Hop up effect and zeroing

[fangsnatcher]

hi,

i am the proud owner of a new ares g36c complete with eotech 551. ive fired a few rounds at 10m and am hiting low mostly into a target 30 x 30 cm. ive read a few threads that offer some opinion on what range to zero to and the common opinion is to zero the sights at the point the hop up effect kicks in.

what is the best way to determine what this is; is it the point that with zero hop up set the bb begins to drop, the point that with max hop the bb drops or some other.

please excuse my ignorance in how this all works. i have experience of how to zero a real steel rifle but nil with bb airsoft and the hop up effect and the trajectory of the bb differs from that of a rifle round (much flatter i understand). does is also take a number of shots to 'wear in' the hop up bucking/rubber.

another relevant point is that my garden is at max 15 meters so do i set low to allow for the rise (if that happens) or high. i appreciate that accuracy (and relevance of zero) is less crucial in airsoft but would like to get as close to what i aim at as i can.

thanks in advance and sorry for my geekery!!

[fuzzhead]

Re: hop up effect and zeroing

Id wait till a gameday and zero on a bigger range

[dave38x]

Re: hop up effect and zeroing

Hmmm, I've had similar issues trying to zero my rifle at even shorter ranges - essentially I just set my sight so that at 15 metres the point of aim is e point of impact and then hopped up my rounds so that they climb slightly beyond that (meaning a bit further and the POA is below the POI, and then the same, and then increasingly above as the bb drops to earth)

[fangsnatcher]

Re: hop up effect and zeroing

i have a number of fields around me but am very wary of zeroing on public land, even with a airsoft weapon. i may have access to a larger piece of land that is privately owned and concealed in a railway cutting. that should hopefully keep the armed response unit of my back!

[jssmitty96]

Re: hop up effect and zeroing

in airsoft i find things liek red dots just take it to a wide open space at your site look through it and shoot into the open with a dark background so you can see the bb and just zero it to there path no need for mega complicated zeroing in airsoft

[HunterAndy]

Re: hop up effect and zeroing

As Fuzzhead said, you really need a much longer range to set up your rifle properly on.

Question is, are you playing CQB or outdoors, it makes a big difference as to how you want to zero in your rifle.

In CQB you are most likely operating at distances well within drop off and should have it zerod in for shorter ranges, in woodland the distances tend to be mid to longer range.

First thing you should do is set the hop up to it's optimum range. The last thing you want to do is have the hop up set so that you can see it rising and falling.

The best way to set up a hop up is so that it's flightpath is as flat as possible with the best range. Having a sight when you are using a loopy flightpath means you might as well have no sights and aim by trial and error. Assuming you have a 328-350fps rifle, you should notice that at around 40-50m,, the BB suddenly loses momentum and drops off very rapidly. If playing woodland, just before it drops off is the point you want to zero in for
Then the next thing you would want to do, is shoot at 5 or 10 metre increments up to this range to know where the BB will hit when you are aiming dead centre in your sight, and how much you have to adjust at each distance. It's really advisable to learn these for playing in games, so you don't find yourself wasting shots.

[fangsnatcher]

Re: hop up effect and zeroing

in airsoft i find things liek red dots just take it to a wide open space at your site look through it and shoot into the open with a dark background so you can see the bb and just zero it to there path no need for mega complicated zeroing in airsoft

that is very much plan b mucker. you still serving? i retired in 09 but consider my time with 5 airborne brigade and PFA the best of my career

[fangsnatcher]

Re: hop up effect and zeroing

As Fuzzhead said, you really need a much longer range to set up your rifle properly on.

Question is, are you playing CQB or outdoors, it makes a big difference as to how you want to zero in your rifle.

In CQB you are most likely operating at distances well within drop off and should have it zerod in for shorter ranges, in woodland the distances tend to be mid to longer range.

First thing you should do is set the hop up to it's optimum range. The last thing you want to do is have the hop up set so that you can see it rising and falling.

The best way to set up a hop up is so that it's flightpath is as flat as possible with the best range. Having a sight when you are using a loopy flightpath means you might as well have no sights and aim by trial and error. Assuming you have a 328-350fps rifle, you should notice that at around 40-50m,, the BB suddenly loses momentum and drops off very rapidly. If playing woodland, just before it drops off is the point you want to zero in for
Then the next thing you would want to do, is shoot at 5 or 10 metre increments up to this range to know where the BB will hit when you are aiming dead centre in your sight, and how much you have to adjust at each distance. It's really advisable to learn these for playing in games, so you don't find yourself wasting shots.

mainly woodland but am happy to do both to be fair

[dave38x]

Re: hop up effect and zeroing

HunterAndy - what's wrong with the bb climbing 6 inches or so before it starts to drop? Its not like im trying to hit beer bottles... I'll have you know real rifles behave in a similar fashion, ie. at closer ranges than the POA the round will land high.... its called ballistics :P

Each to their own though, my method works for me, your method works for you!

[HunterAndy]

Re: hop up effect and zeroing

Sorry for the confusion I wasn't clear, i'm aware that to some extent it's unavoidable. You're right and I am on the same page as you.
I was just trying to emphasise that you don't want it to rise too much, which is what I meant by as "flat as possible", 6 inches rise (ooer) sounds about similar to what I have set up.

I do however think that the last two lines of my comment would have shown that I have understanding of ballistics.

I previously wrote anything more than a foot is too much but got rid before I hit enter.

Edit: I realise it may have seemed like I was digging at you, in all honesty I hadn't written it with any agenda, just explained the way I set mine up. Eitherway is a viable option though. as you say !

[dave38x]

Re: hop up effect and zeroing

No worries! No offense was taken, my reply was a bit tongue in cheek :P I know what you mean about too much of a rise being an issue - one guy at my local site kept telling me to "give her more hop mate" so that my rounds were falling in the treeline... the fact that they were climbing 2m before they got there apparently wasnt a problem :P

You've restored my faith in forums good sir

[fangsnatcher]

Re: hop up effect and zeroing

many thanks for your thoughts one and all. my last thought is how much does 1 click on an eotech move the point of impact at, say, 30m?

[fangsnatcher]

Re: Hop up effect and zeroing

thanks for all the info guys, just seems like a bit of trial and error is the way to go