First time shooting long range!

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts
  • ragedracer1977

    First time shooting long range!

    I've always wanted to reach out and touch something far away. I built myself a 6.5 Grendel (actually .264 LBC, but same thing). 16" Black Hole Weaponry 1-8 barrel. Geissele SSA-E trigger. Primary Arms 4-14x44 FFP scope. Hornady 123 gr SST over 27.5 grains of WC844. I used google earth (took my laptop with me) to place the target as close to 500 yards as I could get it. I ended up at 515 yards, I could have gone much farther, but I've never shot at anything past 200 yds before, so I didn't want to push it WAY out there.

    I used the "Shooter" android ballistic calculator app and it got me very close. The winds were pretty consistent at pretty perpendicular to the target at 8-10mph. I was having some trouble with consistency. I got a hit on my 3rd shot, then I started chasing impacts all over the place. Left/Right was pretty much right on, but I would hit over the target, adjust, then hit way under. I couldn't figure out what was going on, until I remembered... I had brought what I thought was a bag of my handloads, which I've ran over a chronograph and found to be very consistent around 2375 FPS. After shooting more than half of my ammo, and missing, I figured out that I had grabbed the bag that had handloads and Factory Hornady 123g SSTs. The factory stuff was hitting lower. So, I separated it out and started shooting. Once I got the handloads dialed in, I recorded 8 hits out of 16 rounds. On the Hornady factory, I got 2 out of 6. On a calmer day, with less wind, I think my hits would have been higher.

    This was an 8" plate at 515. I feel pretty good about getting close to 50% hit percentage on a 1.5 MOA target for my first time out.

    Red arrow shows where I was shooting from, from the point of view of the target.




    Red arrow shows target location, from my shooting postion.




    Shooting position (no rugs, just a backpack to rest one elbow on - and for fun, I was wearing my body armor with loaded mags on the chest)




    Plate after the fact (it was freshly painted prior to shooting. And let me tell you, that off-white color was TERRIBLE. It took me 10+ minutes to even locate it. It blended right in. I'll bring fluorescent orange or something next time.)

  • montana
    Chieftain
    • Jun 2011
    • 3209

    #2
    Great pictures and story. Wind is always a problem for me, unlike others on this forum who seem to have a built in wind gauge between their ears.

    Nice shooting for a first timer, try putting an orange cone or flagging around your target next time, it should be easier to see.

    Thanks for sharing

    Comment


    • #3
      Nice. Looks like Arizona to me. Some of the international sniper competitions I compete in or support use silhouettes with freshly-painted camouflage paint, then have dirt thrown on them before the paint dries. You can be staring right at them, and don't know you're looking at them.

      One thing that will help you at distance with small plates like this is a scope level. Level your gun in a vice or rest, then hang a plumb line at some distance ahead of the scope. Level the scope, then level your scope level. It will tighten your windage dispersion bigtime.

      As to reading the wind, take a formal course that involves competent wind reading instruction. It's an artform in and of itself, and is probably my favorite skill set in long-range shooting, because it requires full use of your senses, staying in the moment, and crunching math quickly.

      Trust your ballistics program once you have entered in as detailed data as possible, namely your mv and conditions, along with an appropriate BC. Once you see where you are impacting, you will adjust from there, but modern ballistics programs have been a game-changer in accurate 1st-round hit probability.

      Comment

      • deadeyerick
        Bloodstained
        • Apr 2013
        • 77

        #4
        As I understand it, here in Illinois, wearing body armor and having a loaded weapon is a felony

        Comment

        • ragedracer1977

          #5
          Thanks for the tips montana and LRRP. The leveling idea is a good one! I pretty much just eyeballed it when I mounted it. I'm sure it's close, but at range, close isn't good enough. I do have a long range precision rifle class scheduled early in the new year. It's only put on once or twice a year, but is taught by a no-BS sniper. In fact, the course has to wait until Feb. because he's deployed *somewhere*.

          deadeye: Not here. I've driven around wearing body armor, NVG's, and loaded rifle on a sling. AZ is pretty 'liberal' when it comes to gun laws. Don't even need a permit to carry concealed...
          Last edited by Guest; 12-30-2013, 02:05 AM.

          Comment

          • cory
            Chieftain
            • Jun 2012
            • 2985

            #6
            Originally posted by deadeyerick View Post
            As I understand it, here in Illinois, wearing body armor and having a loaded weapon is a felony
            You're serious aren't you?

            Illinois, one of several states you couldn't pay me enough to live in.
            "Those who sacrifice liberty for security, deserve neither." Benjamin Franklin

            Comment

            • usmc1371
              Warrior
              • Aug 2011
              • 335

              #7
              Az you have to armed especially near the Mexican border. Here we can have body armor, rifle in the truck.

              Comment

              • NugginFutz
                Chieftain
                • Aug 2013
                • 2622

                #8
                Originally posted by cory View Post
                You're serious aren't you?

                Illinois, one of several states you couldn't pay me enough to live in.
                +1
                If it's true that we are here to help others, then what exactly are the others here for?

                Comment

                • VASCAR2
                  Chieftain
                  • Mar 2011
                  • 6218

                  #9
                  Originally posted by deadeyerick View Post
                  As I understand it, here in Illinois, wearing body armor and having a loaded weapon is a felony

                  Not to hijack the thread but I copied the ILCS section, wearing body armor while armed during the commission of a crime is guilty of a Class A misdemeanor on the first offense. The way I read it the possession of armor and a weapon alone not is a violation.

