Do you adjust your load or POA for distance?

[Ed C.]

I have a .50 cal Investarms Hawken that shoots very well at 25 and 50 yards with 60 grains of FFFg. At 100 yards it is about 6-7" low. I don't want to be adjusting the sights and by aiming high I can't see the target anymore so it becomes a guessing game. I did try to research this on the forum and a few people said that they raise the charge up to 80, even 90 grains for 100 yard shots. Just wondering what you all do for 100 yard shots?

 

[64Springer]

Aim 6" to 7" high.

When in the field hunting it's all you can do.


If you're bench shooting, playing around with different powder charges is fine.

But more powder could introduce more problems with ball flight. Sending the ball left or right.

Then you have to adjust your sights for 100 yard shooting. Which then ruins your 25 and 50 yard 60 grain loading.


Aiming a tad high eliminates all the nonsense.

 

[necchi]

There are some out there that do that, I am not one of them.
I have always worked up my load finding the most accurate grouping I can get for each rifle, then adjust the sights accordingly.
When I was actively shooting the Rendezvous circuit,, each `vous had their own range, some where close only 25-30yrds others did have out to 100. I would adjust my sights before the event so the rifle could be most effective for that event.
For field use/hunting I zero at 75yrds, that would put me about an inch high at 50 and 3-4" low at 100.
But all that shooting is/was done with the same most accurate load combination,, no changes.

 

[tenngun]

There is the story of someone making a kill at three hundred yards at Saratoga. Thought to be Tim Murphy.
Most American rifles didn’t have any adjustment. That means the shooter held something like six to ten feet above his target. Maybe a back ground tree helped.
I learned to shoot above my hundred yard shots.
But I shoot almost all smooth now, so compensate by fifty yards being my cutoff point.
Get close get meat

 

[Larry (Omaha)]

I have a .50 cal Investarms Hawken that shoots very well at 25 and 50 yards with 60 grains of FFFg. At 100 yards it is about 6-7" low. I don't want to be adjusting the sights and by aiming high I can't see the target anymore so it becomes a guessing game. I did try to research this on the forum and a few people said that they raise the charge up to 80, even 90 grains for 100 yard shots. Just wondering what you all do for 100 yard shots?

Ha, this is question that always gets my shooting buddies riled. I have some shooting regulars that are top shooters. Here is what they do and say:
ONE POWDER CHARGE FOR ALL DISTANCE. I say, BS, cuz that don't work for me. I have flints and caplocks. My log book tells me what charge to use at what range. Does this work for hunting? Probably not, but I just shoot paper. This powder variation has allowed me to always aim C/L of target. To me it boils down to what works best for you. Who cares what the other guy does.
PS 90% of the rifles I shoot are fixed sights.
Larry

 

[Flint62Smoothie]

There's a few ways to do it:

TARGETS - When loading up and practicing for the NE Flintlock Championship that shoots targets @ 25, 50 & 100-yards, all offhand, I had 2-loads with my 50cal flint longrifle. One was a lower/lighter charged load that was dead-on @ 50-yards, and that load was used @ 25Y, whereas I can hold off as may be needed for the closer target, and the hold off was barely 1/2" ... or actually closer than I can really see, LOL!

I had a heavier/faster load that was then dead-on @ 100-yards, and that process must have worked, as my 100-yards scores - for all the targets shot @ 100 - for the past 2 annual matches have been 1st place or only 1-point behind the 1st place score, but never lower than 2nd.

HUNTING - Sight in for 50 or 75-yards, whatever YOU think YOUR woods will accommodate best, plus using your most accurate load (see my many posts on how to do 'load development'). But here's an option used all the time to extend your range ... just raise the front blade 'up' in the rear sight notch.

I do this all the time and it becomes 2nd nature, as using that same 50-cal longrifle, I can ring the 10" diameter gong set out @ 200-yards with just about every shot ... as I don't think I've missed yet since establishing my hold/sight picture ...

 

[tenngun]

Safe gun, safe loading safe shooting. Those are the three hard and fast rules. Otherwise
Ml is, as Rifleman 1776 says ‘a do your own thang’
Single hole, or four inch groups. Pay off the same in the deer woods or woods walks. Only paper in a smallest group shoot is one better than the other.
What do you want from your gun? Then go get that, and the Devil take anybody who complains you ain’t doing it right.

 

[LME]

Aim 6" to 7" high.

When in the field hunting it's all you can do.


If you're bench shooting, playing around with different powder charges is fine.

But more powder could introduce more problems with ball flight. Sending the ball left or right.

Then you have to adjust your sights for 100 yard shooting. Which then ruins your 25 and 50 yard 60 grain loading.


Aiming a tad high eliminates all the nonsense.

You and I have had the same experience. I had rather aim a little high on 100 yard shots than to change loads for distance. I some times load down for closer shots but when going over 60 grains my accuracy is not as good..

 

[Ed C.]

There's a few ways to do it:

TARGETS - When loading up and practicing for the NE Flintlock Championship that shoots targets @ 25, 50 & 100-yards, all offhand, I had 2-loads with my 50cal flint longrifle. One was a lower/lighter charged load that was dead-on @ 50-yards, and that load was used @ 25Y, whereas I can hold off as may be needed for the closer target, and the hold off was barely 1/2" ... or actually closer than I can really see, LOL!

I had a heavier/faster load that was then dead-on @ 100-yards, and that process must have worked, as my 100-yards scores - for all the targets shot @ 100 - for the past 2 annual matches have been 1st place or only 1-point behind the 1st place score, but never lower than 2nd.

