I've been playing with the excellent ScopeKnob software. As a former programmer and someone who still works in technology, I'm really impressed that the author was able to articulate his passion for airguns through a valuable piece of software.

The software allows you to create and print tapes for oversized elevation knobs on your scope -- very handy if you're in FT or (as in my case) you're charting out a big bore target rifle.

You enter some data about your rifle, scope, and projectile, including ballistic coefficient, scope height, etc., and the dimensions of your knob and tape, and voila! The software creates it for you. You can play with the software all you want for free; it costs $25 to register the software to enable printing of the tape.

Here's a sample, temporary tape, which I quickly affixed to the knob on my Barnes Delta 45 Custom:



The green highlighted band is the zero. For use with airguns, in practice, you zero around 26 - 30 yards (the software calculates your "optimum zero"), and then turn your elevation knob UP to hit the various further or closer yardages. This means that some shimming of the rear scope mount might be necessary to take full advantage of you scope's elevation adjustment.

I'm still tweaking my tape, but so far, I've found ScopeKnob to be a very valuable addition to my airgun accessories!

-- Jim



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/09/2008 05:48PM by Jim.

Pretty cool stuf. Where did you get the big knob?

Jerry,

Look really close. You can see a name on the top.

--Kelly

Hmmm, that does look a little familiar!

Where did he get the knob? Jerrry, Jerry, Jerry .....

Hello Jim
I have had good results from the SkopeKnob software, which I have used in conjunction with Chairgun. Here is my latest knob, mounted on my Falcon FN19 Raptor .22:

The scope is a Bushnell 6500 4.5 to 30 x 50

I set up the Chairgun data, then made sure the SkopeKnob program matched it, by manipulating the BC figure in Skopeknob. I then zeroed the scope at 50 yards, applied the scopetape and tested it at 100 yards and 150 yards. with the following results:


In each case the first shot hit the bull, while the subsequent 4 in each group drifted in the breeze, due to my impatience. The buzz for me was just how accurate the tape turned out. It has subsequently proven to be equally as accurate in field conditions, with my son taking a hare recently at 139 yards!
Skopeknob and Chairgun combined make great tapes.....
For big bores, don't worry about pellet weight in Chairgun, just set it 16 grains or similar, as the BC figure is the key entry.
Cheers
Neil

Hi Neil:

Welcome aboard!

That's really sweet -- great setup there. I'm planning to do something very similar, but I need to test a few more slugs first. I'm thinking that either the Barnes Bishop (280 gr.) or Peppergrinder (350 gr.) will be the "default" slug for this rifle. The Bishops especially have proven to be very accurate at distance. We still need to gather more data. I'm about to order a slug "sampler" from Jerry.

I've read that those Bushnell 6500s have an insane amount of elevation adjustment -- looks like you've taken advantage of it too. Excellent.

-- Jim

P.S. you have a beautiful country! My wife and I honeymooned in NZ for two weeks, and especially fell in love with the Queenstown area, where we were fortunate enough to spend three full days. We'll visit again someday and are planning to do the Milford Trek -- unbelievable scenery!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/11/2008 12:40AM by Jim.

Do Jerry's samplers have those little brown papers under each slug? That would be a very festive arrangement ... hehehe.

Yeah, and there's a little carving of you, holding a rifle, rendered in chocolate in the middle of the box. At least, that's what was in my last order.

-- Jim

That Jerry ... he's ONE class act! Whattaguy.

Trust me, don't eat the chocolate...

Thanks Jim
Hope you can get back over, I'm told the Milford Track is spectacular, but haven't done it yet myself!
Cheers
Neil



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/11/2008 03:18AM by neilmcp.

Hi Neil,

Welcome to Rendezvous.

Those are fine results with your rifle and scope set-up. The proof is in the targets. Looks great!

Gary

Thanks Gary, nice looking site, well done!
Regards
Neil

Great post Neil! It is remarkable how well the two software programs and a quality scope/rifle combination work together. You've inspired Jim! Sadly, the boys are still about a thousand slugs behind and there is another order pending...

Only 1000! Nothing like forward orders to keep the interest up
All the best
Neil

Gary,
Will the 6500 fit on your rails without a raised mounting bracket? Dory