- Joined
- Nov 24, 2022
- Messages
- 172
- Reaction score
- 319
Well, I got to the range this morning for the initial sighting in of my new Optima V2 with open sights. The bullets were Hornady .44 cal 240 grain XTPs over various charges of Blackhorn 209 (60, 65 & 70 grains, all by weight), using Federal 209A primers and a Blackhorn breech plug. I swabbed between each shot and blew off a primer before loading, just for consistency.
My first shot was off a sled, which I wasn't very comfortable using. I ditched it and shot the rest with just a small sandbag up front. The shot from the sled is the upper left in the picture. The next three shots grouped well, but high at 25 yards. I adjusted the rear sight as I went along, shooting at 25, 50 and 100 yards. All shots ended up within the larger black circle, with the most distance top to bottom being 5 inches.
Honestly, at 100 yards the entire plate was covered by the front sight, so I was just winging it. I'm confident with my results that it would be fine for hunting, and will work on making up some better, larger targets. I did have the plates stapled to a large piece of cardboard so I could see if I missed the plate entirely.
I bought the open sight version due to the fact that most shots around here are within 60 yards, and the scoped versions seem to be 3-9, which I wouldn't need. I'll most likely add a 1-4 scope in the future just to help, but for my needs the open sights work for me.
My first shot was off a sled, which I wasn't very comfortable using. I ditched it and shot the rest with just a small sandbag up front. The shot from the sled is the upper left in the picture. The next three shots grouped well, but high at 25 yards. I adjusted the rear sight as I went along, shooting at 25, 50 and 100 yards. All shots ended up within the larger black circle, with the most distance top to bottom being 5 inches.
Honestly, at 100 yards the entire plate was covered by the front sight, so I was just winging it. I'm confident with my results that it would be fine for hunting, and will work on making up some better, larger targets. I did have the plates stapled to a large piece of cardboard so I could see if I missed the plate entirely.
I bought the open sight version due to the fact that most shots around here are within 60 yards, and the scoped versions seem to be 3-9, which I wouldn't need. I'll most likely add a 1-4 scope in the future just to help, but for my needs the open sights work for me.