Improved Accuracy - Standing vs Prone. Advice Please

[Stalker 5 1]

I've been zeroing my L96 recently, and have noticed something strange, I wonder if anyone else has experienced this;

 

When firing at about 30-40 metres from a prone (ie lying down) position, I get a grouping of about 40cm with most of my rounds. But when I stand up and fire from the same distance, I notice that the accuracy improves massively, to the point that the grouping reduces to about 20cm. This is counter-intuitive, as I know from shooting real firearms (SA80, 307 target rifle) that it's much more difficult to hit a target whilst standing. It seems as if the added height of standing vs prone is making the round travel differently through the air. I hope I'm not being too technical, but is this the parabola of the round being affected by not having to travel 'up hill' to hit the target?

 

Am I making this up, or has anyone else seen this?

[Rock-climby-Dave]

assuming this (this being height from floor increases accuracy) is the case then it should be easy to test.

What happens when kneeling?

Is there a cut-off point where groupings suddenly decrease rapidly?

 

Failing that, there's always a squishy bit behind the gun that's usually responsible for poor shooting results

[proffrink]

Or put a target down lower and see if you get similar results. Agree though - there's no reason for this to happen.

[Sacarathe]

Is this indoors?

[Jedi_Master]

It does sound seem counter-intuitive; I would expect the difference in accuracy to be between supported and unsupported. The stable position v one where you have more strain/muscle fatigue/movement. Is your magazine resting on the ground when lying prone causing a possible rocking motion. Unless your eye relief and hold is different between positions.

[Stalker 5 1]

Wow, I only posted a few minutes ago and already some replies! Thanks for showing an interest. In response;

Rock-climby-Dave - Yes, there is an improvement when kneeling, but not to the extent of standing. I've not experienced a cut off point, but firing from 1st floor windows at places like Longmoor I still see good results. I've fiddled plenty with the hop-up, but if this was the issue it wouldn't be selective about firing positions.

Proffrink - I might try lowering the target (or firing from an elevation like a slope) to test the theory.

Sararathe - all the testing I have done is outdoors, unfortunately I can't find a 40-50m indoor space to use. They may frown on me using the veg aisle in Sainsbury's!

[Stalker 5 1]

Jedi_Master - When fitted, the magazine is flat to the weapon, so doesn't rest on the ground. I have experimented using a bipod and unsupported positions when prone, and can't see any noticeable difference between the 2. It still has poorer results compared to standing. I thought it could be due to the the eye relief and hold in different positions, but to be honest I only experienced this with an SA80 at much longer ranges (200m+), so shooting at 30-40m shouldn't account for the significant changes I have seen.

 

Anyway, thanks again for your input.

[lafta]

Or put a target down lower and see if you get similar results.

This is the key to this. If you aren't firing horizontally then surely the hop has less/more of an effect (less if firing downwards at an angle and more if firing upwards).

 

If you do already have the target at gun height then I am stumped.

[Infanteer]

I'd suggest trying the kneeling or sitting position even and using those results to gauge if there is any direct coloration.

With the prone position are you having your legs straight back or do you have one leg cocked with the knee up closer to your body?

This will provide a more stable platform for a rifle. Jedi Master is bang on with his observations.
I am glad you pointed out the difference in between this and a real rifle (I am yet to fire an airsoft weapon) because initially I was like, wait, what? lol.

[Samurai]

Maybe the prone position is less natural to you with this gun and you don't aim down the scope properly, maybe you twist your neck in an uncomfortable way, or you flex your wrist while aiming / firing.

[Stalker 5 1]

Lafta - I think you are right on this. I am prone on the ground, and the target is probably at a height of about 6 foot (I try and make my practice as near to the real-world as I can). This is probably the reason why the hop-up affects the round in a different way.

 

Infanteer - I usually cock my leg to shoot. And I don't mean Hard Routine!

 

Samurai - Thanks for your input, but I'm quite an experienced marksman so this is not likely to be the problem.

 

All in all, thanks to everyone for giving a few minutes to comment on my observations. I think it means I will be making a lot of shots from standing (using trees for support) or from the 1st floor of any buildings. I've still got fairly good accuracy from prone position, it was just interesting to see if this was a well-known phenomenon or just specific to me.

 

Good luck in your various endeavours!

[proffrink]

This isn't a phenomenon at all though - it makes no sense. The hop, if anything, is curving the BB upwards but standing or prone wouldn't make a difference if the target is still at the same elevation. You do have to account a little for elevation if you're shooting down or up towards a target, but it's fairly negligible if your hop is set as it should be (and again, shouldn't be shooting to one side if your scope is correctly seated and perpendicular to your barrel). Maybe you just need to shoot some more so you've got more samples to make a conclusion from - this just sounds like a freak-grouping or two that you've prematurely drawn a conclusion from so I wouldn't worry about it.

 

As mentioned, the one thing I would check is how your scope is mounted as improper alignment can send your BBs off to one side, and this would be exacerbated by the elevation of the target (again though, if the variables are the same then your grouping wouldn't be any worse, it just wouldn't be on target). Dannn provided a good video to this a while back. Here it is: