Bipod, Tripod, Chair, Ground, and Table

[wyshadow]

Was bored today so I tried something out I've been thinking of doing for a while. Distance for all the target were at 30 yards, gun used is my BSA R10, and the wind was blowing 10 to 15 mph coming from my 8 o'clock. I shot along a 4 foot wall to try to shelter myself from the wind but I saw several pellets taken by the wind. Nothing scientific here but it did take a while to measure the pellet holes and crunch all the numbers from a site called hackmath.net. Just was curious to see what different shooting positions did to my group size. I did notice I didn't shoot very good in each position from the beginning but I got better towards the end.

Caliper I was using to measure in inches how far off the pellet holes were from bullseye:

Here are the targets I used. Total of 35 shots per target

Entered all information into my note book which took several hours. 

The results:
Bipod, Sitting on ground
Hi - .8030
Lo - .0606
AV - .2452
SD - .1859
ES - .7425

Tripod, Sitting on ground
Hi - .5430
Lo - .0105
AV - .2295
SD - .1301
ES - .5325

Bipod w/chair
Hi - .5980
Lo - .0390
AV - .2036
SD - .1221
ES - .5590

Tripod w/chair
Hi - .3850
Lo - .0375
AV - .1811
SD - .0935
ES - .3475

Prone w/bipod on gun
Hi - .4075
Lo - .0275
AV - .1583
SD - .0879
ES - .3800

Benchrest
Hi - .2740
Lo - 0020
AV - .1390
SD - .0738
ES - .2720

Conclusion:
Obviously shooting on the ground using a bipod gave me the worst numbers and results got better with more comfortable shooting positions. The part I saw interesting was using the tripod w/chair, shooting prone, and shooting benchrest. Tripod w/chair had a better ES then prone but prone had a better AV and SD but only slightly better. My reason for this is I usually never shoot prone and it was very uncomfortable for me which might have given me more pulled shots. The other interesting thing is comparing prone to benchrest. Shooting in benchrest is the most comfortable position to shoot in so you would think this should give me much superior numbers but it didn't. Going from Tripod w/chair to prone and then to bench was small incrementally better numbers. So what I learned from this is I'm going to dolly the picnic table with me the next time I go out coyote and prairie dog hunting.

 

[JimNM]

Nice work Mena. I like to get lost in the data.

 

[wyshadow]

I think most of us have never gone this route to measure their group sizes like how I did and I don't think I will do this again.

I've seen countless videos and pictures on how everyone measures their group sizes. They take a 5 shoot group then measure the group with either a caliper, ruler, or tape measure which is good but I was always envied how 10 meter benchrest shooters get their group's measurements buy a scanner. I figured I would try it this way and see what I got. I'm so use to seeing chronograph numbers and knowing what each number meant (for the most part). If my understanding is wrong, let me know.

If I look at the one of the shooting position's numbers and break the numbers down, it gets interesting. If I choose the benchrest numbers (most of us will shoot this position to measure group size), I measure Hi and Lo which gets your ES. You can get an average of those numbers but it doesn't telling you the hold story of how good that group is. Since I measured all the pellet holes from the POA (bullseye) to the center of the pellet hole, this gives me a much more accurate measurement. In the benchrest numbers, I have an SD of .0738 inches and ES of .272 inches. This is telling me my group size measures .272 inches off from POA with the majority of the shots were within .0738 inches over 35 shots in the wind. The SD of .0738 is the group size hole and had flyer that measured .1982 inches from the pellet group. A measurement of .0738 inches is just one pellet hole and everyone will just say my group is a pellet hole but I have an actual measurement of that hole.

Hitting the bullseye is a different matter which relays on how good the shooter can read the wind which separates the men from the boys.

 

[John "spysir" Blount]

Fun exorcise, thanks for sharing. 
If one is healthy I find the seated FT position THE most stable unsupported - bi-pod/other- a Human body can achieve, maybe ad that one to your testing.

wy, have you tried
Home[/QUOTE]https://ontargetshooting.com/embed/

I have a really old version that I like a lot.


John

 

[wyshadow]

John,
I didn't try the sitting on the ground with no bi- or tripod because I was testing how I my groups measured in how I would hunt coyote and prairie dogs. The benchrest position was used as my control. Months ago I tried shooting in that position and back then I was much more in shape then I am now so I didn't try that position this time. I did how ever try shooting in the prone position without a bi or tripod and my my groups were horrible. Didn't bother measuring it.