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2015-12-06
0830-1130
30F
15 MPH NNW
Goal: Our "Stage One" to run .22lr(s) out to 300yds for distance and wind estimating practice. Friend James out shooting with me for the day.
Environment: Cool and windy, but sunny and clear. Initially the mud was frozen, but it thawed later.
Equipment:
(James) PTA upper, stag arms lower. L&S 3-18x H58, Harris 9-12 bipod, Eley Match. Bushy 1 mile LRF, AB on phone.
(Joe) CMMG upper, SA lower. VO 1-6x MRAD, Eley Match. Bushy 1600 LRF, AB on phone, Kestrel 2500 NV.
Activity:
We zeroed initially at 16yds. We had both new CMMG upper and old PTA upper I sold to friend James who was shooting with me all day today. Zeroing at 16yds, would also mean we were zeroed at 100yds, which was the goal as this would reduce our holds at 300yds. Zeros at 16yds, went easily. James used bipod, I used bones only as I have been lately. I find it generally more comfortable and often easier to obtain neutral position. At 100yds, the PTA was dead on, however the CMMG was exactly 1 mil low. We were using exactly the same lot/batch of eley match ammo (out of eley edge), both barrels 16 inches. To save time, I cranked up one mil and was now zeroed at 100yds (though presumably not at 16yds). At 100yds and under we were significantly protected from the wind by a tree line and so did not hold for wind.
We then went to 200yds and again I was low, 1.6 mils, so cranked that. For some reason this rifle exhibited a symptom of subtracting a consdierable amount from the MV. On the other hand, the PTA was still dead on at 200yds in terms of elevation. I am coaching James on distance estimation and wind calling, so he did all the calculations, using my kestrel and his own new LRF and AB. Wind estimation was a little high at 200yds and both groups were a little left (towards the wind) while my group was also considerably low.
At 300yds, James called 11.2 average so that was a 3 mil hold for wind. I trying to extrapolate increasing my elevation hold, by cranking an extra 3.5 mils. It was still not enough, just barely on the bottom of the paper. However, the wind call was good. James group was centered around our stick on bull. I cranked up some more, but then my rifle started jamming, whereas he had another good group. I decided to do cleaning of CMMG upper during lunch break as this rifle would again be needed for our Stage Three at night.
So good news bad news. The primary objective was acheived with James getting good experience using his own gear for distance estimating and doing all the arithmetic for the wind calling. Determining wind direction and of course wind speed (2 miniute average) and then making adjustments for bullet path and wind barriers, like tree lines. I don't think this is something one can learn in a few hours, but if one will learn it, one must start down the path!
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2015-12-06
1300-1615
40F
20 MPH NW
Goal: "Stage Two" repeat of first stage but with .308WIN and 5.56 rifles out to 600yds.
Environment" A little warmer a windier, sunny and clear. Frozen mud mostly melted, so we had unfrozen mud
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Equipment:
(James) REM700 .308WIN (20 inch barrel), harris 6-9 inch, L&S 3-18x H58, Freedom Munitions 168gr AMAX. Bushy 1 mil LRF, AB on phone.
(Joe) 5.56(18), Atlas Bipod, L&S 6-5-20x TMR, Blck Hills 77gr, Bushy 1600, AB on phone, Kestrel, Manfrotto Tripod.
Activity:
We zeroed initially at 50yds. This would also zero us both at 200yds. This was a lucky coincidence as I would not expect 20 inch .308WIN and 18 inch 5.56 with totally different ammo, so have the same parabola. But AB said they did, so we started with that. Again 50yds zero no problem. We fired until both shooters got 3 consequtive rounds within 1 inch circle. Not hard with those guns, from prone bipod at that distance. We ran both scopes on 12x ... for consistency (in case we had to switch guns) and as this is a good magnification to use with CO-LR NV clipon.
At 200yds, the 5.56(18) was dead on. The .308WIN on the other hand was way low. If we would go to 600yds, I wanted to be solid on the .308WIN so I suggested a "bold adjustment" and we dropped down to 150yds and I keyed in 2400 MV instead of the 2700 MV I had started with. We were still very low, with next guess being 130yds and 2200 MV. But at this point James noticed the scope base was lose and flopping back and forth. That would be an RTB fix and would cost us 30m travel time in and out and would put us off the whole schedule for the day, so we decided to call the .308WIN "down" and proceed with only the 5.56(18) to 600yds.
So double questions for the day. Why was the apparent MV on the CMMG upper so low compared with the PTA upper? And why was the apparent MV for the .308WIN so low compared to previous us of this rifle and ammo? I have no answers to either question at this point.
So, we went up to 600yds, I say "up" because this involves a foot trek through rough pasture to a higher elevation. But we got there and James lased the target and we setup. The weeds (all dead but many still having standing stalks) were about knee high on average. To "burn through" the weeds, I have to crank maximum magnification, but that worked. And I gave James a turn on the gun so he could find the targets as well. James then took the wind readings. But by the time all that was done, the sun had shifted, the targets were in shadows and the sun was glinting off the weeds near to us. We could no longer see the targets. We needed to be higher up. So to the rescue came the new Manfrotto Tripod and the idea that "You will rarely take a prone shot"
. So James ran down 150yds to the buggy and back with the tripod. I stayed prone on the gun. It took him a long time to get back. I wanted to prove a point, that even in wide open pasture, where nothing can hide ... it is possible to be concealed. The point was taken
even knowing I was there he had to wander around and hunt to find me. So we setup the tripod, recalled the wind. The calculations said hold up 4.2 and left 1.5 mils. I outsmarted myself and argued for 1 mil, so I held one mil. Holding up 4.2 mils was easy as the TMR reticle has .2 mil marks between the 4 mil and 5 mil subtensions. When it was James turn on the gun, I had him hold 1.5 mils.
Then we packed up for the journey back down to the target. My group was right 10 inches (half a mil) James group straddled the bull. The 5.56(18) was dead on for elevation even at 600yds with both groups having a 6 inch variance on elevation. The windage variation was 10 inches for both groups, so sub-2MOA.
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