Sighting Adjustments & Airsoft

syne · December 28th, 2006, 00:13

This may come across as a silly question and I did look for the answer before posting this thread (to no avail), but here goes anyway:

On higher-end AEGs/GBBs with realistic adjustable iron sights, would leaving them at the lowest setting be good enough for games (~50/100m), or do they produce any form of precision sighting that is scaled down for measurement in feet?

Sounds ridiculous I know, but it's an irrelevant detail that's been bothering me.

Furthermore, is this one reason why Aimpoints are so popular?

CDN_Stalker · December 28th, 2006, 00:20

You adjust your sights for where you want the BBs to end up, pretty much the same as one would with any real steel gun. Trying to go by real steel ballistics on the otherhand, will frustrate you to no end, you gotta learn the physics of airsoft to produce decent hits at various ranges.

All you need is a basic understanding of projectiles and various sighting systems, be it iron sights, scopes, RDS, etc.

BTW, Aimpoints are popular because they are cool looking, have a red dot within them, which unto itself is useful because there is no eyerelief required, 1x magnification, and you can easily target and fire with both eyes open, both eyes on target. MUCH faster than a magnified scope, and much faster than iron sights. Add in they work great in low to nil lighting conditions............

hymnforthewretched · December 28th, 2006, 00:34

Eotech all the way, fastest and most accurate system ive ever used, take it off put it back on, drop it on the ground, and it stil zeros. for any type sight, just keep shooting and checking, you'll get it so that you have it exactly where it needs to be, or at least in the general range, considering after certain ranges bb's tend to lack accuracy

Gryphon · December 28th, 2006, 00:47

Most airsoft guns pattern their sights after the real thing, and they're graduated the same so that you really CAN set it to 800 meters or some ridiculously optimistic distance. The reality is you'll have difficulty getting your BB much further than 100 meters at the most, and even that's pushing it. Beyond that the ballistics of a 0.2g plastic sphere travelling at less than half the speed of sound just aren't there.

To answer your question, I've never had to adjust my airsoft guns' (plural) sights.

CDN_Stalker · December 28th, 2006, 00:55

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gryphon

Most airsoft guns pattern their sights after the real thing, and they're graduated the same so that you really CAN set it to 800 meters or some ridiculously optimistic distance. The reality is you'll have difficulty getting your BB much further than 100 meters at the most, and even that's pushing it. Beyond that the ballistics of a 0.2g plastic sphere travelling at less than half the speed of sound just aren't there.

To answer your question, I've never had to adjust my airsoft guns' (plural) sights.

Better translation, once zero'd you leave it no matter the distance, just compensate visually if farther than the general reach of your ammo.

You make it sound (to new ears) like zeroing a sight or scope isn't worth the effort or something.

ancorp · December 28th, 2006, 01:47

Yea I wondered about that too. What youre asking is:

Say you sight in your gun at the lowest setting, and you do your sight in at like, say 50 feet. Eventually that BB is going to start to drop, which setting would one select for say, 100 feet, of 150 feet?

IMO, that cant really be standardized, as it depends what round the original sight was designed for, the velocity and weight of the BB, and hopup setting. One would have to measure it out for his/her own setup.

Cheers,
Alex

hymnforthewretched · December 28th, 2006, 02:06

Quote:

Originally Posted by ancorp

Yea I wondered about that too. What youre asking is:

Say you sight in your gun at the lowest setting, and you do your sight in at like, say 50 feet. Eventually that BB is going to start to drop, which setting would one select for say, 100 feet, of 150 feet?

IMO, that cant really be standardized, as it depends what round the original sight was designed for, the velocity and weight of the BB, and hopup setting. One would have to measure it out for his/her own setup.

Cheers,
Alex

I dont know what sights you use but there isnt different settings, even a scope, it only has different power magnification. if your talking about a m4 type rear sight with the 300m and 600m apatures, thats just silly. take a regular iron sight, once you set it, its set, unless you want to do mid fire fight adjustments for longer distances, but thats just stupid.

its really quite a simple concept. just sight it it for an average distance your going to shoot, any thing closer your prob going to hit, anything farther you have to guess and watch your bbs. yours sights are never going to be 100 accurate for every distance, just like real steel.

hymnforthewretched · December 28th, 2006, 02:09

and if your talkin about your hop up setting, set it so that it goes as straight for as far as possible, now dont crank it so that your bbs are coming out at a 45 degree angle, and not so low that you barly make it 20 feet, theres only one setting your hop up should be at, and thats at the spot where it maximizes your shots for straightness and distance. anything closer , your prob going to hit just fine, anyhting farther then you have to correct you shooting and watch where your bbs are going.

