a brief range report

[ColdDeadHands]

So I read the article on the last page of swat magazine about zero and it was said that you shouldn't zero your rifle from a bench but rather standing or prone as poa/poi will change.
After reading that I went back into the woods today to confirm zero of my Noveske and sure enough it was off. I was shooting prone @ 25'. At first my groups where wide open till I adjusted the stock a bit. Being new to AR's (and rifles in general) I took my time and concentrated on the basics....sight picture, breathing & trigger pull. my groups shrunk to a fairly small size when I did that.

here are some pics;

what I was shooting:
http://i824.photobucket.com/albums/zz170/mw1311/My%20Guns/DSC_0090.jpg

targets at 25' standing:
http://i824.photobucket.com/albums/zz170/mw1311/Misc/DSC_0103.jpg

I finished off with 1 shot at each of the dots prone @ 25' (the other holes in this target are from previous handgun shooting):
http://i824.photobucket.com/albums/zz170/mw1311/Misc/DSC_0104.jpg

Overall I'm fairly happy with my shooting session today. I decided to start each time I shoot in the future concentrating on the fundamentals for at least one mag or two.

[rrflyer]

Nice looking blaster!

I would think standing would be the worst/least stable way to zero a weapon.

I might be wrong but the fundamentals also imply a repeatable cheek weld, aim, trigger control, hand hold which should be the same no matter what position your firing from.

And the fundamentals are the fundamentals and should be applied to every shot.

[Dist. Expert 26]

The zero you get off the bench is the true zero; if you have to adjust your sights that means that you're compensating for errors in technique, most likely trigger control and/or sight alignment.

I zero all my guns, including my match rifles, off the bench the first time I shoot them. After that I only make minor corrections for windage and ammunition, but only in the prone position. Unless you have the offhand capability of an olympic shooter, leave your sights alone.

[geminidglocker]

I love shooting Prone, and so this is how I have been sighting in for awhile. Must be ingrained in me from my Army training. It is much more rewarding to shoot tight groups Prone than from the bench.;)

[M4Fundi]

I haven't read the SWAT article yet, but I think either can be taken to extremes. They are probably trying to get you to avoid changes in the guns harmonics off of hard surfaces that will affect POI. If you use different technique when using a bench and sand bags than you do prone over a pack (rigid shoulder or allow for push... hold down forend or allow it to rise free, etc. then may be you need to come up with a way to simulate your practical shooting style, i.e. prone/pack or prone/magpod, etc. at the bench to some degree. Create a reasonable parallel that is more consistently controlled at the bench for ease of sighting in. Sighting in a rifle standing off hand is really only good for The Terminator or LAV;)

For me, I see what the rifle/load is capable of on the bench with sand bags, but for practical shooting I sight in prone over my 3Day pack with rifle to see what "I do". For pistol to see capabilities its the same bench/sand bags under dust cover, trigger guard & butt then to see how it shoots "for me" (with my abundant errors & my natural recoil dynamics) I rest it "butt only" on a sand bag which I have found simulates my shooting offhand when I'm in Terminator/LAV mode (which isn't very often;))

ps Like your Boom Spear!

[shootist~]

I did some testing once upon a time at 100 Yds plus 200 & 300 meters from the bench Vs prone with a bi-pod or prone over sand bags with my 3-Gun rifle; back when I did such. Colt 20" HBAR that shot well and very similar POA/POI with Black Hills 68gr Match and IMI M193. It shot just slightly lower from either prone position Vs the bench- about 1 MOA, which is not much. Sample of one and all that.

I chalked it up to having a more solid/tighter hold on the gun from prone VS a lighter hold when on the bench. [Again - Just a "sample of one".] Cheek position, (I really crawl the stock from prone), canting the barrel, position of the sun and where you hold your tongue :) can affect POI to some degree; but none are really worth worrying much about.

[Dist. Expert 26]

I love shooting Prone, and so this is how I have been sighting in for awhile. Must be ingrained in me from my Army training. It is much more rewarding to shoot tight groups Prone than from the bench.;)

I agree with you 100% there. I get no thrill out of bench shooting.

[Redhat]

Make sure when you change positons you keep eye relief/stock weld the same, especially shooting iron sights.