Range Report Day Shooting

wigwamitus · Feb 27, 2019

I have my night shooting thread in the night section. I'm starting to shoot more in the day time now, so here is a thread for day shooting.

==
2019-02-27
1530-1630
15F
10 MPH ENE

Goal: Wind practice

Environment: Cooling off, overcast. Sun not visible. We had snow earlier, but not much. Wind from the ENE full value from right to left across the bullet path.
3.0 Low
6.4 avg
11.8 High

Equipment: 7.62(22), NF 7-35x T3, RRS tripod, M118LR 175gr. Kestrel, Zeiss 10x45 LRF binos.

Activity: Rolled over to alfalfa patch and deployed a bag of range cubes so the cattle wouldn't come into my LOF. Predicted low is 8F and it was 42F 2 days ago, so they are acting more desperate even though they have bales deployed to eat. We have -6F predicted for the weekend (and we are usually about 5 degrees cooler than the prediction for our nominal town which is 7 miles South of us).

Setup at the 500yds FP. I had memorized my holds, so was able to fire quickly.

For those who forgot my scoring system:

0 points for a hit. Penalty points for misses. Goal is to score 0. Lowest score wins.
Penalty points:
250yds = 8
500yds = 4
500yds face = 2
750yds = 3
1,050yds = 2

Tossed two clumps of dead weed tops up and verified the wind direction. Held up kestrel for 2 min and took the wind, per above. Using T3 reticle, so held for 6 mph wind for first two shots and 0.5 mils up. The two 250yds steels are 8 inches and those are too large ... but that's one reason the penalty is so large. I do recall missing once in the past year

...

On to 500yd full target, hit, but low and right. I had heard the wind rise and held 8 MPH, which was a little too much.

Next was the 500yds face (6x6 steel) first round was a hit, but I couldn't see the smudge on the target, so I fired a second. Also a hit. I thought I saw a dirty smudge.
Rolled down to target. One of the face shots was low, a miss, the other was a hit. Since I don't know which, I have to call one miss. I require a hit in order to advance to the next target, so the second hit was a required shot.

So the score was a "2" which is passing, but I've gotten zeros several times recently and zero is definitely the goal.

wigwamitus · Mar 4, 2019

Replaced KRG spigot and NV Mount with PRI straight rail 0 MOA base. Also replaced Ferrell Manf 20 MOA steel base. Weight saving 1.6 oz ... but now I can mount in line clipons in proper position. The mk6 3-16x T3 is back aboard and can take SIMRAD on top or UTC on front with LRF o 9 o'clock.

Also replaced stock Mark X trigger with timney 510 @ 2 pds. The trigger is "not there". I'm trying to get all my rifles to 2 pds. The .300WM(24) and now this .308WIN(20) are now there. The .308WIN(22) is 2.5 pds. The two stoner rifles (6.5G(18) and 5.56(18)) are both Timney 3 pd.

wigwamitus · Mar 10, 2019

Fired 24 groups today. 10 with the REM700 7.62(22) Criterion/McRee (foreground) and 14 with the REM700 7.62(20) REM Sendero/Bravo (rear).

McRee has NF 7-35x T3
Bravo has L&S Mk6 3-18x T3

All the groups today were prone ... laying in a grassier part of the mud

Issues included scope base coming loose on the McRee, need to loctite it, but too busy shooting it

And 2/80 rds of the lake city m118lr were fail to fire today with dimpled primers (primers, not chads !)
I also fired 20 rds of FGMM 175gr and had no fail to fires. I guess I got a bad batch of m118LR. The previous case (460rds per case) was 100% fine, this case has had a total of 8 FTF out of 320 expended thus far. 2.5% wow! I'm glad I'm shooting up the M118LR now and not saving it ! I'm all in on the FGMM 7.62 175gr now. Zero issues with that.

I've also had some fail to feeds with the magazines (Mag Pul AI). Today, I got thru 90 rds before I had an issue, the two rds fail to feed in a row. I'm considering changing the "cant" of the springs to provide more upward support for the rear end of the cartridges in the magazines. Another guy had similar issue and did that and seems to have solved.

On the plus side one group was so tight it was hard to measure. I wound up calling it an 8th of an inch. I've only shot one other group tighter than that before and those were all in one hole, but at 25yds.

Group sizes for the McRee, average 0.6875 inches on 10 groups
Group sizes for the Bravo, average 0.625 inches on 14 groups

The McRee groups for today prone are actually worse than the average for the year off the RRS. That's 0.65 inches for the McRee and 0.64 for the Bravo. But then given all the snow and mud we've had most of my shots this year have been off the tripod.

I used the commanche bag on the ground with the bipod feet on the commanche bag feet to provide some anti sink in the mud support. It worked, but everything still got rather muddy.

Trying to combine 3rd groups with shooting at 6 dots per 20rd box (with 2 sighters), isn't working too well because when I hit the dot, usually it flies off the paper onto the ground (trying to use sticky dots). I'm going to have to switch to the printed dots. When I loose the dot, I just shoot at the last bullet hole.

==
One of my 30 cal suppressors is heading back to the manuf. The Griffin Armament. I called them. I've had "POI Shift" as they call it. I was hoping they would give me some fancy cleaning instructions, but alas they said "send it in". So now I get to have my first experience trying to mail in a suppressor.

rlbreakfield · Mar 13, 2019

Nice report, How you liking your Radius?

wigwamitus · Mar 14, 2019

Surprised that the radius does so well against the RAPTAR (and VSO) which are much more expensive !!

At night I've ranged out to 3k within ... during the day about 1.5k ... but usually ranging inside 1,000yds at night. It woks in the rain, snow, etc. every time I've tried it ... again .. surprising.

But I guess since I mostly use it at night ... that's more properly talked about in the night shooting thread

And over in my "practicing with night vision" thread in the night forum, you'll see it discussed ...

rlbreakfield · Mar 14, 2019

Thx bro

wigwamitus · Mar 16, 2019

2019-03-16
1700-1800
40F
10 MPH NW

Goal: dots with Tikka T1a

Environment: Warm, muddy, but sunny and drying out a little prior to 4 days of rain forecast over the next week. Wind blowing 315 off the bullet path.

Equipment: Tikka T1a with Athlon Argos 6-24x. Lapua Center-X

Activity: This was the first bunch of the 1/4 dots at 25yds I've tried. Why am I at 25yds? Because I am also using this for day vermin rifle, specifically tree rats and want to be doubled zeroed at 25yds and around 70yds (haven't worked it out exactly, but it has been between 64yds and 71yds for the other .22lr with about 1 inch up at 50yds). The stoner .22lr(16) has the ODIN on it now and is repurposed as the night ratter.

I fired 3 mags of 10 rounds each from top to bottom, left to right. As you can see, I struggled with the top dot of each string. That must be a position issue. I see similar with my center fire dots. Struggle at the top of the target. Well I see this when prone, as I was today. Don't see that problem when shooting off tripod.

So 4 total misses (one of them is a "bare" tag, but I don't feel comfortable counting is as a tag, Then six tags and 20 center hits.

Summary/Results:

Well, that's not a "pass" .. need minimum of 27 center hits and it can be done. I was "straining" in some way for the tags, so by focusing on removing strain think I can get 27+ and that would be a pass. The goal is 30 center hits and I think that can be done as well.

Again, this was the first attempt on these 1/4 dots with the t1a, and the rifle and ammo did fine. And the scope can get the job done.

wigwamitus · Mar 23, 2019

First attempt with the new AX chassis and the REM700+criterion 22 inch barrel ...

Unfortunately, I didn't realize until I got out there, that the scope cover is touching the rail ...

I'm going to have to carve on the rail. I did fire 3 groups, avg 0.518 moa, so think this setup might wind up being sub 0.5 moa, but the scope base came loose and I came back in to correct.

wigwamitus · Mar 24, 2019

Today I just used the "take the whole cover off and put in pocket" method to avoid the scope cover touching the rail. It worked fine.

(When done, removed scope cover from pocket and reattach to scope)

wigwamitus · Mar 24, 2019

FYI, apparently there is a such a thing as "a bad batch of m118lr". I bought three cases last year. Each case comes in a standard 30 cal ammo can, in brown cardboard wrappers of 20rds each. 460rds to the case. The first case was a stand alone case. I fired those rds with 3 different guns and had zero issues. The other two cases came in a clearly unopened wooden outer case with the 2 metal cases inside. Everything looks like the real deal, so I don't question that. But the first case of this pair has had 9 rds with heavily dimpiled primers and fail to fire, with 2 different guns (the third gun has only fired 20 rds from this case so far). So down to about 80rds left, so 9 rds out of 380 or 2.4% ... that sounds pretty high to me. On the other hand, all three of these guns have fired 770 rds of FGMM .308WIN 175gr with zero issues and 700 rds of FGMM 76.2x51 175gr with zero issues. So, I will be standardizing on the FGMM 7.62x51 175gr.
The avg MV of the FGMM 7.62x51 175gr out of the 22 inch barrel is 2652 versus tge m118lr of 2660 ... but I'll give up 8 fps for more reliability. And the FGMM is 1000 times easier to find. So more available, more reliable. No brainer.

wigwamitus · Mar 31, 2019

2019-03-31
1000-1045
30F
5 MPH West

Goal: check .22LR at 25, 50 and 75

Environment: It was 19F this morning, didn't expect that, but warmed up fast. Light breeze from the West, directly behind me. The sun was directly in my face over the target. About a foot to the right over the target

I thru my wet suit top over my head and the rear of the scope to keep the sun out of my eyes.

Equipment: .22LR(20) (i.e. Tikka T1x), center-x, Athlon Argos 6-24x. RRS tripod. Zeiss 10x45 LRF binos.

Activity: Setup at 25yds. First group(G1 on the pic) was left and a tiny bit low. I cranked 3 right and 1 up.
First shot of second group (G2) was a bad miss way to the left. I fired three more rounds and all went in the same hole. I counted it as 2 groups. One with the wild miss (g2) and one without (G3). I cranked 1 left.
Group 4 (G4) was a tad to the left so I cranked 1 right. I realized I was chasing my tail.

Group 5 (g5) was a not as good as g3 or g4 even though all 3 rounds hit the little grey box but it was a 4 16ths inch group. To convert to IPHY multiply by 4 ... and it would be a 16/16 group at 100yds. Technically sub-moa, but my goal is sub 0.75 inches (not moa). So at 25yds I need to average 3/16ths not there today.

Then I moved to 50yds.I was aiming at the black dot lef the left side. This is group six (g6) it was half inch group (an inch at 100) and was 9/16 low (center of group). This was a surprise ! My usual .22LR(16) stoner shooting eley HP in an inch high at 50yds with a 25yd zero ! Here I'm a long half inch low. I just checked and neither of them have the nominal MV printed on them. You have to go on line with the lot number.
Group seven (G7) was at the top black dot. This was a 6/16 group (12 at 100) and center of group was 11 / 16 low.

