Sight Picture Query

BountyHunter

Hi Everybody,

I picked up an Anschutz target rifle earlier this week. I cant seem to get a good sight picture, in the prone position when I look thru the rearsight the bottom section of the sight picture looks kindof oval, if I kneel or stand I can get a perfect circle. I was thinking maybe I need to raise the sights as I found it slightly ucomfortable after a while i.e. my neck was feeling a bit strained... I think if the sight were raised I wouldnt have to get so low and bend my neck as much (I'm not very flexable).
My handstop, cheek piece and butt plate feel pretty comfortable.
Any suggestions?

Bountyhunter.

rrpc

BountyHunter wrote: »

Hi Everybody,

I picked up an Anschutz target rifle earlier this week. I cant seem to get a good sight picture, in the prone position when I look thru the rearsight the bottom section of the sight picture looks kindof oval, if I kneel or stand I can get a perfect circle. I was thinking maybe I need to raise the sights as I found it slightly ucomfortable after a while i.e. my neck was feeling a bit strained... I think if the sight were raised I wouldnt have to get so low and bend my neck as much (I'm not very flexable).
My handstop, cheek piece and butt plate feel pretty comfortable.
Any suggestions?

Bountyhunter.

You're not looking straight through the rear sight. It may be that you need sight raiser blocks (dear to Sparks' heart) or you may need to adjust your cheekpiece so that your eye is level with the sights.

BountyHunter

Thanks rrpc,

As I mentioned my neck gets a little uncomfortable so it may get worse if I lower the cheek piece, I'm going to the range in the morning so I'll play around with it, I'm guessing riaser blocks might be a more suitable solution..

BountyHunter.

rrpc

BountyHunter wrote: »

Thanks rrpc,

As I mentioned my neck gets a little uncomfortable so it may get worse if I lower the cheek piece, I'm going to the range in the morning so I'll play around with it, I'm guessing riaser blocks might be a more suitable solution..

BountyHunter.

If you've not shot prone regularly, you'll get that alright, but it soon eases up. If you put riser blocks on, your sights will be higher and the angle of your neck steeper, so it'll hurt more. Try lowering the cheek piece first, it will increase your neck strain a bit, but if you're trying to look down into your rear sight, that's a bit of a strain as well.

Sparks

If you're seeing the sight picture go oval only when in prone, rrpc's right, it's definitely down to a head position problem. It might be that the flesh on your cheek is getting smushed upwards by the cheekpiece - in which case moving the cheekpiece won't help much. I have a similar problem in all positions (funny looking face ) and what helps me is to drop my jaw as though I was yawning as I drop my head onto the cheekpiece. That stretches out the cheek and lets me get the cheekbone onto the cheekpiece with a minimal amount of flesh inbetween the two. It's a quick thing to try to see. If it doesn't help though, it's time to move that cheekpiece.
I tend to find that sight raiser blocks don't help me much in prone though - I can't shoot without them in standing and kneeling, I'm too tall and my eye's too far from my cheekbone, but in prone it's a different story because the angles are all different - you're more looking up than looking forward.
Also, remember that what works for me won't work for you unless you and I have identical facial bone structure and height and build - so you will have to experiment a bit.

BountyHunter

Cheers for that Sparks, looks like I've some experienting to do alright..
By the way that was very unfortunate about your rifle,sorry to hear about it..


BountyHunter.

Sparks

No worries BH, and the experimenting is half the fun of training sometimes

rrpc

Sparks wrote: »

and what helps me is to drop my jaw as though I was yawning as I drop my head onto the cheekpiece. That stretches out the cheek and lets me get the cheekbone onto the cheekpiece with a minimal amount of flesh inbetween the two. It's a quick thing to try to see. If it doesn't help though, it's time to move that cheekpiece.

Another trick (if you're right handed - it's opposite if you're left handed) is to turn your head to the right before you place your cheek on the cheek piece. This engages your cheek bone with the cheek piece and as you turn forward again, keeps it there without gathering up all your cheek padding that would gather if you just dropped straight down onto it.

Also (and this is nothing to do with your sight problem) when you place the butt in your shoulder, raise your right arm to the right as if you were waving (don't wave ). This has the effect of getting the butt right into your shoulder without any gathered material from your jacket or under-clothing getting in the way. It also opens your shoulder and then closes it nicely on the butt when you put your arm back down again.

Sandy22

rrpc wrote: »

You're not looking straight through the rear sight.

It may not be quite as simple as that.

You need to understand that the type of distortion in the sight picture, specifically the perimeter of the view of the rear aperture, that you (OP) describe can be caused by obstruction of the pupil of the aiming eye, and that the distortion will appear on the opposite side to that of the pupil which is being obstructed. Why the latter is the case I haven't got the expertise to explain properly; it's obviously due to the way in which the optics of the aperture and/or the eye work. FWIW I think it may be connected to the fact that, as I understand it, the real image on the retina of the eye is actually inverted and is re-erected by the nervous system so we see everything the "right" way up.

While this may sound counter-intuitive, you can easily prove it to yourself. Hold the aperture in front of your eye with your head in a normal upright position. As you indicate above, you'll get a nice round sight picture. Now gradually introduce a piece of card between eye and aperture; as the edge of the card starts to eclipse your pupil you should see the sight picture start to eclipse from the opposite side.

Anyway, in your case, it may be the top of your pupil is being masked, presumably by your upper eyelid or, more likely, by your eyebrow. Taken with the rest of your account, it would imply your head is still tipped too far forward and needs to be more upright (as it would be in standing or kneeling).

Unfortunately this suggests bending your neck even more, which won't be what you want to hear. Riser blocks may help a bit; I'd also suggest trying to raise your position a bit, so some of the bend is transferred from your neck to your back. And follow what the others say about getting the cheekpiece to fit well; the better if fits, the more of the weight of your head can go on the stock and off your neck.