Rifle Scopes Lower Better?

[Quarter Horse]

It seems when I dial down the power some my groups shrink. At 100yds. if I dial down from 18 power to 12 power usually the groups shrink by about .125. The same is true if I'm shooting my .22 at 50yds. If I drop from 9 to 7 the group again shrinks.

I'm shooting from an unstable bench (think in terms of the old folding leg card tables) and am wondering if the result is from "aim small miss small", the smaller target picture does not amplify the movement or something I'm not considering.

Anybody else have the same experience?

 

[seanh]

Re: Lower Better?

that's common. With higher power you see more mistakes so you compensate. The more your compensating the more your moving so the groups open up. Also, with higher power you tend to muscle it more than have a proper NPA.

Yes, I've had this problem too. I find that if I go above 16x at 200 my groups open up. Typically I'll use 10-12x

 

[Quarter Horse]

Re: Lower Better?

Well at least I'm not alone.

 

[223man]

Re: Lower Better?

I have found that I do the same thing. And I have found out(through the help of other hide members)that there is a rule of thumb and that is 1x magnification per 100 yards. For example if shooting out to 600 yards you would use 6 power on your scope. Now you might want to add a little more magnification depending on target size and such. So my own general rule of thumb is to never exceed 2x the magnification per 100 yards(12 power at 600 yards). This is what has worked for me so far.

 

[wtopace]

Re: Lower Better?

I have found that I tend to shoot larger groups if my magnification is turned up too high as well. Not 100% sure if it is because I am overcompensating, or because I literally don't have the same point of aim (the bullseye is larger and I'm not able to distinguish the exact same point).

I have started using .5" or 1" orange stickies at 100 yards for groups and they tend to shrink back down even at max power. You guys should give it a try and see what you think.

 

[vonbalkenbush]

Re: Lower Better?

Man, I've been wondering about this a long time. Been shooting a lot of groups at 100 and 200 on 20-25x lately. Good groups, but not as good as I used to shoot with my old 4.5-14 Leupy set on 14x. I wonder if this could be contributing? Interesting topic. Would like to hear more. Why do BR guys use so much mag then and shoot such good groups?

 

[Quarter Horse]

Re: Lower Better?

BR guys live in a different world. I'm not familiar with the equipment distinctions for various classes but some of their front rests have more adjustments than the Hubble Telescope and weigh more than a VW. They can establish an NPA without touching their rifle, go off and have a cup of coffee with the wind blowing at hurricane force and when they return everything would still be dead on. There is no such thing as field expedient.

I use 1" stickys and if I dial the power down to where I can just quarter the bull I get the best results.

I am no optics guru and I wonder if reducing the power lessens the effect of parallax error?

 

[vonbalkenbush]

Re: Lower Better?

I was wondering about parallax error myself. I'm about to go shoot some steel from 300-1k in a few minutes. I will be shooting everything below 15x power today. Gonna see if that increases my impact percentage?

 

[Redmanss]

Re: Lower Better?

Dialing down the magnification is similar to shooting "blind". When you're not seeing each shot you fire, you don't let your last shot get into your head as much. Instead you focus on each shot like it's your only one. More mental than mechanical.

 

[Shredder58]

Re: Lower Better?

Hmmmm...interesting discussion. I agree with Redmanss on this, maybe the better explanation is the ability to concentrate on each shot like it is your only shot. My last range visit (first time out with a new rifle and scope) I had a group at 300yds measure .6 inches and I was using all 22x my scope could give me (and glad for it). I really don't think my group would have improved if I dialed back using the 1x or 2x(max) per 100yd formula.

Just my .02cents...

 

[Quarter Horse]

Re: Lower Better?

Red and Shredders observation regarding the mental part of the game rings true. I think everyone has had the experience of starting a great group and then throwing one.

Last week a friend came over to shoot and we were using his targets. They were the typical 1" grid with a 1" orange bull in the center of concentric rings and a 1/2" bull with rings in each quadrant. Using the center bull, my first round looked like it was on the line low right. I didn't dial up to verify and just fired the next two (I know, not a five shot group). When we got to the target I had the smallest group I have ever fired. BTW the first round was CB. Back at the bench I made the scope correction and put the next two about .20" apart CTC in the bull. The third shot I pulled and called it. Head game, it opened the group to about .40".