Hunter Division - how to overcome the 16x ranging challenge?

[Aimright]

Feeling a little maligned lately by some of the recent threads that seem to have promoted the idea that the hunter class shooters that wish for a higher scope magnification allowance might be less than worthy competitors who are unwilling to overcome their 16x ranging challenges. I am a newish hunter competitor, been attending matches for about two+ years, and probably have competed 30+ regular ft matches on 4 different courses, and also have shot at few XFT matches. I usually score in the middle of the pack with an occasional top 3 finish at my home club range.

The 16x ranging limit has been a frustration of FT competitions since my very first meet a few years ago. I have tried to overcome the challenge by several methods - more practice, being consistent with ranging technique each time, bracketing where I can, tuning for flatter trajectories, purchasing a more accurate rifle and getting a slightly better scope. All of these have helped to some extent, but I will say bottom line is that from 45-55 yards at any venue other than my home club range I will most always have ranging errors that will prevent my pellet from giving me that ever blissful target knockdown.

Many of the hunter competitors in my club have addressed the challenge by going to the high dollar scopes - Kahles and Sightrons. I have tried their scopes and yes the do a better job at ranging than my Athlon - they too have ranging errors past 45, but typically about half the error of my Athlon from what I can determine.

So I still greatly enjoy hunter division FT, and have no plans to discontinue, or whine and moan (much) about the 16x limit, but I really don’t see a way to fully overcome that challenge other than going deeper into the arms race or finding that holy grail reasonably priced scope that ranges exceptionally at 16x.

 

[Harv24]

Are you having fun?

 

[thomasair]

45-55y targets are by far the most difficult whether you know the proper distance or not. Many new shooters (even in Open class) feel that they are missing the long shots due to bad ranging….when they are actually missing due to less than optimal wind reading or gun setup.

Take a rangefinder with you next time you shoot a match and see how you do without scope ranging on the long shots.

Mike

 

[beerthief]

is 16x that much better than the 14x it used to be ? I never shot at 14x so i do not know . Raining here today but this week i plan to set up my new scope , Hawk 4x14 parallax wheel out to 57 yards

 

[Scotchmo]

“…more practice, being consistent with ranging technique each time, bracketing where I can, tuning for flatter trajectories, purchasing a more accurate rifle and getting a slightly better scope….”

All the same here. You are doing it right. The “holy grail” 16x scope does not exist. I thought it was even more challenging and fun when it was 12x.

 

[beerthief]

“…more practice, being consistent with ranging technique each time, bracketing where I can, tuning for flatter trajectories, purchasing a more accurate rifle and getting a slightly better scope….”

All the same here. You are doing it right. The “holy grail” 16x scope does not exist. I thought it was even more challenging and fun when it was 12x.

so BOG raised it 2x ? from 12x to 14 x and now to 16 x ? or was i wrong at 14x ?

 

[bvan]

It was never 14x.

 

[beerthief]

It was never 14x.

thanks

 

[AirNGasman]

Any challenge is no longer a challenge when fully overcome. You won't be able to anyway.

 

[wildcj5]

Do a search on google for “bracketing field targets”. I didn’t want to link to an outside forum.

The basic idea is if the targets are on a cysteine block you have a pretty much set size reference. Knowing how big they measure at different distances gives you your range.

I have seen a few guys with garbage scopes and excellent bracketing knowledge smoke the guys with expensive gear.

 

[beerthief]

" if the targets are on a cysteine block"
googled this and all i got was cancer treatment ? do you mean the granular cement building blocks ? that is what i see at matches .

 

[OkAirgunner]

If you go back and look at the results and equipment for the 2019 Nationals Dead Eye won hunter PCP with a UTG scope that only went to 16X on an unregulated Marauder. He beat all the MUCH more expensive kits. We all shot the same targets with the same limitations in what ever class you chose to participate in. So it is really all up to the shooter, this is exactly why I spend so much time and energy. I have found that in disciplines like Benchrest Equipment plays a much bigger part in the results.

 

[Aimright]

Are you having fun?

Sure, for me it is still enjoyable.

