Before using any small arms, they must be sighted. This is required to find out the tactical and technical characteristics of each specific pistol or rifle. Manual sighting, in particular of pneumatic weapons, cannot show fairly accurate results and is performed on special sighting machines.
Why shoot the weapon?
During manufacturing, any pneumatic or firearm is shot using the “cold method”, but this procedure is not enough for more efficient operation. Even if a specially hired professional worked, the rifle often behaves completely differently in the hands of its owner. Since every shooter has his own way of holding the gun, applying it and then firing.
The main task of zeroing is to simultaneously combine the point of average hits with the crosshairs of the optics or the sight on the target.
During sighting work, you can determine the features of an air rifle that can later help or hinder during its operation:
- Certain optical indicators.
- Features of shooting with different types of ammunition.
- Accuracy and accuracy indicators.
Zeroing even pneumatics makes it possible to achieve guaranteed hits clearly on the target. It is performed in the following situations:
- During the installation of a new optical sight.
- When buying a new gun.
- After the wooden stock or butt has dried.
- When using new cartridges.
- Installation of additional accessories on the barrel.
- Installation of recoil reduction compensators.
- If the weapon is accidentally dropped.
- While reinstalling the bolt mechanism.
- After prolonged transportation or when stored without a case or pencil case.
- During active prolonged use.
Any change, even if it is wrapping the receiver with camouflage, will entail an increase in the dispersion of accuracy, as well as a change in shooting accuracy. For zeroing, you need to select only those cartridges that will be most often used in the future.
Taking into account the unspoken rules, sighting is carried out in several stages: the first is done on a sighting machine, the next is done manually, in the field. This is a rather expensive process, and can often use up a large number of expensive cartridges, but experienced shooters recommend doing it regularly.
Shooting supports.
Sooner or later, every hunter is faced with the need to obtain a weapon support. What kinds of supports are there, how to choose them.
Sooner or later, every hunter is faced with the need to obtain a shooting support. This occurs in different situations, both from a prepared place for shooting, and where chance occurs, during a driven hunt or during a leisurely walking hunt. For example, going out to the edge of a field, starting to examine the field itself and its opposite side in the hope of seeing prey, you can look through a magnifying scope or binoculars, it’s just a matter of convenience and time, but if you manage to find the animal, sometimes you can aim accurately very difficult. The fact is that when shooting handheld, and this is what usually happens in the field, the grass is tall. It’s good if there is something nearby that you can rest your weapon on, a fence, a picket fence, a pole, or at least a tree trunk, a birch tree for example, that you can lean on, lean against, and significantly reduce the instability of the weapon. Of course, you can look in advance for a suitable stick or a small spear of suitable height on which you can rest the forend; of course, this applies to prepared firing positions, or is suitable for those who hunt in their own, well-known places and hide such support sticks in advance. But for most shooting situations in which life finds a hunter, there is nothing suitable around - just you, the field and the precious trophy.
In general, reducing instability, or rather increasing the stability of the gun when shooting, is a guarantee of an accurate shot. Trained hand-held shooting is, of course, a “cool” skill. Shooting while shooting at a fast-moving target has nothing in common with shooting from a rest position, but sometimes hunters try to hit a fast-moving target, and even with a scope with a magnification of at least 3x and higher, which is more like shooting for luck. Well, these are cases for obvious non-professionals with minimal shooting experience. It is also possible to make an accurate shot at a long distance without the use of special means, but it will be either luck or vast experience, sports, for example, or most likely a combination of both. For a “sober” understanding of the task of accurately hitting a target that is located at a distance, you need to be aware of the fact that you need a support - a fixed point of control of the forend of a carbine, or other weapon, which will significantly reduce the arbitrary swing of the barrel and slow down the movement of the front sight (crosshair) sight or other aiming mark) in the area of the intended impact point on the target.
With the rise of technology lately, hunters and shooters are more often turning to factory-made products, which are significantly superior to homemade products in quality, weight, strength and convenience. Factory-made shooting supports are made of high-strength aluminum alloy, very lightweight, fold up conveniently so that you can put them in a backpack, and take up little space. When you go to a firing position, they can be quickly disassembled, and even in the extended position they are higher than homemade ones, sometimes reaching 1.65 meters and up to 1.8 meters. This size is sometimes unnecessary, of course, because you shoot while bending down a little to reduce recoil and make it easier to aim. For shooting, a support height of about 1.5 meters is generally sufficient. Everything above is the work of marketers to satisfy the requests of inexperienced people who have little understanding of shooting, and those who give gifts to others or fulfill someone’s order.