Then went to 75yds. With the other .22lr my double zero is 25/64 to 25/71 depending on conditions with the eley hp. But I see tree rats between about 35yds and over 100yds ... so what would I need to aim with this setup at 75yds ?
Group eight had a bad miss high (1st rd) .. but counting that .. was a 27/16 group and was 3 and 9/16 low. I was aiming at the purple cross in the center of the right side black dot. I added a pink dot for the last group to make sure all the rounds were on paper. So G9 was aiming at the orange cross in the center of the pink dot. This was a 6/16 group (8/18 at 100yds) and center of group was 3 9/16 low.
So, using critter as the reticle at 75yds I would have to hold 3.5 inches high ... that would be a full critter height high above the center of the critter (if the critter is a tree rat). Not impossible. But defintely more hold that I've been using for the other .22lr ...

Summary/results:
two rds were bad mmisses ... I think these were breathing/timing. I don't think I was having parallax issues today with this rifle. The tripod was nice and stable. Getting the right height is critical. Too high or too low and you will be straining ... and straining means missing

I am happy with everything except the surprising drop of these rounds. I need to dig into that.

wigwamitus · Apr 1, 2019

2019-03-31
1430-1530
40F
10 MPH WNW

Goals: Check .308 at 100yds

Environment: Sunny warm breeze from behind. Still muddy, so still on the tripod.

Equipment: 7.62(22) in AX chassis on RRS tripod, LC m118LR, NF 7-35x T3.

Activity: Set up at 100yds, set up target.

2 sighters did not provide useful info.

G1 - one rd (way to the right) was a breathing/trigger timing issue 13/16ths

G2 - Tagged the dot, but bad group 15/16ths

G3 - First good group, upper hole has 2 rounds 5/15ths

Based on G3 decided to crank 3 clicks right.

G4 - 2 rds had breathing/trigger timing problem the third did not and hit the dot 14/16ths

G5 - not a great group but 2 hits on the dot 11/16ths.

G6 - 2 rds had breathing/trigger problem the third did not and hit the dot 22/16ths

Summary/Results: The goal from tripod last year was 1.5 MOA ... the acquisition of the RRS was a game changer compared to the well used Manfrottos. I finished the year at 0.87 MOA off the RRS in Q4.
So far, this year on 38 groups off the RRS with center fire rifles at 100yds I'm 0.67 inches avg. Today was 0.83. The goal for this year started at 1.0 inches (at or under 1 inch groups off the RRS) ... but the new informal goal is 0.75 inches ... and that seems do-able.

So, this is the first batch of groups with the new AX chassis. I've had this barreled action (REM700 action with criterion 22 inch REMAGE) barrel, in McRee G-10 chassis for the past year. The reason I wanted to move to the AX was to get tooless LOP. Not that LOP matters, but eyerelief does and the LOP adjustment happens to also adjust the eyerelief without having to move the scope. Tooless cheek peice is nice but not required. The AX also has left-right adjustment for the cheekpiece though I haven't played with that yet.
The big issue today was the breathing/trigger timing. This means the trigger broke at a non-optimal moment in the breathing cycle. I think this is happening because the three .308s I'm shoot, oe has a #3.5 trigger, one has a #2.5 and one has a #2.0 ... and my brain is struggling to adjust between these.
Also, I could detect straining and extra wobble compared to the earlier session with the .22LR. I adjusted the tripod height twice. But I think the cheek piece is too high. I think the LOP is good, but I found myself leaning my head over to the right and that is a clue the cheek piece is too high.
The forearm came loose, but I don't think that affected the groups, it wasn't loose enough to touch the barrel. Last weekend when I was zeroing the scope base came loose so I loctited it. Looks like I need to loctite the forearm screws as well. The action screws did not come loose.

To mitigate the trigger poundage issue in the short run, I will dry fire 20 times before starting the sessions with the .308s ... hopefully my brain can learn from that

In the long run, I will move them all to #2 ...

wigwamitus · Apr 6, 2019

Gathered MV data on three cartridges this morning. I'm "all in" on testing various 155gr ("palma") for .308WIN/7.62x51 ... and comparing to my "standard" cartridges on both sides ...

FGMM 190gr - 3001 fps - SD 18.7 (FC brass)

Berger 155gr - 2974 fps - SD 10.7 (Lapua brass)

HSM 155gr (SMK #2156) - SD 6.0 (FC brass)

M118LR 175gr - 2660 SD 20 (LC brass)
FGMM 175gr (7.62x51 load) - 2652 SD 18 (FC brass)

The .300WM(24) is REM700 LA with criterion full bull (stainless steel fence post) barrel and McRee G-5 chassis ... a bit on the heavy side ... but off the RRS it feels no different from shooting the .308s

The .308WIN(22) is REM700 SA with criterion heavy varmint barrel and AX chassis ... also a bit on the heavy side ... but tool-less adjustments for LOP (a.k.a. eye relief) and cheek rest.

I was impressed that the Berger load used Lapua brass. I paid top dollar getting 100rds from Midway for $1.60 shipped, but now shopping around, I see it at 5 other dealers for as low as $1.32 shipped.

I was also impressed that the HSM load used FC brass, this is the same brass used in all the FGMM center fire cartridges I've been shooting. The HSM was $1.40 shipped and it not shown as being available from ANY dealer. This is the "7.62x51" load and so it has a shown nominal MV of 3000 fps ... but I'm only getting 2891, though at 6.0 SD which is the second best SD I've ever recorded with my MSv3 (or caldwell before it).

I need to redo detailed bullet/cartridge analysis now that I have real data, but I can toss out that the Berger load goes sub-sonic at 1200yds according to my AB BC. And that's impressive for a .308 factory load.

Note, after reading 1.5 of BL's books to date, I'm "all in" on using G7, so all analysis will be using the G7. I'm not sure I will switch to the "custom" models which are available as I'm not sure these will transition over the to RAPTAR S/ES and I definitely want the RAPTAR data and the Kestrel 5700 data and the AB on the phone data all to match.

As it stands now, it looks like the Berger 155s will edge out the HSM/SMK on exterior ballistics (due to significantly higher MV - the BC from AB library is .238 vs berger .239 so NOT a significant difference in BC) and logistics (price & availability) though average price still might go to the HSM, but availability to the Berger's from what I'm seeing showing. My buddy and I might try to reproduce the berger cartridge and reload it to increase availability. I will most likely (pending further test results) be switching one of my REM700 .3080s to shoot a 155gr cartridge and the standard round. The other will continue to shoot 175gr SMK. They could shoot each others ammo if needed. Obviously the energy of the 155gr round is much less than the 175gr round, but I wouldn't want to get hit by either, I'm sure. As to the .300WM caliber, still not sure I will completely retire it, i.e. off all .300WM components ... but that is under consideration and the 155gr capability is further reinforcement of that idea.

wigwamitus · Apr 6, 2019

29-04-06
0930-1130
9 MPH SW
40F

Goal: Test berger 155gr 500-800 yrds

Environment: Breeze from average 150 degrees off the bullet path. Overcast.

Equipment: 7.62(22) AX, NF 7-35x T3, Kestrel 4500, Berger 155gr "Full Bore". Zeiss 10x-45 LRF binos, RRS, buggy

Activity: Did 2m wind read from center of our SE pasture, which is about a 50 acre area but has a N-S tree line on the East edge which would be shielding me from the wind. Got

6.1 Low
8.4 Avg
11.3 High

And after throwing 2 tufts of dead grass up in the air, I decided the wind was 150 degrees off the bullet path.

Rolled to about 500yds and setup and ranged the distance and got 530yds. AB said 2.6 up and 0.3 right for wind, though I called it as 3 mph with the wind dots.

At the 500yd FP I aimed for the face. Fired 3 rds and got 3 hits. I could hear them and see the steel swinging. But I could not see the splotches of the hits. Grey is not a great contrast color. But I'm out of white.

Went down and checked the hits, so I'd know where they were. Crossed the creek on foot at the usual spot and had no issues moving along the slippery banks while holding on to sapplings.

One hit was dead center on the face, another hit was low left on the face, the third hit was on the left side bolt that holds the chain to the target. The is not on the facee, so technically a miss. WHile at the target I measure the wind and got readings between 8.1 and 10.3 and same direction. So the creek was not channeling the wind much today.

Then I rolled up to about 600yds and setup. Ranged distance and got 664 yds. I could feel no wind where I was setup at, but I assumed there was no change on the wind. It seemed to have a steady average and direction. AB said 3.8 mils up. And I held MPH for wind again. First round was high but center of face. I had held too high, well I aimed to high shall we say. So focused on aiming at the "heart" i.e. about 3 inches below the face. And next three shots were heard and seen as hits. I could see some splotch evidence on the lower right of the target.

Then rolled up to about 800yds and setup and ranged 776, 781 and 778 and called it 778. AB said 5.1 up ... and again I held 3 mph. First round was low and slightly right, aligned with the right edge of the face. So, I aimed higher and the low edge of the face and next three rds were hits, though I could not resolve any more splotch.

I had seen a what looked like a piece of bone I wanted to investigate, so I crossed the main creek in a different spot, right in the area where we have about 20 foot high soft steep banks. Mother nature is eroding us here, but there is nothing to be done to stop it. She will colapse the banks and that will eventually stop the erosion in that spot, but we will loose 20yds of pasture for maybe 100yds distance.

So crossed that creek then went thru a wood flat isthumus area to another feeder creek and decided to cross that by walking across a large fallen limb. There seemed to be several good branches nearby I could hold on to. Well I made it 80% of the way across and reached for a far side branch and it broke, reached for another and it broke.

Tried to make it without branches and slipped and grabbed a third branch and it broke and then I was lying down in the creek

... but none the worse for wear ... so got up and used other branches to get myself out and continue to the NE brome field where the target is.

Got pics. So the six hits at 600-800 yards all are low right.

Oh and the "bone" was not a bone but was a white piece of somebodies feed bag.

On the way back I tried cross the log bridge again and made it this time due to better planning on support branches.

wigwamitus · Apr 6, 2019

Ok, here are revised danger space and lag time calculations based on the real world observed MV.

Both the HSM load (with SMK bullet #2156 and FC brass), bc(g7) = .238
and
The Berger load (with Berger bullet and Lapua brass), bc(g7) = .239 are competitive. But the berger wins the external ballistics comparison due to the additional 83 fps of MV. But both rounds are impressive for .308 factory

I just bought another 200rds of the berger and the shipped price was exactly the same as the shipped price I paid for 200rds of the hsm. But I see the berger carried at six locations and the hsm carried at zero locations.

