new rifle at range

[David R. Pennington]

Finally got my latest build at the range. I think it will do well once I get the loads worked out and sights adjusted. Shot some cloverleaf holes with her. I used Tom Snyders coning tool on touch hole and as long as I kept it clean it went off like a centerfire!
So how do you guys go about getting a new rifle sighted in? Here is sort of how I have it in my mind;
1 Shakedown= test fire with light loads just to make sure everything works and see how sight picture looks.
2 Make sight adjustments as to sight picture like file out notch more etc. Rough adjustment as needed to get on paper if needed.
3 Work on load combinations to hopefully get one hole groups.
4 Final sight adjustments to bring group into bull.

[dagner]

  then experiment with differnt ball and patch as you have time   you got everything covered real well   do not forget to bench your gun at 100 yards  that will tell you what powder  and rest i really likes  see some 50 cals shoot 3fff the best then some liked 2ff  you will realy be supprised at 100 yard  with big groups size differences dont take one day as gospel  shoot it couple  times out  to prove it
dag

[FRJ]

I have found that my offhand shots group a little, 2", different than my bench groups. Its not from flinching as I don't flinch and when I have a missfire the gun doesn't move, steady as a rock. So shoot it offhand and other positions also to make sure it goes where its supposed to. FRJ

[David G]

David, looks like you right on track. I'll second FRJ and would do the final sight in using whatever shooting form (bench/offhand) the rifle will be mainly used for. I'd also probably run 100 or so balls through the gun to settle it and make sure I had ample supply of all the shooting supplies, ball, patching material,lube.etc.. for the load I settled on. That way you can be somewhat assured of consistency for a period of time after final sight in.

[Scout]

I always start at 25 yards off a bench with new cardboard backing for the target frame and new target so I can see where the balls are hitting if I'm not on paper.
I get the windage where I want it and at the same time try a few different loads to see if any possible improvement could be acheived.
I then go back to 100 yards and work on elevation from the bench, try different loads etc. All of this may take more than one outing to the range.

After I see the rifle is grouping pretty good then I shoot offhand.

After some pathetic offhand shooting I then go back to the bench !

By the way, congrats on the new build. What style rifle is it ?

Ole Scout

[snowdragon]

I focus on 50 yards and pretty much follow the same steps as you, unless the patches are failing from sharp rifling.  If there are bad cuts on the patches, or the patches are blowing apart, I do what I can to correct the problem before going any further, like lapping or just shooting a whole bunch.  I do like to get the group centered windage wise as early as possible though, as the windage usually doesn't change much as you work up a load.

Since this is my first post here on this forum, I want to say HI to everyone. I didn't know if I should just jump in, or post somewhere else first, so of course I just jumped in.  Bill

[Daryl]

When I shoot off the bench, with both left and right elbow rests (no rear bag), I hold the forend as if holding the rifle offhand, and rest the back of my left hand on the sand bag. It is a very steady hold. This method gives me exactly the same point of impact as offhand shooting, or shooting sitting.

If I let the forend bounce on the bag, not held, the impact is different than when shot offhand- My modern rifles and the muzzleloaders all react this way.

[Dr. Tim-Boone]

Welcome Snowdragon!! Just jumping right in is fine here. Hope enjoy and get engaged in the give and take. As you can see its a great bunch of people and we are blessed to be able to interact with and  learn from many of the very best builders/artists and shooters in the American Longrifle culture.

[David R. Pennington]

The rifle is my interpretation of a southern English influence rifle that might have been built on the frontier using some old musket parts in the last half of the 18th century maybe. It's walnut stocked iron mounted with a Chambers rd faced lock and an oct/rd .62 Colerain barrel 44". I plan to hunt with it and shoot woods walk and maybe even some paper matches if I get it shooting how I want without punishing me too much.
The frt. sight of course is soldered on and windage seems to be right on without any adjustment. Started out with high front sight and still need to file it some but am more interested in getting consistant tight groups before worrying about where they are on the paper too much.
Ran a few more rounds through her this afternoon and tried heavier patch with no better results. Went back to lighter patch and got tighter groups and easier to load. Did find some of the lighter patches with just a little burn throgh. Greased a little more and they don't burn through.
It's a lot of fun to shoot! Lock is not hard on flints at all. Probably have 50 shots on same flint. Real happy with setup of single trigger. Makes a big noise!

[dagner]

   muzlle flip is normal shooting off of a bench.   bench and bags be hard . gun jumps up after firing at 25 yrads.   i usually shoot  at least  1 inch lower offhand than on bench  so do my shooting buddies
dag

[Daryl]

dag - "When I shoot off the bench, with both left and right elbow rests (no rear bag), I hold the forend as if holding the rifle offhand, and rest the back of my left hand on the sand bag. It is a very steady hold. This method gives me exactly the same point of impact as offhand shooting, or shooting sitting."
 

[ironwolf]

 To help speed the process I use a common ratio equation to compensate for a 4" drop at 100yd. since all roundballs drop about 4" if they're being driven at proper velocity.

 looks like this:               4"/3600" (inches in 100yds)  =  0.0011  this will be the common factor per inch of sight radius.

  lets say a sight rad. of 28.5 inches.          28.5x0.0011= 0.03135   

  Your rear sight should be 0.031 higher than the front sight measured from the bore centerline.  This will get you well onto the paper and get you to the fun shooting you mentioned much faster.

  No charge,  KW

[Standing Bear]

dag - "When I shoot off the bench, with both left and right elbow rests (no rear bag), I hold the forend as if holding the rifle offhand, and rest the back of my left hand on the sand bag. It is a very steady hold. This method gives me exactly the same point of impact as offhand shooting, or shooting sitting."
 

Seems most bench arrangements cause the shooter to hunker over and not shoot with their back straight as in shooting off hand.  A rest can be configured to fit the roof pole that is adjustable for height and allow a hold as Daryl describes.  I use a lab jack and several sand bags front and rear to get a high enough rest when using the normal concrete benches at the range.

TC