long range shooting

[shoots_5]

Got out on Saturday with the 300 H&H and tested a few loads with the 168gr Berger's. 67.0 grains of IMR 4350 was the winner with a group just under an inch and a surprising velocity average of 3255 with a SD of 16. That was about a hundred fps faster than what I was hoping/expecting so I was pleased!

I also did a little steel banging with the 185 grain load I had previously worked up. Here are a couple of video's shooting the 12" target at 804 yards. The wind was swirling and gusty and it humbled me most of the day but I managed to get a few hits. Went out out and bought a kestral the next day so hopefully that will help me in judging wind a bit more.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKVAByJjGDo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSyPVKF17i0

And a longer video that shows me missing a bunch at 756 yards with the 168 grain Berger's.....wind was really screwing with me and I didn't have accurate dope on it as it was a new load. I had a pretty good group in the dirt to the right of the target though!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bw1Djpq7q-I :grin:

 

[Guy Miner]

Good deal! I love long range shooting...

 

[JD338]

shoots_5

Nice shooting!
You can see the vapor trail of the bullet. Very cool. 8)

JD338

 

[DrMike]

What a fantastic place to shoot. Keep up the good work.

 

[shoots_5]

Thanks. There's something about being able to see the bullet swirl that just makes me grin every time I see it! And yes, I'm pretty lucky in that I have a pretty sweet place to shoot all to myself. Hopefully I'll get the funds together soon to build my other LR rifle that will be a bit cheaper to go out and shoot so I can do it more often!

My next camera/shooting adventure I think will be to put the camera up near the target as I'm curious to see and hear what it sounds like from the target perspective in regards to bullet crack and what the delay of the rifle report is like. And yes, I'll be cautious in regards to how near the camera will be....close enough but a ways out and zoomed in as to not catch any bullet fragments or a stray shot.....

 

[bullet]

That was a lot of fun to watch, that is cool indeed.

 

[Ridge_Runner]

yep its humbleing, and I've been humbled alot. couple years ago I was invited to a big farm for some long range deer hunting, first shot was at dawn, a doe walked out in the field at 611 yards, I held behind the shoulder and fired, problem was she was slightly quartering too, hit was back farther than it should have been, she crowhopped a couple times and layed down, a guy said there's one we'll hafta run down, just as he said that I took aim and head shot her at 623, the next shot was at 822, perfect shoulder hit, deer never made a step.
I then set the scope and the guys with me made 1 shot kills at 567 and 722 yards. went back the next day and couldn't hit squat, your talkin about being humbled!
RR

 

[SJB358]

Awesome shooting! Man, you are really lucky to have a great range like that. You are really making that 300 H&H look good buddy! Scotty

 

[Desert Fox]

Yep! there's no substitute for going out there and do it. I love your shooting range.

Shoot, I noticed the wind was blowing form right to left but your hitting right. Check your spin drift for that bullet that you're using and compensate for it. You'll have better chance on hitting your target on a cold bore shot.

 

[shoots_5]

Being a bit new o the long range game....how would one go about checking the spin drift?

Upon examining the video a bit more I had 2 different winds working. I for sure had a left to right wind from where I was shooting and the wind at the targets seemed to vary but at times I also noticed it was opposite.....seems like a tough problem to solve. I guess that comes with experience though.

 

[Desert Fox]

Are you using any ballistic program? My Exbal has that feature. You can also call Berger or talk to their ballistician and they'll probably tell you. Make sure you know your barrel twist.

 

[FOTIS]

Good work! Yesterday I put together my LR gong. Almost there!

 

[shoots_5]

I'm using the Sierra external ballistics V6. Doesn't seem to have anything for spin drift that I can find. However, I don't think it's a huge problem as I haven't had a problem hitting the targets when there is no wind. I think I just had a multi-directional wind that I wasn't figuring out. I don't think I'm a good enough shooter yet to start blaming misses on much of anything other than the guy sitting behind the rifle! :wink:


POP what are the specs on your gong? I quickly discovered that I can't shoot my gongs any closer than 600 yards without doing significant damage to the metal.....on their first trip out I came about an 1/8" from punching a hole clean through the 8" plate at 375 yards. Thought it would be a good warm up for shooting longer but after watching an 8" square 1/2" steel plate swing clear over the stand in a full circle I thought I better go check it and found this!

Small marks are from the 22-250 which surprised me that it even left a mark at that range....

Back side of target

This is what the 300 H&H does to the metal at 554 yards....

Again the small bullet strikes are from the 22-250....just chipping paint at that range.

At 800 yards the 300 strikes look like the one's from the 22-250 in the picture above....barely knocks the paint off with no marks in the metal at all. Would love to have gone with an AR500 steel but it's just too damned expensive!