Know your holds
This weekend I competed in an All Rifle Hit Factor Match. Great day testing on demand rifle skills against 55 other shooters. There were six high-round-count stages, including a long range stage that had us shooting at distances inside of 20 yards and then out to 100, 150 and 200 yards.
I overheard some shooters throughout the day say they hadn’t reconfirmed zero in a while and some talked about not knowing where to hold their rifle at different distances. Some had never shot at distances beyond 50 yards. Some didn’t remember their holds and some simply didn’t understand mechanical offset. Consequently, their rounds weren’t landing where they expected them to. This was a particular issue at closer distances.
All Rifle Hit Factor Match, November 10, 2024
Reconfirming zero is something you should do fairly often. Regardless of what distance you choose to zero your rifle, you’re looking for point of aim to be point of impact at that distance. You want bullets to go exactly where the sights are.
However, when the distance changes, either closer or farther, your point of aim is no longer necessarily your point of impact. Your rounds no longer go where your sights are placed. Depending on the distance, it could be negligible or it could be drastic. It’s your job to understand where you need to hold your sights — higher or lower — so that the rounds go where you want them to go. This is why it’s important to understand mechanical offset, especially with optics that have higher mounts.
Once I reconfirm my zero, I then test and practice my holds at distances from 10 to 300 yards. Understanding where I need to put the sights allows me to confidently put bullets where I want them to go.
Do you know your holds?