Types of supports
1. Tripods – have three points of support, stable in all directions of possible swing and tilt. As a rule, they have 3 legs of 3 sections each (in supports with manual extension), which will require a little more time to install and extend the legs, and 2 sections in supports with automatic extension of the legs.
2. Bipods - have 2 legs, like high bipods, resistant to swinging and tilting in two planes, for example to the right and left, but will have to be supported from falling forward and backward.
3. Monopods – 1 leg, quickly expand and fold, but are not stable on their own. Convenient to use in walking hunting, when you need to constantly move and target prey from a distance.
What is important to understand when choosing a rest for hunting is what conditions the hunter or shooter typically faces, how much time there will be, and whether there will be time at all before the shot to extend the rest. If hunting is mainly walking, then it is better to take a monopod - a support with one leg. At the same time, if the area is wooded, there is tall grass, then a support with manual extension of the legs, and the legs will have to be extended in advance, will cling to the grass and branches - it is better to purchase an automatic one. If the hunt is mainly from ambush, or during a driven hunt and the transitions are not great, then you need to take a tripod. Well, if the hunt is mixed, without large transitions, but shooting at an unexpectedly appearing animal is possible, or a decision is made to make a drive, and the firing position will be on the field, then it is better to take an automatic support.
Types of supports
1. Automatic, such supports have a trigger - you press and it extends itself. In order to expand such a support and bring it into working position, a minimum of time is required. You only need to move the legs of the support to the sides with the movement of your boot (if it’s a tripod or bipod). They assemble just as quickly - you pull the trigger, lower the top part down - the support is assembled. Just a couple of seconds for everything. They usually have 2 knees on each leg. The disadvantages of such supports are that they are heavier than supports with manual extension; when folded, they are more than a meter long.
2. With manual extension, disassembly will take a minute to a minute and a half, depending on skill. Each leg has 3 elbows, when extended, each knee is secured with either a collet swivel clamp (Primos supports) or a latch clamp (Vanguard type supports). The flap clamp will be a little simpler, but the collet clamp can be clamped stronger even after many years of use and wear of the eccentric fasteners. Both hold tightly. The disadvantages of the supports are the extension time. Pros: compactness and light weight. When folded, it is about 80 cm long and weighs from 400 to 900 grams.
Support material
The supports are made of duralumin pipe, either round or having a complex profile to increase its rigidity. The coating is anodized, resistant to abrasion, plastic parts have a rubberized base, very tenacious to the hand grip so that they do not slip out.
When choosing a shooting support, you should no longer pay attention to the name of the manufacturer. With today's high level of competition, all modern industrial supports have high reliability and approximately the same parameters of weight, strength and rigidity. It is worth paying more attention to functionality, the number of legs of the support, and the mechanics of its disassembly. But you need to know the manufacturers so as not to buy an obvious fake, but to purchase a high-quality factory-produced product.
Shotgun mount manufacturers
Primos
is an American company with production in China. They have been producing supports since 1984. There are several hundred different modifications of shooting devices in stock.
Vanguard
– normal factory China. They produce various types of supports, tripods, for hunting, cameras. Dozens of representative offices around the world.
FieryDeer
is a Chinese company that produces high-quality supports. We present automatic supports from this manufacturer.
Harris is a renowned manufacturer from the USA. They produce high-quality bipods for various types of weapons.
Allen
is an American brand with production facilities in various countries. The product portfolio includes supports, bags, stands and various equipment for hunting and shooting.
Benchmaster
- USA brand. They make inexpensive stands and devices for shooting and sighting.
Popular supports for carbines and weapons
Support Vanguard QUEST T62U tripod 3 in 1 collapsible, Article QUEST T62U
. Height 73.5-157.5 cm. A wonderful and unique support of its kind can be transformed from a tripod into a bipod (bipod) or monopod (support with one leg) or a tripod for a camera or video camera. Lightweight and practical.
Shotgun support Primos Trigger Stick Gen3 tripod, Article 65815M
. Height 61-157 cm. Automatic tripod for carbine from an American manufacturer. Quick extension, the ability to be used in ambushes and shooting from low positions due to the ability to widely space the legs of the support makes it more advantageous in terms of functionality. But you will have to pay extra for these amenities.
Shotgun support Primos Trigger Stick Gen3 1 leg, Article 65813M
. Height 84-165 cm. Compact automatic support with one leg. Convenient to use in running and driven hunting, as well as when there is a need to make a long-range accurate shot. For example, going to the edge of the field to be able to make an accurate shot at a target at the other end.
Gun support (tripod) FIERYDEER Art. 00009102.
Such supports come in three designs. Maximum extension heights are 1.5, 1.65 and 1.8 meters. In general, these supports are very similar to the previous ones - quick-sliding, material - anodized aluminum, rubberized handles, can be converted into a tripod - a holder for a camera, camera or mobile device. At the same time it is much cheaper.
An additional important convenience is the ability to install a two-point stop
under the gun, which rotates and allows targeted shooting in any direction - 360°.
Vanguard PRO T68 tripod support, Article PRO T68
. Height 78-173 cm. Durable non-demountable tripod. Each leg has 3 sections. Very suitable for harsh operating conditions. Leaf clamps, rubberized elements. It has markings that are convenient for measuring the depth of a ditch, a puddle of a pond, and for wading.
A two-point support on a three-legged support Fiery Deer Trigger Stick Gen3, which allows you to create a complex on any support to hold the weapon in the shooting position in the sector of the intended direction of fire. When assembling the complex, you can attach the carbine for hunting and free yourself from the need to hold the weapon and leave your hands free, which will allow you to warm them in cold weather in mittens, also relieve numbness in your fingers and make the shot more accurate. When assembling, please note that this stop fits without adapters only to Fiery Deer supports. For supports from other manufacturers, such as Primos and Vanguard, adapters are needed, which can be additionally purchased in our online store.
Vanguard UNI-STIK support additional handguard support, UNI-STIK
. Compact support with a length of 51 to 101 cm. Designed to support the forend of a weapon. Attached to one of the legs of the tripod. Allows you to keep your hands free. Can serve as a support when shooting while sitting.
Tripods with increased rigidity
Shooting tripod Caldwell DeadShot FieldPod 488000. This is a semi-professional tripod for shooting and zeroing weapons. It is more suitable for shooting from a sitting position, from the knee. Compact when assembled and perfect for towers and shelters. It is more powerful than the previous ones, more rigid, and made of a complex aluminum profile. Height from 50 to 107 cm. You can put the carabiner on 2 stops, which are adjustable in length. Each leg has individual height adjustment. The tripod is more suitable for zeroing weapons, for shooting from prepared firing positions, for example, in a hiding spot or hut with short grass. The convenience lies in the fact that the shooter’s hands remain free and do not become numb while holding the gun tightly, but at the same time the entire stand rotates 360 around its axis and allows you to point the gun or carbine in the intended direction of shooting.
Shooting tripod Caldwell DeadShot FieldPod Max 488029. Similar to the previous shooting support, only higher. The height is adjustable from 51 to 122 cm. You can shoot while standing, although bending down a little. More suitable when the grass is taller, if used for driven hunting at the number.
The BOG FieldPod Max 1100473 shooting and sighting tripod has a very rigid design and thickened support legs with petal metal clamps on each to adjust the extension length. The material used is a profiled duralumin pipe with longitudinal runners to control rigidity. The support extends to a height of up to 127 cm to the base of the forearm with a leg extension width of about 50 cm. The minimum height for shooting from such a tripod is about 50 cm. In the lower part, the support has screw retractable spikes and rubber support bases, which can change depending on the supporting surface as needed.
Tripod for shooting and zeroing BOG FieldPod Magnum, Art. 1100474 is the most powerful, rigid and other of the tripod shooting supports. Double supports at the top provide double rigidity. Metal swivel locks allow you to lock the lock in any convenient position, up or down. Each support in the lower part has a hardened metal claw-spike for reliable strengthening in the ground. The maximum height of extension to the base of the forend is about 155 cm, with the legs spread up to 70 cm wide, although the manufacturer claims only 137 cm. The minimum height of extension is 46 cm. The support rotates 360° and can be tilted up and down by 45°.