So the berger edges out the hsm on logistics due to availability and as good as the FC brass is, it is hard to argue that Lapua is king.

wigwamitus · Apr 7, 2019

More extensive comparision. Adding in the 175gr, the g7 and drop chart (in MIL)

The poor ole 175 looses on all measures, despite having a higher BC than the two 155s. It just doesn't have enough MV (the shown MV is per observation in my 22 inch barrel gun and is the FGMM 7.62 175gr) to stay in the race.

wigwamitus · Apr 10, 2019

First groups with redone "light" bolt gun today

REM700 SPS TAC AAC-SD barreled action (20 inch)
Bravo chassis with no add ons or mods
PRI one piece scope base/nv rail
Spuhr ISMS mount
NF NXS 2.5-10s MIL-R

12 lbs 5.3 oz as shown

==
21 rds, 7 x 3 rd groups. 100yds off RRS tripod.

First shot 4 inches low. First two groups around 2 inches as I was dialing in.

Last five groups avg 1.25 inches.

I was shooting into the sun and my aiming eye was tearing, so that caused some strain.
The LOP/eyerelief is too long causing me to strain forward to remove shadow.
And for me, straining = missing.
Also about a 20 mph wind was pushing me fro side to side, since I was standing up.

So, I will remove one of the 3 spacers and see how that works. The scope is already as far back as I can get it without the mount hanging off the rail. And removing a spacer might remove about an oz of weight. So we will try that first.

wigwamitus · Apr 20, 2019

2019-04-20
0800-0900
60F
15 MPH S

Goal: dots and groups

Environment: Warm, windy, sunny

Equipment: From top to bottom

5.56(18) xtr2 1.5-8x CQ-MIL FM (r) 77gr

REM700 7.62(20) Bravo NF 2.5-10x MIL-R FGMM 175gr

5.56(18) xtr2 1.5-8x CQ-MIL FM (r) 77gr

GAP 7.62(20) NF 4-16x T3 M118LR 175gr

Activity: Set up three targets with 7 x 3/4 inch dots each. First center dot is for the "sighters". Then six dots in the outer ring "for the record". In theory, if I am shooting a box of 20 rds. I shoot 2 sighters at the center and then 3 rds each at the outer ring dots.

First up to bat was the 7.62(20) bolt gun with 2 mags each of 9 rds.

The first "sighter" group was the best and I fired 3 rds so I will count it. I was only shooting 18 rds. The first round was high, the second left and the third low. That didn't really tell me anything, except there was something wrong with me

Second group was the 9 o'clock, first two rounds were high and the third low.

Third group was the 7 o'clock, first to rounds left, third round right.

Fourth group was the 4 o'clock first rd centered right, second rd low, third rd high.

Fifth group 3 o'clock, first two rds high, third rd low.

Sixth group first rd wide right and high, second and third rds high and centered.

That winds up being 1.144 MOA which is the worst prone group set I recall in 6 months. More on the analysis later.

Second up to bat was the 5.56(18) stoner with 1 mag of 18 rds.

First group all rds high.

Second group all rds high (9 o'clock and then counter clockwise for all other groups)

Third group, tight but high again. I decided to crank down 2 clicks (.2 mils)

Fourth group wild but "centered" on the dot

Fifth group marginal, and a bit right

Sixth group also marginal and a bit right.

That wound up being 0.895 MOA, not good, more on the analysis later.

And last but not least was the 7.62(20) stoner a new gun, though I did some pre-zeroing yesterday.

Here I was shooting 20 rds, so the first two were the real sighters and they didn't count. Then other groups are starting at 8-9 o'clock and going counter-clockwise.

After I fired the 2 sighters, I clicked left 4 and down 3.

These groups were almost decent, especially for the first attempt and I made no further adjustments.

Average was 0.776 MOA.

Results/Summary: So with the bolt gun and the 5.56 this was the first attempt to shoot dots n groups for the record with scopes with less than 15x magnification. So for those guns, can I play the "not enough magnification card" ?? I think not. With the xtr2 1.5-8x CQ-MIL scope especially the center dot is REAL TINY. So small, I have mentally complained about it in the past. But I've decided to try real hard to make it work. Because I think I might be able to get the patrol to work with it as a clipon. So with this really tiny dot, if the reticle dot is on the target dot, which is larger than the reticle dot, I cannot see the target dot, so I know it is somewhere on the target dot. And for each shot, the dots were matched up. So, I don't think the not enough magnification card works for the 1.5-8x.
With the 2.5-10x MIL-R I felt fine. I don't think I could "quarter" the dots like I can with the higher powered scopes. But I'm sure the center of the reticle was on the dot, though I can't swear it was on the center of the dot. But these wild swings in POI have to be something other than magnification. I think it is that I had a light jacket over my head trying to shield my eyes from the sun shinning directly into them. Without the jacket, I could barely see the target at all due to the various glare effects. And I couldn't really tell if I was properly behind the scope. That is I couldn't tell whether I had shadows or not with the jacket up there because it was obscuring my view of the scope from the rear. So, I will play the "trying to use jacket to block sun" card for both of those guns results. I've used the jacket before and gotten decent results, but not from prone. I've only used it off the tripod previously.

With the GAP the sun was higher in the sky and I went without the jacket and I think that partly explains the better results. Otherwise, I think I was high with the dots on the top of the target due to position. I am often high on the high dots. So that is me and position.

The gun I feel best about in terms of being zeroed well enough for other purposes is the GAP. The bolt gun is next best and the 5.56(18) third. I try to shoot dots and groups as many days of the week and possible. And the regimen will continue with these three guns as they have sufficient ammo for the purpose.

wigwamitus · Apr 21, 2019

2019-04-21
1200-1300
60F
20 MPH SSW

Goal: Wind practice

Environment: Warm, windy, mostly clear.

Equipment: 7.62(20) Bravo NF 2.5-10x MIL-R FGMM 175gr Kestrel Zeiss LRF Binos with 3x Pack woth water and first aid and 2 rear bags (also carried the binos and commanche bag)

Activity: Rolled out to 500yd FP and setup. Threw two tufts of dead grass in the air and wind direction was 225 off the bullet path. Measured wind speed for 3m got:

Low: 8.1
Avg: 14.7
High 21.7

Listening and watching decided to hold for 15 MPH which AB said was 1.2 MIL left. AB also said 3.3 MILs up so I dialed that. The first time, I've dialed in the field since I can remember, well over 18 months. But one reason I got this scope was so I would have 2 active scopes that are dialing scopes, versus my other 4 active scopes which are holding scopes (T3). I don't want to completely loose the dialing skill.
So the first round was 4 inch left but level with the aiming spot. So 15 MPH was too much. Next shot I held half a mil less, 0.75 mils left and got a hit. I couldn't hear it (wind rustling trees nearby too much) but I could see the steel wiggle. Then rolled over to the Zeiss used the left barrel with the 3x multiplier (net 30x) my "spotter" and there was a good bit of mirage, but I could see the splotch and it looked centered vertically but a little left.
I then aimed at the next target to the right 0.75 for wind and got a hit. Again I could see the steel move, but not hear the hit.
I then shifted fire to the two targets at 250yds ... dialed for 0.9 mils up and at 270 wind 15 MPH AB said 0.7 left and I held 0.75 left. Hit both targets.

Here is the first target, which I hit with the second shot. That's about 2 inches due left of the aiming point, well maybe 1.5 inches.

==
And here is the second target. This hit might be 2 inches low and 4 inches right.

Summary/Results: Also I moved the taller target to a different spot. In the warmer half the 425-770 yds shooting area is closed due to cattle in the adjacent pasture. But in this new spot, not only will I be shooting downhil per normal, but there is a 20 foot high creekbank about 150yds back in the woods as the backstop. But that's why the berm is not visible on the target 1 pic, since I took the pic after I moved the target. That's 640yds from today's FP and should be a little more interesting than the 500yd target for wind practice.

From prone, I can see about 80-90% of that target.

==
For those who forgot my scoring system:

0 points for a hit. Penalty points for misses. Goal is to score 0. Lowest score wins.
Penalty points:
250yds = 8
500yds = 4
500yds face = 2
750yds = 3
1,050yds = 2

So today was a "4" which is not too good, but not terrible. It is however, the worst I've done since starting this system.

wigwamitus · Apr 27, 2019

2019-04-27
1330-1430
50F
20 MPH

Goal: Wind Practice

Environment: Windy ! Warm, Clear, plenty of mirage.

Equipment: 7.62(20), NF 2.5-10x MIL-R, RAPTAR, FGMM 175gr

Activity: Rolled out to the 500yd FP and setup.

Took 2 min wind read.

Hi: 25.1
Avg: 18.4
Low: 11.9

Threw 4 tufts of grass up, decided on 315 degrees off the bullet path.

AB said 3.3 up and 1.2 left. Dialed 3.3 up. Held for the wind. Impact 4 inches left of the target, but level with the POA. Changed wind direction to 345 off bullet path (adding 30 degrees). Held 0.6 left. Hit the target.

Shifted to the 239yd and 241yd targets. AB said up 0.7 and right 0.2 ... dialed the elevation held then wind, hit, hit.

Then to the 640yd target. AB said dial 5.1 up, so I did. Est. wind direction as 340 off the bullet path and AB said hold 1.1 left, so I did. Hit (lower right corner).

Summary/Results: In strong head winds like this, getting the wind direction right is the key. And I got different results with my 4 tufts, so I had to split the difference. But the way I did it was to set the gun pointed exactly at the target. Then stand in front of the gun and toss the grass and watching the angle.

I could see the dust of the miss and it was close, 10 inches left from the POA, 0.66 mils roughly, so getting a hit was much easier after this "sighter". And I was able to see the splotch of the hit on the target and that it was left.

The two close targets are easy. For the far target, I guessed 5 degrees difference from the 500yd target and that was too much. If I'd guessed half that, I would've hit 4.5 inches left and been close to dead center. Now why was I low ? The wind was buffeting me around, even though I was prone. And there was some mirage. I don't think I got the elevation wrong. It was barely a hit, but in this game a hit is a hit. I could see the steel swing and the center of the bullet strike is vislble on the target.

Before departing I tried a thru the lens pic of the 640yd target.

wigwamitus · Apr 28, 2019

2019-04-28
1500-1600
50F
10 MPH SE

Goal: Wind Practice

Environment: Wind from almost exact opposite direction today compared to yesterday, and at about 2/3rds the strength of yesterday. Light Rain (big drops but still light rain) overcast. Some mirage.

Equipment: 7.62(20) S (now that I have a 20 inch bolt gun and a 20 inch stoner, I use "B" for the bolt gun and "S" for the stoner) NF 4-16x T3, kestrel, M118LR.

Gun to the front was used today.

Activity: Rolled out to 500yd FP and setup. Today I decided not to bother with the 239//241 yard targets until I can get some smaller targets.
So started on the 500yd target. Did 2 min wind read, got:

Lo: 5.2
Avg: 9.4
Hi: 14.6

And based on 4 tosses of the grass I est. direction at 150 deg off the bullet path.

AB said hold up 3.0 and I held right for 3 mph. Hit.

