Last year I needed a 8 foot pole to adjust yagi antenna on roof when wind blew it, so I lashed 2 5 foot cottonwood sticks together with a few dozen wraps of some para chord and I think the resulting stick was strong in the center than elsewhere!
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2015-11-15
1000-1200
50F
12 MPH S
Goals: First field test of Manfrotto 190xpro3 tripod with 322rc2 head and pig saddle.
Environment: Windy and cloudy.
Equipment: Above, referenced tripod, 5.56(18) with 55gr xm193 and Zeus. 7.62(16) with Amax168 and L&S 3-18x(9x). Kestrel and LRF.
Activity:
DOPE card for Zeus 3x 75mm(30)
100yds : -15 E
200yds : -14 E
300yds : -10 E
500yds : -03 E
First with the 5.56(18) off the pig saddle/Manfrotto combination
G01 - 5 rds - 100yds - 10+9+8+8+5 - avg 8
Terrible score. I have a recent habit of starting off badly, not in the "groove" in this case, in the final second of aiming, light trigger (3lb timney) sent round down range before I was ready. This happened with the first 2 rounds. I've been shooting the 5lb trigger on the .22LR too much lately! There is a case to have all triggers the same weight

.
G02 - 3 rds - 200yds - 7+6+6 = avg 6.3
In general for today, the wind was an issue with the tripod. Not the wind blowing the bullets around, but the wind blowing ME around. So there was a lot more "wobble" in my aiming. In this case, windage was much more consistent than elevation.
Wind measured to 5.4 MPH for the 2 minute average at 200 degrees off the bullet path, AB says that is a 1 inch hold, so I tried to aim at the left edge of the handwarmer. Apparently the wind was more than 5.4 avg at 200 degrees somewhere on the bullet path, as I got a verticle string.
G03 - 3 rds - 300yds - 9+9+8 avg 8.6
Wind was 7.5 mph at 240 degrees off the bullet path, so aimed at the left edge of the paper, which is 10.5 inches wide, so this was a 5.25 inch hold for wind. Got lucky, everything lined up and hit the black.
G04 - 3 rds - 500yds - 9+8+6 avg 7.66
Wind was 7.9 mpg avg for 2m. Each firing point (FP) is at a higher elevation, so the wind is higher and the direction changes as I move farther up the draw I shoot in. The draw tends to channel the wind, but at the top of the draw, this effect lessens. Wind direction at FP was 200 degrees off bullet path, so I tried to hold 20 inches, which was 2 widths of the target paper.
At 500yds, I could see the black circles on the right hand target board (which would be used for the 7.62 shooting later) more clearly than the handwarmers. The effect of the handwarms was to almost wash out the black circles.
The emissivity of the black circles must be different that than of the white paper. Sometimes this distinction is very noticable through the thermal and sometimes it is completely unnoticable. I can't predict it.
Next back to 100yds to go with the 7.62 and the day scope.
G11 - 5 rds, 100yds - 10+9+8+8+8 avg 8.4
Not a good result, poor aiming on my part.
G12 - 3 rds, 200yds - 8+8+8 avg 8
Wind picking up, avg 10.4, held .5 mil up and .5 mil left.
G13 - 0 rds, 300yds.
checked ammo and realized I did not have enough for both 300yds and 500yds, so I skipped 300yds and went straight to 500yds.
G14 - 3 rds, 500yds 9+5+0. Avg 4.66
Wind avg 12.1 high 16.8 ... the gusts were strong, sharp and comming quickly and "slapping" me around. Very wobbly. One round not on paper. Held 3.9 up and 1.25 left. Actually, due to the wobble, I held that amount and then looked at where the cross hair was and then tried to aim at that spot.
Results/Summary:
The tripod works, but in wind like this, standing up in the open pasture is not indicated. In these conditions, I should try kneeling or sitting, so will do that next time. The wind just blows ME around too much, creating too much wobble.
The 5.56(18) has no "rail covers" and fit tightly into the pig saddle. The 7.62 does have rail covers and they are an issue in this case. I will probably remove them. They do help when shooting standing unsupported. I will just have to remeber to wear a glove on the support side hand.
The 7.62 had a fail to fire on the first round, the roll pin for the trigger was hanging half out. I put it back in and continued. I think this means the trigger screws are loose, I will tighten them.
Have to figure out how to clear head and get down to business with the first round. Can't afford "warm up" shots.
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2015-11-15
2000-2200
50F
15 MPH S
Goals: Rats
Environment: Windy with light rain.
Equipment: .22lr, eley subsonic hollow point, sling, q-14, ir-laser, pvs-14 on helmet.
Activity: Got 4 rats, here is pic of first 3, forgot to take pic of last one. Distances ranged between 1 yard and 30yds. Three of the rats were "one thumb" and one was a "two thumb" size. I have not seen any of the large "hand sized" rats in the past week.
Two of the rats were around the wood shed and the other two were in a large dirt pile behind the vehicle building.
Thermal conditions were poor. I could see the rats as white blobs on a grey background. Could not estimate the size of the rats or the shooting distance, this lead to several first shot misses. In general the rats were much closer than I estimated. Hence I needed to hold higher.
Results/Summary: Deposited the rats around the pond area. There were some Coyote droppings in one spot and I left two rats around there. The Coyotes and Joe often communicate with with each party leaving things in the same spot for the other.
On the roll out to the pond a Coon and I surprised each other at about 5 yds. The Coon had about 50yds to make it to the wood line, I had to stop the 4-wheeler and pull up the .22lr and fire. The coon was heading directly away from me and I missed. I presume I was high, the aiming point was to lay the cross hair on the top of the white blob. I suspect the Coon was farther away than I estimated. I was thinking I was aiming for 20yds and maybe it was really at 40yds. Also the grass is high enough around there, that I could probably only see the top half of the coon again distorting my perception of size and distance given the thermal conditions.