45-55y targets are by far the most difficult whether you know the proper distance or not. Many new shooters (even in Open class) feel that they are missing the long shots due to bad ranging….when they are actually missing due to less than optimal wind reading or gun setup.

Take a rangefinder with you next time you shoot a match and see how you do without scope ranging on the long shots.

Mike

Mike at my home range (which is a flat silhouette shooting range) I pretty well know the range landmarks well enough that I am probably always within 2 yards on my long shots, and I do better on those as compared to an unfamiliar course where I know on some long shots my ranging may be off by as much as 5-6 yards due to my scope. I understand that even with 6 yard error, we are only talking maybe a 3/4 inch vertical difference, and with a 1 7/8“ kill zone at 55 it is still doable if I have a good wind read. But if my shot starts out at a 3/4 inch vertical difference on a circular killzone, then my wind reading margin of error is reduced and provides a higher probability of a miss.

 

[thomasair]

Yes….I understand how it works.

There is no good reason to ever be off 6yds. If you held at 52y for every target between 48 and 55y you would still have more wind drift leeway at 20 fpe than someone shooting 12fpe with perfect ranging. If you cannot tell the difference between 48y and 55…..don’t ever hold at 48 or 55.

Mike

 

[Aimright]

Do a search on google for “bracketing field targets”. I didn’t want to link to an outside forum.

The basic idea is if the targets are on a cysteine block you have a pretty much set size reference. Knowing how big they measure at different distances gives you your range.

I have seen a few guys with garbage scopes and excellent bracketing knowledge smoke the guys with expensive gear.

As I said in my post I bracket when possible. I have 2 block sizes on my dope card but as you know blocks can be obscured and I have also encountered non-standard blocks on one course that I did not have on my card.

 

[Aimright]

Yes….I understand how it works.

There is no good reason to ever be off 6yds. If you held at 52y for every target between 48 and 55y you would still have more wind drift leeway at 20 fpe than someone shooting 12fpe with perfect ranging. If you cannot tell the difference between 48y and 55…..don’t ever hold at 48 or 55.

Mike

Good tip Mike, that is something I actually had not considered. Yes I know you understand…

 

[Aimright]

If you go back and look at the results and equipment for the 2019 Nationals Dead Eye won hunter PCP with a UTG scope that only went to 16X on an unregulated Marauder. He beat all the MUCH more expensive kits. We all shot the same targets with the same limitations in what ever class you chose to participate in. So it is really all up to the shooter, this is exactly why I spend so much time and energy. I have found that in disciplines like Benchrest Equipment plays a much bigger part in the results.

When I first started in FT I actually contacted Dead-eye and ended up buying that same UTG scope. It was a decent rangefinding scope but later its parallax gear had developed issues and I had to get a new scope. My current scope is an Athlon Helos, and it does rangefind better than the UTG, but not by much.

 

[OkAirgunner]

When I first started in FT I actually contacted Dead-eye and ended up buying that same UTG scope. It was a decent rangefinding scope but later its parallax gear had developed issues and I had to get a new scope. My current scope is an Athlon Helos, and it does rangefind better than the UTG, but not by much.

My point is this class is not dictated by equipment any more than by the shooter.

 

[wildcj5]

Our club you can see the blocks, not sure if it is to be nice or just the way it works out.

I didn’t see if you mentioned what your scope mount hight is or your zero distance but if you are struggling with the longer shots you could try higher mounts giving you a further zero and less change from say 35-55. Trade off is the ramp from 10-20 getting steep. Ranging 10,11,12,13 will be critical.

These images represent 20 ftlb with scope mounts of 2,3 and 4 inches.

If you look at the videos of European matches they run big risers to flatten the 12ftlb curve.

 

[Aimright]

I do have high eagle vision mounts on my Brocock Sniper and my zero holdover runs to about 40. My gun is comfortable and accurate. I often do pretty well in our weekly old guy matches where I have home field advantage in range estimating. It is other venues where I struggle. Maybe it is just other things that shooting on an unfamiliar course brings out, such as being nervous, tired from travel, getting out of my shooting rhythm, not taking my time, etc.