                  (720 ILCS 5/Art. 33F heading)
                  ARTICLE 33F. UNLAWFUL USE OF BODY ARMOR

                  (720 ILCS 5/33F-1) (from Ch. 38, par. 33F-1)
                  Sec. 33F-1. Definitions. For purposes of this Article:
                  (a) "Body Armor" means any one of the following:
                  (1) A military style flak or tactical assault vest

                  which is made of Kevlar or any other similar material or metal, fiberglass, plastic, and nylon plates and designed to be worn over one's clothing for the intended purpose of stopping not only missile fragmentation from mines, grenades, mortar shells and artillery fire but also fire from rifles, machine guns, and small arms.
                  (2) Soft body armor which is made of Kevlar or any

                  other similar material or metal or any other type of insert and which is lightweight and pliable and which can be easily concealed under a shirt.
                  (3) A military style recon/surveillance vest which is

                  made of Kevlar or any other similar material and which is lightweight and designed to be worn over one's clothing.
                  (4) Protective casual clothing which is made of

                  Kevlar or any other similar material and which was originally intended to be used by undercover law enforcement officers or dignitaries and is designed to look like jackets, coats, raincoats, quilted or three piece suit vests.
                  (b) "Dangerous weapon" means a Category I, Category II, or Category III weapon as defined in Section 33A-1 of this Code.
                  (Source: P.A. 91-696, eff. 4-13-00.)

                  (720 ILCS 5/33F-2) (from Ch. 38, par. 33F-2)
                  Sec. 33F-2. Unlawful use of body armor. A person commits the offense of unlawful use of body armor when he knowingly wears body armor and is in possession of a dangerous weapon, other than a firearm, in the commission or attempted commission of any offense.
                  (Source: P.A. 93-906, eff. 8-11-04.)

                  (720 ILCS 5/33F-3) (from Ch. 38, par. 33F-3)
                  Sec. 33F-3. Sentence. A person convicted of unlawful use of body armor for a first offense shall be guilty of a Class A misdemeanor and for a second or subsequent offense shall be guilty of a Class 4 felony.
                  (Source: P.A. 87-521.)

                  Comment

                  • Keep The Change
                    Warrior
                    • Mar 2013
                    • 590

                    #10
                    Good job ragedracer1977. I'll be in the same boat as you when I get mine built. I've not done any distance shooting and am putting together a 24incher currently....well actually putting it together very slowly. I have some decisions to make and money to save right now. My barrel finally came in last week so I'm ready to start moving.

                    Comment

                    • Kikn
                      Warrior
                      • Nov 2011
                      • 689

                      #11
                      Texas has the same law.


                      Originally posted by VASCAR2 View Post
                      Not to hijack the thread but I copied the ILCS section, wearing body armor while armed during the commission of a crime is guilty of a Class A misdemeanor on the first offense. The way I read it the possession of armor and a weapon alone not is a violation.

                      (720 ILCS 5/Art. 33F heading)
                      ARTICLE 33F. UNLAWFUL USE OF BODY ARMOR

                      (720 ILCS 5/33F-1) (from Ch. 38, par. 33F-1)
                      Sec. 33F-1. Definitions. For purposes of this Article:
                      (a) "Body Armor" means any one of the following:
                      (1) A military style flak or tactical assault vest

                      which is made of Kevlar or any other similar material or metal, fiberglass, plastic, and nylon plates and designed to be worn over one's clothing for the intended purpose of stopping not only missile fragmentation from mines, grenades, mortar shells and artillery fire but also fire from rifles, machine guns, and small arms.
                      (2) Soft body armor which is made of Kevlar or any

                      other similar material or metal or any other type of insert and which is lightweight and pliable and which can be easily concealed under a shirt.
                      (3) A military style recon/surveillance vest which is

                      made of Kevlar or any other similar material and which is lightweight and designed to be worn over one's clothing.
                      (4) Protective casual clothing which is made of

                      Kevlar or any other similar material and which was originally intended to be used by undercover law enforcement officers or dignitaries and is designed to look like jackets, coats, raincoats, quilted or three piece suit vests.
                      (b) "Dangerous weapon" means a Category I, Category II, or Category III weapon as defined in Section 33A-1 of this Code.
                      (Source: P.A. 91-696, eff. 4-13-00.)

                      (720 ILCS 5/33F-2) (from Ch. 38, par. 33F-2)
                      Sec. 33F-2. Unlawful use of body armor. A person commits the offense of unlawful use of body armor when he knowingly wears body armor and is in possession of a dangerous weapon, other than a firearm, in the commission or attempted commission of any offense.
                      (Source: P.A. 93-906, eff. 8-11-04.)

                      (720 ILCS 5/33F-3) (from Ch. 38, par. 33F-3)
                      Sec. 33F-3. Sentence. A person convicted of unlawful use of body armor for a first offense shall be guilty of a Class A misdemeanor and for a second or subsequent offense shall be guilty of a Class 4 felony.
                      (Source: P.A. 87-521.)

                      Comment

                      • NugginFutz
                        Chieftain
                        • Aug 2013
                        • 2622

                        #12
                        Originally posted by VASCAR2 View Post
                        Not to hijack the thread but I copied the ILCS section, wearing body armor while armed during the commission of a crime is guilty of a Class A misdemeanor on the first offense. The way I read it the possession of armor and a weapon alone not is a violation.
                        ...
                        Thanks for nipping yet more misinformation in the bud. (No offense to deadeyerick meant.) It's just that over the last few days, and awful lot of dust and confusion has been kicked up, without enough research done before making statements of "fact".
                        If it's true that we are here to help others, then what exactly are the others here for?

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Great shooting and I'm glad a member here took the plunge on the P/A 4-14. I've been seriously eyeballing them just to have dedicated glass on a couple of my rifles. I'm pretty stoked about the forthcoming 4-14 FFP with a .308 specific ACSS reticle.

                          Comment

                          Working...
                          X