What did you do at the range today?

Hit the range this morning to focus on some seated unsupported techniques. I’ve decided to change my approach to shooting sessions. I see better progress when I spend more time shooting one way for multiple sessions in a row. It seems to help me work out quirks and find little ways to reduce my wobble. There’s definitely other positions I need practice with, and I’ll get to them down the road a bit.

For now, and this might sound silly to some, but I’m looking at positional shooting the way I looked at learning a new trick on my skateboard or bmx bike as a kid. I’d obsess over the one trick I wanted to learn until I had it down and it became second nature. Just a reflex. This is how I want different shooting positions to feel. Like they’re all just tricks I learned a long time ago and mastered.

 
After another Carl Ross and S2H drill to warm up this morning I hiked a 12” gong across a wash and up a knob and hung it from a tree. Some fresh crappy orange paint to cover old marks.

Hiked back to the Jeep then packed up a little rise that gave me visibility to the gong.

Drill is “shoot til you miss” on a 12” gong at a realistic and common hunting shot distance with that particular gun and load.

Today happened to be 544 yards which at today’s DA, is close to the limit of this 16” barrel guns effective killing range. Slight steady breeze left to right from shooting position with nearly zero gusts, wind was compressing along the knob and funneling over making it roughly double at target versus shooting position (did not know this on shot 1). I should have taken more time to closely view both shot mid point and gong location vegetation and mirage feedback.

Tikka 223 77 TMKs Fixed 6 SWFA, boring, repeatable, effective, does what it’s supposed to do day in and day out…

IMG_4764.jpeg


Shoot until you get a hit and then shoot until you miss. I rotate shots between my two most common field shots on animals. Prone off backpack with bino harness as rear rest and seated position with long Spartan bipod front rest and pack as rear rest.

All shots start with timer at 30 seconds and pack on, rifle condition 3. Range target, re range target, build position, dial for elevation, rack round, safety on, wind call, safety off, shoot, watch target feedback, make rifle safe, stop.

I missed my first shot just off the right side of the gong and realized the wind was about double what it was where I was shooting from.

The next 9 shots were hits switching back and forth between seated and prone. Videoing the gong through binoculars is handy for reviewing hits and misses. 10th shot miss was off to the left of the gong.

IMG_4765.jpeg
 
After another Carl Ross and S2H drill to warm up this morning I hiked a 12” gong across a wash and up a knob and hung it from a tree. Some fresh crappy orange paint to cover old marks.

Hiked back to the Jeep then packed up a little rise that gave me visibility to the gong.

Drill is “shoot til you miss” on a 12” gong at a realistic and common hunting shot distance with that particular gun and load.

Today happened to be 544 yards which at today’s DA, is close to the limit of this 16” barrel guns effective killing range. Slight steady breeze left to right from shooting position with nearly zero gusts, wind was compressing along the knob and funneling over making it roughly double at target versus shooting position (did not know this on shot 1). I should have taken more time to closely view both shot mid point and gong location vegetation and mirage feedback.

Tikka 223 77 TMKs Fixed 6 SWFA, boring, repeatable, effective, does what it’s supposed to do day in and day out…

View attachment 1089747


Shoot until you get a hit and then shoot until you miss. I rotate shots between my two most common field shots on animals. Prone off backpack with bino harness as rear rest and seated position with long Spartan bipod front rest and pack as rear rest.

All shots start with timer at 30 seconds and pack on, rifle condition 3. Range target, re range target, build position, dial for elevation, rack round, safety on, wind call, safety off, shoot, watch target feedback, make rifle safe, stop.

I missed my first shot just off the right side of the gong and realized the wind was about double what it was where I was shooting from.

The next 9 shots were hits switching back and forth between seated and prone. Videoing the gong through binoculars is handy for reviewing hits and misses. 10th shot miss was off to the left of the gong.

View attachment 1089754

Which spartan bipod? The normal one with long legs, or the sprinkbok?
 
Which spartan bipod? The normal one with long legs, or the sprinkbok?
The original head and original long legs. I think they may even be a prototype I cant remember it’s been so long.

That springbok thing is a huge swing and a miss.

If I was ordering today it’s this setup here…


@Gstew1930 I believe started using this setup over the winter and spring and could maybe provide his feedback.
 
The original head and original long legs. I think they may even be a prototype I cant remember it’s been so long.

That springbok thing is a huge swing and a miss.

If I was ordering today it’s this setup here…


@Gstew1930 I believe started using this setup over the winter and spring and could maybe provide his feedback.

Awesome, thank you.
 
I went to the range with a friend, and it was a bit busy, but the guy on the next bench over overheard our conversations about needing to chrono this new load of mine, and offered graciously to let me shoot a few past his Garmin. 20" Savage .223 #poorsrifle, wearing my Turbo K, shooting 88 TMKs over 23.5gr N540 at 2.41" OAL got me this for a 5 rd string:
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I thanked him profusely.

I'm loading the ammo progressively on my Dillon 550, and that was with thrown, not hand weighed charges. My friend had predicted ~2600ish with GRT, and I was figuring maybe 2650. So I was tickled to see over 2700. The load is probably MOAish or better, but I haven't shot it enough to say for sure. I was stacking them quite well on the 545yd plate in light wind, and put 2 or 3 on a big plate at 1k. At that velocity, the bullets wont be dropping under 1800 out past 600ish yards, which is farther than I am ever likely to shoot big game.

It was a good day at the range.
 
Unless I am dead wrong, he uses the setup I copied from him: a pair of Springbok legs on a javelin lite head.
did you take your springbok to S2H? I seem to remember a back and forth about that.
Curious if they worked, or if form used them like a switch to enforce discipline.
 
The original head and original long legs. I think they may even be a prototype I cant remember it’s been so long.

That springbok thing is a huge swing and a miss.

If I was ordering today it’s this setup here…


@Gstew1930 I believe started using this setup over the winter and spring and could maybe provide his feedback.
This set up has been bad ass for me. It stays in my truck. Very stable. Ive shot alot of pigs & coyotes with it. I have not been out West with it but ive shot plenty using my pack as a rear rest in training. Its near prone steady
 
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