Shooting blind

thorborg · Mar 5, 2017

Sort of!
Over the years I have missed filling tags because I had turned down shots at Deer and one @ Elk as I couldn't see their rack well enough through Iron sights to identify a legal bag. Pictures too fleeting to insure by binoculars but solid enough I could confidently take the shot. Frustrated, I started scoping my rifles. 2X didn't do it. I liked the 4X but still left me wanting on occasion. Preferring Leupold's gold ring 2.5 X 8 because it seemed to outshine their 3-9 in light and clarity albeit it rarely leaves the 3 setting.
Jump ahead 30 years.
That was then, now materials, optics and coatings have changed considerably. So have my eyes making iron sights now totally out of the question with the exception of my black powder rifle with sights the size of anvils or maybe a shoot out at the coral since I still do well at point and shoot pistols and shotguns.
At any rate, I'm looking for a new scope. Things unaffordable back then proliferate affordably now. I was on a info scavenger hunt to understand at what point of scope magnification is it impractical to hold steady using a standing shot, 9X, 12X, 20X???
I still don't know, but in the process I found this:
How does the power of a scope affect accuracy? | Air gun blog - Pyramyd Air Report
I found it interesting and informative and so thought to share it.
Though unverified by me, it coincided with my beliefs from my iron sight shooting days that scopes didn't necessarily increase accuracy, (at least within my 300 yard comfort zone).

edslhead · Mar 5, 2017

Ive got one a these on my 22/250. You could dial it up to confirm a legal game and then back to shoot?
<broken link removed>

tac · Mar 5, 2017

They don't increase accuracy, they just give you something 'closer' to aim at and place your bullet correctly. The downside is that the higher the magnification, the more evident your tremor will be...

Sure, benchresters are now using X50 and more, but THEIR guns weight about eight tons, have three-inch diameter barrels and are bolted down via the Moho layer to the inner part of the planet - THEMS ain't gonna move, nossir. Tremors, to them, are what humans get, but not their babies.

tac

bbbass · Mar 5, 2017

Standing shots at 300 yds? You rock!!!

Ruger Rich · Mar 5, 2017

I've had two Ruger No. 1's, one in 06 and the other in 300 Win Mag. Both had open sights from Ruger and thats the way I used them. I didn't take them on every hunt, but often enough. As time moved along my eyesight didn't keep up. They both went. I've hunted successfully for many years and have never been able to master adjusting my scope for magnification or using the BDC etchings to determine estimated range. For all the shots I've been afforded the action has been much too quick for me to mess around with anything else. I have scopes of many sizes (many having come on the rifle as I got it) and every single one of them is set on 6X. Most are 40mm. It works very well for me. Some of my hunting buddies use higher magnification and other gadgets and those things work for them. For the really old timers (and I think I'm getting close) they had nothing but open sights. I also suspect there may have been more game around. If I shot competition obviously I would do different.

kenboy · Mar 5, 2017

I have some 30-year-old Leupold 3x9 on rifles and have never experienced any light issues.

Through the years I would say 90% of my shots are taken at the seven power to nine power for any animals From 200 yards to 400+ yards. Hunt fairly open country in eastern Oregon where you can get some long-range shots. Adjustable shooting sticks have become a necessity for the last 10 years after I turned 50. Missed shots are usually due to running targets that this knucklehead lobs lead at.
Different strokes for different folks

salmonriverjohn · Mar 5, 2017

Ruger Rich said:
I've had two Ruger No. 1's, one in 06 and the other in 300 Win Mag. Both had open sights from Ruger and thats the way I used them. I didn't take them on every hunt, but often enough. As time moved along my eyesight didn't keep up. They both went. I've hunted successfully for many years and have never been able to master adjusting my scope for magnification or using the BDC etchings to determine estimated range. For all the shots I've been afforded the action has been much too quick for me to mess around with anything else. I have scopes of many sizes (many having come on the rifle as I got it) and every single one of them is set on 6X. Most are 40mm. It works very well for me. Some of my hunting buddies use higher magnification and other gadgets and those things work for them. For the really old timers (and I think I'm getting close) they had nothing but open sights. I also suspect there may have been more game around. If I shot competition obviously I would do different.

Your not alone here rich, unless I'm in the thick stuff, mine always set at 6.

thorborg · Mar 5, 2017

bbbass said:
Standing shots at 300 yds? You rock!!!

I wish, I just meant to say that was my self imposed kill envelope but I have done some @ and just below 200 yards

thorborg · Mar 5, 2017

kenboy said:
I have some 30-year-old Leupold 3x9 on rifles and have never experienced any light issues.

Through the years I would say 90% of my shots are taken at the seven power to nine power for any animals From 200 yards to 400+ yards. Hunt fairly open country in eastern Oregon where you can get some long-range shots. Adjustable shooting sticks have become a necessity for the last 10 years after I turned 50. Missed shots are usually due to running targets that this knucklehead lobs lead at.
Different strokes for different folks

I definitely wasn't dissing Leupold 3-9"s. By mid 70's the Leupold's 3-9 was the Boss for the average Joe like me but then Leupold's new 2.5 X 8 gold ring came out which in Juxtaposition to the ruling 3-9 gathered slightly more light in the dawn and dusk hours and I never missed that apparently unrelevent 1X.