Next for the face, held the sime but aimed for the face. Hit

Then to the 640 target.

AB Said hold up 4.8 and I est. wind direction to be 147 and held for 4 mph.

Miss, and no feedback due to the nature of the terrain there. I increased wind hold to 6 mph. Miss.

I decreased to 2 mph and I saw a tiny puff of white fly up from the target, so I suspected that was a hit. Went down to check targets and take pics and yes it was a hit. The bullet fragmentation scraped some of the paint off the target and I was able to see it.

Results/Summary:

Source today was 6, 3 points for each of the two misses at 640yds.

I could only see the top half of the target at 640 and the mirage for that target was pretty bad. From my vantage point, the target was always moving, due to wind and mirage, whether I hit it or not and the actual hit did not move it more, nor did I hear anything. In some conditions, even these 3/8 inch targets are too thick for .308 !?

wigwamitus · May 4, 2019

2019-05-04
1430-1700
50F
2 MPH ESE

Goal: Ranging and Wind practice

Environment: Partly could, almost no wind, warm, muddy.

Equipment: 7.62(20) Bolt gun, NF NXS 2.5-10x MIL-R, RAPTAR, RRS. Zeiss 10x45 LRF, 7.62(20) stoner, NF 4-16x T3, M118LR 175gr

Activity #1: First took the Bravo bolt gun and RAPTAR up on signal hill to see how far I could range today ... as usual started at features 5,300 yds away and worked my way down. Since I've ranged everything around me at night ... a lot of stuff is known distance ... finally got a hit at 1736 yds (1587 meters).

Ranged it a bunch of times to make sure it was repeatable. It was a corral and bunk feeder setup. Empty. But I kept at it and finally got a return off a galvanized tin shed at 4000yds. Now I'm skeptical of big round numbers when ranging, so I ranged on it some more ... and got a lot of 4001 and 4000 returns, so I finally believed it. But I wouldn't count on that result. With as much sun as I was facing today, I think the 1736 number is more likely.

Activity #2 RTB, swapped out gear, took GAP-10 and Zeiss and a box of M118LR. Also took the cattle some range cubes.
I set up in a slightly differnt spot this time, farther down the hill, in a clump of trees. Ranged and got 620yds with the Zeiss on what I normally call the 640yds target, when I'm shooting it from farther up the hill.

Wind check was 1.4 mph direction undetermined, AB said up 4.6 mils no hold for wind. So I held up and fired and could see the steel dancing around.

Went and checked target.

Hit was pretty much level with aiming point though about 4 inches to the right.

After the cattle finished their range cubes they decided to come visit me ...

That's not unusual, but they stayed a LOT longer this time. About 25m. Usually it is just around 10m. I guess they really wanted some more range cube, but it was not to be.

AB said 2.9 up and the wind was still negligible, so I held 2.9 up and saw the target dance.

About 3 inches low of the aiming point.

During the lull ... I ranged everything I could see with the Zeiss and the Radius. The Zeiss got a metal barn at 1412. The radius got a metal roof at 1045.

Longshot85 · May 6, 2019

Good stuff!!!!!!

wigwamitus · May 9, 2019

2019-05-09
1700-1800
40F
7 MPH N

Goal: Range IPSC(2/3) at > 800yds

Environment: Cool ! It was 38F this morning and temps under 45F the rest of the day. Solid overcast. Breeze from the north. VERY muddy. Ground like a sponge, it has been raining for 6 days ... the grass on the other hand is ZOOMING for the sky. The brome is the best I've seen it in six years.

Equipment: Rem700 7.62(20) Bravo, NF 2.5-10x MIL-R, RAPTAR S/ES v2. RRS. Kestrel 2500nv. FGMM 175gr 7.62 load mv2594.

Activity: Rolled out to signal hill and fed the cattle some range cubes to keep them busy. Then headed over to hill 1309 and set up around 800yds. This shot is over the tops of the trees to the North, along a creek that runs from West to East. The top of the creek bank is 1150 and I'm at 1300. The ground rises in my pasture on the other side of the creek and the target is in a tree line over there. I first ranged twice and got 798 both times. Then I turned around walked back six big steps and setup again. Got 804yds this time. Took pics then decided to try a shot. So threw 2 tufts of grass up and got 10 degrees off the bullet path. Then Took out the kestrel and did a 2 min wind read. Got

low: 5.8
avg: 6.9
high: 8.7

REAL AB on phone (using g7) said dial 7.7 so I cranked 77 clicks up. AB said no wind hold.
So I aimed and fired ... saw the steel dance and eventually heard CLANG.

Then rolled to the target. I knew I had forgotten to paint the target after the last session, so needed to paint it and take pics.

Compared to prior target pic, we can see today's hit. It looks different from the others anyway.

These must be magic bullets I'm firing I haven't missed one of these wind practice shots in several sessions !

The goal is first round hit, of course.

This is pic right after I setup. As you can see, I am up against the East facing fence, this is about as far back as I can get and still see the target. If I move to the left, the lay of the land blocks the target.

--

Here is thru the lens pic. First look at the top of the scope and you should be able to see the 804yds showing up there on the RAPTAR display.

Then click on the pic and zoom in as much as you can.

This IPSC (2/3) target is hanging from a 2x4. The 2x4 runs from about 0.5 mils on the right side of the center of the cross hair to about 2 mils to the right. And level with the 1 mil hash below the cross hair.
If you can see that 2x4 then below that hangs the grey IPSC target. The top of the target is level with the 1 mil line below the cross hair and goes down to the 2 mil line. The verticle center of the target is under the 1 mil to the right of the cross hair hash mark. Well I can see it anyway

--

Today's hit is to the right side of the target level with the center of the body. It is the one that looks less white than all the others.

--

And for reference, here is the target pic from back on April 6th, the last time I shot at this target. So you can check which one is today's hit by looking at that target also.

Summary/Results: So the RAPTAR can range an IPSC(2/3) target at 804yds and the FGMM 175gr ammo can get a first round hit on such a target even with me shooting it

wigwamitus · May 11, 2019

2019-05-11
1000-1100
40F
6 MPH E

Goal: Wind practice 500-640yds

Environment: Cool, solid overcast. very muddy.

Equipment: 7.62(20) S, NF 4-16x T3, M118LR 175gr, RRS, Zeiss 10x bino/LRF +3x magnifier, commanche bag, 4-wheeler, range cubes.

Activity: Rolled out a fed the range cubes. Purposely ended on "grandma" the oldest and slowest moving, to make sure she could get some. Then headed over to the 500yd FP and went prone. I could feel no wind, but I had seen the windmill turning slowly as I headed out. That was 900yds to the West across two hills, and was at 60 feet up, so might have little to do with what I had here in the "central valley". AB said hold 2.9 up so I aimed dead center and fired, target danced.
then aimed at 640yd target, mirage said I had a slight easterly wind, so held for 2 MPH right and fired. target danced.
Packed up and headed down to targets for pics.

The 500yd hit was dead center. That hit is exactly the POA.

--
Painted 500yd target and rolled to 640yd target

This hit is on the left shoulder as we are looking at the target. And a tad big high. I can only see the top half of the target from the FP due to intervening group (at about 300yds). So I have to aim at the intervening ground, knowing the bullet will fly over it.

--

Results/Summary: I decided I wanted to try the faces, but I wanted to break up the knowledge I had of the conditions, so did RTB.

==
2019-05-11
1600-1700
50F
6 MPH E

Goal, environment and equipment all the same. Except no range cubes this time.

Activity: Rolled to the clump of trees farther down the hill and setup with the tripod. Also setup the Zeiss and the 3x multipler, that gave me 10x LRF with the right barrel and 30x spotter with the left barrel. Rest the binos on the commanche bag to give a stable platform as trying to use the 30x while holding the binos in my hands is too wobbly.

Rifle on tripod facing targets
--

I set the spotting station up on the 4-wheeler and kneed on the right side running board to use them. Once I got everything adjusted I could see fine.
Ranged the "500yd" target as 473 and the "640yd" target as 620.

Aimed at the body of the 473yd target. While heading out I noted the wind mill was still turning for 6 MPH East. But looking at the mirage in front of me it was moving West to East. AB said 2.8 up and I held dead center. Fired and saw target dance.
With the binos I could confirm the hit was to the right.
So the wind I was seeing with the mirage was stronger than the "prevailing" wind down in the valley. I felt no wind where I was.

So aimed at the face and held 2.8 up and 2 mph left. Saw target dance.

==
Aimed at 620yd target, AB said 4.6 up, aimed dead center, fired saw target dance.

Could not see hit with scope or binos. As I would later learn, the hit was below my visible LOS to the target.

Wanted to break up my info on the wind before shooting for the face on the 620yd target.

Rolled to targets and took pics.

The body hit was to the right. The face hit was fairly well centered. But there is some luck here also as I have to flat out guess the wind. I had the kestrel with me but it was mostly registering zero, impeller not turning at the FP.

--

This hit on the 620yd target was center but slightly low.

--
Back at the FP, AB still says 4.6 up and the mirage is still drifting to the right, so aimed at little above the center of the face, just below the flat top of the target. I didn't want to hit low. Saw the target dance. Neither scope nor binos could see the hit.

Rolled to target.

The hit was right on the top of the head ... that will teach me to try to outsmart myself (which has been the cause of MANY misses with wind practice).

Results/Summary:

The way I score this "game" a hit is a hit and a "miss" is a miss.

From 473 yds, the face is a 1.27 IPHY target.
From 620yds, the face is a 0.97 IPHY target.
So these are more challenging than the bodies which are
From 473 yds, the body (using the 12 inch width) is a 2.11 IPHY target
From 620yds, the body is a 1.9 IPHY target

From 500yds, the face is 1.2 IPHY
From 640yds, the face is 0.9375 IPHY

Now, my avg group sizes at 100yds across the five rifles I've shot this year is between 0.64 IPHY and 0.79 lumping both prone and tripod shooting together (I mostly shoot off the tripod) so the sub 1.0 IPHY face targets will be a challenge and I expect to miss some. Further the nature of the 640/620yd target is such that there is no feedback if you miss as the round goes down in the woods into a 20 foot high creek bank about 150yds back into the woods. So when I do miss, I hold 2 mph further in the direction I think I am off, if that hits I'm good, if that misses I reverse and subtract 2 MPH from the first shot. So far this year on that target I've always hit by the 2nd or 3rd round.

deersniper · May 12, 2019

Nice write ups. I wish I had ten percent of your free time lol

No love for 6.5 creedmoor or 2 stage triggers?

wigwamitus · May 12, 2019

2019-05-12
1400-1700
50F-60F
10 MPH NW

Goals:
Wind Practice
Dots
Confirm holds for .22LR(20)

Environment: Was cool-ish this morning, but warmed up some in the afternoon. Still mostly cloudy but some sun peeking thru now and then.

