Just wondering how you veteran SB shooters sight in your gun. I have only done this offhand, which is obviously not perfect. However, I could never figure out how to "bench" it because of the way I have to hold the gun offhand is different than when I get down on the gun at a bench. Anyone have any luck with benching somehow?? Appreciate any ideas/suggestions.
Sightng in a smoothbore
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Mzzlldrinpa
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I've been shooting a SB for a couple of years. Never tried to bench it. I adjust my aiming point to alter my point of impact. I've been told and read that the barrel can be bent to change the point of impact. I've just never done it. I guess that since a SB can seem to have mind of its own I just do what works for me. I've changed the way I hold and that has helped but still need to hold off.
I'm not sure what I do would be called benching, but I do sight my smoothbores in from a rest. I usually stack stuff on the hood of my Jeep, with a sandbag on top, and drape over hood, letting it take my weight, and I find that to be a pretty stable platform. The hold is of course nothing like what I do when shooting offhand. I let the barrel rest on the sandbag, butt against my shoulder, my left fist under the toe of the butt. That way I can tighten or relax my fist to raise or lower my aiming point.
I think it's important to know what the gun is capable of on its own. Otherwise how can I know if I'm shooting as well as the gun can?
Spence
I think it's important to know what the gun is capable of on its own. Otherwise how can I know if I'm shooting as well as the gun can?
Spence
I shoot off hand and call any pulled shots. My thinking being how I and the gun perform as a package will limit the range I am comfortable to use it at.
B.
B.
hanshi
Cannon
My SB 20ga has a rear sight and I sight it in the same as I would a rifle.
Just as a general thing if you want to bench shoot a gun and want it to shoot as close to an offhand stance as possible you just get some sandbags or whatever and rest the gun on the bags at the same place you would put your support hand. Try get get it up against your shoulder and do everything else as much like normal as possible. The goal is to make it like shooting offhand as possible except that front support point is suddenly very, very stable.
I haven't particularly done this with a smoothbore - with those mostly for me I just try to figure out some kind of sight picture that works and go with it - but that's the general procedure.
I haven't particularly done this with a smoothbore - with those mostly for me I just try to figure out some kind of sight picture that works and go with it - but that's the general procedure.
I would sugest starting off a bench at 25 m on a large paper target , aim at the bull and use 3 or 5 shot strings , adjust your sight picture and head position to move the POI . If the shots are way off check the gun eg. that the barrell is indeed straight as it should be don't just start bending to move the poi as will be sugested . MAKE VERY SURE EVERY THING IS STRAIGHT AND THAT FIT TO YOU IS RIGHT .
Mine doesn't have sights. I point it the same way I do my old recurve bows or centerfire shotguns. Look at the target and shoot. Your peripheral vision aligns the barrel like it does an arrow. Same way you point your finger at something.
I've been shooting a SB about 3 yrs now,what I found is that if you really snuggle down it'll shoot low (I have no rear sight)Like stump killer said pointing it is about what you do.....but with lots of pointing and powder burning(practice)the groups will shrink and confidence will increase......enjoy the journey
matt denison
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"Guess there just isn't a real practical way to "sight in" other than good old fashioned repetition and lots of practice" :shake:
Yes there is. If you want rifle-like accuracy then you have to shoot it like a rifle. Here's what I suggest:
First get a comfortable bench set up where the gun is high enough that you don't have to hunch down or contort your neck/shoulders to sight down the barrel. (I use a similar set up to what Spence describes but that is just me) All to often guys use the same set up for a gun with iron sights that they use for CF with a scope. Uh, uh. The scope sits an inch or higher off the barrel so won't work with iron sights. Raise the rest and the gun higher.
Next memorise a REPEATEBLE sight picture and stick with it. Best to start by looking down the barrel and be sure it is level from the breech to the muzzle, front sight is centered on the top flat then put the tip of the sight on the bullseye. Squeese the trigger, boom. Now do that again, same sight picture, same load etc. After three shots you should see a group forming. Doesn't matter yet where it is on the target. The first criteria is to get a group. Adjust the load until you are getting a reasonable group at 25 yds. Only after you know that the gun is shooting its best with a certain load do you start moving the sight picture. I never file or move anythiing until i shoot offhand because the POI will change from the POI off the bench.
I hope this helps get you started in the right direction.
Yes there is. If you want rifle-like accuracy then you have to shoot it like a rifle. Here's what I suggest:
First get a comfortable bench set up where the gun is high enough that you don't have to hunch down or contort your neck/shoulders to sight down the barrel. (I use a similar set up to what Spence describes but that is just me) All to often guys use the same set up for a gun with iron sights that they use for CF with a scope. Uh, uh. The scope sits an inch or higher off the barrel so won't work with iron sights. Raise the rest and the gun higher.
Next memorise a REPEATEBLE sight picture and stick with it. Best to start by looking down the barrel and be sure it is level from the breech to the muzzle, front sight is centered on the top flat then put the tip of the sight on the bullseye. Squeese the trigger, boom. Now do that again, same sight picture, same load etc. After three shots you should see a group forming. Doesn't matter yet where it is on the target. The first criteria is to get a group. Adjust the load until you are getting a reasonable group at 25 yds. Only after you know that the gun is shooting its best with a certain load do you start moving the sight picture. I never file or move anythiing until i shoot offhand because the POI will change from the POI off the bench.
I hope this helps get you started in the right direction.
