Canadian Airgun Forum

Are rifles shooting 13-14fpe competitive for HFT? Or is the full 20fpe a significant advantage?

Also in the UK HFT shooters can't adjust their scopes at all. Here everything except the turrets are fair game so long as not used for ranging. Do people find that fixing their parallax at a known distance then ranging off that known distance is a bigger advantage compared to having a clear picture?

Not currently shooting any form of FT because it doesn't exist on Vancouver Island, I'm a smallbore silhouette shooter getting into air rifle to train for that. But I'd like to see FT happen over here, along with some air rifle silhouette.

Speaking of which, are people running FT on 3D/Field archery ranges? My club has archery and I'd like to present the idea of using those areas for air rifles as well if that is common elsewhere.

Shooting below the 20 ft/lb limit is very common. The PCP guys will often shoot closer to 20 ft/lb, but most springer guys are shooting at or close to 12 ft/lb. The deciding factor is the power at which your gun is most accurate. I am shooting my TX200 rifles below 11 ft/lb simply because they are very accurate at that power. I shoot World Field Target division, but shoot the same power when I enter a Hunter match.

When shooting from 10 to 55 yards, if you set your parallax at a medium distance, you would have to use very low power in order to be able to see the targets with any clarity near the extremes. I have never heard of anyone doing that. It is more common to use bracketing on known lengths on a target for range finding. Some use the base of the target, some the height or whatever else they know the length of. I have always just used my eyes to estimate the distance and have won my fair share of Hunter matches.

The course at Port Colborne is set up on a 3D archery course and that is probably the easiest way to start FT.

There certainly seems to be a fair number of shooters on the island, so maybe if they have a spot to shoot, they will come out a do so.

Good luck.

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Tim
CAFTA Governor and lifetime learner

Interesting, the UK folks use the fixed parallax setting as a means of range finding which is more accurate than bracketing. They run fairly low magnification (~10x) to do it, but it seems they also shoot to 45yds rather than 55yds and from experience an extra 10yds makes a huge difference in estimation error.

I have a background in 3D archery, but the division I shoot in there only goes to 30m so my ranging ability by eye isn't great past that point.

The rifle I picked up is an Anschutz 8001 modified for WFTF, it doesn't have the plenum volume to shoot much hotter than 13fpe or so. I'm not quite ready to go nuts on optics and extra equipment to be competitive in WFTF yet though.

Having a 45 yard range of distance makes setting at one parallax setting very tough. They probably do not bracket much because it is tough when your target is blurry. Estimating by eye only becomes difficult after about 40 yards.

You have a good rifle and I would not mess with the power at all. Ranging by eye is a skill you can improve. Make sure you do it standing up since your triangulation on the target is much better from standing. I know some sit and then try to estimate the distance and it is very tough from sitting.

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Tim
CAFTA Governor and lifetime learner

They don't the use of allow range finders in field target?

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Best Wishes
Daryl

Hunter class doesn't allow rangefinders or using the parallax on the scope to range find. Open class allows rangefinders. WFTF rules allow the shooters to use the parallax wheel on the scope to range find.

1) Depend on what's your intended use, I'd say use what you've got and enjoy the ride... it's the same as shooting long range, you can do it with a 223 or 338LM... They'll both get there, the 2nd one will be easier as it will have less drop and less wind drift. Same goes with airguns.

2) For the 3d archery range, as long as you have "responsible" members and strict access control to the range... it's a good idea.
- In this next of the wood, it would be a though one to push, as most damage we've had to our 3D targets over the years were done with rogue individuals who sneaked in to shoot at the targets with airguns.

Access is very strict (it's a gun range) and the archery section is only bag targets not 3Ds.
I have yet to approach the club about the concept of airguns sharing that area. It would be great to have a place where steel air gun targets could be permanently installed without risking being shot with center-fire rifles. Asking for a bit of space adjacent to the shotgun range might be easier to get started with. That likely would be more of a silhouette range then FT however.
Big thing is getting something permanent which we can access even when the main range is booked, which is most weekends and many evenings.

All the reading I'm doing has them saying that using fixed parallax is more accurate then bracketing because the targets are frequently not the size you'd think.

It seems from my perspective that having 50% more energy to push a heavier pellet would be a rather significant benefit, especially in any sort of wind and with the limited range finding allowed in HFT.
I can't quite justify the expense of a scope that would be competitive in WFTF at this point and I'm unsure if the Vancouver crew shoots that category anyway.

I'm just a back-yard-FT-plinker, so take it for what it's worth
- But I prefer the 177 for the flatter trajectory
- And it's a whole 1mm smaller... to easier to squeeze into the "kill" zone...
- For my plinking need, 12fpe is more than enough. Better shot counts and easier on the target.
- Not sure if the WFTF rule about not adjusting the parallax is "better", but to me it makes more sens... as in most hunting situation, I probably wouldn't have the time to fiddle with it. So it forces me to practice my range estimation skills



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If all you've got is a .22, then by all mean, go with that!
- To sell the idea to the club, I'd go with the most common setup. If everyone at the range have a sub 500fps open-sight rifle... nothing wrong with starting with that.

WFTF allows ranging by parallax. International HFT doesn't it seems.

And this is why I should not be relied on for specific FT question

- My informal range consist of various Gamo targets and a air-venturi biathlon target.

Everyone finds the way they like to do it. Some guns are easily tuned to higher velocity and some even retain their accuracy at the higher power. I almost exclusively shoot springer now, so I stay at 12 ft/lb or lower for the accuracy. My Steyr could easily be tuned up to 17-19 ft/lb and shoot heavy pellets. I would not bet on the Anschutz being able to handle more than 13 or 14 ft/lb and you would have to find someone competent that could do that. There is more to tuning a PCP than simply upping the hammer spring tension. I will shoot WFTF class until I am unable to do so; many quite a bit younger than I am cannot sit in that position without support.

I would say, put a good 4-16 power scope on your rifle and start shooting it. Find the pellet it likes and buy a bunch, then practise. Use the one setting for the parallax and see if that works for you. If not, you can try bracketing or ranging with your eyes. See what works for you, as what works for someone else may not work for you. I like to have fun when I am at a match and bracketing always seemed like work to me, so I worked on range estimation which is quick and easy. I am not saying it is more accurate, it is just what I prefer.

One thing that many forget or perhaps do not think of, is that there is some room for error on range finding. However, this only works for an almost perfectly placed shot. At the longer distances, the hit zone will be a 40mm or 1.5", leaving a quarter inch or so above and below the centre of the zone, once you figure in the inherent accuracy of your rifle. If you can shoot .5" groups at 50 yards, you add twice the diameter of the pellet to that, leaving you just over a quarter inch in all directions. The more off centre you are with the shot, the less wiggle room you have. I say all of this just to reinforce the idea that practise to become a very good shooter is the most important factor here. Find the most stable position for yourself, develop and almost automatic shooting sequence and hone your skill. I find this easy to do since I love shooting so much.

Definitely read what others have to say and incorporate it if it works for you, but ultimately, you will find your own unique style that works for you.

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Tim
CAFTA Governor and lifetime learner

When I setup the shoots at HAHA I started out just letting people get used to shooting the FT targets for fun with the option to keep score. And even when we started having matches I setup a side lane for new shooters just to plink and partake in the fun.

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Deal with local or small business,they treat you way better than the big chain stores!

This particular Anschutz was tuned by one of the wizards in the USA to be a 12fpe rifle and he very specifically said it wasn't going to perform well much above that due to plenum volume.

It seems that WFTF and HFT have very different positional shooting skills with HFT following the more traditional 3 position ones.