Problem shooting too low while prone today at the range.

[permaculture]

I recently purchased and had professionally mounted, a Nikon Monarch 2.5x10 mildot on my Remington 700 Sporster in 30.06. I took it to the range and after adjusting the scope, I was able to shoot slightly under 2 inches at 200 yards from the bench. This is the best I have ever done and I was happy with it.

I tried shooting prone today @ 300 yards and was shooting close to 2 feet lower than the target. I was holding over 9 inches which is what the ammo drop would be for a 200 yard zero. After moving back to 200 yards, I will still shooting low, close to 5-6 inches.

I was having a really hard time with the eye-relief in prone and was getting hit in the face enough that I figured it was best to stop for the day. I was just praciticing some dry-firing at home and did not was very steady on the holds and trigger pulls.

So... assuming I was holding over correctly at 300 yards, would being too high or too low when looking through the scope cause the shots to be 2 feet low at 300 yards? Or, is it just bad aim on my part?

Cheers

 

[Bravo 4]

If you are getting hit n the face by that rifle with a scope with an eye relief of 4 inches, prone or not you are definitely doing something wrong.

 

[Greyfox]

Assuming you have a good rest and your not flinching from being belted in the face, I would stick to getting consistency between bench and prone positions at 200 yards. Between the two positions, the relationship between your head, shoulder, and the rifle is radically different. A consistently good cheek weld is critical to maintaining accuracy and impact point when switching positions. I would check this. There is a lot more leeway in gun fit shooting at the bench. Most shooters that shoot great at the bench, find the first time they go prone, their stock is too low. With a proper cheek weld, their eye is too low to see through the scope. They lift their cheek off the stock and this results in a change in impact. Check this out. If it's your issue you will need to adjust you stock.

 

[Guy M]

Prone puts the shooter's head in a considerably different position than shooting from a seated bench position. Much farther forward. If you intend to shoot a lot of prone - I do - then you may well need to move that scope farther forward in the mounts to generate some more eyebrow clearance.

You shouldn't be getting whacked in the head at all.

Yes, having your eye in the wrong position behind the scope can lead to all sorts of problems. Did you observe any "shadowing" in the scope?

Guy

 

[Eaglet]

Also, if your body is slightly angled down hill and the rifle is not following the same angle but shooting in an upward angle, depending on how severe the angle is you'll get smacked in the face. The reason is because as you increase the rifle angle your eye clearance gets smaller + the recoil bringing it upwards will definitely get you smacked.

 

[tinman13kup]

I learned the hard way about head position on a heavy recoil gun. Mine was during turkey season, using a mossberg 835 and 3-1/2" shells in #4. I had a scope on the gun during deer season and only changed out the barrel, leaving the scope on. I had no luck calling a bird in and had to get to work, and on my way out I had to walk through a big cinder area. I looked up and a tom was 50yds away strutting. Being in the open, I crouched down and tried to not look like a human with a gun, keeping my head low, almost like I was hunched over the gun. The bird was slowly strutting toward me and my decision was to shoot at 35yds or whenever it saw me. That happened at 45 yds. I let a shot go and remember seeing the bird tumble, right before I did. That scope gave me 5 stitches over my eye, and nearly gave a girl in the gas station a heart attack when I stopped to check out the damage.
It sounds like you were in the same position as me, hunched over the gun and looking out the top of your eye. Perhaps not sitting at a straight line behind the gun might help. Lay at a bigger angle so your head is in a more upright position and you are looking more through the middle of your vision.

As for the drop, did you adjust the eyepiece at all? I've had a few cheap scopes that I thought were ok until I adjusted the eyepiece and could watch the crosshairs moving in a circle. I got a little chuckle out of it, as it WAS a cheap scope, and you almost would be more surprised if it didn't have "issues"

 

[RockyMtnMT]

Were you using a bi pod? If so did you use it on the bench and prone? If you shot off bags on the bench and then added a bi pod the extra weight on the rifle can change the impact point significantly.

I also agree with the other guys that you need to address the getting scoped issue.

Steve

 

[permaculture]

Hi

Thank you for the replies. These are one reason that I like this site - everyone is helpful and respectful.

I do not yet have a bipod but hope to get one next year.

I have uploaded some pictures from home showing me holding the rifle. This might help. I was not flinching when I sighted in and did not get him with the scope, but after being hit several times yesterday, flinched to the point where it was time to just give it up and wait the extra hour for the range work party to begin.

I seemed to have a really bad fit issue with the rifle yesterday.

Next time I go to the range I will bring the flip camera and video tape my shooting.

To clarify --I was shooting prone at the range using two old pant legs filled with wood pellets as a rest.

 

[Greyfox]

Eye relief to the scope looks OK from the pictures. Appears to be about 3 inches which should be a minimum. Looks like you could possibly use some height on the stock for a tighter cheek weld. Easy enough to try for about $25 for a Scope Eze cheek rest from Brownells, or you can experiment first with some duct tape and foam rubber. Looks like maybe a half inch in height or so would tighten you up.

 

[permaculture]

I went out again this weekend. This will be the last time I get to go before my trip. The range was really busy as you would expect, with everyone and his brother-in-law wanting to "sight-in".

The good news is that I did not get scoped in the face once. I need to still get a scope-eze thing as the stock is too low, as GreyFox stated. I was able to shoot 3-4 inch groups low and to the right at 200 yards. I have a lot more confidence now than I did last time.

Cheers