Using open sights for HFT...

[Mrs. H]

I picked up a rather nice new toy this weekend in the form of the Diana 46 Stutzen. -Yes, I know this is the collectables section but stick with me... I'm very impressed with the set of open sights it comes with; nice and rugged with easy adjustment. In fact, so nice my mind started wandering.... this is the problem with cold wet Sundays when you haven't managed to exorcise the shooting bug by lying in a puddle somewhere with total strangers on an HFT course.
Has anyone tried doing an HFT course with open sights? I've done one with diopters, but not plain old iron. The rear sight has a little elevation wheel marked from 0-9, but the instruction manual helpfully tells you that this isn't calibrated for any particular distance.
SO.... and this is why I'm posting here, (as I figured more people in this section have shot without the need for a whopping great MBC Zeuss Bushwhack Loophole stuck on top), has anyone out of interest worked out any rough data for height of rear sight to target distance? I'm not sure Chairgun is going to be that helpful with increments of a nanometer. And yes, to make matters worse it is in .22. At the moment my crib card reads;

8-15 yds pretty much in the middle
20-25yds top
25-30yds up a bit
35yds up abit more
40yds up quite a lot
45yds circling motion in general direction above target.

I'm not expecting a great score, heck if I can hit the plates I'll be happy. Just fancy giving it a go......

[Enthusiast]

The Bisley mob do a vintage HFT every now and again. I was lucky enough to attend one of these once. They use pre war springers with open sights - most are 0.177 which surprised me.

I opted for a 0.22 and it was phenomenally good fun, the longest target was - I think - 42 yards. I aimed at the knot in the tree trunk about 2ft above the target and dang me - the thing fell over!

Most of the targets were somewhat closer and the scores were surprisingly high - mainly high forties.

I would thoroughly recommend having a go.

Richard

[Hsing-ee]

You won't have any difficulty hitting the plates using open sights, so maybe choose a very heavy pellet and knock them down using the 'kinetic kill-zone trip effect' like the fellas with the .25s. But that is sort of cheating.

If the face-plates were painted white and the kill-zones painted black and the targets placed in well-lit positions on a bright day, you should turn in a very respectable score. The problem is that the kill-zones are often not distinguisable from the face-plates in the usual HFT conditions, I have had problems seeing them with a 6x scope sometimes.

Therefore, if it is within the rules, I think you should take some binoculars and 'spot' the targets before taking aim. Then at least you will be firing at the right mark.

All the best of luck!

[Retracted_Yeti]

Why not,a few folks have done..

here's one such looney..



Yep, tis me at a HFT comp!

Cheers.

Roy.

[Mrs. H]

Thanks for that Richard, that definitely sounds like must-do to have a try at!
I know dad worked out some rough data for the .25 Bugglespanner I have; to get to 40yards you needed an elevation of about 60 degrees, so about 20foot above the target! On the plus side if you saw where the pellet landed you could use it again and again and again....

I do fancy having a go with this Stutzen. I can see me being in a class all of my own.
Again....

[Enthusiast]

Why not,a few folks have done..

here's one such looney..



Yep, tis me at a HFT comp!

Cheers.

Roy.

I went round with you I think - was that Tawd Roy?

Richard

[Mrs. H]

Blimey! In the time it took me to post this there were 2 more replies! Cheers for the support guys!
At the moment the little breech seal / O-ring from the front of the pop-up breech is AWOL. -I bought the rifle from the Newark shooting show where it had been on a display board so I suspect it escaped whilst numerous inquisitive fingers popped the breech open and closed over and over again. I've sent RUAG (the UK distributors) a quick email asking if they can send me a new seal, so hopefully they'll be able to help. SO... if it gets here in time I am quite happy to have a go next weekend at the Southern / Midland hunters double header at Shepreth. Heck, my score can't be any worse than usual!! And who knows.. I may just put a few people off as they try and work out which bit is missing....

[I. J.]

THIS is my Crib Sheet for when I used my 1914 BSA Impv Model D with open sights in a couple of national rounds of the UKHFT. It later appeared in the July '09 issue of Airgun World.
I hope my calculations and home work didn't give some of the top shooters an unfair advantage.

ATB
Ian

[Mrs. H]

Lmao
Thanks Ian! I suspect if I take Hsing-ee's suggestion and use Bisley Magnum depth charges thats going to be pretty much bang on!

[I. J.]

I dont know what pellets I used. I found them on the ground at most of the firing points. Me? Tight?

ATB
Ian

[andrew_paul]

Batfink give it a try i shot a hft with my stutzen, set it for 30 yards and just had a go, i havent had so much fun for ages, had no idea of any aim points mangaged to knock a few down and hit plates with the rest, it was worth the funny looks just for the fun

[Retracted_Yeti]

I went round with you I think - was that Tawd Roy?

Richard

You are correct sir.

Cheers.

Roy.

[edbear2]

Hi Mate, all you need to know is the curve of the pellet you are using, and your zero range, the same as if using a scope......I shot a 1909 BSA at rivi last year in a normal comp.....as others have said, the main problem is seeing the actual target!.....Getting a 1 out to 45 yards is possible, but at that range the foresight is bigger than the target.......I set mine up by shooting a group at 5,10,15,20,25, yards etc....all the way out to 45 yards, with the same aiming point for every group...it doesn't take that long to shoot 5-6 pellets at each range,......then you decide on a zero range and draw a graph to suit, which you try and remember.........basically it is "real world" chairgun......

[Mrs. H]

Ta EdBear! I've just had a nice email from the MD of Diana's UK distributor to say that a nice new shiney breech seal / O-ring set is on its way for *fingers crossed* it'll be here in time for Sundays shoot and I can spend a few hours on Saturday working out some rough aim points.

I'm really looking forward to this now... and at least I'll have a better excuse if my card looks like binary code!

I'll let you all know how I get on....

Anne

[Amac]

Good luck Anne. It sounds like a great deal of fun to me. Maybe "open sights" and vintage rifles are the way forward for me as well. Let us know if your seals arrived and if you managed to hit anything (which I am sure you will !).
Andy