Saturday's plans, and a "borrowed" optic.

[Kswhitetails]

Pray for me. I may have fallen into a trap. I recently had to sell my optics to cover an unexpected medical deductible and was for a time without a scope of any value on any of my rifles. So, when a fellow PRS club member asked me why I hadn't been to a meet since I helped RO a match June 9 I explained that I would have to wait until I get another optic on my Grendel. He suggested I post in the club FB page inquiring whether or not someone had an optic "sitting around" that I might be able to borrow. So, I did. And I got a response. One of the members said he thought he could help me out.

So, we made arangements to meet at his place of business so I could pick up one of his "loaner" optics, which he had already mounted in an ADM recon X 20MOA, and should be good to go. All I need to do is zero, get velocity data, and be ready to rock on Saturday. So, I pull in, park, and carry in my rifle case. He wasn't there, but another KPRC member was, and this guy hands across the counter a (brand new) KAHLES 318i. Nothing to sign, no first born pledge, no kidney promissory note.
"This should get you going."

So, Saturday, I've got a babysitter for the younger two, and I'm driving 40 minutes to the range in Conway, KS to try my hand at PRS. With some pretty good equipment. Which means I have nothing to blame. Which means I'm doomed, and will probably not ever return to the public eye, anonymous or otherwise.

It does look good on the LaRue. So good in fact, and so nicely fits the Grendel, that I may just sell a kidney to pay for it so I can keep it. This guy knew what he was doing, loaning an Austrian Superscope optic to me... Like I said, pray for me.

Untitled by ., on Flickr

Untitled by ., on Flickr

Untitled by ., on Flickr

This scope even has an allen key kept magnetically within the battery cover to adjust the set screws on the caps setting the zero stop on the optic. Come on that's just too dang cool. (little girl excitement noises...)

Anyway, the local (and some not so local) guys in the local PRS group seem like they'd all fit in here on the forum just fine. They're interested in gaining members, and in keeping them; Also in helping the newest members along, and in paying it forward among the group to deepen the waters so to speak. Facebook may not like it, but they've made a great tool to help a relatively small, organized group of gun entheusiasts gather, train, and share collective lessons.

I'm really excited to go and prove the Grendel's capabilities, which terrifies me because my own capabilities are thus far tested only within 405 yards. I am confident things will go well; I've got my Federal GMM on the way. I've got the Ballistic AE app set up to just plug in velocity and atmosphere data the morning of the match. And the hopeful excitement of impressing myself with beginners luck.

[Sticks]

$3200 loaner scope.

Maybe you ought to build a roll cage to protect that thing.

[Kswhitetails]

He knew what I needed it for... but yea it’s a little nerve wracking.

[LRRPF52]

I dare you to rattle can it to match your rifle!

Then you'll need prayers.

[Kswhitetails]

I just spit my coffee all over my monitor.

[StoneHendge]

Maybe someone can lend you a JP to go under that scope

[A5BLASTER]

Dang K sorry to hear bout losing your optics.

That'd does sound like a super scope might have to check one out myself, let us know how it goes Saturday.

If you need a scope and mount use after saturday for playing and hunting to get you through till you can get anouther one drop me a address I got a extra aero ultra light and Bushnell 3-9 scope in the safe not much but better then kentukey windage of the top rail.

[bj139]

Doesn't it have a lifetime, no questions asked warranty?
That is some nice scope.

[Kswhitetails]

I'd still feel bad if I scratch it. He can't get new price for it anymore. But like I said, it was agreed to under full disclosure, so....

Blaster, thanks man. That's a stand up offer. I'll have new stuff next month, I finally have an offer to work! Spirit Aerosystems here in Wichita offered me work and I couldn't argue. Looks like I'll be building airplanes from now on. Just filling out paperwork and waiting on a start date now.

[A5BLASTER]

I'd still feel bad if I scratch it. He can't get new price for it anymore. But like I said, it was agreed to under full disclosure, so....

Blaster, thanks man. That's a stand up offer. I'll have new stuff next month, I finally have an offer to work! Spirit Aerosystems here in Wichita offered me work and I couldn't argue. Looks like I'll be building airplanes from now on. Just filling out paperwork and waiting on a start date now.

It's all good sir.

I know the feeling on work, I'm at home on workers comp trying to get knee surgery done and healed so I can go back to work.

[A5BLASTER]

I'd still feel bad if I scratch it. He can't get new price for it anymore. But like I said, it was agreed to under full disclosure, so....

Blaster, thanks man. That's a stand up offer. I'll have new stuff next month, I finally have an offer to work! Spirit Aerosystems here in Wichita offered me work and I couldn't argue. Looks like I'll be building airplanes from now on. Just filling out paperwork and waiting on a start date now.

It's all good sir.

I know the feeling on work, I'm at home on workers comp trying to get knee surgery done and healed so I can go back to work.

[Kswhitetails]

So, here's the next tidbit. I'd been debating on what to load up from my inventory to take with me. I know my accuracy with the 120 Sierra OTM and Benchmark is nutz accurate out to 200. But I know it's slow. 27.0 gr 2.20 Coal with 7-1/2s. Based on drop, I'm guessing somewhere in the 2200 range. I know that's not gonna get it done at all beyond 700.

So, on the same FB post where I mentioned that if anyone had an idle optic I could use..., a guy posted that he had some Grendel factory ammo sitting around that he'd let go for an offer. Long story short, 265 rounds of Federal uknown factory loads. He doesn't have a Grendel. He didn't know what bullets as he bought them in a box of mixed ammo from Cabelas Bargain cave because he wanted all the 6.8SPC in it. So, the 6.5G were just sitting in his way. The pic he sent me made me think the 120 Sierra American Eagle load, and we were not positive on the other, but given the really long ogive and no tip, I figured they might be the 130 bergers.