Equipment:

Wind Practice:
7.62(20) S, NF 4-16x T3, M118LR, RRS

Dots and holds:
.22LR(20) B, Athlong 6-24x MIL, cemter-x, RRS

Activity: Rolled out to 475/620 yd set up point and setup rifle on RRS tripod. No Kestrel. Est. wind, 12, 6, 3 at 330 off bullet path. AB said 3.0 up
Waited for the wind to die and Held 3.0 and 1 wind dot left. Hit center of 475yd target, I could see the splotch.
Aimed for face, same holds, saw target dance, could not see splotch.

For 620 target changed wind angle to 315. AB said 4.7 up and I help for a wind dot and a half. I could see a splotch in the target center.
Aimed for face, when the shot broke the wind and bumped me around and I knew the shot would be low. I saw the target dance.
But I aimed and fired again, knowing I was low with the first shot. Target danced again, could not see splotch.

Rolled to targets. Did not observe any hit on the 475yd target !? I must have hit the chain? At 620yd target, there were two hits in the body center and one hit on the face.

Rolled back to FP and fired again on the 475yd face. The wind was loud so held 1.5 wind dots left. Saw target dance.

ROlled back to 475yd target, face hit confirmed.

Here is target pic at 475yd showing the two hits.

--
And here is the 620yds target, showing the three hits.

Results/Summary:

So, both body hits on the 475yd and 620yd targets were first round hits. But both face hits were second round hits. The second body hit on the 620yd target was a miss because it was aimed at the face.

--
--
Activity (dots and holds)

Setup targets and rifle on RRS at 25yds.

First fired at the target scored as "93/100". Fired 4 sighters at the center round target, made some adjustments. Then started on the upper left and went down. On the third target I dialed one more click down and then hit the center finally.

The target annotated as "92/100" and the target with the green dots are from last week. I never wrote those up. They were at 25yds off the tripod as well.

So the 4th target in the pic was next and the center round target and 4 targets on the left side were me hold 0.3 MILs up at 50yds. The results were acceptable. The purpose of these tests is to confirm I can hit a tree rat at these distances and what holds are required.

Then I used both the top and bottom round targets as sighters at 75yds. I determined the necessary hold was 2.3 mils. Then I made a mistake and adjusted the diopter. All the shots an inch to the right on the 4 targets on the right side are the result of this diopter adjustment. I tried to adjust it back and reshot the 3 lower targets, the results were better, but I was still consistently right a tad, so I think I need to twist the diopter a little more. Also one of the shots on target #2 on the right side was way low beause I forget and held 1.3 mils up instead of the required 2.3 mils up. The black circles are 23/16 inches across, so at 75yds a hit on the black circle would be a hit on a tree rat.

Trying to get this sucquier dialed in for tree rats !!

wigwamitus · May 12, 2019

... No love for 6.5 creedmoor ...

Not allowed in our "religion"

My shooting buddy declared we are only allowed to shoot "military calibers" ... 5.56 ... 7.62 ... .300WM ... at least for center fire rifles and carbines ... I finally went along after I struggled to get the ammo I wanted for the 6.5G(18) which is now retired.

... or 2 stage triggers? ...

I think GAP "insisted" on putting a 2-stage trigger in the 7.62(20) stoner ... but if so it basically has some "slack" and then it is a 3 pound. My bolt guns are all timney 510s at 2# and 2.5# and 2.5# ... one day they will all be 2# and the 7.62(20) stoner will too ... but not yet !!

wigwamitus · May 12, 2019

Right now the 7.62(22), NF 7-35x T3 AIAX chassis bolt gun is deactivated. I put right around 1800 rds down range with that barreled action since getting it in April 2018. I notched the feed ramp and got 1xMDT AI (no binder plate) mag so I can shoot the looong COAL berger 155 "full bore" ... but need to accumulate more of the berger cartridges and the MDT mags. So that rifle is standing down.

The .300WM(24), L&S 5-25x T3 McRee G5 bolt gun is also standing down awaiting accumulation of more FGMM 190gr SMK and a new chassis (either AXAI or CADEX Light Strike Skeletonized butt). Also, my buddy has the scope.

The 5.56(18) is trying to be used to test the IR-PATROL as a clipon again. I figured I'd give it another serious attempt. Plan to use a DLI 3x magnifier reversed to enable me to boost up the magnification. This will require recalibrating the holds on the mil reticle. And I'm shooting pretty crappy ammo, my carbine ammo. Saving the Black Hills 77gr TMK and need to accumulate more of that.

Not shooting the carbines or pistols or shotguns much. But got a new Glock 19x and I've dry firing the sh^t out of it. The trigger feels so different from my m1911 ...

The 7.62(20) REM700 SPS TAC AAC-SD barreled action in the Bravo has NF 2.5-10x MIL-R and is active, but I haven't been able to get any more FGMM 175gr that this sucquer shoots, so it is the backup night rifle right now.

The 7.62(20) stoner (GAP-10v2) is the primary rifle right now and is shooting up the last case of M118LR, once that is gone, this rifle will switch over to the FGMM 175gr as well. This rifle has the NF 4-16x T3

wigwamitus · May 15, 2019

2019-05-15
1500-1600
70F
05 MPH SE

Goal: Wind Practice

Environment: Light variable breeze est. 170 off bullet path (at 475). Clearing.

Equipment: 7.62(20) B (now that I have a 20 inch bolt gun and a 20 inch stoner, I use "B" for the bolt gun and "S" for the stoner) NF 2.5-10x MIL-R, kestrel, FGMM 175gr. RRS.

Setup at the 475/620yd FP.

Activity: Measured wind ... down in this clump of trees, wind reading is tougher, especially since wind direction is crossing higher nearby ground towards me. But I estimated

lo: 1.4
avg 2.1
max: 2.8

At 170 off the bullet path for the 475yd target. AB said 3.0 mils up and 0 for wind.

I aimed and fired at the body and the steel danced.

For the face, I aimed and fired and the steel danced.

--
Then switched to the 620yd target. AB said 4.7 mils up and 0 for wind. Aimed and fired. Steel danced. Aimed and fired for the face, steel danced.

Went to check targets.

475 body - hit (first rd 2 pts)
475 face - miss low and left (you can see the hit low and left of the face ... it hit a lump of white paint ... I am out of spray so usually a bottle of acrillic)

620 body - hit (first rd 3 pts)
620 - face - hit (first rd 6 pts)

--
Returned to FP and aimed and fired again at 475yd facem, steel danced.

checked target

475yd face - hit (2nd rd 2 pts)

Results/Summary: Score = 2 + 2 + 3 + 6 (13/15)

475yd target:

620yd target:

distance / 1st rd hit / 2nd rd hit
250 1 0
500 2 1
500 Face 4 2
640 3 1.5
640 Face 6 3
750 4 2
1050 6 3

wigwamitus · May 15, 2019

With the new scoring system going back to May 4th ... I am 49 points out of 59 points so far for wind practice ... or 83%. Need to establish the goal.

wigwamitus · Jun 1, 2019

2019-05-31
1200-2000
60F
3 MPH S

Goal: Groups and Wind practice for SB004

Environment: Light overcast, keeping temps down, ground drier than it has been in weeks, but still impassably wet in some areas.

Equipment: REM700 SPS TAC AAC-SD barreled action (7.62(20) in McCree G-10 chassis, L&S Mk5 scope, Colt 155 Palma TMK, 7.62(16) "Grey Ghost stoner with Hornady 155 and M118LR.

Activity: SB004 out to shoot. Goal is to bring him up to speed on what I've learned in the past 7 months, since he's been out here. We spent most of the day at 100yds shooting groups and work on his fundamentals. But finished up in the field shooting steel at 500-640yds. In the house, I showed in new technique for trigger pull for both bolts and stoners. He practiced this dry firing on the RRS with both guns.

Then outside at 100yds started with the REM700/G-10 and fired groups with 20 rds. SB004 was getting 4 MOA groups at 100yds ... we took a break and walked and talked about possible issues. We switched to gun #2 the 7.62(16) stoner and he again got 4 moa groups with the first 20 rounds. Another walk and talk.
I think it is important to spend some time off the gun if you will shoot all day, regardless.
So back for another 20rds on the REM700 (by switching the guns back and forth, they have more time to cool off. As it was, we count to 60 between each shoot.
Again 4 moa groups. I decided to try the gun myself. First 2 rds were tight, third rd 8 inches right. Another try ... 3 rds progressively stringly 6 inches low and right. Checked all gear on the gun, suppressor, scope, action screws (we had the hardware to check with us), scope base. Nothing loose. I had a spare 30 cal suppressor so we swaped it. I tried a third group. Another wild group. That ruled out the suppressor.
I took the NF 7-35x T3 off my REM700 AXAI and tried that ... no joy, that ruled out broke scope.
We checked the torque on the scope base and the action screws again, no movement. Suppressor tight, stoock tight, bipod tight.
I downed the gun, I've have not encounted exactly this issue before. Not much left to be broke except the barrelled action.

Then we switched back to the 7.62(16) stoner. Thru two boxes of 20 rounds each, he was getting 2 MOA groups.

So, we then chronoed (with MSv3) the m118lr ammo on this gun with 20rds. And shot another 20rds to tune the zero. By this point it was 1900 and we headed out to the field.

At the 500yd FP, from prone SB004 could not see the targets, so he switched to the RRS, which he had never shot off before.

I had the Zeiss 10x45 with 3x multiplier on M190 tripd with 322rc2 head and zeiss bino mount as the 30x spotter.

SB004 had the 7.62(16) with xtr2 3-15x scr-mil, radius, atlas, omega, BO rings with raptar mount and my RRS.

==

thru lens view from zeiss 10x(3x) = 30x bino left barrel of 640yd targets. 12x24 silhouettes IPSC(2/3) 3/8 inch steel.

thru lens view from xtr2 3-15x scr-mil of same 640yd targets

==

SB004 standing beside his 3 hits (out of 3 shots) on 500yd target. Two "torsos" aimed at the torso and 1 "face" aimed at the face.

The torso, using 12 inch as the measure are 12/5 = 2.4 iphy targets, so well within his 2 iphy groups at 100yds.

==
For the 500yd targets, we had had him setup Real AB on his iphone. This is the second time he tried to use Real AB on an iphone. And the MV we keyed in was 2519, but the mv displayed was something like 3348, so the results were crazy. This happened before when he tried to use AB. So AB must have a bug on iphones. Anyway, we did a binary search to find the value key needed to key to get the MV at 0 yards to show correctly in the trajectory and within 10 guesses, we found it. So at least AB was usable.
AB said 3.4 up for 500yds. The wind was nil, so I said aim at the center of the target, 6 inches below the shoulder line with hold for 3.4 mils. We had forgot to finish setting the zero stop, which is a 2 step process for the xtr2, so he would have to hold these shots.
First round was a hit almost exactly at the POA, I could see it fine thru the Zeiss 30x left barrel I was using as my spotter.
I said fire another and it did and it was a hit as well, a bit higher and to the left. Then I asked if he wanted to try a "face" and he said "why not". Face for 500yds is 6/5 = 1.2 IPHY, so more of a challenge, but his shot was a hit I could see it fine.