Shinjin_MC · December 28th, 2006, 02:10

huh...always wondered what the fiddly things on the top of my guns were for

ancorp · December 28th, 2006, 02:13

Im talking about regular sights. You seem to say that their ballistic settings are useless... in airsoft perhaps they are much less effective, but still something to consider using... instead of watching where the BBs go, and than tilting the gun, why not experiment pre game, and figure out what setting (if any) should automatically set the tilt as you alight the sights for a particular distance.

Yes scopes dont have adjustments for bullet drop (not any that I know of), just for focus/magnification/side parallax/etc. Some do have deviations on the reticle that show you where the bullet should land on various distances though.

Cheers,
Alex

ancorp · December 28th, 2006, 02:14

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shinjin_MC

huh...always wondered what the fiddly things on the top of my guns were for

Hah, yep, they are there for a reason

Hell I hope people don't play like paintballers, in terms of spraying and just watching the stream of paintballs and than compensating, firing from the hip...

Cheers,
Alex

hymnforthewretched · December 28th, 2006, 02:20

no there not useless, i like aiming, haha and i use them. but i think your missing the concept of how there used in airsoft. if your outdoors playing a game why wouldnt you have them set at the average or at the maximun range your bbs are going to go before they become incredably unaccurate and drop dramatically? . that way anyhtign you shoot at closer, is still going to be within your sights. and anything farther is just getting lucky anyways, you have to realize the potential of your gun and the limitations that 6mm bb has otherwise your going to under aim or over aim.

Shinjin_MC · December 28th, 2006, 02:34

Quote:

Originally Posted by ancorp

Hah, yep, they are there for a reason

Hell I hope people don't play like paintballers, in terms of spraying and just watching the stream of paintballs and than compensating, firing from the hip...

Cheers,
Alex

oh, no no, thats not me
I spray AND pray

for the folks who are REALLY concerned about bb trajectory/whatnot in airsoft
ya can always make out a bullet drop chart and stick it to the stock of your rifle
bit ridiculous if you ask me;
ooh, target: 100 feet away, gotta crank 'er 15 minutes to compensate

hymnforthewretched · December 28th, 2006, 02:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shinjin_MC

oh, no no, thats not me
I spray AND pray

for the folks who are REALLY concerned about bb trajectory/whatnot in airsoft
ya can always make out a bullet drop chart and stick it to the stock of your rifle
bit ridiculous if you ask me;
ooh, target: 100 feet away, gotta crank 'er 15 minutes to compensate

hahahahha

Greylocks · December 28th, 2006, 07:30

Some of you seem to have zero experience shooting an airsoft gun.

Since they copy the real thing, they will have sighting systems set for the real caliber of the gun.

Usually, those are ranges that are calculated in hundreds of meters and the sights set accordingly.

In airsoft, with it's totally different ranges and projectile behaviour, the sights (as said) are pretty much a pointing aid.

Most scopes are magnified, and calibrated for real ammunition. That causes several problems in aiming and adjusting them.

Solution? Set the iron sights to the shortest range. Adjust the hopup properly (it will matter far more than the sights). And if you really want a scope just remember that either the red-dot aimpoint types work best, OR that scopes with magnification become a convenient tool to spot the opponents. They are less effective for truly accurate aiming.

Yes, there are cases where this is not true, but by the point when you have reached that kind of level of experience you've done tons of research and compensated for the drawbacks.

The closest real gun method is to use shotgun patterning techniques.

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December 28th, 2006, 00:13	#1
syne Trader rating Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: St. John's Newfoundland	Sighting Adjustments & Airsoft This may come across as a silly question and I did look for the answer before posting this thread (to no avail), but here goes anyway: On higher-end AEGs/GBBs with realistic adjustable iron sights, would leaving them at the lowest setting be good enough for games (~50/100m), or do they produce any form of precision sighting that is scaled down for measurement in feet? Sounds ridiculous I know, but it's an irrelevant detail that's been bothering me. Furthermore, is this one reason why Aimpoints are so popular?