He sent them out yesterday, and just arrived here. Turns out my theory was correct, and they are federal GMM loads. 124 of the 120s, and 141 GMMs. (I offered .70c/per shipped, so $175 got them all to me...) Ba BAM. Who's got time to reload? I've got to get sighting in an optic... I thought 70c per was a fair offer since he wasn't positive about the pedigree, and they were loose in bags. If I had to guess, I'd bet that box of 6.8 ammo just got really cheap too. Win/Win. I wasn't surprised to hear about 6.8 stuff in the Bargain Cave, but for Grendel to make it there, then to him, and then to me, the stars really had to align in my favor... Why can't that annual powerball ticket ever do that?

[BCHunter]

Good to see karma show up on the correct side for once,...good luck at the match.

[IescapedCali]

So I guess my prayer for you has to include: finding a winning powerball ticket, and not pulling a Stonehenge on a Saturday. Sure is nice to see good things happening for ya. Let us know how it goes Saturday.

[Kswhitetails]

Well, I've got to admit, I am not as proficient a shooter as I always fancied myself being. I knew this was the case, but had never had any opportunity to prove it. I set the bar right where I probably should have, scoring 34/86 points, and getting no hits on the bonus stage targets due to the time limits.

Not as an excuse, but I didn't sleep much Friday night. I spent time learning a new ballistic calculator, cleaning the rifle, gathering supplies, wrapping my suppressor, putting together a part and toolkit, packing, and doublechecking everything seven times. I looked at the clock when I finally put things away ready to go for the morning and discovered the clock say 3:30... and I had to leave the house at 6. BUGGER time flies when you're nervous or having fun, when both makes it go 4X!

I learned so much, my brain was full half way through the match, and the rest of the stages were just enjoyable "superfluous shooting emanations" as Brett Favre might say. My biggest challenges were the positional stages. Movement was much more difficult than I gave it credit for, and I was not prepared for the challenge of dialing the optic mid-stage. I've identified and prioritized some things to practice now. My trigger pull suffered - especially when moving to another position, as I would forget the basics; and missed 600 yard + targets by inches, 800+ by a foot. I did get hits from the Grendel at 938 yards twice while prone, in the heat of battle against the timer. I was really proud of that, and the RO (who was the match director) was obviously surprised by the little "pea shooter".

As far as the optic goes, flawless. I really did fall into a really hideous trap, as now I am trying to figure out how to afford it... Really. The Kahles 318i - if anyone is interested - is a worthy piece of kit. There's no point in the magnification range where the view is anything but clear - unless you consider suppressor mirage, which I don't find the fault of the optic. After the midway break, even the 1moa diamonds at 500 were easily seen at 18x, but after three rounds, I had to back down to 12x. At 12x I ran pretty much the whole match, and could watch my own trace and attempt corrections. I think I saw some hits that didn't get called, but I never said anything as I could have just hit a hangar...

I was dissapointed with Ballistic AE. I've switched to StrelokPRO, for $12, it was a no brainer. Now, I need a weather monitor of some sort, I've got my eye on an $85 piece that will do what I need, which is everything a kestrel does via bluetooth to the phone.
I started Friday evening with about 100 rounds of practice and data gathering. I ran Federal GMM, which offered 2340 from by 18" LaRue, with a SD of 14 and an ES of 37 in 10 rounds over a LabRadar. I thought that was fairly respectable from factory loads with a 130grain projectile.

I never had one ftf, fte, or ftF. Not one. In 240 rounds of sighting, practice, and competition. (well, unless you include the fact that I forgot to remove the chamber flag twice... ugh) I ran in a squad of 4, three other "new shooters" and the match director. These were all really great guys, and I spent most of my time realizing that as the newest shooter, I was seeing too many things for the first time. Perhaps the better phraseology would be experiencing rather than seeing. I learn by doing much better than by watching, and by watching much better than by reading, and by reading much better than by hearing. I have to do something to understand it; "put my hands to it" so to speak.

The timer was not my friend, and proved to be the real enemy on Saturday. I know I would have done much better if the 10 round stages were limited at more than the surprisingly elusive two minutes. I had a huge advantage on the rest of the group by having the semi action, the other guys in my squad all mentioned it's "cheat" speed. Even the MD - which made me smile. It was especially advantageous on the "giggly bed", which I did hit 4/10 at 560 yards, something that only the BD beat. I never got all my shots off if there was movement involved, but did get them off handily in the static positions.

I have identified several things that make my next objectives. One, find a way to practice the positional (this is tricky, I can see bad things happening if a neighbor calls the police and tells them what they're watching going on in my back yard) and the barricade stages to make it easier to get a solid form to shoot from. Second, practice trigger pull, lots of dry fire. Lastly, obtain the weather meter, and familiarize myself with the Strelok. Three rather easy to do things that if I can get better at (significantly better than I am now should be easy) will make my score much more respectable.

I had to resign myself to admit that Grendel didn't hit the target as hard as the Creedmore or the 6 dasher. But, the .308 guy in the group said my Grendel hit just like his gun always had. He was shooting a new Creed rifle Saturday.

More than anything else, I learned some things to do to improve my shooting skills quickly and make big gains. And I had fun. I can't wait to get back out, and see if I can improve with each outing. I have no doubt that I can get it done now. I can hit any target within an MOA out to very near 1000 yards (if the stars line up, and I don't yank the trigger ). This validates what I though I was capable of, and proves many of these guys wrong about the capabilities espoused of an AR15.

I destroyed the coyote and rabbit steels at 400 yards, making center vitals hits with ease at 6X, and watching the bullets go in. Grendel is going to do fine in the back seat of my truck.