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Help analyzing 70 yard groups

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Michael

Michael

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Mar 25, 2015
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Dripping Springs, Texas, USA
airgunnation.com
Finally got to sneak in an hour of shooting after work. Thought I'd practice a little for the EBR. 

Distance to Target = 70 yards 
Rifle = FX Boss .30
Scope = Hawke Sidewinder ED 10-50x60 (set on 40x)
Rings = FX No Limits (cant slightly down)
Pellet = JSB 44.7g
Front rest = Bald Eagle 
Rear rest = Protektor bunny ears
Table = Semi solid (as long as I don't touch it with any body parts)
Conditions = Almost calm

All targets are 5 shot groups unless otherwise specified.



Target A = Fairly pleased 9 shots but horizontal POI shift (damn that last shot!)
Target B = Fairly pleased but slight horizontal drift
Target C = Very pleased
Target D = Not bad
Target E = Very pleased



Target F = Not bad
Target G = Fairly pleased 8 of 9 shots pretty tight 
Target H = Vertical POI shift (what would cause this?)
Target I = Horizontal POI shift (what would cause this?)
Target J = Very pleased

"I thought the Bald Eagle front rest was better than it actually is". Don't get me wrong... its not bad. It's just frustrating to get the target all lined up, only to have it move when I lock in the adjustments. Then I have to fiddle with the rear rest.

1. So are there any front (or one piece) rests out there that are better than a Bald Eagle but less expensive than a Randolph?
2. Any input regarding the POI shift on Target "H" and Target "I" would be appreciated.
 
Michael check on Benchrest Central website ..Those guys have some pretty nice stuff they put up for sale ( Benchrest guys are ALWAYS upgrading) I saw a really nice one piece rest there a couple of months ago that the guy had made himself ...Most of those guys are machinist so their stuff is really BadAss. Best I remember it was around 400-500$ and looked to be worth every penny !
I never shot a Boss so no ideas on POI shifts ? But even with those , that's some very nice shooting . But if the rest has some play in it I would think that could be at least part of it ?
 
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Michael, You shouldn't put pictures of groups like that up for the rest of us going to EBR to see. We might just stay home :) I've been practicing with the Boss and found that anything and everything can change POI. My problems seem to center more with my interaction to the gun. At present I'm shooting off sandbags. Watched one guy last year with his gun locked down in this space aged rest made by NASA out of platinum that he refinanced his house to buy. He would turn knobs and lock the gun on target then sit up touching only the trigger and watch his wind flags. Don't recall him wining. 
 
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The wind here in New Mexico can be very strange at times. There have been times when I know my scope is on, but I have had to hold over 1/2 mil dot to the left and over due to the wind. Ten minutes later I would be doing the exact opposite. How you play the wind, I imagine, will be key. Hope for all shooters it will be a calm weekend!
Best of luck to you Michael, I may see you down there,

Doc
 
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chasdicapuaMichael, I'm curious, how are you holding the boss? Are you just touching it with the trigger finger/hand, or are you putting your shoulder up against the butt? BTW, those are excellent groups! Best wishes for EBR.
Click to expand...


These only physical contact was my finger on the trigger, my thumb on the thumb up position of the stock, & a very light cheek weld.
 
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Michael, excellent shooting, I would be happy to get just one of those groups :)

I am still working on my hold, but I would drop the cheek weld, even if light. That's just one more potential variable. Also, may want to check your finger on the trigger to make sure you pull always in the same manner and with the same part of the finger (fingertip usually). 

Curious, were the pellets sorted, weighed, sized?
 
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Great shooting overall when you consider that it was 70 yards.

To me, this looks like either pellet or pressure inconsistencies but the horizontal drift could have been caused by wind. You were obviously shooting outdoors. Mainly target D looks like it is consistently pulling to the left. Target H looks like pellet or pressure inconsistency if you are sure that it wasn´t your hold or scope alignment. With targets A and D - Did you check for slight wobbling with a scope cam? Some pellets simply don´t have a 100% perfectly distributed weight and center of gravity and could have wobbled ever so slightly. With the scope on such a high magnification, it will be easy to check if it had something to do with the trigger pull or recoil when you check the video frame by frame. Have you ever had any problem with the no limit scope rings? If they aren´t perfectly fixed, this might also be a factor but this would be with all targets so I would probably exclude it.

I would look at 4 things one by one, eliminating what it couldn´t have been:

1. wind
2. pellet weight
3. wobble
4. pressure inconsistency

If it was none of those, I would check my equipment and myself. It also might help to film yourself when shooting (from in front of the gun) and checking for the smallest of things like scope alignment, recoil and trigger pull but with such groups you probably won´t find anything. And with a scope cam it can hardly be parallax error or wrong eye alignment
 
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Like fe said pellets weighed and sized. I would love to see something like a hunter extreme 75....30 call pellets and under standing with just bipod sticks not tripods. Any power...I don't have the patience or time to sort weigh size wind indicate punch holes in paper...the collard doves and pigeons here in AZ don't give you that long of a target LOL...I will take it up when I retire instead of golf.
 
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