Does a scoped rifle care if you're holding the gun sideways or upside down

[Burnhaven]

I've fired and sighted in scoped deer rifles over many years.... I never ever considered that holding the gun sideways or upside down or leaning one way or the other was appropriate.... you're going to laugh but I heard some on a gaming forum tell me that it doesn't matter even for longer-range shots.
what say ye?

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[41mag]

"Gaming forum"....that certainly gives confidence....

 

[Geardo]

Yes it 100% matters. It also matters on iron sighted guns.

Most guns, even handguns, have the trajectory of the bullet traveling upwards to meet the sights at 25-100 yards, then over the sights, and back down again due to gravity.

When you turn the gun to the side, gravity is not acting on the bullet.

Take for example shooting an AR rifle with a red dot sight at 100 yards, laying on your left side.

You would have to aim to the right of the target a few inches, and slightly above it to compensate for the sight offset and the bullet drop.

Source: math, shooting a lot on my side or my gun sideways over a baracade, and shooting pistols on my side, and seeing others do the same.

P.S. even a very slight angle can drastically scew your results at longer ranges. This is why you see little tiny levels on peoples scopes.

 

[v0lcom13sn0w]

i think that shooting in any position different from how the rifle was zero'd will shift the point of impact

 

[Burnhaven]

leaning out at shorter ranges in a firefight would make sense to keep more of your body hidden and in the game they say that leaning the rifle slightly to the right or left helps them lead a running Target at intermediate ranges..... but they didn't post my comment because they thought it would receive negative reaction...... Reality hurts

 

[Andy54Hawken]

Having had to shoot at times , from say less that textbook perfect , shooting positions ...
I can say that in my experience , how you are holding the rifle will affect shot placement.

As we used to say in the Army for situations like these...its was good enough for government work...but if I am hunting , I do try to take the best position or shooting form that I can get.
Andy

 

[Burnhaven]

I gave them the example of a deer rifle sighted in at 300 yards so you place the crosshairs on the bullseye in the normal upright position the barrel is going to be pointing a few inches higher to account for bullet drop if you flip the gun upside down and put the crosshairs on the bullseye again the barrels going to be pointing low and the shot will be way low .....who knows how the game programming works... they tend to keep them pretty realistic the firearms are all quite detailed and reflective of real world weapons

 

[Andy54Hawken]

Not trying to be a smartazz here...
But there is nothing like the experience of trying something for real out in the real world ...to see just what happens.

More importantly....why would you want to shoot your rifle upside down ...?
Andy

 

[JustSomeGuy]

Yes, it does make a difference. That's why things like this exist...

 

[slimmer13]

Yes, it does make a difference. That's why things like this exist...

View attachment 608268

And Ballistics calculations require scope height over bore.

 

[Burnhaven]

Not trying to be a smartazz here...
But there is nothing like the experience of trying something for real out in the real world ...to see just what happens.

More importantly....why would you want to shoot your rifle upside down and shoot...?
Andy

I've done it in the real world that's why I was questioning the action I was seeing in this game

 

[Joe13]

you're going to laugh but I heard some on a gaming forum tell me that it doesn't matter even for longer-range shots.
what say ye?

Yes, I laughed.

'Gaming Forum'... I wouldn't trust a single person who derived their real world knowledge from the internet or even worse a game.


And I have been playing games since before Wolfinstien 3D came out and most FPS since then so aim not hating, just sayin

 

[DB is Here]

The gamer has watched to many movies were the bad guy holds his nutz & shoots his pistol canted 90 degrees.

 

[Burnhaven]

Yes, I laughed.

'Gaming Forum'... I wouldn't trust a single person who derived their real world knowledge from the internet or even worse a game.


And I have been playing games since before Wolfinstien 3D came out and most FPS since then so aim not hating, just sayin

It's PUBG

 

[Ghoul]

Cool, I don't need to bother with calculating moa anymore. Thanks gaming forum.

 

[CRBMoA]

IRL, gravity does not bend to my will.

A person's gonna hafta put down the Hot Pocket and use both hands like an adult.

 

[Basedgreaser]

A bullets trajectory does not change, your sights relationship to it does when you rotate your gun.
Gravity doesnt move when you turn your firearm 90 degrees.

Think of trajectory as a fixed curved line in 3D. Now think of sight alinignment as a straight line intersecting that curved line at two points. Now rotate that straight line aroundthe bore axis. That straight line no longer intersects the curved line.

Does this matter? At close ranges for general shooting the difference doesnt matter a whole lot. For precise shooting and hunting yeah ide imagine so.

 

[11Charlie]

I'm trying to figure out if this is a legit question?

 

[2506]

When you turn the gun to the side, gravity is not acting on the bullet.

Gravity acts on the bullet as soon as it leaves the barrel regardless of how the firearm is oriented.

 

[tac]

I'm firmly of the opinion that this question is derived from the same source that notes that sticking your finger in the muzzle will prevent the gun from firing.