pdoughertyMU

sorry ive been asking so many noobish question, because the fact is, im a monster gun noob. haha. anyway, im just wondering if when you sight in at the bench then stand up and shoot, will you be off again? or is the scope still sighted in? i was shooting pretty good (for me at least) on the bench today but then i stood up and it seemed like i was shooting considerably lower while standing. so the basic question is, depending on what position you are in, will your shot go different places even if your aimed at the same point.

thanks

rost495

From doing exactly what you did, I can almost always see differences in confirmed zeros. I don't shoot anything less than 200 yards and at 200 yards the differences in zeros are small, on the order of a couple inches worst case scenario for me anyway.

IMHO the difference is often to the recoil differences of leaning into the gun vs "free recoil" of standing. I find that my zeros differ the most between standing and all the others.

Of course your offhand shooting groups will be worse, maybe much worse and it all can be caused by poor trigger control trying to grab what looks good vs accepting the wobble and squeezing through it.

End thoughts--- if you are looking through the center of your scope in all positions and at 100 yards I"d bet the total difference in zeros from all positions should be on the order of 2 inches or less.

Jeff

Slamfire

As long as you don't shoot from a hard surface when sighting in there should be no change in zero. You may hold the rifle differently when it is not rested, if so, you'll need to correct that. [8D]

Sniper151

There should be no difference if sight alignement and sight picture are consistent when using open or iron sights. When using a scope there may be a variance with parallax. American made scopes are adjusted for "0" parallax at 150 yards. The European counterparts are normally parallax free to 100 yards. Beyond these parallax settings, any movement of your head behind the scope can make a difference in the positioning of your reticle resulting in a floating image. To eliminate this problem you must be very consistent in your setup centering you eye directly behind the scope, stay within the parallax parameters of your scope or purchase a scope with AO, adjustable objectives to eliminate parallax at any yardage.
Parallax: a condition in which the image of an object at a certain distance does not fall precisely on the reticle plane

Roskoe

Slamfire - you have hit on an aspect of shooting that many folks overlook. If you sight in off of sandbags, let's say, 2" high at 100 yards. You have a factory rifle that has fore-end pressure - ie. not free floated. The rifle, shooting from a Harris bipod, might be 10" high at 100 yards. And might shoot low and left from a tight sling. Stiffer heavier barrels with free floated bedding are usually pretty good about holding a consistent point of impact from different positions - and skinny barrels fitted to stocks with a pressure point out near the fore-end are the worst.

SHoNUFF

this months guns and ammo magazine handle this question perfectly. i would sugest buying/reading it due to the 5 pages it would take for me to type it to you

Pittsburghunter

Shooting low free hand and perfect on the vise tells me you are pulling down instead of staight on the trigger. You may be putting to much finger on it as well. All of use jerk triggers which is why we always brag about our bench shots but hardly evey brag about about our off hand prowness.

Try using your last knuckle of your shooting finger only on the trigger and squeezing the trigger instead of pulling it. By last knuckle I mean the pad of the last part of your trigger finger. Also waste some rounds finding out how much creep to take up before you sqeeze off the round. This will get rid of at least two three inches of your group.

Good luck sounds like you are on your way!!! No noob anymore.

missed_another

if your point of impact is changing it is not the gun. it is most likely you and your scope. if you are only shooting pretty good off the bags i am almost sure it is you moving not the point of impact. if you have a scope that the point of aim changes when you move your head a little the scope is useless for any precision. this is the whole idea for buying a good scope. the better the scope the less parallax error. with a good scope you do not have to be consistent in your setup nor do you have to center your eye directly behind the scope. with a low end scope the parallax error can get out of hand with any change in the way you look threw the scope. a cheap scope would work fine for a deer because you have giant kill zone. but say shooting at a squirrel the kill zone is about an inch so you want the precision. most anybody can learn to shoot good with the right equipment.

SHoNUFF

diff pressures on check pad, foregrip, eye position sling weight, sand bag pressure all changes the POI. if you sight in your gun one way the POI will be the same that way every time (theroetically, spelling?). I always sigh tmyne in on he bench, then go to free hand and see what the diff. is. seeing how most all my guns are fired from the offhand possition. only a few are sighted in with the bi-pod, and those are the distance rifles.

CZ2506

When you stood up (unless you raised your target) you changed your shooting angle to downhill. When you shoot downhill, your bullet never goes ballistic (never travels upwards against gravity towards your line of sight) so it starts to fall as soon as it leaves the barrel. Depending on your zero range, scope height, and range to target, the point of impact can drop quite a bit.