Then we switched to the 640yd targets. Here his AB said up 5.3. So I said hold for 5.3 dead center, 6 inches below the shoulder line (using the height of the face at the measure for the 6 inches). Here 12/6.4 is 1.875 iphy. His first shot was a miss, with the 640yd targets we cannot see the misses because there is 100yds of woods and then a 20 foot high creek bank as the backstop. So I said repeat the shot. And he did and the target danced and the hit was on the left side of the neck. So, then I asked if he wanted to try a face on the other target and he did ... 5.3 up dead center on face ... and he got a hit ... which I got see fine. 6/6.4 = 0.9375 iphy, so maybe w bit of luck, but we will take what we can get.

Score: 2 + 2 + 4 + 1.5 + 6 = 15.5 out of
2+2+4+3+6=17
or 15.5/17 = 91% an amazing result !!

==

SB004 standing by his hits at 640yds. First round was a miss, but I told him to repeat and second (torso aimed) rd was a hit. right on the neck of the left target. The on the right target he aimed for the face and got it!

Summary/results: Given all the problems we had at 100yds, over half of which were ultimately not SB004's issues, the results in the field were very gratifying. What took me hundreds of hours of practice over the past 7 months, he was basically able to replicate in the field after 8 hours of work.

distance / 1st rd hit / 2nd rd hit
250 1 0
500 2 1
500 Face 4 2
640 3 1.5
640 Face 6 3
750 4 2
1050 6 3

wigwamitus · Jun 11, 2019

Some external ballistics on the cartridges I've been shooting with my rifles lately:

								60F

DANGER SPACE (Drop Danger Space DDS)
		40 inch target (+/- 20)									77
	600m	800m	1000m	1200m			cost/rd shipped	SD		mv	2750		subsonic	845
77	105	55	30	N/A			115	10		bc(g7)	0.202		transonic	700
175	120	65	40	N/A			104	20		energy @800m	236
155.5	160	85	50	30			140	10.5
190	180	100	60	40			140	18.7			175
220	180	100	65	40			225	15		mv	2652		subsonic	965
										bc(g7)	0.243		transonic	795
LAG TIME										energy @800m	683
	600m	Drift	800m	Drift	Drift	1000m	Drift	1200m	Drift
ToFinV 77	0.716		0.953			1.192		NA			155.5
ToFinV 175	0.742		0.989			1.236		NA		mv	2974		subsonic	1105
ToFinV 155.5	0.662		0.882			1.103		1.323		bc(g7)	0.239		transonic	935
ToFinV 190	0.656		0.874			1.093		1.312		energy @800m	816
TofInV 220	0.670		0.892			1.116		1.339
											190
Tof 77	0.967	41.14	1.460	83.25		2.076	141.72	NA	NA	mv	3001		subsonic	>1200
ToF 175	0.951	33.13	1.4000	64.31	70.64	1.951	110.81	NA	NA	bc(g7)	0.276		transonic	1095
ToF 155.5	0.840	28.55	1.2290	55.11	60.41	1.704	94.54	2.284	149.66	energy @800m	1249
ToF 190	0.803	22.56	1.1560	42.74	46.75	1.571	71.66	2.063	111.49
Tof 220	0.801	20.37	1.1440	38.33		1.537	63.69	1.992	97.98		220
										mv	2939		subsonic	>1200
Lag Time 77	0.251		0.507			0.884		#VALUE!		bc(g7)	0.31		transonic	1195
Lag Time 175	0.209		0.4113			0.715		#VALUE!		energy @800m	1574
Lag Time 155.5	0.178		0.3474			0.601		0.961
Lag Time 190	0.147		0.2823			0.478		0.751
Lag Time 220	0.131		0.2519			0.421		0.653

Elevation Danger Space (EDS)		18 inch target (+/- 9)							Barrel Change Acrual, per year	Cartridge Weight Oz	Weight 100rds	Weight 200rds	Weight 300rds	Weight 400rds
		Wind +/- 4 MPH
		#=wind/target
	600m	800m	1000m	1200m
77	0.55	0.27	0.16	NA					$90	0.4	2.5	5.0	7.5	10.0
175	0.68	0.35	0.20	NA					$180	0.9	5.6	11.3	16.9	22.5
155.5	0.85	0.44	0.26	0.16					$180	0.9	5.6	11.3	16.9	22.5
190	1.08	0.57	0.34	0.22					$450	1.2	7.5	15.0	22.5	30.0
220	1.20	0.64	0.38	0.25					$450	1.2	7.5	15.0	22.5	30.0

wigwamitus · Jul 26, 2019

July 2019

In summer it is tougher to get as much shooting/other practice done due to harvesting requirements. But I have not been completely idle.

For day time, I've somehow become a local shooting trainer

I've had 3 sessions with my #1 shooting buddy, 4 sessions with neighbor to the South and 1 session with GF of neighbor to the North's daughter.

With SB#1, in the first two sessions we focused on groups at 100yds. Getting him up to speed on the specific "tricks" I've learned over the past 18 months to overcome various fundamentals issues.

Then we went out back and tried to translate these learnings into results on the steel at 500yds and 640yds ... 12 inch and 6 inch steel.

It was hard to believe, but he was able to hit even 640 face (6 inch steel) after less than 18 hours of training. Replicating what it took me 18 months to get to

But, he still doesn't get to practice it multiple times per week like I do. And I was making the wind calls for him. But still he was executing on the fundamentals well enough to get hits.

And this week we tried it at night and he was able to get hits as well on heated steel with thermal clipon.

==
For neighbor to the South, when we started off in the first session, he was getting 4 inch groups at 100yds.
I doubt he had ever fired groups at 100yds. Most of his targets are set up at 25 yds.
But he wanted to be able to do a better job of getting the yotes he sees on his land. So better precision/accuracy indicated.
Which means work on fundamentals

So 4 inch groups was the baseline.

I noted he was shooting 55 grain in a 1/7 barrel. So I gave him 400rds of 77gr of mine.

He decided he wanted a better upper, so I got him a Lewis Machine upper ... still 1/7 ... 16 inch ...

I also gave him a 5x ACOG-ish scope I had that I wasn't using.

And I showed him some "tricks" to help with fundamentals.

In the second session, we didn't have the new upper, but we got him down under 3 inch groups.

Oh and I noted his trigger was very heavy, felt like a 7 pounder, so I showed him out to change out a trigger and we put in a 3 pounder..

In the third session, all the new gear was in place and we got him under two inches.

And then finally in the fourth session, I further adjusted his position and he got mostly sub 1.5 inch groups, with majority under 1 inch.
I was impressed. And he was ectstatic ! But again, he isn't practicing every day or even 3 times a week, so I need to bug him harder.
Learning to shoot is not an "event" it is a "process" and a lot of people don't get that.

==
Ok, for the neighbor's daughter's GF, she brought a 9mm "high point" I think it was ... basically an
AR-ish sort of weapon that shoots 9mm. That said, it seemed pretty cheaply executed, so I wasn't expecting much.
But what is a 9mm like this good for ?? Minute of man at 100yds maybe ?

Well, she said she was a "terrible" shooter, but wanted to get better. So, that's a good starting point, at least from an attitude perspective!

So, we started at 25yds. Her first groups were 4 inches. I went over about 6 "tricks" I thought would make the most difference ...u don't want to overwhelm people with too much to work on in the first session and TBH six things is too many, but she seemed to be a fast learner so I kept pushing. ... and in her words, with her last group "I hit the bulls eye 3 times" ... This was a 3/4 inch colored dot. And it's true she did. Now that's still a "3 moa group" ... but it was WAY better than the 16 moa groups she started with.

And as always, I said, practice as often as you can and remember those fundamentals.

==
So I never set out to be the neighborhood shooter instructor ... but somehow, lately, things seemed to have evolved in that direction.
It is gratifying to see people improve so dramatically so quickly. But I cannot "force" them to continue regular practice, so
I cannot hope that the lessons will stick.

==
Otherwise, I still go out 2-3 times per night for coop checks, but have not seen any threats on the ground (or in the air for that matter) at night this month.
Summer is usually pretty slow in the chicken threat department as the critters seem to be able to find food farther away from "the big smelly place" (our house

).

I continue to do wind practice and groups but haven't had time to write them up or take pics.

My regular shooting should resume in Sept, if we can get most of the hay in by then.

wigwamitus · Sep 13, 2019

==
2019-09-07
1700-1800
70F
10 MPH SSW

Goal: Wind Practice

Environment: Relatively coolish ... with a south breeze 210 to 240 off the bullet path.

Equipment: 7.62(20) Bravo, NF 2.5-10x MIL-R, RRS, Kestrel, Joe reloads, 175gr.

Activity: Rolled out to targets, rightly those knocked over and touched up paint. Rolled up to 500yd firing point and setup.

Measured wind decided to hold for 6.2 MPH and dialed up for elevation, clicking back one click due to being a tiny bit high at 100yds.

500yd target:

Hit on torso, hit on face, no misses
==
640yd target:

2 hits on torso, 2 misses on face (hits on torso don't count if aiming for face)
==
Relocated to 800yd stage. Can only see target at max distance of 730yds off tripod at this time, due to higher vegetation. Wind intensity, no change, wind angle 210 versus 240 from prior position.

730yd target:

1 hit on target, no misses (don't try for face beyond 600m)

So 4/6 hits ...

More wind practice !!!

wigwamitus · Sep 14, 2019

2019-09-14
0900-1100
10 MPH SSW
80F

Goal: Confirm zero and wind practice with 7.62(22) and 155 SMK (#2156) HSM load (FC 11 brass).

Environment: Hot and breezy. Mostly cloudless sky ... last week of summer ?

Equipment: 7.62(22) rifle with NF 7-35x T3, 155 SMK, RRS, Kestrel

Activity: Confirmed zero at 100yds, clicked up 2 clicks.

Rolled out to 500yd FP and setup. Kestrel 2min wind check said

5.3 low
7.8 avg
10.9 high

I held for 8 mph.

Fired 1 rd, hit the torso. I was aiming at the torso.

I could definitely hear the wind was up, so I held for 12 mph (each wind dot is 4 mph for my setup). Got a hit, but when I cranked up to 35x it looked like I was a tiny bit low, in terms of aiming for face.

==

Moved to 730yd FP and setup. 2 min wind read got

1.9 Low
3.8 Avg
5.4 High

Unfortunately, I've started to learn this stage ... and on this stage if the wind is from the SW, a ridge blocks the wind for this shooting position, so I decided to hold for 10 mph based on watching the trees down along the creek, plus I am shooting over the tops of those tree, so I'm touching 45 feet up in the air at the high point.
Held for 10 mph and 4.9 mils up. First round hit.

I smiled inside. The first time I got a first round hit from this stage I jumped and hollered! And then I berated myself about it ... many times ... and still do ... I believe in the "no emotion" rule when shooting. I don't think emotion helps you hit the target. But at least this time it was just "smiling inside".

I cranked up to 35x and could see the hit on the left side of the torso. Since I was holding left, I backed off on the wind hold to 8 mph and fired a second shot. This hit was one of the two near the bottom. The wind was highly variable.

For the 3rd shot, I decided to go for the face, which is rare at this distance. The wind seemed to be picking up so I held for 12 mph and got a hit. I was shooting on 20x but checking the hits at 35x. I standing up on the tripod, but I was leaning back on the 4-wheeler which added a little stability. I could see the hit on the right side on the face. Tried a repeat holding for 12 MPH on the face and hit. Could see it on the left side.

Wind died down and I held for 10 mph on the torso and got a hit, repeated for another hit. The two shots lower down looked like one smudge from up on the hill where I was.

Had one round left and tried for the face holding for 10, but the wind bucked me to the right at the instance I squeezed the trigger and the barrel moved left and the splash of dirt was a few inches left of the target.

Summary/Results: The cartridge I will try to clone is the berger/berge palma. That one is a long COAL with MV 2891, versus the SMK/HSM round I'm shooting today is standard COAL mv 2891 (all out of this rifle, which has evolved into the palma bullet shooting rifle)

But I have about 140 rds of the SMK/HSM left so I will shoot it ! When I clone the berger round I will actually use the SMK 2156 bullet. BL rates the BC of the 2156 as .238 (G7) whereas he rates the BC of the berger 155.5 as .239 ... not enough difference to worry about. So I will go with the SMK hoping it is more highly available. But I will use Lapua brass (the berger round comes in Lapua brass) and load to the same COAL as the berger round. Not sure which powder yet.

But the equipment seemed to work today so the 7.62(22) rifle is reactivated. This lets me tear down the 7.62(20) Bravo rifle and swap its scope over to the 5.56(18) Mk12-ish ... and then put the L&S mk6 3-18x T3 on the Bravo gun, with the NF 2.5-10x mil-r on the 5.56(18) in the Spuhr mount. That will let me use the SIMRAD on the 5.56(18) which is the whole purpose of all the scope swapping

wigwamitus · Oct 28, 2019

2019-10-27
1100-1230
40F
8 MPH NW

Goal: Wind Practice

Environment: Cool, breeze from NW, varied within 15 degrees of head on to the bullet path. Clear, some sun. No mirage detected.

Equipment: 7.62(20) with 175gr(2586) Lot#0002, RRS, L&S mk6 3-19x T3

Activity:

Rolled out to 500yds FP and setup tripod and gun. 2m wind read with Kesterl 2500NV indicated 8 mph wind from 30 degrees off bullet path, 4 mph xwind. Adjusted temp to 30F down from 80F last time I fired from this lot ! Per AB(g7) held up 2.9 Mils and right for 4 mph. Hit on right shoulder.
Aimed for face, heard wind drop, reduced hold to 2 mph (half way between dead center on first wind dot). Hit on face. Repeated 2 more times got hits on facce.

==
Switched to 640yd target, Held up 5.0 and aimed dead on as this target is 15 degrees to the right of prior target.

Hit

Aimed for face, low and centered - miss. Aimed for face hit shoulder - miss.

Wind was moving ME around.
==
Rolled up to 730yd FP and setup tripod and gun.

AB said 6.4 mils up. Wind dead head, help dead on. First rd, right a few inches. Second rd, hit right side of target.

Aimed for face, hit torso, miss.

Walked to target, across creek and fence carrying bolt gun. Not sure I've done exactly that before. The creek bank in this area has rocky ledge, so very slippery. So I use roots extending from the bank to help support. But each root has to be tested to make sure it is strong enough to hold some weight. Some come out when you pull on them. I took camera and paint as well.
On the way back, I deviated to inspect our east fence, main creek water barrier. Mother nature has been at it again and 3 more big trees have fallen on the water barrier. The cattle panels are not even present. I have materials to repair, so need to get to it.
I had to get down in the creek and I had my "holy" boots on (the boots with holes in them) so they filled up with water, but the holes allow the water to drain out, once you exist the creek.

Results/Summary:

Grass still to high to see these targets from any position other than standing tripod, so will continue to let the wind buffet me around while trying to hit targets. But this batch of reloads worked well. SD was 11.5. And I was testing them as well as me.

wigwamitus · Oct 28, 2019

After 4 practice lots ... I'm finally ready to so first production lot. This will be with 175gr SMK, varget 44grs.
I'm loading for my buddy as well as me (he will load our 5.56 I will load our 30 cal). So this will be for him and will include 220rds with 20 for MV calibration and 200 to shoot.
For his rounds, I'm using LC (lake city) brass from M118LR.
For mine, I'm using FC (Federal) brass from FGMM 7.62 (and some from .308)

pmclaine · Oct 28, 2019

Great write ups.

Happy, yet jealous, for the enjoyment you get on your land.

wigwamitus · Nov 7, 2019

Ok, finally finished the first 220 rd production lot. This will be for #1 shooting buddy. He will be shooting my LC brass, I will be shooting my FC brass. I still need to shoot up the 1500 rds of FGMM 7.62 175gr load I have to make brass for me to load

pmclaine · Nov 7, 2019

What is your FGMM brass, 175 load, specs?

Hmmmm, hmmmm?

wigwamitus · Nov 7, 2019

44gr varget, F210m primers, 175 smk bullet, 2.80 OAL

wigwamitus · Nov 8, 2019

Learnings from this point ... still not sure how "clean" the brass needs to be.

01 - I am cleaning with a rag by hand right now and it takes a LONG time. So, I think I want to try more automation in this area.

02 - The "downstroke" (when the brass moves towards the floor) of the depriming/resizing operation is VERY stiff. Coach says I need to call Redding and get "small button to retain primer punch pin" and that this will reduce the amount of force required on the downstroke. So I will do this.

Those are the main two changes I want to look at right now. Everything else seems pretty easy.

wigwamitus · Dec 29, 2019

The way I count it, today is the first day of the first shooting week of 2020. That means I'm done with the 2019 shooting year.

Here's my round count (the averages, etc are weekly):

==
And compared to last year:

==
So you will note that I shot 33% less rounds this year (and I only count rifle/carbine rounds in this number, not shotgun or pistol). The reason was we dumped everything we had into some more land and I haven't bought one rd of ammo since April. It did motivate me to start reloading

Of course, I will have to buy some rimfire, but I haven't shot up that much rimfire, I've restricted rimfire to vermin only, day and night. So I'm reloading for 308 now and the plan is that over the next few months I'll be reloading for 556 and .300WM. Those are the only three centerfire calibers I shoot, so that will cover everything.

==
So what were the highlights and lowlights in 2019?

Total overall average group sizes across 5 rifles on the RRS tripod were 13/16ths compared to 14.6/16th last year. I shot vastly higher percent of groups and wind practicee off the tripod this year. In 2018, I was still using 100% manfrottos thru April 2018. So 2019 was the first year of 100% RRS.

Prone groups last year 12.2/16ths and this year 12.0/16ths ... the main change again, was less groups prone this year and actually I don't consider that to be good. I don't want to loose the prone skill. I can't use prone in the field much around here, but I want to practice it. And in part that's because I don't much like prone. I'd rather shoot of the tripod. So, if I don't like it ... then all the more reason the beat the crap out of myself and MAKE myself shoot more prone. So today, all shots were prone.

So net/net, no real change on group size.

As to wind practice (what I call shooting 500-800yds on my land ... as far as I've been able to get, though now I should have a spot I can shoot 1050yds. The percent of 1st rd hits on a given target was 73% overall. With 73% being the day percentage and 76% being the night percentage. Vastly more shots during the day. The shots were all on IPSC(2/3) steel, with some of the targets being the "face" only (the 6x6 piece at the top of the target). And the vast majority were off the tripod. During most of the year, from most of the positions, I can't see the targets prone. Too much grass in the way.

I did build another berm this year and that opened up another stage ... and I hope to build a third berm in 2020.

Most of the wind shots were with the T3 reticle using the wind dots. The wind dots allow adjustments for wind just by thinking what the new MPH of the wind is and holding in MPH. No need to look at ballistic calculator for wind at all.

I've also finally got the Kestrel 5700 AB Elite Link 100% working and I can synch it to the AB app on the phone to back everything up there. I can send the gun data in either direction. This will enable me to synch the gun data across multiple kestrels. I'm using G7 now across the board.

Right now, I'm still shooting up 1500 remaining 175gr SMK FGMM 7.62 load. This is generating a lot of brass !! And I'm reloading the 175gr as well, using the 175SMK, the FC brass (and for my buddy using the M118LR LC brass). Using varget. SDs are sub 10 and the MV is averaging around 2575 for the bolt guns. The GAP-10 with barlein barrel was getting 2611-2617 ... but I sold that and haven't shot the aero precision/ballistic advange replacement yet.
Still cogitating on whether to load the 155gr to try to mimic the berger 155.5 cartridge. Or maybe just do a long coal 175gr and hope it can beat the 155gr. Right now, the berger 155 beat the socks off the 175gr standard length for danger space, lag time and energy.

I'm still finishing off the Black Hills 77 SMK with the 5.56(18) mk12-ish. I hope I can beat that load. Right now I'm getting 2751 MV, most recent measure. SD 16.4

And I have 370 A191 and 400 barnes 220 for the .300WM. I'll be loading the 220 SMK.

So I'll be loading 3-4 cartridges.

Standard length 175 SMK

Standard length 77 SMK

Standard length 220 SMK

Potentially a long coal 175 SMK.

==
On fundamentals. A trick showed to me by member @SLG and an accident I had while shooting buddies stock REM700 308(20) together solved trigger issue. Then for most of the year I struggled with diopter setting and parallax removal issues, but as of now, I think I've solved those. So, now finally on to the breathing cycle. Trying to make the trigger break happen at the respiratory pause without forcing it.
Of course "solve" just means, for one layer of the onion. I don't think we ever get done improving fundamentals. But can I ever get consistent down to 0.5 inch ? IDK. I get strings of 3 groups sub 0.5 inch ... but not avg group size over 100s of rds. But my process is keep pounding on the fundamentals. The good news is, I think my analysis seems to be correct as to where the problem lie. So, if I can keep figuring out what to fix, then eventually, I will be able to fix it ... and on and on it goes for every and the group sizes should be dropping. Well, that's how I measure if issues are being "solved".

==
So big goals for 2020

Get reloading up for all center fire rifle/carbine cartridges

Get stage set up to allow wind practice out to 1200yds.

For groups, use prone 50% of the time and whenever possible for wind practice.

Let's try setting avg group size 0.6 for prone and 0.75 for tripod for the group size goals.

wigwamitus · Jan 1, 2020

2020 01 01
1000-1200
30F
12 MPH S

Goals: Wind practice

Environment: Clear, sunny, windy.

Equipment: .300WM(24) NF 7-35x T3 Hornady 200gr ELD-M, Kestrel 5700 (.300WM to the rear)

Activity: Rolled out to South Pasture. Gave cattle some range cubes to keep them busy. Rolled to 500yd FP and setup. Tops of grass over my head but able to see targets fine. Threw a tuft of grass up in the air. Wind 240 degrees off the bullet path. Took 2m wind read, with rounding got
Low: 8
Avg: 12
High: 20

Kestrel said hold 2.5 up. So I did.

First three rounds aimed a torso. I could see all hits. First rd hit right (to shooters right) shoulder, so I adjusted for 8 MPH second rd hit center. Third round hit right shoulder again. All hits were a tad high, so I dialed down one click.

IPHY = 12/5 = 2.4

Then fired three rds at face. I could see all hits. Holding for 10 MPH. First hit low right, second hit,, high center, third hit center.

IPHY = 6/5 = 1.2

Then rolled to 750yd FP. Wind direction 225 degrees off bullet path. 2m wind read, with rounding

Low: 7
Avg: 12
High: 18

I was looking thru a lot more grass here ... and could barely see the target.

Kestrel said hold 5.1 up and held for 12 MPH.

First rd miss high left. Held down lower towards the bottom of the target and for 10 mph. Hit right shoulder. Held for 8 MPH, hit, left shoulder.

Results/Summary: AB on phone says 4.9 mils at 750yds, the kestrel says 5.1 each click is 2.7 inches, so net 5.4 inches for 2 clicks difference. Enough to matter. I'll recheck all the data for the 11th time.
But the first rd miss would've happened anyway due to the wind call. I out thought myself. The wind direction was 225 instead of the 240 I faced on the first course of fire. But in the 2nd course I'm firing over a valley, over the tree tops, so much higher up in the air, so I decided that would cancel out the wind direction change. Wrong. This is a tricky one ... which is good ... once I figure it out, it won't do me as much good to shoot it.
I've faced the "down in the weeds" obscuring the target before. I tried to dial max magnification as sometimes that let me cut thru the weeds better, but not this time. So I stayed at 20x to shoot. Too many weeds at too many different distances. But it would be a hard position to be seen in, in return

TACC · Jan 1, 2020

Great shooting, great way to start a new year.

wigwamitus · Jan 5, 2020

2019-01-05
1445-1645
40F
10 MPH NNW

Goal: Wind Practice 5.56(18)

Environment: Clear, sunny breeze from about 5 degrees off the bullet path.

Equipment: 5.56(18) BH 77gr NF 2.5-10x42 MIL-R, Bushy arcElite 1600, Kestrel 5700 elite AB link

Activity: Rolled out to 500yds FP, but saw cattle approach (for range cubes). Usually I just wait for them to arrive, get bored and leave. But sometimes it takes 30m and I didn't have all day. So, I decided to head East on foot, 50yds to the other side of the ridge, and then 100yds North and then 50yds back West to a single tree up on the ridge that could provide some concealment and which I knew was about 400yds from the target. By leaving the 4-wheeler behind the cattle could no longer hear me, nor could they see me since I was on the other side of the ridge. They had been about 400yds away and approaching when I lost LOS.
As I started back West (after going North 100yds) I got to a point about 25yds from the tree, where I could see the top sides of the cows. So I went down and high crawling for about 12 yards until I could again see the topsides of the cows, then low crawled the rest of the way. The cows were about 100yds from my postion heading South.
I setup and ranged the target, using the tree trunk for concealment.
When the lead cows, now way to my left, realized they couldn't detect me , they turns and headed West across the main pond dam and up into the pasture on the other side of the central valley. I rangeed the target at 392yds and tossed some grass. As near as I could tell the wind was cominug from dead ahead. Did a Kestrel 2m wind read and got:
L: 3.5
A: 7
H: 14
The grass was blocking LOS almost completely, but I could barely make out the target, Took a pic, in the pic I can

see the target, but perhaps only because I could see it better IRL. I waited until the wind died ... and then aimed dead center (I had dialed 2.2 mils on elevation) fired and heard a "ping".
IPHY 12/4 = 3
Packed up and egressed reverse process as I had come in, low crawling backwards until I could high crawl, then high crawling until I could stand, the proceeded back to the 500yds FP and setup there.

The target was still obscured by grass, but not as much as prior position. Ranged target, got 514yds.

Tossed grass, again wind seemed to be from dead head (but in my experience it never is)
2m wind read:
L: 3
A: 6
H: 12
Dialed 3.3 mils, aimed dead center and fired. Heard "ping"

Packed up and rolled down to target took pic.

Dang, that's a pretty tight "group" considering "it" was fired from two different positions, with slightly different angles to the wind. I guess the wind really was coming from about dead ahead.

Continued on to the 730yd FP and setup.

Ranged target got 732//731 (ranged twice). Tossed grass ... dead ahead. 2m wind read:

L: 6
A: 10
H: 13

Dialed 6.8, aimed dead center fired. Saw dirt spash 2 inches right of target. Held on left edge and target, fired again, heard "ping".

Headed across creek to target took pic.

Wow, hit "left" (to shooter) shoulder. The wind on this course of fire is tricky because your shooting across the main creek over the tops of the trees.

Results/Summary: Want a new scoring system where a hit is 1 point. For the 5.56 it might be 2 shots each at 300, 350, 400, 450, 500, 550, 600, 650, 700, 750 that would be 20 shots. Goal would be 80% hit .. i.e. 16 hits.

wigwamitus · Jan 24, 2020

2020-01-24
1300-1400
30F
10 MPH WNW

Goal: Wind Practice

Environment: Cool, overcast, breeze from 330 degrees of bullet path. Only a bit f mud in the lowest ground, otherwise the mud froze.

Equipment: .300WM(24) NF 7-35x T3 RRS LC 190gr SMK Kestrel 4-wheeler

(.300WM at 500yd FP today)

Activity: Rolled to 423 FP and setup. Took 2m wind read:
L: 5
A: 7
H: 11

Kestrel said 1.7 up. Wind dots are 5 MPH each, decided to hold for 7.5 which is midway between 1st and 2nd wind dot.

Aimed at center of torso, hit slightly low and left. Felt/heard wind increase, held 1.7 up and 10 MPH wind, aimed for face. Hit

Decided, since I had the 35x scope, I would try to take thru lens pics of the hits on the target today.

==
Rolled over to 503yds FP

Kestrel said 2.2 up. I held for 7.5 MPH aimed for torso, hit, also slightly low and left, real near the first hit.

For face, I held for 5 MPH. The rd hit the steel, but was low. Quite low. While the wind was wiggling me back and forth, I was not wiggling up and down. Not sure how the round was so low, still thinking about it.

==
Rolled up to 604yds FP

Kestrel said 3.2 up. The wind seemed pretty low, so I held for 5 MPH, hit real near where the other 2 torso aimed hits had been, low and left. Given the preponderance of lowness, decided to hold 3.4 up when shooting for face. Wind was a bit higher so held for 7.5. Hit, right beside the first face hit.

Dailed up to 35x for this pic. I mostly shoot on 20x for target shooting (exception beyond 1000yds I dial down to 15x to better center the lower parts of the reticle)

==
Rolled up to 726yds FP

Kestrel said 4.3 up ... held for 7.5 wind ... decided to hold 4.4 up aimed for torso, hit, real near the "miss" for the face at 500yds ... which is centered on the torso elevation wise, but a tad to the right windage-wise.
Stuck with the 4.4 up and 7.5 for wind, made sure I was level (not canted) .. point of aim center of face ... hit, just to the right of previous hit. If I was a little excited about the 600yd face hit, I was more excited about the 726yd hit, but no visible/audible emotion allowed.

Results/Summary: Well I now have left 2 sub-lots of 7 and 15 rds each of 2007 LC 190gr and I'm thinking I got them mixed up and shot some of a lower MV sublot. Hence the rds were impacting .1 to .2 mils low. And the miss on the face 600yds was closer to .3 mils low.

FYI, click on the pics to see a larger version !

wigwamitus · Jan 25, 2020

2020-01-19
1145-1445
15F
10 MPH NNW

Goal: .300WM 1000+

Environment: Sunny, breeze from NNW, lots of ice and some mud in low areas.

Equipment: .300WM(24) NF 7-35x T3 A191 190gr Zeiss 10x45 LRF, Kestrel 5700 AB, 4-wheeler

Activity 01:
Replaced the Griffin Arms Sportsman suppressor with the SiCo Omega, some groups had looked crazy yesterday and this has happened before with the GA. Fired 5 groups with and without the MSV3. Avg Grp size .6625 iphy or .63 MOA. Despite it being 15F the sun is out and the mirage is boiling and I had a hard time seeing the dots.
But, this is good enuff to progress out to the field and try the 1058 area for the third time.
Rolled out moved into the upper pasture on foot, first time I tried ranged at 1012yds but I could only see the top have of the targets and there was so much obscuring vegetation that I would not have been able to see the misses, so I moved higher up the hill and found a second spot that ranged 1028 and had a better view of the target.

Threw several tufts of grass up and the wind was almost dead ahead ... but on the way out I'd sampled the wind in other nearby areas and it seemed to be coming more from around 330 off the bullet path in general, even though right at the firing point it was closer to 355. THe wind read was

L: 4
A: 6
H: 12

Kestrel said hold 8.4 for elevation, I decided to hold for 4 MPH for the xwind. I had to crank down to 15x (I had been shooting groups on 20x) to get the 8.4 mil area well out of the outter third of the scope. So I did. The target was still plenty large in the scope and all the little dots and dashes in the T3 reticle was visible as well. Held up 8.4 and left 4 MPH and waited for the wind to die ... then squeezed off a round ... and after a looooong time ... heard a tiny little "ping" ... a first round hit !!! oh my !!!
Then I decided to screw up ... and rushed the second shot ... (didn't wait for the wind to die) ... and saw the splash of a miss about 6 inches to the right. THen decided screwing up once wasn't enuff, so rushed the third shot ... didn't wait for the wind to die ... and held for 6 mph to boot. Saw splash of miss about 6 inches to the left. Finally, thick skull realized it was time to stop screwing up. I held for 8.4 and 4 mph and waited for the wind to die and "ping" ... and decided that worked better so tried it again ... and "ping" ... then rolled WAY down to the target for a pic.

Results/Summary: Well this is the first time I've gotten a first round hit at over 1000yds on my land ... so I'm pretty happy ! That's the good news. The bad news is I will have to send in the GA suppressor again. I need them to tell me what I'm doing wrong. I count to 40 between each shot. I'm shooting about 1-2 rds per minute. It that too fast !!??

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