MAGAZINE

GALLERY RIFLE& PISTOL NEWSI always check to see where my first few rounds aregoing when I’m shooting at the longer distances justto make sure that I’m hitting in, or around,the x or 10 ring. If I’m not, then at least I’mable to see just how far off I need to aim,or simply dial in the required offset usingthe turret adjustments. There’s no pointin putting 24 rounds down range during a1500 Match 3 at 50m only to find out whenyou go forwards to score that the roundswere actually landing down inside the 8 or 7ring instead, just because you couldn’t seewhere your shots were going at the time.Whatever caliber you shoot, there is nomagic magnification setting to use whenshooting at the longer distances as itall boils down to personal preference,experience and ability. Some shooters willonly use a magnification of somewherebetween 6 and 10x because “the sightdoesn’t wobble around as much.” In realitythough their stability remains the same,it just appears to be more stable as themovement on the target is simply lessmagnified than it would be on a highersetting.your scores and overall performances and is wellworth persevering with.Pure confusion...As well as making sure that the lowest power settingon your scope is suitable for your intended needs,you must equally ensure that it will provide you withenough magnification at the opposite end to enableyou to see where your shots are actually landing onthe target. This is especially important when shootingup to 50m where such things as wind, lightingconditions or even an accidentally knocked scopecan change the point of impact by quite a margin,especially on the much smaller 22 rimfire targets.Many of the GB team use between 12 - 20xat this distance with very good results butit is definitely something that you will haveto work on over time, in conjunction withimproving your trigger pull of course. Mostof my best results have been achievedusing between 20 - 25x at both 25 & 50m but I didexperiment with using maximum settings of between12 & 15x at both the Phoenix and Nationals this yearand the results were fairly comparable, although I didhave to turn the magnification up to check my pointof impact a few times during some of the matches as Icouldn’t see where my initial shots were going.Spending time practicing on the range trying all of themagnification settings is the only to find the optimumsettings for you personally, at each of the distancesinvolved. Once you have found the magnificationsetting that gives you the best results at a particulardistance, make sure that you stick with it and don’t22