I could not agree more. If you don't do that, all your effort will be wasted. Load and group development are one and the same, can't have one without the other. You only know your load is good because it shoots good groups.laffindog said:
I can't do that without shooting from a rest. I don't know how anyone could.
Only after you have a load which will let you repeatedly shoot good groups do you worry about where the groups are hitting. Moving the POI by sight filing, sight picture changing, barrel bending or whatever, comes after that, and only after that.
Spence
Thanks for explaining in more detail guys, I get what you are talking about and will make up some suitable type "bench" arrangement to shoot from. I was just worried about getting down too much on the gun and that would not be how I shoot it off hand. Makes sense to raise the whole set up --- gun as well as bench --- and then it would be more repeatable. I will give that set up a try very soon. Appreciate the explanations.
A lot of people have difficulty when they first start shooting a smoothbore, and I think the main reason is that it requires a different sight picture than the rifles they have been use to. But, a simple experiment will show that it's not really as different as it seems.joeboleo1 said:
Shoulder a rifle with both rear and front sights and align your eye with the sights in the normal way. Now, without moving anything, change your point of attention... look at the barrel instead of the sights. That can be tough to do if your rear sight is a large one. If it's small enough for you to see most of the barrel, you'll see that you are looking down on the barrel, and it seems to be point upward at the muzzle end. That's not an illusion. The instant the ball leaves the muzzle it begins to drop, and if you point the bore at the target, the ball will always hit low, can't do anything else. So, we set our guns up so that the bore is pointing up a little, just enough to exactly offset that drop.
That barrel actually does point up at the muzzle end, and you are looking down on it, you just don't usually notice it because you are looking at the sights. Line up your smoothbore without sights and you will see the same thing, but it will look strange because you haven't been noticing it with your rifle. A different sight picture, that's true, but not nearly as different as first impressions. And it's what you need to see.
The look of your particular gun will depend on the thickness of the breech, the barrel profile, etc., because it's the line of the bore which has to point up, not the top of the barrel. So, your milage may vary, and that might explain why some people have more difficulty making the switch than others.
After I figured out what was going on and made the adjustment, I still use the front sight just as with a rifle, put the tip of it exactly where I want the ball to hit. It occasionally does.
Here's an interesting little graphic. Notice the relationship of the line of sight to the barrel.
Spence
matt denison
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Well said, lad. Too many people think that the ball (or bullet) "flies" higher when it leaves the muzzle. It is actually aimed high and drops due to gravity. Now let's relate all that to a smoothbore with ony one sight.
Take a tapered smooth bored barrel that is, for simplicity sake, 1 inch at the breach and 3/4 inch at the muzzle. If you hold it dead flat as you sight down the top you are actually holding the bore 1/8" higher at the muzzle. (one half of the 1/4" difference of the breech vs. the muzzle) and this is where you get the beginning of your trajectory.
Some barrel makers don't taper the flats. There will be a distinct step down at the end of the flats which makes this harder to determine. You're on your own there.
For instance I copy a barrel on a gun in the MOFT that the flats taper right into the taper of the round section. That way you get a straight line down the top of the barrel. It is easy to hold the barrel "flat" that way. It is much easier to figure your elevation because you have a consistent, repeatable sight picture that automatically puts the muzzle higher than the breech.
Take a tapered smooth bored barrel that is, for simplicity sake, 1 inch at the breach and 3/4 inch at the muzzle. If you hold it dead flat as you sight down the top you are actually holding the bore 1/8" higher at the muzzle. (one half of the 1/4" difference of the breech vs. the muzzle) and this is where you get the beginning of your trajectory.
Some barrel makers don't taper the flats. There will be a distinct step down at the end of the flats which makes this harder to determine. You're on your own there.
For instance I copy a barrel on a gun in the MOFT that the flats taper right into the taper of the round section. That way you get a straight line down the top of the barrel. It is easy to hold the barrel "flat" that way. It is much easier to figure your elevation because you have a consistent, repeatable sight picture that automatically puts the muzzle higher than the breech.
Grandpa Ron
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Great graphics Spence. It points out how, without a rear sight, stock fit is critical for proper eye location.
I built my 20 ga. trade gun with the intent to shoot shot. I transferred the dimensions from my skeet gun and my shot pattern is 2/3rds above the point of aim at 25 yards as desired.
Unfortunately the round ball is also above the natural point of aim so I must compensate.
When I build my 28 ga, my intent was round ball shooting. I bought a pre-carved stock that placed my eye closer to the plane of the barrel then adjusted the front sight for point of aim at 50 yards.
This sounds simple but it took a while to find a suitable load then trim the front sight.
I envy those who are gifted enough to pick up a gun and shoot well without much effort. Unfortunately I am not one of them.
I built my 20 ga. trade gun with the intent to shoot shot. I transferred the dimensions from my skeet gun and my shot pattern is 2/3rds above the point of aim at 25 yards as desired.
Unfortunately the round ball is also above the natural point of aim so I must compensate.
When I build my 28 ga, my intent was round ball shooting. I bought a pre-carved stock that placed my eye closer to the plane of the barrel then adjusted the front sight for point of aim at 50 yards.
This sounds simple but it took a while to find a suitable load then trim the front sight.
I envy those who are gifted enough to pick up a gun and shoot well without much effort. Unfortunately I am not one of them.
courdebois
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|I own a Tulle and a double 12 ga, caplock,along with other flinters but thats not why i,m posting, its your handle, grampa ron, thats what my 4 grandaughters call me, 67 next birthday, if your ever up north of the 49 pararel give me a shout,bring some warm weather, still 4 ft of snow here