Prone shooting support
Three-legged weapon support Vanguard PORTA-AIM
. The simple shooting support is height adjustable. When folded, it takes up less space than a folded umbrella. Compact, high-quality, suitable for any shooting conditions: prone, if there is not tall grass, from a table, from a hemp, from the hood of a car.
Special supports
These are supports that can be used for shooting from a tower or car window. They are not expensive, weigh little and take up little space. But then finding yourself in the right place and in the right place. Here is one of them - Allen soft support for weapons, on the frame, Art. 18401.
The handguard does not scratch and firmly holds the front of the weapon.
In addition to the listed types of shooting supports, there are varieties of machines and stands that are more suitable for shooting and sighting. They are massive and more suitable for shooting from a sighting table.
You can buy supports for hunting and shooting in our online store by placing an order on the website. You can also call us by phone or write an email to leave a request or for a consultation.
The role of the machine in zeroing
Beginners in shooting always want to make this task easier for themselves; they use “available materials”: plywood, unnecessary pillows, shelves, chairs. All this is used to make gun stands. However, this structure constantly wobbles, only making it difficult to make an accurate shot. The basis for high-quality and correct zeroing is a special device for the shooting position. This designates a place for the person directly shooting and a place for the weapon.
A durable and fixed stop under the fore-end and stock allows you to ensure a constant position of the gun when firing, regardless of the shooter’s experience and number of shots. Only consistency in weapon behavior and uniform placement can guarantee accurate and effective shooting. All such required conditions allow you to create a machine.
He secures the weapon rigidly, by the stock. Specially installed stops allow the gun to roll back when firing. Supports are very popular among experienced athletes.
Types of sighting machines
A machine for zeroing pneumatic weapons is not a recent invention at all. Their different types are used in the army to provide soldiers with shooting skills. For example, one of the 1950 variants developed by PS51 is still in use today. The design features make it possible to rotate it in order to aim the mounted gun.
Almost all manufacturing companies that produce guns also develop their own designs of machines and stops. They all have one common feature: a rifle mount and a rigid base, which completely eliminates the effect of any subjective factors (human, strong wind). Conventionally, today all models are divided according to the following principles:
- Which only allow for maintenance or shooting of weapons.
- Highly specialized for a specific type of weapon or universal.
- Stationary or mobile.
The price of various designs will depend on the dimensions, weight, materials and assembly options, and the manufacturing company. A sighting machine that allows for rigid installation on any surface is the most reliable. Installing equipment to determine the height of the gun may be helpful. Each of the machines can be used as a stand when cleaning and lubricating weapons.
The rifle is placed on the machine (in some cases the butt is supported on a special support), it is aimed at the target using adjustment elements, and shots are fired on the machine according to the principle of a heavy machine gun. This is an excellent device for the first sighting; its results can later be corrected by individual shooting.
The sighting machine can be metal or plastic. The former are heavier and more durable, they are excellent for large-caliber rifles. Plastic devices work well with guns up to 7.62 mm, and they are much cheaper. Owners of powerful weapons, who often use them, most often buy metal products, which they then additionally try to make heavier in various ways.
The most common mistake when zeroing pneumatics: different positions of the gun in the rest or in the machine. The rifle must be placed on the stand with the fore-end, in such a way that the hand of the person shooting will be located after it.
There are a large number of models of small front stops, in particular military ones. The most practical and convenient are expensive structures with the ability to place them in different planes. Military machines do not allow for adjustment and often scratch the butt or stock of the weapon. Plastic ones are lightweight, simplest in design and cheap. They are convenient to use for infrequent shooting, as a backup option. However, for professional shooters, metal stops are optimal, which allow them to be installed at a certain height.
There are also a large number of additional adjustment devices that are not always needed: tilt angle, barrel rotation, rifles. Their cost is quite affordable and convenient to use. The most expensive models can be adjusted with a lever, which greatly simplifies the work.
As an additional accessory, some purchase a pouch for the butt, thereby creating an analogue of a collapsible sighting machine. It is filled with sand, reduces the recoil from the weapon, making zeroing more comfortable.
