Well I thought I would post up a range report! I am a newbie to long range shooting and got to take my new Savage 10FCP-K rifle out to shoot for the first time! Let me say up front that I have never tried to formally shoot anything past about 150yds or so, and never shot in the Prone position etc.
I ended up shooting 57 rounds through it total. 37rounds of South African Mil-Surp for break in purposes (I happen to have it so figured why not). For break in I decided to go for a happy medium. I shot the first round, then cleaned, then shot five 5-shot groups cleaning between each one, and then at the end a 6 shot group since I had a left over round. After trying like hell and getting no where as far as consistancy in shots at 100yds with the surplus ammo (junk) I switched over to a box of Black Hills 175gr Match ammo and got much better results.
I was shooting at sight in targets at 100yds, and I had also just purchased a set of 1/2 square AR500 steel targets from Big Dog Steel so I had them also. I had also purchased some hanging plant stands from home depot to test out as target hangers (see my thread in the equipment sub-form) I had a 6" square hanging at 100yds next to my paper target stand, and I had a 12" square placed out at 200yds.
Here is a shot of our shooting location (zoomed in). In the pic you can see the 6" and paper target stand at 100yds, and the 12" further back on the right at 200yds:
I had switched to the black hills ammo and just gotten zeroed at 100yds. I decided to take my first shot ever at a steel target on the 6":
The target flew back up over the hoops of the hangers in a smooth motion which was kind of funny. I ended up wrapping a couple wraps of duct-tape to the hanger/chain junction and it stayed put the rest of the day. Happy with the first shot I cracked it another couple times then dialed in for 200yds to take a crack at the 12":
I took another couple shots and decided to dial in for 300yds, and my scope decided to take a crap on me. Again.
I'm using a Millett Buck Gold 6-25x56AO scope temporarily until the Viper PST's are relased. I had previously had issues with the elevation knob on it a couple months back. After working up and down some elevation the turret lets go and just spins freely with no adjustment. I happen to live in the KC area which is the headquarters for Bushnell who owns Millett now. When I took it back for repair a couple months ago they fixed it or so I thought. I had just put on about 2 clicks of the needed elevation and then the knob started spinning again! Awesome. There went my hopes for much more long range shooting for the day.
Well I figured what the hell and decided to try to hold over for 300yds so we moved the 12" target back and I gave it a shot. First shot I nailed it! I was holding over an estimated 10" to split the difference between the 200yds I already had on the scope, and the 15.6" of holdover needed for 300yds with a 100yd zero. Happy with myself and now shooting double the distance I had ever shot before I took another shot. Nailed it! Sort of! What the hell?!? I just cut the right hand chain that was holding up the steel plate! I was so fixated on getting the correct elevation hold over I didn't pay any attention to windage! All morning we had between 3-7mph gusts, this was enough to drift the bullet with my slightly too much elevation hold over to cut the very first link of the chain!
And here is the total damage to the mounting hardware:
Well I only had 2rds left and figured what the hell, I took both at the plate still hanging by one chain and got both of them!
At this point I only had a box left of the Mil-Surp ammo, and a broken scope so I called it good for the day with the new .308. We spent the rest of the day doing all kinds of shooting and a had a great time!
In the end I was happy with my shooting, happy with the new rifle, but dissappointed in the crappy surplus ammo (but expected that), and dissappointed in the scope taking a dump (didn't expect that). It was pretty funny that I cut the chain to say the least!
All in all a good day! Shooting the steel targets was a LOT of fun! I can't get wait to get back out there and do it again, after the scope gets fixed again of course! I have already dropped it back off with Bushnell. Here are a couple more pics from the day:
The shooting position:
And me on the firing line:
I ended up shooting 57 rounds through it total. 37rounds of South African Mil-Surp for break in purposes (I happen to have it so figured why not). For break in I decided to go for a happy medium. I shot the first round, then cleaned, then shot five 5-shot groups cleaning between each one, and then at the end a 6 shot group since I had a left over round. After trying like hell and getting no where as far as consistancy in shots at 100yds with the surplus ammo (junk) I switched over to a box of Black Hills 175gr Match ammo and got much better results.
I was shooting at sight in targets at 100yds, and I had also just purchased a set of 1/2 square AR500 steel targets from Big Dog Steel so I had them also. I had also purchased some hanging plant stands from home depot to test out as target hangers (see my thread in the equipment sub-form) I had a 6" square hanging at 100yds next to my paper target stand, and I had a 12" square placed out at 200yds.
Here is a shot of our shooting location (zoomed in). In the pic you can see the 6" and paper target stand at 100yds, and the 12" further back on the right at 200yds:
I had switched to the black hills ammo and just gotten zeroed at 100yds. I decided to take my first shot ever at a steel target on the 6":
The target flew back up over the hoops of the hangers in a smooth motion which was kind of funny. I ended up wrapping a couple wraps of duct-tape to the hanger/chain junction and it stayed put the rest of the day. Happy with the first shot I cracked it another couple times then dialed in for 200yds to take a crack at the 12":
I took another couple shots and decided to dial in for 300yds, and my scope decided to take a crap on me. Again.
I'm using a Millett Buck Gold 6-25x56AO scope temporarily until the Viper PST's are relased. I had previously had issues with the elevation knob on it a couple months back. After working up and down some elevation the turret lets go and just spins freely with no adjustment. I happen to live in the KC area which is the headquarters for Bushnell who owns Millett now. When I took it back for repair a couple months ago they fixed it or so I thought. I had just put on about 2 clicks of the needed elevation and then the knob started spinning again! Awesome. There went my hopes for much more long range shooting for the day.
Well I figured what the hell and decided to try to hold over for 300yds so we moved the 12" target back and I gave it a shot. First shot I nailed it! I was holding over an estimated 10" to split the difference between the 200yds I already had on the scope, and the 15.6" of holdover needed for 300yds with a 100yd zero. Happy with myself and now shooting double the distance I had ever shot before I took another shot. Nailed it! Sort of! What the hell?!? I just cut the right hand chain that was holding up the steel plate! I was so fixated on getting the correct elevation hold over I didn't pay any attention to windage! All morning we had between 3-7mph gusts, this was enough to drift the bullet with my slightly too much elevation hold over to cut the very first link of the chain!
And here is the total damage to the mounting hardware:
Well I only had 2rds left and figured what the hell, I took both at the plate still hanging by one chain and got both of them!
At this point I only had a box left of the Mil-Surp ammo, and a broken scope so I called it good for the day with the new .308. We spent the rest of the day doing all kinds of shooting and a had a great time!
In the end I was happy with my shooting, happy with the new rifle, but dissappointed in the crappy surplus ammo (but expected that), and dissappointed in the scope taking a dump (didn't expect that). It was pretty funny that I cut the chain to say the least!
All in all a good day! Shooting the steel targets was a LOT of fun! I can't get wait to get back out there and do it again, after the scope gets fixed again of course! I have already dropped it back off with Bushnell. Here are a couple more pics from the day:
The shooting position:
And me on the firing line:
