Air and bullets and arrows, oh my!

I did an impromptu shooting session this morning. The weather is beautiful (we need rain badly but it's nice to be outside) and my sturgeon fishing trip got scuttled due to my failing water pump on the outboard motor.

I saw a video the other day about bc's, pellet/bullet comparisons, etc. and I decided to do a chart for my 909 just like the gentleman in the video did. I shot at 10 yards distances fomr 10 yards to 100 yards on the same target. It was very revealing and honestly changed the game for me when I go afield. When in the field we all have preferences for how we get the projectile to go where we want. That's really the bottom line; getting the best result possible giving your physical and mental capabilities and the gun's performance. For some of us it's turret turning, some with dope charts referencing mil's, some with dope charts referencing inches, etc. The method doesn't matter; the result does.

What works for one does not always translate (figuratively and literally) to someone else. Our brains process and see things differently (visualizing numbers vs. spatial distance for instance) and sometimes what 'should' be the 'best' way just doesn't mesh. The target/chart I made helps me exponentially as all of the data at different distances is on one target. I've compiled all of this info before, but I just didn't use the information to my best advantage. Too focus on mildots, yardage, whatever. It just click easily for me.
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158 grain cast bullet

10 yards: zero
20 yards: + 1.5"
30 yards: + 2.5"
40 yards: + 2.25"
50 yards: + 1.5"
60 yards: zero
70 yards: - 2.5"
80 yards: - 4.5"
90 yards: - 8.5"
100 yards: - 15"

The chart just somehow registered with me and how I work through my shooting solutions. Being a tile contractor I'm pretty good at judging small distances accurately and can pretty nail it within an inch inside of a foot-and-a-half. Plenty good for sub-100 yard big bore hunting (turkeys and bigger) Anyway, I just thought I would share something that seemed to make things more understandable for guys like me. Maybe it helps for somebody else too.

On a side note, I've been playing with arrows. I've destroyed three out of my six (@ $100.00 for 6) Two I lost trying to stretch out my range and one I shot on high power got mangled going through the target. It's been very difficult to get information regarding archery results so I'm just going to work through it. As far as switching back and forth from bullets to arrows, there's really nothing to do. That part is cool. I have a budget Bugbuster scope on it and I don't want to go through a drawn out sight in process every time I want to switch back and forth. I think I've decided to do my arrow work with the iron sights. In all reality it will be a 50 yards and in (who knows, I might be surprised) gun with arrows, especially if I shoot on low power. The limited info I found from other shooters recommended shooting on low power, but they had Dragon Claw 50's too. Maybe the .45 likes to be shot on high. All I know is that high power is a BIG jump in oomph as evidenced by the bolt blowing completely through the crossbow target. More to come on this. Very fun but the learning curve is expensive. For those of you waiting in the weeds to learn from my trial and error, you're welcome!
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low power

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High power

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Wimp,

When you say 'mine', are you referring to a Sam yang 909? Just curious. I have a couple of of questions for you if you don't mind:

Have you found a bag or block that does the job?

Have you shot enough to establish some accuracy results? Are groups achievable on high power?

What is your opinion of max range on high power?

I haven't chrony'd it yet....have you?

I'd be happy to exchange some info with you and compare notes. The learning curve with arrows is steep and expensive, but necessary if you want that ONE SHOT to count when you need it to. 
 
Yep, I have a sam yang 909s, piatt tuned to 300fpe.

i haven't shot arrows very much. this year i did get a new crossbow, and it was going through my old bag, so I bought a YJ450 bag, and they are only going in about 6-8 inches at 20 yards, with the xbow, so I suspect it would probably handle the air bolts ok-ish. The few times I have shot it, it's capable of hitting the 2" bull fairly easily at 20-30 yards.

On high power, I suspect you could easily hit deer lungs at 60-70 yards as long as you know the holdover.

I hope to get out and do more shooting with it, the ranges around here are weird about a gun shooting arrows, so the only chance I get is on public land after a morning hunting or something, and only then if there are no other people at the land there, which is surprisingly uncommon...