Curious about which size aiming dot or square that you prefer for sighting in a scoped rifle.
At whatever range you choose to sight in your rifle, do you prefer to be able to Quarter the aiming point on the target?
or do you subscribe to the aim small miss small idea and just barely have the aiming point visible(an aiming point so small that you cant quarter it with the reticle?
I like the bright orange stick-on dots; I like to quarter them with the reticle. For deer rifle scopes the 1 1/2" dots at 100 yards, and 3" dots at 200 yards work well for me.
Nifty-250
"If you don't know where you're going, you may wind up somewhere else". Yogi Berra
With a crosshair reticle I prefer an X as an aiming mark, ideally with each leg of the X tapering towards the centre. I personally find it a great deal easier and more precise to hold on the centre of an X than to hold on the corner of a square, for example. FWIW Most of my scopes are comparatively low in magnification too.
I downloaded this some years ago - I can't recall where it came from now:
More often than not though I simply draw the aiming mark, more or less crudely, with a texta, especially on ranges which insist on you using the targets they supply:
or do you subscribe to the aim small miss small idea and just barely have the aiming point visible(an aiming point so small that you cant quarter it with the reticle?
Works for me. I use a 1" red square turned so the points are on the top and bottom and quarter it at 100 yards. I verify at longer ranges with bullseye targets.
Orange dots against a black background work great. I use the 1" size at 100 yards; the 3" at 300;the 6" at 400-600 etc.
The targets like Canazes posted are great, too. Important thing is to hold small enough to minimize drift,canting, and reduce wiggle.Some scopes have thinner reticles than others. Suit aiming points to the reticle and force yourself to "hold small".
Lots of styles work. But if you are holding against something too big you may tend to move around in it too much.
I used to use a paper plate with a 2" diamond of black tape in the middle. Lately I've been shooting at just the paper plate and have little trouble keeping my shots centered appropriate to distance...
My late brother worked up a series of targets based on open black squares similar to the aiming point on a BR target, but in various sizes to accomodate different scooe magnifications and reticles. The open center allows you to quarter it easily. The smaller the square, the more that fit on a standard sheet of paper. He also added thin, horizontal lines to show elevarion in inches; +1, +2, etc. I run off copies at Staples as needed. These are good for sighting in and accuracy testing, but I use round bullseyes for practice.
Orange dots against a black background work great. I use the 1" size at 100 yards; the 3" at 300;the 6" at 400-600 etc.
The targets like Canazes posted are great, too. Important thing is to hold small enough to minimize drift,canting, and reduce wiggle.Some scopes have thinner reticles than others. Suit aiming points to the reticle and force yourself to "hold small".
Lots of styles work. But if you are holding against something too big you may tend to move around in it too much.
That's my problem. I move around too much when shooting...
Originally Posted by raybass
I try to stick with the basics, they do so well. Nothing fancy mind you, just plain jane will get it done with style.
Originally Posted by Pharmseller
You want to see an animal drop right now? Shoot him in the ear hole.
I prefer diamond shaped points of aim. As well as some commercial targets I often use square blue post-it note taped to white paper. Rotate post-it note 90 degrees so it forms a diamond. Select post-it note and paper size based upon range and magnification.
As I work in an office all the paper I could want comes out of the recycling system.
Blue gives ample contrast against white and all shots are easy to spot, this is a nice frugal solution.
I like the Leupold style, 4 squares and reticle centers nicely in there. I print them on 8.5x11" paper and don't use black for the squares as I like to see the holes. For shooting groups a round MOA target simulates the blue bull at 1000 yds at any distances, 4" at 400 yards etc.
My late brother worked up a series of targets based on open black squares similar to the aiming point on a BR target, but in various sizes to accomodate different scooe magnifications and reticles. The open center allows you to quarter it easily. The smaller the square, the more that fit on a standard sheet of paper. He also added thin, horizontal lines to show elevarion in inches; +1, +2, etc. I run off copies at Staples as needed. These are good for sighting in and accuracy testing, but I use round bullseyes for practice.
Your targets sound a lot like mine. My squares are 2.5"x2.5" with a one inch white square in the center. With a rifle that shoots really tiny groups I can get up to five groups on the target. My .223 Kimber is about the only one I have that can do it. I get 500 printed up at a time. Paul B.
Our forefathers did not politely protest the British.They did not vote them out of office, nor did they impeach the king,march on the capitol or ask permission for their rights. ----------------They just shot them. MOLON LABE
I always grab a few labels when I'm in the P.O,and just draw a black ring about an inch in diameter on it. I line mine up at 100 yards,because most of my scopes have the paralax fixed for that distance.I don't line mine up a little high like some folks.My Dad always liked his lined up a little to the left because he claimed right handed shooters pull a little to the right. The way I look at it is if you line one up dead center then a slight tilt of your gun while hunting won't amount to anything..
Just a little bigger than what the reticle covers. No squaring up the target, which makes me conscious of the wiggles along with trying to be too exact and tense. See a small portion of the aiming point and let it go.
With Deer season approaching the range has been busy and most were trying way to hard to be perfect. Some took over a minute to get one shot off.
I like about a 2 moa aimpoint. With a scope around 10-12X I find it easy to bisect and get centered on, but still see my reference after a few holes get shot in it.
When I head to the range there are usually at least 4-5 rifles along, with various size scopes, so one size target does not fit all. I first started making my own with a Magic Marker, eventually settling on an “X” much like danoz’s, but then the owner of the Precision Plains target Canazes9 mentioned sent me some of his, and I ended up preferring the diamond-shaped target with an open space in the middle.
With either, the size of the aiming point doesn’t really matter, as long as you can see it around the reticle. It can be pretty big and still provide precise aiming with a fine reticle, because any sort of crosshair reticle can be centered precisely with the help of the horizontal and vertical reference points, so works with a variety of reticles and magnifications.
I also prefer the blue color of the targets, as bullet holes can be seen better than on black. At least one study found orange tends to dance around for many people, especially in bright light. Dunno if that happens with me, but I do prefer blue, the reason the big Magic Marker I carry in my range bag for drawing occasional aiming points is blue.
But I do also use other targets, mostly because companies keep sending them to me to try out, and it would be ill-mannered and unprofessional not to. Plus they’re free!
“Montana seems to me to be what a small boy would think Texas is like from hearing Texans.” John Steinbeck