How Do You "Zero" Sniper Rifles in a Short Garden

[Baz JJ]

My garden is only about 15-20m long and the output of my L96 is quite fast.

Apart from the issue I will have that its only zeroed for that range, what do you normally do to stop ricochets and fence damage ?

 

[Mack]

I normally Pin a thick peice of cardboard to the fence and pin a target on top of it, or a peice of ground mat used for camping. Absorbs the bbs well and most will stop dead and drop after hitting it.

 

[Tariq]

What i do is actually cut the tabs off a cardboard box, and then nail that box to the wall/fence. You still have the side walls to prevent bbs bouncing off and away somewhere else. Then stick a target inside the box.

 

[Baz JJ]

Having seen what 0.25 and 0.3 BBs do to tin cans from that gun at around 400-450 fps at greater ranges than mine, I just wonder if they will come out the back of cardboard ?

I did consider hanging a towel, rubber back door mat or car blanket, hoping that its "give" might absorb the impact and make them drop rather than pass through, but I was just wondering if anybody had prior experience with spring or gas sniper rifles at higher muzzle velocities than a standard AEG ?

 

[Tariq]

Well thats how i work it with mine. My revolver is 500fps.

It would go straight through the cardboard, but I have a solid wood fence behind mine so it stops there. Box walls stop any ricochets going into the neighboring gardens.

 

[Baz JJ]

Does it damage or mark your fence Tariq ?

 

[Tariq]

Not noticably. Might leave a very small dent but noone can notice unless you really want to get anal and measure a 0.02mm dent.

I mostly place cans inside the box anyway so most if not all the force is reduced by that.

My mum grows plants on the fence anyway so you cant even see it XD

 

[Baz JJ]

Yes but its not my fence

I just didnt want hassle with neighbours. If they hear shots and get damage coming through the fence, they will assume air rifle, so Im doing my best to contain everything on my property, allowing me to carry on with my hobbies without outside interference.

 

[RR01]

Try standing the box on an old chair, then stuff a couple of old T-Shirts or similar in the box. They will stop the BBs dead.

 

[lazareth1]

Or try a sheet of polystyrene

 

[ikarma70]

Try a carpet tile for a backing with an old piece of thick carpet to absorb the shots and you can put this in a box.

I too am in a similar position with a small garden and I agree about what a .25gr bb can do to a tin can.

 

[Samurai]

I would go for a carpet or thick cloth material, like a BDU shirt hanging loose. If you put it on the fence it won't help much, but if you can hang it up so it can move with the BB then it's all good.

 

[Russe11]

Cardboard box filled with rubbish. Draw or stick a target on the front. BB's will penetrate the box and energy is absorbed by the rubbish. BB's will mainly end up inside the box.

I use a box that my boots came in from britishmilitarysurplus.co.uk, it's 50cm x 50 cm x 70cm, biggest shoe box ever It is filled with empty coke bottles etc.

 

[Mtemprell]

I found a old car air filter nicely stops the bbs.

 

[Shizbazki]

Hi

I have been testing my TM VSR-10 lately, where do you ask? In my study at home.

Currently it shoots 460FPS on 0.20g BBs using my chronograph (XCoretech X3200), of course testing it this way means shooting it through the chrono at point blank range.

What am i using as a back stop? one old vest (laundered of course) folded over twice directly behind the chrono, it enough to stop the BBs dead since all their energy is taken out by the vest absorbing the joules.

 

[BrightCandle]

I zero in doors and that means I risk quite a bit. I use a pair of MDF boards about 1cm thick covering about 3 sq metres as a back stop and then for all the areas around the target I use cardboard boxes, just empty ones. What I have found is the BBs enter one end but they never seem to leave the other, with a 350 fps gun. This has proved remarkably effective and I suspect that just a bit of crunched up paper inside of the cardboard box would be more than enough to stop the additional energy of the sniper rifle.

 

[Snakeeyes75]

Turn a chair backwards then clothes peg an old tea towel to it! The cloth wraps around the BB to stop it. You occasionally get a flier but if you have garden fences that'll protect neighbours! Problem with zeroing is you really need to set the hop first (Although if you have a short garden then the hop won't really do anything anyway!)

If you're trying to zero a scope I find you need to find the rough middle setting (Normally I wind both dials full lock then count how many turns to achieve full lock the opposite direction) this is usually 8 turns, so turn the dials 4 rotations to get a sort of "Rough centre" fire a BB and correct, If you can get the Left/Right adjusted OK then you can adjust elevation on site!

 

[BrightCandle]

Turn a chair backwards then clothes peg an old tea towel to it! The cloth wraps around the BB to stop it. You occasionally get a flier but if you have garden fences that'll protect neighbours! Problem with zeroing is you really need to set the hop first (Although if you have a short garden then the hop won't really do anything anyway!)

If you're trying to zero a scope I find you need to find the rough middle setting (Normally I wind both dials full lock then count how many turns to achieve full lock the opposite direction) this is usually 8 turns, so turn the dials 4 rotations to get a sort of "Rough centre" fire a BB and correct, If you can get the Left/Right adjusted OK then you can adjust elevation on site!

I end up doing the same thing. I have to set the hop on the site and on the day and that adjusts the point of aim. The left and right setting is best done at home where there is no wind anyway and then the elevation is going to wait for that hop to be set.

 

[Shizbazki]

Hi

If you are only trying to Zero your scope at home prior to going to a field and rather than do it there and dont want to scare neighbours then I can advise you on a Laser Bore Sight, its simply a laser pen fitted with a long rod and then using the right caliber plastic bit you slot it down the barrel, turn it on and zero your sights to the laser.

This is a cheapo one: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Red-Laser-Bore-sighter-0-177/dp/B00DSKLQFC/ref=pd_cp_200_0

Though you can find more expensive ones like the Bushnell one for £75.

I had a VSR-10 and was having issues zeroing the replica scope then remembered i bought one years ago for target shooting with the Air Training Corps (used to be an RCO).