the local NRA mid range prone match (conventional and F class) and shot my Howa 1500 on the F class targets at 3/5/6.
Score didn't matter. I went to get solid zeros for all three distances and to get trigger time at mid range distances in a relatively repeatable environment. Being able to lay down and shoot round after round from the same basic position at a target that gives you very quantitative feedback is invaluable. Unlike shooting at steel plates where spotting the exact fall of your shot is nearly impossible, a square range target not only shows you where the bullet went, it does so until you shoot it again. Don't get me wrong, steel plates are fun and make shooting alone very easy. But you can gain an invaluable amount of information about the wind, your position and recoil management, and your elevation zero with bullseye targets. Information that is almost impossible to get so easily from plates.
Not only did I refine my zeroes at those distances to the point that I am supremely confident in them, I am also starting to see the rifle track straight in recoil and keep the target in the reticle all through the recoil cycle. Not perfect by any means yet, but a damn sight better than two years ago when I first got a scoped rifle to play around with.
Even if you have no intention whatsoever to become a hardcore highpower or F class shooter, I strongly recommend participating in either until you have the basics down hard.
That is all
Went today to the local NRA mid range prone match (conventional and F class) and shot my Howa 1500 on the F class targets at 3/5/6.
Score didn't matter. I went to get solid zeros for all three distances and to get trigger time at mid range distances in a relatively repeatable environment. Being able to lay down and shoot round after round from the same basic position at a target that gives you very quantitative feedback is invaluable. Unlike shooting at steel plates where spotting the exact fall of your shot is nearly impossible, a square range target not only shows you where the bullet went, it does so until you shoot it again. Don't get me wrong, steel plates are fun and make shooting alone very easy. But you can gain an invaluable amount of information about the wind, your position and recoil management, and your elevation zero with bullseye targets. Information that is almost impossible to get so easily from plates.
Not only did I refine my zeroes at those distances to the point that I am supremely confident in them, I am also starting to see the rifle track straight in recoil and keep the target in the reticle all through the recoil cycle. Not perfect by any means yet, but a damn sight better than two years ago when I first got a scoped rifle to play around with.
Even if you have no intention whatsoever to become a hardcore highpower or F class shooter, I strongly recommend participating in either until you have the basics down hard.
That is all
Last edited: