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Not That Great

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ESquared
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Not That Great

Post by ESquared » Mon Aug 06, 2018 12:24 pm

Took the BBS .357 out for its weekly workout. Moved the target to 40 yds and used a simple, 8" (10"?) round paper target with a 1" (1-1/2"?) red bullseye. Alternated between five rounds of 158 gr Fiocchi and 158 gr MagTech. 30 rounds total.

LoPro peep and Lyman front globe/skinny post. Monopod front support on V-shaped topper. Indoor range with so-so lighting on the target.

With that target, at that distance, I just wasn't picking up the front sight all that well, at least in terms of contrast with the target. That red bullseye was like a pin-head. No discernable difference between ammo brands' performance.

Most everything was landing north of the equator. A few inside the 10-ring, the majority within the 6-ring, but am beginning to see the limits of my eyes with iron sights, at least in that lighting.

Target not worth a pic, so trashed it.

Funniest (sort of) thing was the guy two lanes over, set up with some sort of tacticool blaster, collapsable front legs, scope AND laser, absolutely BOOMING away at about 10 yards.
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PT7
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Re: Not That Great

Post by PT7 » Mon Aug 06, 2018 1:47 pm

Been there, done that. :( Came away from range time wanting to "trash the target," but never have done that until I get everything out of it possible. Anyway, don't know if this info will help at all; it's general info, but related to your range experience. This is a range report I posted back in 2017. I was practicing some longer distance shooting with my SGC .22LR Carbine, and posted questions about: ~~~my target size at that shooting distance; ~~~target acquisition issues; ~~~challenges my elder eyes were having using the stock SGC's iron sights; and so on.

Was not a happy camper with my POI results at 75 yards, off hand shooting that day. Kept the target, and posted it along with a range report. Glad I did because it helped me get back some great responses. (I post "the good, the bad, and the ugly" targets for every report I write). In this thread, NCG helped me learn how2 set up appropriate-sized targets for different range yardages. I thought this was good instruction for many of us Henry Forum members, and still do.

Check out this thread. http://henryrifleforums.com/viewtopic.p ... t+75+yards
NCG's helpful comments/suggestions started out when she wrote:
NorthCountryGal wrote:]If you will allow a few suggestions that could make it even more fun, via smaller groups, here goes.
Again, ESquared, this may not be helpful at all because you are an experienced shooter. But NCG's teaching is still always good to review on our Forum. And for sure, there are those future range visits you'll make that will turn out fantastic. The "not that great" ones definitely don't last forever! :D Be safe, and have fun.

PT7
ESquared wrote:Took the BBS .357 out for its weekly workout. Moved the target to 40 yds and used a simple, 8" (10"?) round paper target with a 1" (1-1/2"?) red bullseye. Alternated between five rounds of 158 gr Fiocchi and 158 gr MagTech. 30 rounds total.

LoPro peep and Lyman front globe/skinny post. Monopod front support on V-shaped topper. Indoor range with so-so lighting on the target.

With that target, at that distance, I just wasn't picking up the front sight all that well, at least in terms of contrast with the target. That red bullseye was like a pin-head. No discernable difference between ammo brands' performance.

Most everything was landing north of the equator. A few inside the 10-ring, the majority within the 6-ring, but am beginning to see the limits of my eyes with iron sights, at least in that lighting.

Target not worth a pic, so trashed it.

Funniest (sort of) thing was the guy two lanes over, set up with some sort of tacticool blaster, collapsable front legs, scope AND laser, absolutely BOOMING away at about 10 yards.
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GFK
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Re: Not That Great

Post by GFK » Mon Aug 06, 2018 1:50 pm

I can understand. I went out a couple a weeks ago and shot my Marlin. I used Remington instead of Winchesters (I trying to deplete my supply of Remingtons). It seems to like Winchesters the best though. With a scope, I was shooting the Remingtons low at 50 yards. The group was not bad but consistently low. So, it was me, the scope or the ammo. I had shoot about a 2 3/4" group at 100 yards a few months previously with Winchesters (150gr). So, I moved to the 100 yards range. There was no consistency. Shot a group of 3. One was center; one was high, and one was low. Again, me, the scope or the ammo. I guess I should include trigger pull. But, I would have had a similar trigger when I was zeroing in the scope with Winchesters a few months ago. For me, it is seeming like replacing my supply of Remingtons with Winchesters may be the right choice. But, I will shoot a few groups of Winchesters to confirm that.
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Re: Not That Great

Post by tractortad » Mon Aug 06, 2018 3:23 pm

It was probably the less than great lighting that played the biggest part - iron sights (even good ones) need good light - especially when our eyes don't work like they did when we were 20 yrs old. I find that when shooting bullseye targets with a lyman/shaver front sight that the circle inserts work the best - it just seems easier to see/hold the bullseye in the center of a front circle insert than to try to line it up on a post. Good thing about a lyman globe is it is quick and easy to swap out inserts for different targets/lighting/background/etc....
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JEBar
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Re: Not That Great

Post by JEBar » Mon Aug 06, 2018 4:56 pm

ESquared wrote:am beginning to see the limits of my eyes with iron sights, at least in that lighting.

welcome to my world .. :roll: .. I still have one rifle without a scope and I do fire it from time to time .... my reality is, for me to have the best chance of putting a bullet on target, across all lighting conditions and at all but short ranges, I need a scope ....
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North Country Gal
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Re: Not That Great

Post by North Country Gal » Mon Aug 06, 2018 6:02 pm

tractortad wrote:It was probably the less than great lighting that played the biggest part - iron sights (even good ones) need good light - especially when our eyes don't work like they did when we were 20 yrs old. ...
Great point. Can't stress this enough when you are using iron sights. Indoor lighting, even on a good indoor range can't compare with natural light, outdoors. And that's at the best indoor ranges. Some indoor ranges are just plain lousy as far as lighting. If you are having trouble seeing that front sight against the target, go ahead and shoot and have fun, but save playing the small group shooting game for a day when you have the right kind of light. Even when shooting outdoors, I try to pick good lighting days for iron sight work and use optics on the less than ideal days.
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Re: Not That Great

Post by RanchRoper » Mon Aug 06, 2018 6:05 pm

At least you were out shooting. We should have a crappy target topic where we can all post our wasted lead showpieces...
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ESquared
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Re: Not That Great

Post by ESquared » Mon Aug 06, 2018 7:12 pm

North Country Gal wrote:
tractortad wrote:It was probably the less than great lighting that played the biggest part - iron sights (even good ones) need good light - especially when our eyes don't work like they did when we were 20 yrs old. ...
Great point. Can't stress this enough when you are using iron sights. Indoor lighting, even on a good indoor range can't compare with natural light, outdoors. And that's at the best indoor ranges. Some indoor ranges are just plain lousy as far as lighting. If you are having trouble seeing that front sight against the target, go ahead and shoot and have fun, but save playing the small group shooting game for a day when you have the right kind of light. Even when shooting outdoors, I try to pick good lighting days for iron sight work and use optics on the less than ideal days.
Welcome back, NCG and Thanks, Tad, for your insights. I'm going to go with bad light for now, and hope to get out to an outdoor range once this blasted heat wave breaks in KC. I really want to give the Skinner/Lyman set-up everything I've got, just so I can see what the limits really are.

It was also interesting to find, when I was cleaning the rifle, that I had some sort of fuzz/lint/thread in my rear aperture - nothing messes up a range trip like a fuzzy aperture, right?

And, the light really was terrible. Thanks again!
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ESquared
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Re: Not That Great

Post by ESquared » Mon Aug 06, 2018 7:13 pm

RanchRoper wrote:At least you were out shooting. We should have a crappy target topic where we can all post our wasted lead showpieces...
I think that's a fantastic idea. Next time a I have a bad outing, I'll make sure to take a pic of it and start a "Crappy Outing Photos" thread!
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ESquared
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Re: Not That Great

Post by ESquared » Mon Aug 06, 2018 7:16 pm

JEBar wrote:
ESquared wrote:am beginning to see the limits of my eyes with iron sights, at least in that lighting.

welcome to my world .. :roll: .. I still have one rifle without a scope and I do fire it from time to time .... my reality is, for me to have the best chance of putting a bullet on target, across all lighting conditions and at all but short ranges, I need a scope ....
I hear you, JEB. I'm just trying to establish what my outer limit is with iron sights, but I'm not going to be able to do that indoors.

Once I figure it out, I've got this Leupold Freedom 1.5-4X20 on the way, so I'll have that to fall back on. Just have to get it figured out soon, as deer season is looming!
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