HUNTING - Sight in for 50 or 75-yards, whatever YOU think YOUR woods will accommodate best, plus using your most accurate load (see my many posts on how to do 'load development'). But here's an option used all the time to extend your range ... just raise the front blade 'up' in the rear sight notch.

I do this all the time and it becomes 2nd nature, as using that same 50-cal longrifle, I can ring the 10" diameter gong set out @ 200-yards with just about every shot ... as I don't think I've missed yet since establishing my hold/sight picture ...

View attachment 266558

I don't hunt but like the idea of raising the front sight in the notch. That will keep the target in my sight picture. At 100 yards if I can't see the target I get lost. I'll also try a heavier load and see what happens. This is my last set at 100 yards off the bench. You can see that windage is basically OK. Elevation is the problem. At the range where I have nothing but paper above the target I lose perspective when picking an aim point.

 

[CaptainVane]

Both. More powder, adjust aim.

 

[Ed C.]

There is the story of someone making a kill at three hundred yards at Saratoga. Thought to be Tim Murphy.
Most American rifles didn’t have any adjustment. That means the shooter held something like six to ten feet above his target. Maybe a back ground tree helped.
I learned to shoot above my hundred yard shots.
But I shoot almost all smooth now, so compensate by fifty yards being my cutoff point.
Get close get meat

I don't hunt but can see where shooting a game animal you can pick a reference point on either the animal or background vegetation to adjust your POA. At the range its just paper once I move off the target.

 

[rafterob]

I have chosen the one load for all distances approach. I have two rifles with adjustable rear sights and they each get 1/2 turn to shoot out to 100 yards. I have a flinter with set sights and that gets front sight elevation at longer distances. Flint6Smoothie posted a good illustration of that.

 

[LME]

There's a few ways to do it:

TARGETS - When loading up and practicing for the NE Flintlock Championship that shoots targets @ 25, 50 & 100-yards, all offhand, I had 2-loads with my 50cal flint longrifle. One was a lower/lighter charged load that was dead-on @ 50-yards, and that load was used @ 25Y, whereas I can hold off as may be needed for the closer target, and the hold off was barely 1/2" ... or actually closer than I can really see, LOL!

I had a heavier/faster load that was then dead-on @ 100-yards, and that process must have worked, as my 100-yards scores - for all the targets shot @ 100 - for the past 2 annual matches have been 1st place or only 1-point behind the 1st place score, but never lower than 2nd.

HUNTING - Sight in for 50 or 75-yards, whatever YOU think YOUR woods will accommodate best, plus using your most accurate load (see my many posts on how to do 'load development'). But here's an option used all the time to extend your range ... just raise the front blade 'up' in the rear sight notch.

I do this all the time and it becomes 2nd nature, as using that same 50-cal longrifle, I can ring the 10" diameter gong set out @ 200-yards with just about every shot ... as I don't think I've missed yet since establishing my hold/sight picture ...

View attachment 266558

I use your first method. There may be a better way but I am used to doing like you do. I also do something similar at 200 yard shots as well.

 

[82ndPA]

I have a .50 cal Investarms Hawken that shoots very well at 25 and 50 yards with 60 grains of FFFg. At 100 yards it is about 6-7" low. I don't want to be adjusting the sights and by aiming high I can't see the target anymore so it becomes a guessing game. I did try to research this on the forum and a few people said that they raise the charge up to 80, even 90 grains for 100 yard shots. Just wondering what you all do for 100 yard shots?

I don't hunt. At the 100 yd range, trying to put a black hole in a black circle using black sights just doesn't work for me. This is a diy high contrast target I make. It's the same dimensions as the std NRA 100 yd rifle. I adjust my load to zero using a 6 o'clock hold.

 

[smokepolehall]

1st off my eyes are not near as good as when i was young. So i hunt with most of my ML's, I get mine set dead on at 50 yards, a couple of mine i get set at 75 yards. I don't do long range hunting anymore. Loads are for accuracy not for out right power.

 

[Kmcmichael]

I use 2 loads in my .40. One is set for 50 yards the other is 82, just for different ranges
my deer gun is set at 82. It will be a little higher at 50 but not much. I am not going to shoot a deer much farther than that. On a 6 o’clock hold with a 5” bull it can often be center.

If one shoots regularly, The reading the front sight trick can work subconsciously.

 

[Appowner]

My long range unmentionable is dialed in with a 200 yard zero in the scope. At 500 yards the bullet has already dropped 43 inches below the cross hairs. IIRC 1000 yards is around 100 inches down. That falls well within the adjustment range of the scope.

Bottom line? Adjust POA. But only after you've found the powder charge to use for all distances. Now you can fiddle with your sights for every shot like Quigley does. Or you can learn what 6 or whatever inches looks like through your sights.

 

[SDSmlf]

With 50, 54, 58 and 62 caliber roundball hunting guns I try and get an 85 yard zero with a hunting load that is less than 3” low at 100 yards and no more than 3” high between 40-50 yards. And then I find that powderpuff/plinking/squirrel load that works at 25 yards without a sight adjustment. This basically means all my roundball hunting guns shoot ‘about’ to the same point of aim out to 125 yards, my extreme limit for roundball hunting. I find the less you have to think about things when hunting the better. With 45 caliber roundball guns I may bring the zero in from 85 yards, depends…..

 

[Beaverman2]

POA

 

[Thingamajiggy]

POA here as well.