The main criterion when choosing any model of a sighting machine is the absence of any backlash. All interconnected mechanisms and components must be rigidly fixed.
Important:
do not forget to sew a carrying strap to one of the sides before sewing it to the other parts, and of course, do not forget to sew the lock in a place convenient for you (I sewed it into the bottom).
After painstaking work, we get a figure of a mysterious shape, look at it with an intelligent look for a couple of minutes and then begin to fill it with the filler prepared in advance.
The filler can be various cereals (rice, pearl, millet, buckwheat), sand, molded plastic (such granules), balls for air soft, etc.
Personally, I chose pearl barley, which is quite heavy and not very susceptible to moisture. It took 9 packages for a pillow and 5 packages for a stand, 0.8 kg each.
You need to stuff it as tightly as possible; the denser it is, the better the future support pillow will keep its shape.
Having completed all the manipulations to stuff your Frankinstein and collected another ton of cereal from the floor (at the end it’s not easy to stuff), we get this device:
I still had the material, and most importantly, the desire to craft, so I also made a pillow-additive for height.
The bottom is the same, there are 2 pieces, the height is at your discretion, I took 100mm. Also, don’t forget about the handle sling and zipper.
As a result we get:
This is how I built a quite convenient shooting device.
Tested over the weekend, it has a very positive effect on accuracy.
As a result, after spending 3 hours, we have a wonderful tool for sighting and positional shooting.
Due to its weight (about 8 kg pad and 4 kg stand) it holds the rifle stock well, dampens shaking and vibrations when aiming, and it delivers a lot of positive emotions (especially when carried from place to place ;)) - made by ourselves after all.
In the end, I was satisfied with the pillow I received and gained invaluable experience.
Thank you all for your attention, good luck with the shooting.
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How to make a sighting machine for pneumatics with your own hands
Although purchasing the necessary equipment is not a big problem, most home craftsmen make sighting machines on their own. For example, it is worth considering one of the versions of machines for zeroing pneumatic weapons, which you can make yourself without the help of a welding machine.
Preparation of materials
To make such a sighting machine, you will need:
- Threaded stud measuring 15 mm.
- Square or rectangular profile pipe.
- One bolt with a diameter of 15 mm measures 16 cm.
- Two bolts with a diameter of 15 mm and measuring 11 cm.
- Bolts that act as rivets.
- Six 6mm bolts that have nipple nuts.
- Two wing nuts.
- 14 simple nuts.
- Metal plate measuring 7x9 cm.
- Ten washers.
- A can of black paint.
- Three corners measuring 6x7 cm.
The tools you will need are: grinder, screwdriver, electric drill.
Making a shooting machine
The main stages of work are carried out as follows.
Step 1 - you need to cut two pieces from the profile pipe, measuring 75 and 45 cm.
Afterwards it is necessary to sand both parts from various burrs. Wooden blocks are installed at the ends of the pipes to prevent deformation.
Step 2 - cut two 45 cm lengths of the hairpin, remove the resulting chamfer.
In the long part of the tube, you need to drill two holes at a distance of several centimeters from the edge. Four holes are made in a short piece (two holes need to be drilled a few centimeters from the ends, the other two with an indentation of 20 cm between each other). Next, you need to connect the ends of both sections at an angle with a bolt, 2 washers are installed between the tubes, which will not allow the paint to rub off while folding the entire structure. The bolt is attached to the wing nut.
Studs are placed on the short part of the tube and secured with nuts and washers. The main thing is to twist the resulting connections very securely, since the backlash will not allow you to accurately fire a shot.
Step 3 – the outermost hole that remains at the end of the short tube requires installing a bolt with a washer and a wing nut.
This will help adjust the horizontal position of the machine. A 16 cm bolt must be inserted into the other hole in the long part of the tube and the gun stop must be secured.
Step 4 - the weapon rest must be assembled from three corners, fixed to each other with rivets.
To avoid damaging the rifle, all elements that come into contact with it must be sanded. Including the bolt head, where the stop will become. All connections are secured with washers and nuts, to make them reliable, a vice is used. Restrictive nuts are placed on the studs and a plate is placed on top where the stop for the stock will be installed. The height of the stop can be adjusted using nuts. To make it more convenient, nuts are often replaced with wings.