December 28th, 2006, 00:20	#2
CDN_Stalker Official ASC Bladesmith Trader rating Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Ottawa, Ont.	You adjust your sights for where you want the BBs to end up, pretty much the same as one would with any real steel gun. Trying to go by real steel ballistics on the otherhand, will frustrate you to no end, you gotta learn the physics of airsoft to produce decent hits at various ranges. All you need is a basic understanding of projectiles and various sighting systems, be it iron sights, scopes, RDS, etc. BTW, Aimpoints are popular because they are cool looking, have a red dot within them, which unto itself is useful because there is no eyerelief required, 1x magnification, and you can easily target and fire with both eyes open, both eyes on target. MUCH faster than a magnified scope, and much faster than iron sights. Add in they work great in low to nil lighting conditions............ __________________ STKR Knives http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/STK...17036668380871

December 28th, 2006, 00:34	#3
hymnforthewretched Trader rating Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Alberta	Eotech all the way, fastest and most accurate system ive ever used, take it off put it back on, drop it on the ground, and it stil zeros. for any type sight, just keep shooting and checking, you'll get it so that you have it exactly where it needs to be, or at least in the general range, considering after certain ranges bb's tend to lack accuracy

December 28th, 2006, 00:47	#4
Gryphon Trader rating Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: MB	Most airsoft guns pattern their sights after the real thing, and they're graduated the same so that you really CAN set it to 800 meters or some ridiculously optimistic distance. The reality is you'll have difficulty getting your BB much further than 100 meters at the most, and even that's pushing it. Beyond that the ballistics of a 0.2g plastic sphere travelling at less than half the speed of sound just aren't there. To answer your question, I've never had to adjust my airsoft guns' (plural) sights.

December 28th, 2006, 01:47	#6
ancorp AK Guru Trader rating Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Vaughan, Ontario (near Toronto)	Yea I wondered about that too. What youre asking is: Say you sight in your gun at the lowest setting, and you do your sight in at like, say 50 feet. Eventually that BB is going to start to drop, which setting would one select for say, 100 feet, of 150 feet? IMO, that cant really be standardized, as it depends what round the original sight was designed for, the velocity and weight of the BB, and hopup setting. One would have to measure it out for his/her own setup. Cheers, Alex

December 28th, 2006, 02:09	#8
hymnforthewretched Trader rating Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Alberta	and if your talkin about your hop up setting, set it so that it goes as straight for as far as possible, now dont crank it so that your bbs are coming out at a 45 degree angle, and not so low that you barly make it 20 feet, theres only one setting your hop up should be at, and thats at the spot where it maximizes your shots for straightness and distance. anything closer , your prob going to hit just fine, anyhting farther then you have to correct you shooting and watch where your bbs are going.

December 28th, 2006, 02:10	#9
Shinjin_MC Trader rating Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: sauga, on	huh...always wondered what the fiddly things on the top of my guns were for

December 28th, 2006, 02:13	#10
ancorp AK Guru Trader rating Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Vaughan, Ontario (near Toronto)	Im talking about regular sights. You seem to say that their ballistic settings are useless... in airsoft perhaps they are much less effective, but still something to consider using... instead of watching where the BBs go, and than tilting the gun, why not experiment pre game, and figure out what setting (if any) should automatically set the tilt as you alight the sights for a particular distance. Yes scopes dont have adjustments for bullet drop (not any that I know of), just for focus/magnification/side parallax/etc. Some do have deviations on the reticle that show you where the bullet should land on various distances though. Cheers, Alex

December 28th, 2006, 02:20	#12
hymnforthewretched Trader rating Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Alberta	no there not useless, i like aiming, haha and i use them. but i think your missing the concept of how there used in airsoft. if your outdoors playing a game why wouldnt you have them set at the average or at the maximun range your bbs are going to go before they become incredably unaccurate and drop dramatically? . that way anyhtign you shoot at closer, is still going to be within your sights. and anything farther is just getting lucky anyways, you have to realize the potential of your gun and the limitations that 6mm bb has otherwise your going to under aim or over aim.

December 28th, 2006, 07:30	#15
Greylocks Trader rating Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Gatineau, Quebec (Near Ottawa)	Some of you seem to have zero experience shooting an airsoft gun. Since they copy the real thing, they will have sighting systems set for the real caliber of the gun. Usually, those are ranges that are calculated in hundreds of meters and the sights set accordingly. In airsoft, with it's totally different ranges and projectile behaviour, the sights (as said) are pretty much a pointing aid. Most scopes are magnified, and calibrated for real ammunition. That causes several problems in aiming and adjusting them. Solution? Set the iron sights to the shortest range. Adjust the hopup properly (it will matter far more than the sights). And if you really want a scope just remember that either the red-dot aimpoint types work best, OR that scopes with magnification become a convenient tool to spot the opponents. They are less effective for truly accurate aiming. Yes, there are cases where this is not true, but by the point when you have reached that kind of level of experience you've done tons of research and compensated for the drawbacks. The closest real gun method is to use shotgun patterning techniques.

Sighting Adjustments & Airsoft

Airsoft Guns Discussion