ThePlinkster wrote:Yeah
I have considered buying a spotting scope
But I don't think it'll do me any good
Because if I do buy a spotting scope
I would then need someone to look through the spotting scope (as I shoot) to let me know where my "missed shots" are landing everytime
And yeah, I don't always have somebody there to help me out with that because sometimes I go to the range by myself
Ok I think what you are
imagining happens and what
actually happens are misaligned.
Firstly, the recoil from the 22lr is so insignificant, you should be seeing the fall of your shot. In fact if you are not, then there's likely a problem with your follow-through. Remember to keep you cheek glued to the buttstock for a second or two after the trigger breaks. If the target is a large piece of paper, indeed you may not see the fall, but smaller targets surrounded by dirt - yeah you should definitely be seeing the dirt "splash" up when you miss. Start by shooting plain old dirt to the side of the target to see for yourself, and prove your follow through is correct. Also, when lighting conditions are right, you can also actually
see the trajectory of the shot as if flys through the air and onto the target. Again, you don't need a fancy scope to see this, just requires concentration, the right conditions and good technique.
Secondly, even a cheapish hunting scope will allow you to see your bullet holes at 100m, provided the magnification is 10x or greater. This is especially the case when the target is dark in colour, like a black ink target. 200m is a stretch, but any cheap spotting scope will let you see 200m holes. Those "reactive" style targets make this even clearer and might just let you see 200m holes through the rifle scope... provided the magnification is 10x or greater.
Thirdly, it's normal for a target rifle shooter to have the spotting scope set up next to them, on the left hand side if they are right handed. The shooter will make the shot, drop the rifle out of the shoulder, lean left and peer through their scope (to check the shot). At this time you can also inspect the mirage to see what the wind is doing. Like this:
- Now there's a TR shooter, if I ever saw one...
- scope.jpg (291.23 KiB) Viewed 5905 times
Fourthly, if you are super duper lazy, you can get a phone adapter for spotting scopes. Like this one:
- Gosky scope adapter
- gosky.jpg (393.58 KiB) Viewed 5905 times
Then you can just glance at your phone without breaking pose. That particular adapter is the "Gosky Universal Cell Phone Adapter Mount" from Amazon. It's the sturdiest one I have ever used. The beauty of this approach is you can additionally record your session. You should always call your shots (i.e. state where you
think they went before looking at where they
actually went) to get an idea of "by how much" you are off by. Keep working on this. The objective is to merge predicted with actual; once this is more or less achieved then you know all your gear, technique and zero is where it should be. If you can't get there, then buy a target rifle
In conclusion, if you are only shooting to 200m, then a cheap spotter on a small camera tripod can sit on the bench next to you, and will easily show you 200m hits. And you can attach your phone to for even
more feedback from your session.