Tips on seeing bullet holes at 100 yards

[itguy510]

Has anyone tried Snapzoom (http://snapzooms.com) along with a spotting scope? It is a bit pricey at $80,

[ExtremeX]

Has anyone tried Snapzoom (http://snapzooms.com) along with a spotting scope? It is a bit pricey at $80,

It’s called digiscoping... and the idea has been around for ages.

Google “digiscoping adapter” and you fill find lots of options out there from phones to professional SLR cameras.

$80 isn't a bad price if it’s a good quality mount. These mounts need to afford you good adjustment on both vertical and horizontal axis to get good alignment with the lens.

That said... for people who digiscope, the optic you put in front of the camera is even more important than when using it with just your eye. You need really good light transmission to keep shutter speed number high to combat shake. The cameras maximum aperture (f/stop) and sensor light sensitivity (ISO) also play a pretty big role.

Optical performance is also huge, or lack of it is really apparent if you don't use a good scope.

Just something to keep in mind before you throw a barging basement optic on a shaky tripod in front of that camera.

Done right you can get some pretty amazing results… I’ve seen digiscoped pictures that look like native professional DSLRs images.
Just to give you an idea... (images taken from some random digiscoping blog)

[Remus]

This thread is a month old now
For what its worth, the Optimist Club's rifle range is 100 yards only, and the backstops can be pretty dim. Shooting a target at the 50 yard baffles is a good way to be escorted from the premises (the rifle line faces the Oakland airport terminal and runway). What I did when shooting/sighting in there was to turn the target paper backwards (the target frames are built to hold this paper) and put a group of reflective smiley stickers in the center. Even with a cheap barska spotting scope the holes of a 223 showed up just fine on the plain side of the paper.

[rdfact]

I have a wide selection of telescopes ...

So what do you use? I saw a guy at the range with a small tabletop telescope, smaller than my crappy Barska spotting scope. Set on lowest power it was very clear at 100 yards.

[scidx]

Once a ceasefire is called and you go downrange to check your target, that's when you measure how much you need to adjust your optic by. If your groups average 2 inches low and 1 inch left, then adjust your scope accordingly. That's the easiest way to do it.

Is this not an option? Walking to the target is free, usually. I didn't use a spotting scope until, maybe, 5 years ago (someone gave me a cheap one). It takes a little patience...

I occasionally shoot with people that like the shoot-n-c targets. I prefer smaller, cleaner holes in paper.

[hoystory]

Here ya go... (minute 6.17)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RkJq...AmCEP-Tu6YliUQ

Yep, it's pricy, but you can order it here.

[howbobert]

If you are at a controlled range see if the range master will spot for you with a spotting scope, especially if you are not hitting paper. Then walk it in from there.

Then of course, you just might not be able to shoot worth a darn without optics.

[zhoohuntr]

So I went to zero in my irons on AR15 for the first time. But had hell of a time seeing bullet holes on the target at 100 yards. I even rent a spotting scope from the range and still couldn't see anything clearly.

After a few shots and not even on paper, I gave up on irons and try to zero my Primary Arm 1-6x scope. At 6x the target was easier to see target but not holes with PA scope, spotting scope wasn't a cake walk either. Was finally able to zero in the scope.

any tips on seeing the bullet hole easier? Is a spotting scope a must? my neighbors on the range didn't have a spotting scope I think he had a high power scope.

Use Shoot N C targets. They make the holes easier to see. I use 10x Celestron binocular and it works for me. I think you are using scopes w/ poor glass. With my Weaver 2x7 scope if the light is right I can see my bullet holes, 308 mostly. 22 size holes are harder to see.

[itguy510]

Thanks for all the advise guys I am getting from shoot-and-see target, pairing that with the rented spotting scope should really help seeing the bullet holes.

If anyone is interest I start a new thread , about a DIY Raspberry PI target camera

[sharxbyte]

zero at 25 and it should be the same?

[sunborder]

As others have said, iron sights on an AR should be zeroed at 50 yards, not 100.

The relatively high sights on an AR allow for a battlefield zero that will get you center of mass hits from 0-300+ yards without holdovers. You will be +/- 2.5 inches in elevation out to 300+ yards. To do this, you zero at 50 yards using standard backup sights. You will be dead on at 50 and around 200 yards, depending on ammo. Between 50 and 200 you will be a bit high, between muzzle and 50, a bit low, and at 200-300 you will be a bit low.

If you want to shoot past that with irons, you will need something better than standard BUIS type sights, like a fixed or carry handle A2 sight, Matech ranging sight, or KAC ranging sight. These will allow you to shoot at various ranges with a "dead-on" zero by adjusting your sights.

Zeroing AR irons is not like zeroing a scoped deer rifle. Read up on the process.