Long range angled shooting, laser rangefinding, and firing solutions.

[8404]

I generally run my laser rangefinders on angle mode, because I do an equal amount of archery to rifle shooting.

Lately I have been diving more into the details of long range ballistics which makes me wonder about a couple things.

I have always shot the angle compensated distance because that is the horizontal distance that gravity is acting on the arrow or bullet. This has always worked for me and it totally makes sense.

With a long distance rifle shot, it makes sense to use the angle distance to calculate bullet drop. But when calculating wind drift, on longer range shots, the time of flight seems to become increasingly important.

So my questions: For angled long-range rifle shots are you using true line distance then feeding the angle into the ballistic calculator and letting the app build your total firing solution, or are you lasering the angle distance and feeding that number into the calculator?

It seems like the most precise method would be to laser true line distance, enter that into the calculator, measure shot angle, enter that into the calculator, and enter wind direction and speed (assuming you have current and correct atmospheric data loaded (but I just got a Kestrel for that)) to come up with the most accurate firing solution.

But that all adds up to more time spent before the shot.

I'm curious how you run your lasers in reference to your ballistic calculators. I know the easy solution is to get a ballistic rangefinder but for the meantime I would like to understand what is happening here.

Thanks!

 

[Antares]

This is a great question; it demonstrates that you have a decent grasp on the fundamentals involved.

My recommendation is to feed the angle compensated range into your solver. You’ll need an extreme angle and/or range for the difference between angle compensated and line of sight to matter. Even then, the difference is probably going to be overwhelmed by error in your wind call. And yes, burning up time with this sort of complexity in your shot process is a huge disadvantage. Good thought exercise anyway.

 

[Reburn]

I agree with what antares said

 

[WeiserBucks]

Revic BR4 answers all of your questions. If you're in the market for a new rangefinder I'd take a long look at the BR4.

 

[LaHunter]

For my 7 rem mag, a 600 yard shot, where I live at 100' ASL, requires 9.5 moa up adjustment for a 0 degree angle shot. Same distance with a 20 degree up angle requires 8.5 moa up adjustment, so essentially about 6" poi difference. My opinion: the most accurate is to take your raw laser range finder distance and input that along with the shot angle into your calculator and let it do its math. As you said, that can take time. I killed a bull at 430 yards several years ago with a 20 degree uphill shot. I had a laminated drop chart with the cosine values on the reverse side. The bull was moving and there wasn't much time to make the shot, so I just dialed .25 or .50 moa less (don't recall exactly what 'correction' I used) than my dope card value for the distance and made a good shot from an awkward position.

 

[Antares]

I killed a bull at 430 yards several years ago with a 20 degree uphill shot. I had a laminated drop chart with the cosine values on the reverse side. The bull was moving and there wasn't much time to make the shot, so I just dialed .25 or .50 moa less (don't recall exactly what 'correction' I used) than my dope card value for the distance and made a good shot from an awkward position.

This makes no sense to me. Why the heck wouldn’t you let your rangefinder give you an angle compensated range in a situation like this? Seems like you’re adding unnecessary error and complexity. I want the rangefinder to spit out something I can dial, not something I need to correct.

 

[LaHunter]

This makes no sense to me. Why the heck wouldn’t you let your rangefinder give you an angle compensated range in a situation like this? Seems like you’re adding unnecessary error and complexity. I want the rangefinder to spit out something I can dial, not something I need to correct.

My range finder does not do that. Only gives straight line distance

 

[Antares]

My range finder does not do that. Only gives straight line distance

Yeah, been there. Sounds like you're making it work with what you got. I just assumed every rangefinder made in the last decade had an angle compensated mode.

 

[wabash503]

Look at it from a go/no-go perspective based on what you've practiced/are comfortable with doing consistently. Just as important as the rest is knowing your limits and maintaining your personal ethic to not shoot if it isn't one you're likely to hit.