Out in the area that we shoot, we found an old race car that someone cut up and left. They cut off the roof of the car. I decided to paint it white and set it up 1 mile away. We shot our regular targets (300 to 1075 yards) before we moved over to 1760 yards.
Using Exbal ballistics calculator my DOPE called for 27.6 Mils of elevation and 2.2 Mils windage for 5 MPH at 1750 Yards. My 700 PSS has a 3X10 Leupold that I can dial up 17.6 Mils. The TMR reticle has a 10 Mil hash mark, so I used them in conjunction to achieve the prescribed DOPE.
<span style="font-style: italic">No zoom picture from shooting area.</span>
I lined my rifle up with the target, and dialed in 17.6 mils elev. and 3 mils left for a 5-8 mph wind. With 3 spotters behind me I hoped someone would be able to help walk me in on target. I was not sure if my 175 gr SMK bullet would ever be able to get close since it goes subsonic at 1300 yards. If it did, I expected a key hole thru the sheet metal indicating my bullet’s severe drop at that range. With everyone ready I sent 1 round down range. “No call” I hear. “I can see some trace going out, but none close to the target or splash” says one of the spotters. I deiced to hold a ½ mil lower on the next shot, and let fly. “No Call” I hear again.
Round #3, I hold 1 mil higher than the last shot. “Ready” I call out. “Send it” replies one of the spotters.
“Nothing” I hear, then “Wait a minute, your 2 mils right and ½ mil low!” I don’t think anyone expected the round to take so long to get there. (At 1750 Exbal had my TTT or bullet at a flight time of 3.57 seconds!) I dial 2 more mils left and hold about a half mil up. (The wind did not pick up that much, I have been wondering if this could have been due to spin drift and the Coriolis Effect.)
I squeeze off shot # 4 with high hopes. To my surprise, a few seconds later I see a splash in the dirt just low and right of the target thru my 10x scope. The spotters confirm this.
I load round #5 and hold slightly higher and left edge of the target. “Ready”…”Send it”...BANG. “No call” says one of the spotters. Another says “I think I seen dirt fly out from behind the target”. We were unable to verify hits on the sheet metal target from 1 mile away. Unlike the white AR 500 plates that ring out and leave a big black mark where the bullet disintegrates on them, the bullet goes right thru the sheet metal. The only way we were going to verify a hit was to go out to the target.
Not wanting to put all my hopes into 1 shot I decide to load 5 more rounds and send them down range using the same hold. My aim is now 28.5 mils or 1805 inches high and 5.3 mils or 322 inches left of the 1 mile target.
The next 2 rounds are the same thing. No positive confirmation, but no indication of a miss either. Round #8 is called a miss just right of the target. #9 is the same as 5, 6, and 7 no confirmation. # 10 is a miss off the right edge again visible in the dirt with a healthy splash.
Wondering if I had hit the target at all, I load up a few more rounds to see if we can get any consistency. I hold top right edge of the target with anticipation of seeing my bullets splash to the right of the target. Out of 5 rounds we saw 4 splashes in the dirt an area about as big as a Honda Civic. No call on the 5th. Seeing that there was some consistency I was fairly certain I hit the target at least once.
<span style="font-style: italic">Looking thru the Leupold spotting scope at our 1 mile target.</span>
My friend and I jumped on our ATV’s and began the long, non-direct ride to the target. Arriving at the target we found 4 new bullet holes in the sheet metal. I was very surprised to see they were round holes, and not the oval holes I had expected. Heck, I was surprised I was able to even hit it at all!
<span style="font-style: italic">2 of us rode ATV’s down to the target to inspect it.</span>
<span style="font-style: italic">Me pointing at one of the hits for the guys spotting.</span>
<span style="font-style: italic">308 Win. strikes from 1 mile.</span>
Using Exbal ballistics calculator my DOPE called for 27.6 Mils of elevation and 2.2 Mils windage for 5 MPH at 1750 Yards. My 700 PSS has a 3X10 Leupold that I can dial up 17.6 Mils. The TMR reticle has a 10 Mil hash mark, so I used them in conjunction to achieve the prescribed DOPE.
<span style="font-style: italic">No zoom picture from shooting area.</span>
I lined my rifle up with the target, and dialed in 17.6 mils elev. and 3 mils left for a 5-8 mph wind. With 3 spotters behind me I hoped someone would be able to help walk me in on target. I was not sure if my 175 gr SMK bullet would ever be able to get close since it goes subsonic at 1300 yards. If it did, I expected a key hole thru the sheet metal indicating my bullet’s severe drop at that range. With everyone ready I sent 1 round down range. “No call” I hear. “I can see some trace going out, but none close to the target or splash” says one of the spotters. I deiced to hold a ½ mil lower on the next shot, and let fly. “No Call” I hear again.
Round #3, I hold 1 mil higher than the last shot. “Ready” I call out. “Send it” replies one of the spotters.
“Nothing” I hear, then “Wait a minute, your 2 mils right and ½ mil low!” I don’t think anyone expected the round to take so long to get there. (At 1750 Exbal had my TTT or bullet at a flight time of 3.57 seconds!) I dial 2 more mils left and hold about a half mil up. (The wind did not pick up that much, I have been wondering if this could have been due to spin drift and the Coriolis Effect.)
I squeeze off shot # 4 with high hopes. To my surprise, a few seconds later I see a splash in the dirt just low and right of the target thru my 10x scope. The spotters confirm this.
I load round #5 and hold slightly higher and left edge of the target. “Ready”…”Send it”...BANG. “No call” says one of the spotters. Another says “I think I seen dirt fly out from behind the target”. We were unable to verify hits on the sheet metal target from 1 mile away. Unlike the white AR 500 plates that ring out and leave a big black mark where the bullet disintegrates on them, the bullet goes right thru the sheet metal. The only way we were going to verify a hit was to go out to the target.
Not wanting to put all my hopes into 1 shot I decide to load 5 more rounds and send them down range using the same hold. My aim is now 28.5 mils or 1805 inches high and 5.3 mils or 322 inches left of the 1 mile target.
The next 2 rounds are the same thing. No positive confirmation, but no indication of a miss either. Round #8 is called a miss just right of the target. #9 is the same as 5, 6, and 7 no confirmation. # 10 is a miss off the right edge again visible in the dirt with a healthy splash.
Wondering if I had hit the target at all, I load up a few more rounds to see if we can get any consistency. I hold top right edge of the target with anticipation of seeing my bullets splash to the right of the target. Out of 5 rounds we saw 4 splashes in the dirt an area about as big as a Honda Civic. No call on the 5th. Seeing that there was some consistency I was fairly certain I hit the target at least once.
<span style="font-style: italic">Looking thru the Leupold spotting scope at our 1 mile target.</span>
My friend and I jumped on our ATV’s and began the long, non-direct ride to the target. Arriving at the target we found 4 new bullet holes in the sheet metal. I was very surprised to see they were round holes, and not the oval holes I had expected. Heck, I was surprised I was able to even hit it at all!
<span style="font-style: italic">2 of us rode ATV’s down to the target to inspect it.</span>
<span style="font-style: italic">Me pointing at one of the hits for the guys spotting.</span>
<span style="font-style: italic">308 Win. strikes from 1 mile.</span>
