Desert Fox
Handloader
- Aug 14, 2006
- 1,965
- 3
Went to shoot Ultra Long Range Match near Barstow Sunday with a dozen other guys form Arizona, Nevada and Northern California. This is a monthly shoot sponsored by big name company like Vortex, Cutting Edge Bullet and Snipertac to name a few. Three 40"X 40" target were placed at varying distances starting from 1,860 yards, 2,162 yards and the farthest being 2,610 yards. LED Light equipped with sensor placed behind the target that flashes when the target is hit. This group are dedicated bunch armed with the best equipment and rifle money can buy. I had never seen so many Desert Tech Rifle in my life. Few Guys were shooting 416 Barrett and 375 Cheytac. One Gentleman from Nevada was shooting Accuracy International with Schmidt & Bender PM II scope. He must have 15 grand tied on his rig. Since I am a new shooter from the group, I was paired with a gentleman from Arizona. We will take turn spotting and calling shot for each other. He was shooting his Schmidt & Bender scope 338 Snipe Tac loaded with 377 MTAC Cutting Edge Solid. He was using a PLRF range finder wired to his NOMAD Ballistic Computer for firing solutions. This guy must have 25 K if you added all his stuff.
We all decided to shoot the farthest target first. We were given 1 sighter shot followed by 2 - 5 shot string for score. I took the lead after first round, registering 3 hits at 2,610 yards. Two other shooter recorded the other 3 hits. None of the 416 and 375 ever hit the target. The wind, although mild at 6 MPH were tricky, shifting left right, right left. If you happened to miss the shift, you're screwed. By the time we shoot the next target at 2,162, the wind was now blowing between 15-20 Miles an hour. The mirages emanating from the heated desert sand made the matter even more worst. I'm compensating 5 mils for wind and still wasn't enough. I was pretty much throwing Hail Mary's at the target. I did managed to hit the target only once. Shooting the last target at 1860 was easy picking for the 416 and 375. I manage to hit the target 4 times. My partner did not fare well. He missed all his shots. Feel sorry for him but it's all fun and games... nothing serious. He thought I won the competition but turned out I was 4th place overall after all the shot was tallied. I was a surprised that I did well considering that I haven't shoot the rifle since January when I competed at World Shoot in Nevada. Hitting the mile and a half target was even more surprising since the 300 grain Berger was already at subsonic speed at that distance. Overall this will be a good tune up for next year series. I'm hoping I can get my 375 ready by then because a Vortex Razor Gen II and a Custom Knife will be awarded to the winner of the spring classic.
Here are the pictures from the match. The 2,610 yards target in this picture shows 6 hits, all by 300 lead core bullet from 338 Lapua. 3 of these hit was from my rifle. From looking at the impact, hit no 4,5 and 6 has more splatter while the other 3 has very little splatter. My 338 Ackley has more velocity and energy than the standard Lapua from the two other shooters that split the other 3 hits. Judging form the impact I concluded that 4, 5, and 6 were probably from my rifle. If that's the case that is one hell of a three shot group.
We all decided to shoot the farthest target first. We were given 1 sighter shot followed by 2 - 5 shot string for score. I took the lead after first round, registering 3 hits at 2,610 yards. Two other shooter recorded the other 3 hits. None of the 416 and 375 ever hit the target. The wind, although mild at 6 MPH were tricky, shifting left right, right left. If you happened to miss the shift, you're screwed. By the time we shoot the next target at 2,162, the wind was now blowing between 15-20 Miles an hour. The mirages emanating from the heated desert sand made the matter even more worst. I'm compensating 5 mils for wind and still wasn't enough. I was pretty much throwing Hail Mary's at the target. I did managed to hit the target only once. Shooting the last target at 1860 was easy picking for the 416 and 375. I manage to hit the target 4 times. My partner did not fare well. He missed all his shots. Feel sorry for him but it's all fun and games... nothing serious. He thought I won the competition but turned out I was 4th place overall after all the shot was tallied. I was a surprised that I did well considering that I haven't shoot the rifle since January when I competed at World Shoot in Nevada. Hitting the mile and a half target was even more surprising since the 300 grain Berger was already at subsonic speed at that distance. Overall this will be a good tune up for next year series. I'm hoping I can get my 375 ready by then because a Vortex Razor Gen II and a Custom Knife will be awarded to the winner of the spring classic.
Here are the pictures from the match. The 2,610 yards target in this picture shows 6 hits, all by 300 lead core bullet from 338 Lapua. 3 of these hit was from my rifle. From looking at the impact, hit no 4,5 and 6 has more splatter while the other 3 has very little splatter. My 338 Ackley has more velocity and energy than the standard Lapua from the two other shooters that split the other 3 hits. Judging form the impact I concluded that 4, 5, and 6 were probably from my rifle. If that's the case that is one hell of a three shot group.
