Monday, July 1, 2013

How to sight in your optic

   Before you invest in an optic, you really should ensure your snapshooting and muscle memory are up to par. Many paintballers will tell you that sights are useless, and to them, they are. No sight is going to compensate for a lack of muscle memory and basic skills, but for those longer shots when you have the drop on your opponents, a correctly sighted in optic is worth its weight in gold. Make sure any sight you buy with magnification has at least 3" of eye relief, and that you have the necessary raised sight rail or whatever you need to ensure that you can comfortably and quickly bring your marker to bare to utilize your sight. Also, try to eliminate any variables you can by keeping the same shooter, preferably prone with your marker mounted in a gun vise.


For regular paint:
   First, set your velocity at the maximum your field allows with your chosen brand of paintball and barrel combo. I would suggest starting around 30 feet, or your minimum engagement range. You should be using a red dot or even better an Occluded Eye Gunsight (for regular paint ghost rings are great too). If you are using anything with magnification, 2X is the most you will need. Set a mask on a post, tree, etc. Once you can put 10 balls on the mask, move back 10-15 feet and repeat. Remember that adjustable rails like the Killjoy are best used for first strikes, because when you are using regular paint you are never out of range of opposing players who likely have you outgunned. You want the sight to be as low on the marker as possible, but high enough to use it comfortably and quickly with your mask on (dogleg and R.O.C. stocks are great for this). The quickly part comes in as this is paintball, a naturally fast paced sport where you will be forced to snapshoot and occasionally be caught off guard. Make sure you fire 10 rounds before making any adjustments, and once you get to the range where you are having trouble putting 10 balls on a mask, you are nearing your maximum engagement range. You may be able to push back a bit more, but with regular paint your maximum engagement range should be between 110 and 125 feet, depending on your setup. Regulated markers with HPA are just going to have tighter groups at these ranges, naturally. Remember that you are at a disadvantage playing a sniper/marksman role with regular paint, as you are ballistically even with your OPFOR who likely have more firepower than you. Another aspect to keep in mind is the paint you're using, and the range at which it will break on target.

For first strikes:
   First, set your velocity using the first strikes at the maximum your field allows. The maximum magnification I would suggest would be 4X, with 2.5X and 3X being your best bet. I would also suggest an adjustable sight rail like the Killjoy, for several reasons. First, they are tall enough to bring your chosen sight up high enough that you shouldn't have issues using the sight with your mask on. Second, they are great in the instance when you do have time to dial in a long range shot, and make the most of the advantages first strikes offer in range and accuracy. I would start at 15 yards / meters, and using regular paint to get your sight laterally dialed in will save you some valuable first strikes. Pushing back 10 yards / meters at a time, I would switch to first strikes at 20 yards / meters and get used to shooting them through your sight out to 25-35 yards / meters without adjusting the rail. Put 5 first strikes on or near the mask before pushing back. This will make emergency shots familiar if you get engaged suddenly within regular paint range. Continue pushing back 10 yards / meters feet at a time, marking down in a DOPE book how many ticks you see on the back of the adjustable rail for given distances. Practice sizing the mask at different ranges through your sight reticule to get a feel for quickly estimating range in-game. Once you see your group starting to really spread out (usually after 70 yards / meters), you can choose whether to continue pushing back to repeat the process or not. When you start close and push back, you save time and paint over starting at maximum ranges and dialing in back and forth.

No comments:

Post a Comment