Tomo-1 Posted October 9, 2016 Report Share Posted October 9, 2016 (edited) Hi All, I am new to air gunning, so if this seems a daft question............ I have just purchased an Air Arms S410 .22 mainly for vermin control i.e. close ish rats, and more distant corvids and pigeons. Shooting AA field pellets with a Hawke endurance 3-12 x 50 scope ( don't have the scope yet so cannot give other info, sorry). I have never set up a scope before so any help would be appreciated. As my shooting will range from about 20ft (rat lamping) to about 30 yards how would you suggest I zero and what is the best method of switching distances on the scope? Cheers. Edited October 9, 2016 by Tomo-1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Longbower Posted October 9, 2016 Report Share Posted October 9, 2016 It would be helpful if we knew what caliber it is , what pellet you are using, and what scope. The distance from the center of your barrel, to the center of scope (approx) . This can be put into 'Chair Gun' , which given the above information , will calculate the trajectory of your pellet when set at zero points . That way you can optimize, your points of impact, to where you need them There are others on this forum who can explain in far more depth than I .So welcome to airgunning , enjoy , but make sure your accurate before you start shooting at anything living. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisjpainter Posted October 9, 2016 Report Share Posted October 9, 2016 The idea of zeroing with air rifles is to set it at a distance that minimises hold over and under positions. It just makes life easier! My zero range is 35 yds, because with rabbit shooting i'll get a fair few over that, but also a few shorter. But it'd make no sense for you to zero out at 35yds - then have every single shot a hold under. If you're not going to be shooting out to 40yds then perhaps a zero range of 20 would do it? Is yours a .177 or a .22? the latter will have a more curved trajectory, so your hold over/under points will be more pronounced. If it's a .177, the trajectory is nice and flat so with a zero range of 20yds, almost eveything will be at or only marginally off zero anyway Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldypigeonpopper Posted October 10, 2016 Report Share Posted October 10, 2016 hello, the post read a AA S410 .22. having had one mine was set at 25 yards, to get a notion of hold over/ under bring target back to 15 and check reticule point and do same for 35 yards. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dougy Posted October 11, 2016 Report Share Posted October 11, 2016 (edited) Hi Tomo Best advice I can give is to set out targets from 10 to 35 (5yard increments) yards. Only aim at bull, check out the points of impact and note the amount of drop. Make notes of the point of impact reference points on your scope reticule. Write this down for future use. It's used in nearly all shooting whether it's sir rifle or long range target to 1000 yards one way or another. (Maybe not 5 yard increments though to 1000 lol) Edited October 11, 2016 by Dougy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UKPoacher Posted October 11, 2016 Report Share Posted October 11, 2016 Hi All, I am new to air gunning, so if this seems a daft question............ I have just purchased an Air Arms S410 .22 mainly for vermin control i.e. close ish rats, and more distant corvids and pigeons. Shooting AA field pellets with a Hawke endurance 3-12 x 50 scope ( don't have the scope yet so cannot give other info, sorry). I have never set up a scope before so any help would be appreciated. As my shooting will range from about 20ft (rat lamping) to about 30 yards how would you suggest I zero and what is the best method of switching distances on the scope? Cheers. In short, you would need to zero for each type of hunting before you went. A much more experienced hunter might be able to get away with the hold over required for the longer range targets, but there is no reference that could allow you to hit a rat at 7 yds or a rabbit at 30yds using the same zero. My advice would be to set your target at about 25 yds for rabbits and bang on the range you expect to shoot rats at before you go out hinting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stonepark Posted October 11, 2016 Report Share Posted October 11, 2016 Zero scope for 30 yds and mount a laser on side zeroed at your ratting range. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Holliday Posted October 11, 2016 Report Share Posted October 11, 2016 I believe it also makes a difference if you're aiming up/down as well but it would need one of the more experienced folk on here to put that in to plain English. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ASunnyD Posted October 11, 2016 Report Share Posted October 11, 2016 Yeah it changes the way gravity affects the pellet, download an app called chairgun if you understand technology, input your pellets and some bits n bobs and it helps you see your zero and the way the pellet flies over and under n probably more but I don't understand it all myself Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dekers Posted October 13, 2016 Report Share Posted October 13, 2016 Hi Tomo Best advice I can give is to set out targets from 10 to 35 (5yard increments) yards. Only aim at bull, check out the points of impact and note the amount of drop. Make notes of the point of impact reference points on your scope reticule. Write this down for future use. It's used in nearly all shooting whether it's sir rifle or long range target to 1000 yards one way or another. (Maybe not 5 yard increments though to 1000 lol) That would do it, but with a decent scope you could also dial in, but you may end up with an awful lot of dialing! It's a wide range, circa 7-30 yards with a .22 12ft lb. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ditchman Posted October 13, 2016 Report Share Posted October 13, 2016 set my air arms mistral springer....see thread....at 12metres...and it was still on zero at 20-25metres...and at 40 metres 3 dot hold over....... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UKPoacher Posted October 13, 2016 Report Share Posted October 13, 2016 set my air arms mistral springer....see thread....at 12metres...and it was still on zero at 20-25metres...and at 40 metres 3 dot hold over....... Usually there are two points of zero. The way a pellet flies means that it could start around 2" under the scope (the barrel is around that far below the zero point of the scope), fly through the scope's zero point at around 12 metres, carry on climbing until it peaks at around 20 metres and then falls back through the scope's zero at around 25 metres before dropping increasingly more steeply as the pellet loses speed. The actual distances these occur at depends on the weight and ballistic qualities of the pellet and the power of the gun, plus the distance you zero it at, headwind, height of scope above rifle barrel....................................... If you play around with the Hawke Chairgun program you will get a better idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lakeside1000 Posted October 13, 2016 Report Share Posted October 13, 2016 set my air arms mistral springer....see thread....at 12metres...and it was still on zero at 20-25metres...and at 40 metres 3 dot hold over....... Most of my vermin shooting is rabbit and pigeon from 15 out to 30 yards , I set my Air Arms S400 .177 with the hawk scope at 15 yards and use 3 dot over as ditchman to compensate for longer shots, works well with minimal fuss. As for rats I prefer to let someone else have them as I cant eat them, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walker570 Posted October 13, 2016 Report Share Posted October 13, 2016 I am also very new to modern air rifles having not shot one for close to 60yrs I purchased a TX200 17cal. The plan was for magpies on a slurry pit with an occasional magpie in my own yard. I set up my hide and calculated that the average distance a magpie would be was 25yrds. I therefor set the zero at that. As suggested above I then moved the target closer in 5yrd steps and away in 5 yrd steps and noted where each distance fitted with the mill dots on the scope. I had the added advantage that I had ranged all the known/likely landing spots etc around the pit. I am on 51 maggies now and I think only about 5 missed ... a couple of those real close ..operator error !! The advice is practise shooting at targets set at random distances, then shoot at each changing backwards and forwards and the info will become fixed in your brain, so a Maggie drops in at a know 35yrds you instantly know which mill dot will do the job. Now wind drift is another subject and may have been responsible for some of my misses ...my excuse anyway. Whatever I hope like me you find how enjoyable and challenging shooting air can be. Have fun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomo-1 Posted October 16, 2016 Author Report Share Posted October 16, 2016 That's great everyone, some very comprehensive answers. Thank you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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