Help me wrap my head around AB equipment

[wind gypsy]

Alcohol and Testosterone doesn't misguide a 22 YO's confidence in a bar fight nearly as much as some long range steel impacts on a square range do for the above avg hunter.

 

[hibernation]

Alcohol and Testosterone doesn't misguide a 22 YO's confidence in a bar fight nearly as much as some long range steel impacts on a square range do for the above avg hunter.

This is great. "Confidence" is such a misleading thing to rely on.

Nearly every crappy blood trail and rodeo I've been party to has had one thing in common: a dude standing around looking confused saying something like "I don't know what happened, the shot looked great, I felt confident when I pulled the trigger".

 

[Speaks]

Shooting to 500 I keep a dope card on my scope rounded to the nearest half mill for the following ranges (based on a 100 yard zero).

200
300
350
400
450
500

These all also generally align with either the average, good, or bad gun quick drop solutions for all my rifles.

This has been plenty to get to 500 with out much fuss and I dont need any electronics outside of range finding binos. Pushing past 500 I really cant speak to.

 

[BBob]

Hasn’t shot a rifle in 15 years. Wants to be field proficient to 500yds or so within 6 months. Thinks he needs a jillion linked electronic gadgets to do it.

 

[BBob]

Seriously, get yourself a non magnum rifle and just go shoot for a bit. You don’t need all that stuff to be proficient in the field even “out west”. A good rifle, basic rangefinder and the Shooter app will do all you need to do.

 

[WoodlandCritter]

Hasn’t shot a rifle in 15 years. Wants to be field proficient to 500yds or so within 6 months. Thinks he needs a jillion linked electronic gadgets to do it.

View attachment 1012651

To think that guys shoot 1000+ yards with iron sights. Or kill elk with 60 year old rifles and similar vintage scopes. Must just be spraying and getting lucky every now and then.

 

[EastHumboldt]

By the time you get set up and check all this your shot opportunity is gone. Get lots of ammo and a note book. Build you a range card. As a eastern 200 yard hunter try to find a range that you can shoot some distance and learn wind calls as well.

Also I know you think a 12lb rifle will be no big deal, and I see idaho on your list. I've lived and hunted here for 30 years. If you hunt it the way I do you’re gonna wish you would have put that rifle on a diet.

I grew up hunting in the mountains in NV. I live at close to 5,000 ft and regularly hike my dogs at elevations over 7,000. 6’tall 200 lbs. I mention this to say I’m very accustomed to operating in strenuous terrain at high elevation. My experience has taught me that a rifle weighing 7.5lbs feels like I have a dump truck slung on my shoulder at the end of a day in the mountains. I would certainly not want to haul one weighing over 9 lbs. My experience has also taught me that finding deer/ elk and having the ability to get closer is way more important to success than my shooting platform. Which BTW is a 7.5 lb t3 in 7-08. I killed a lot of deer before I even knew rangefinders were a thing because I’m usually able to stalk inside of 200 yards where a rangefinder is insignificant.

 

[ResearchinStuff]

Sig rfs are extremely unreliable

 

[hibernation]

Hasn’t shot a rifle in 15 years. Wants to be field proficient to 500yds or so within 6 months.

Yeah, there's a huge gap between "internet expectations" and reality.

OP: if you haven't looked at the annual cold bore challenge threads, I'd strongly suggest reading through those. 400+ yards with a hunting-weight rifle is way more challenging than people give credit for, especially once you're shooting under time constraints, with wind, and away from a benchrest, sandbag, or perfectly flat prone shooting mat.

Thread 'Equipment versus practice posts and Rifle practice/shooting'

Mar 31, 2020

This isn’t in response to anyone I particular, but there is an up tick in the amount of “I want a XXXX distance hunting rifle” traffic the last few months. I am getting a lot of questions relating to this, which I do not mind helping, but thought a public post might help answer some questions. It’s an attempt to get to actually using your rifles.


People online tend to act like 600/800/whatever yards is a rifle, cartridge and BDC scope purchase away. When someone asks for advice, or says I’m building an -insert whatever rifle/cartridge you want-, people are discussing hardware not...

• Formidilosus
• Replies: 835
• Forum: Firearms

• 

You might also try out the hunting drill featured in this post. 20 rounds from field positions, some under time constraints, all at 100 yds on different sized targets. If you can't hit the 2 MOA target from 100yds on demand, quickly, I would reassess your intended hunting distances where there will be even more error from ranging, dialing/holding, wind, etc.

 

[akhunter3]

Wow. Don't forget your iPad for larger GPS maps and maybe you can also find a weather station to attach to your pack.

There is a term for this.....gear queer? I think that's it.

 

[ddowning]

To think that guys shoot 1000+ yards with iron sights. Or kill elk with 60 year old rifles and similar vintage scopes. Must just be spraying and getting lucky every now and then.

No, the most important ingredient is skill. When you put the guys with the best skillset behind the best, most efficient equipment, you get what everyone thinks they can buy with equipment. Take away the skill and you have a miss at best and a wounded animal rodeo at worst. Put the guys with the skill behind lesser equipment and give them the time to vet it and fix short comings...they're still going to kill a pile of shit.

I have an acquaintance that is obsessed with making hits at one mile. He has every gadget imaginable, but no good idea how to use them. He has a lot of trouble getting on steel at triple digit ranges with a 50 bmg. My 10 year old took a 243AI with 115 dtacs to a mile and hit an ipsc 3 times in a magazine. She was 8 at the time. She also had A LOT of skill helping her.