2/27/10 Wind 2, Kyle 0

The heading says it all really.  I am blaming today's less than stellar performance at the range on the wind.  We all know what that really means: I underestimated the wind again today.  I guess the issue is that just because I only have a light breeze from my shooting position, there are larger wind currents flowing down the canyons that I have to shoot across to get 700 yards to the target.  As you can see in the pictures, it was rough.  After my first 5 shots, I decided to walk over to the target instead of drive over.  The entire time I was walking I was excited to see really good shots right next to the bulls-eye.  When I got to the plywood, I could hardly believe what I saw.  What I saw was nothing.  Not a single shot in the 4x8 ply!  I wondered if perhaps I had dialed 77 clicks of down elevation.  A closer look at the ground beyond the target told the story.  I found where my shots were landing. I had missed wide left (yes that was the general direction of the wind from what I could tell).  I actually did find 2 of the five bullets there in the ground.  The only redeeming thing about the situation is that I think I had at least 3 (or more) shots in that very small area, by the looks of the disturbed dirt. 

After a 700 yard walk back to the truck, I was determined to out shoot the wind.  For the next five shots, I held about 3/4 mils to the right.  As you can see in the photo, I printed a really good grouping of 3 shots that landed on the ply left and low of the aimpoint.  In the wider photo, you can see a shot that landed about level with the bulls eye (my stray shot?).  My guess is that the 5th shot that didn't manage to hit the plywood was just left enough to miss the wood, but still in the same grouping with the other 3, but I will never know.

Both times I walked up to the target I was genuinely surprised to see that I didn't break the paper multiple times.  Those 10 shots were the last of my 168 gr. Black Hills Match 308 ammo.  From here on out (mostly), I hope to be shooting my own hand-loads.   We shall see how that goes.

Ranging out the range

This is for all of you out there wondering what 1000 yards looks like.  I took the picture standing in the back of the truck where I shoot from.  You'll have to click on the picture to really check it out.  The tree stump at 425 yards is about 18 inches in diameter,  but is barely visible at that range.  When I stood a 4'x8' plywood board up at 700 yards, it blends in with the surroundings and I thought it had blown over for a minute or two just the other day.  Then there is the thousand yard distance...no, those are not weeds on that hill...they are trees!  Not just little trees.  They are 12 to 15 feet high!  The picture is deceiving, because that is a pretty steep hillside.  As is turns out, 1000 yards is a long way... who knew?

I'm a sucker for flashlights...

Don' you just love a good flashlight?  I have many flashlights, but I think this one is my favorite. It is really bright, and it will shine for like 8 or nine hours on a set of batteries.  I decided that every good flashlight needs carrying handles, so I got that flashlight holder to go with it (and the sling to hold the flashlight holder).   I topped it off the with  the  holographic sight, so I always know where the focal point of my flashlight is.  Just so you know, if you are lurking around inside (uninvited of course), or outside of my house, there is a decent chance that I will point my flashlight at you (for educational purposes that I won't go into here).  I have another one (not pictured) that works really well with the smaller flashlight companion.  I keep the flashlights in the bedroom with me, because you just never know when you are going to need to see in the dark.

This looks like it would hurt

Just in case you are wondering what it might feel like to be shot with a .308 at 700 yards...lets examine what happened to the steel frame that I was using to stand my target up with today. Keep in mind that it had to go through the plywood first.

2/20/10 First 700 Yard Shots!

Earlier in the week, I scouted the shooting area and compared it with Google Earth to find a 700 yard shot. I also know where a 1000 yard shot is too, for later on in the year. I didn't get out to the range till 2 p.m. because Karen had a relief society thing to do. The weather was prefect all morning but by the time I got out to the range, and set up the target at 700 yards, it was snowing. I set up my shot and took note of the moderate snowfall and the wind. With the scope on my .308 dialed to 14x, the snow fall was quite thick to see through at that distance, but I had waited for this all week. I decided to dial 77 clicks of elevation, due to calculations I found on http://www.biggameinfo.com/index.aspx?page=%2fbalcalc.ascx. I also decided to hold about a ½ mil left of the target to compensate for wind.

I took 6 shots and was not able to see a single one of them from where I was, so I drove over to check it out. The result: 5 of 6 shots on the paper. Total spread vertically on the 5 paper hits, was 8 inches. Windage spread was 10 inches, but given the unpredictable wind and snow conditions, I was quite pleased.

Just then, while I was checking out my target, the sun peeked out, and the wind died down at the target, so I decided to drive back and shoot one more group. By the time I got back to the shooting position, the wind and snow picked back up, although not quite as strong as before. This time however, the wind was coming from the opposite direction as evidenced by the way the snow was falling. I'm not really sure why, but I decided not to compensate for wind this time around. I aimed dead center, and felt that I had pretty good trigger breaks.

Upon inspection, I was wrong not to hold to the right for the wind, because only one of my 5 shots broke the paper, and that was on the very edge of the left side. This time I had once again had 1 bad shot landing outside the pattern of the 4 others. I seem to be doing that. I wonder if it is the cold barrel shot? The 4 shot group landed a mere 7 inches apart laterally (2 shots were about 4 inches apart), with a 10 inch vertical spread.

I felt pretty good about everything when considering, I haven't shot from anything beyond 425 years before today, and I have never shot in snow with a visible wind. Technically speaking my overall groups were just a touch larger than a 1 MOA spread at the distance (if you throw out the stray shot in both groups), but I did have 2 shots in first group that are 2-3 inches from the bulls eye. Those are good shots for an amateur just getting into long distance shooting, like me. The second group also had two really good shots, but it isn't as cool if you don't actually break the paper near the bulls eye, because you don't think the wind is a big enough factor to adjust for it. That is a mistake I will try to learn from.The tape is basically where I was aiming for this grouping. I spray painted the holes black so you can see them.

2/13/10

Today Dad and Lynn came out with me to shoot. Lynn wanted to shoot her 9mm, so we did that too. Dad brought his .243 and him 7mm Rem. Mag, and we shot both of them. I shot my .308, .223, and my .40.

I set up the box at my 425 yard tree stump, and Dad stayed there in the ravine just in front of the target with one of my 2 way radios to call back my shots. Using 2 weeks ago as a guide, I dialed up 30 clicks of elevation on the scope. The first three shots landed in a 5-6 inch group right and low of the bulls eye. Dad called back on the radio a suggestion of 6 inches left and 4 inches up. So I moved the scope 6 inches up and 4 inches left. The next 3 shot group landed about where I would expect having just given the adjustments to the scope.

In summation, today's shots didn't land in as impressive of a formation as I was able to print 2 weeks ago, but still 2 good groups considering the range.  The 3 shots on the paper are the grouping after I adjusted the scope.   They show a 4 inch spread from top to bottom and about 3 1/2 from side to side.  Given the range, this is just slightly better than a 1 MOA grouping (4 inch spread at 400 yards would be 1 MOA.  Since these shots were taken at 425...well, you get the idea.) The 2 others right by the measuring tape are from the first grouping.  I cut the first one out just to make the card board smaller.  It was also a 1 MOA group.