What did you do at the range today?

[WyldGoose]

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.

 

[Deere_Man]

Shot a Remington-Rand 1911, sighted in a new T3X 223, helped my buddy confirm zero on Savage .3o/o6 & Browning BAR 7 Mag, and saw a fawn.

 

[mxgsfmdpx]

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…




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.

 

[RockAndSage]

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?

 

[Q_Sertorius]

Which spartan bipod? The normal one with long legs, or the sprinkbok?

Unless I am dead wrong, he uses the setup I copied from him: a pair of Springbok legs on a javelin lite head.

 

[mxgsfmdpx]

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…

SPARTAN PRECISION EQUIPMENT PRO HUNT HEAD WITH PRO 19.5

*SPECIAL ORDER* This product will come with a Pro Hunt Bipod head and a set of 19.5"-42" Legs The Pro legs with a ground clearance of 19.5" to 42" are perfect for predator hunters and shooting scenarios that require additional height and adaptability. The twist-lock mechanism is both simple and...

www.happyantelope.com

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

 

[RockAndSage]

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…

SPARTAN PRECISION EQUIPMENT PRO HUNT HEAD WITH PRO 19.5

*SPECIAL ORDER* This product will come with a Pro Hunt Bipod head and a set of 19.5"-42" Legs The Pro legs with a ground clearance of 19.5" to 42" are perfect for predator hunters and shooting scenarios that require additional height and adaptability. The twist-lock mechanism is both simple and...

www.happyantelope.com

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

Awesome, thank you.

 

[Q_Sertorius]

Which spartan bipod? The normal one with long legs, or the sprinkbok?

If you are interested in a setup like that, let me know. I may well have some extra components or other useful parts laying around.

 

[WDR]

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:


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.

 

[Sponge]

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.

 

[Q_Sertorius]

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.

I took the modified one, but I never used it.

 

[Gstew1930]

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…

SPARTAN PRECISION EQUIPMENT PRO HUNT HEAD WITH PRO 19.5

*SPECIAL ORDER* This product will come with a Pro Hunt Bipod head and a set of 19.5"-42" Legs The Pro legs with a ground clearance of 19.5" to 42" are perfect for predator hunters and shooting scenarios that require additional height and adaptability. The twist-lock mechanism is both simple and...

www.happyantelope.com

@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

 

[iburns]

Went to the range today to put the first rounds through my recently assembled Tikka T3x chambered in 25 Creedmoor. Barrel is a 23” 1:7.5 twist hybrid lite by PBB. Load was H4350 with a 117gr Hornady interlock that my lgs had in stock. Wanted to just get some low cost rounds through the new barrel to break it in while I wait for the new Sierra 131gr TGK’s to become available. First 10 shot group measured 1.15”. Pretty excited for this build and can’t wait to see what it’s capable of.

 

[Chris in TN]

So I made a booboo and might have learned something from it: Yesterday I threw together 10 rounds of .223 75 eldms. Shot them at 550 yards. Five prone, five seated. Nine of the ten went inside 1.5MOA exactly where they were supposed to be. The tenth shot veered wide 3” to the right. Still a hit but it ruined my pretty group and annoyed me.

Fired eight shots today, prone at 445 yards. First two were perfect. Third shot went right and a hair high, but I caught my mistake - the butt wasn't firm against my shoulder.

I tried to repeat that shot, with the butt loose away from my shoulder, with the same result - high and right. The remaining four shots with the butt tight went where I wanted. Like so:



Shooting facing slightly downhill, at a target that is slightly uphill, with a more-or-less sporter-type stock - too much drop, butt too low. Works plenty well enough from seated, not so well prone at a bad angle. But maybe it'll help to know that now.

 

[The Guide]

Stopped at the state range on my way to my wife's family's "Shoot Out at The Ranch" event tomorrow. I had a couple of guns I needed to shoot before the event. Got the 9mm PC with the Holosun so it is +/- 3" from POA from 25 yards to 100 yards. I also got speeds on a new lot of bulk Hornady 6.5 Creedmoor 140 BTHP that I bought since this Howa rifle likes it and I only have about 100 of the AAC 140 Sabre Blade Black Tips left that I was saving for hunting. This Hornady ammo did not disappoint... ES of 92.6 on the first 5 shot group. I would have been mad but it was a sub 0.7" group. It's low (still sighted in for the AAC ammo) but I just put the offset into my Shooter profile for this lot of ammo.



I then turned my attention to steel. Went with the right side targets first. Wind was from the rear so no issue with first round impacts at 200, 300 ,400, 500, and 600 yards. I then went to the left side and shot the 330 yard first round then missed 0.2 mil right on the 490 target. Held 0.2 mil on the reticle and hit on 2nd round. I pulled out my wind meter and couldn't get more than 2 mph at any place around the firing position so I used that number @ 90⁰ to the 1000 yard steel and it told me 0.3 left so I dialed and sent the first one. Good on the waterline but still 0.2 mil right. Held 0.2 in the reticle and sent a second for hit. Sent a 3rd with the same hold and backed it up for back to back hits on the 1000 yard full size IPSC steel. By the time I finished I had 20rounds across the Garmin and had a speed of 2604 fps with an ES of 95.5 and an SD of 28.9. I guess that's what you can expect for a buck a round from Hornady.

By this time the rifle was warm and some new folks had shown up to shoot (I was alone before they showed up) and they wanted to put out targets. I started breaking my gear down while they were shooting and they were out of both handgun and rifle ammo in about 10 minutes. I over heard them talking about going back to town to buy more ammo. They requested a ceasefire on the line so they could get their targets.

I decided that there isn't anything more patriotic that you could do on the 250th celebration of this countries Independence than letting some guys you doesn't even know crack some steel at extended distances so I asked if they want shoot some steel. They said "Sure, how much?" like I was going to charge them! I told them no charge as long they hit a target at least once...

I took Shooter 1 and talked him through how to dial a solution for 330 yards, how to use a rear bag, and how to squeeze the trigger and he got a first round impact. Shooter #2 got behind the gun and he used the dope already dialed and made a first round impact. Shooter #2 got first chance at the 490 yard target. I gave him the solution to dial and he missed his first shot at that target. I told him he could try again. Miss #2. He was hitting low. Like 2 mils low. He admitted he has a bad flinch from shooting his own rifles and he usually hits low even at 100 yards. My rifle is suppressed and he said he was flinching even though this rifle is super soft to shoot and he knows it won't hurt his shoulder. I talked him through shot 3. We talked about good form, relaxed grip, not rushing the shot before he was read, and making a clean trigger break. He nailed it on shot 3. Guy jumped up and did a happy dance and hugged me. I got shooter #1 back behind the gun and put 3 rounds in the magazine. Since he was now cold on the gun, I had him dry fire on the target using the dope already in there from shooter #2. He verified the target (wasn't sure if he was shooting at the 490 or 1000 yard target) and did a dry fire. Shooter 1 proceed to go 3 for 3 on the 490 yard target.

They both commented on how soft that 6.5 Creedmoor shot. I said hold on and went and grabbed my Tikka CTR 223 with the UM OG6-S on it from the truck. I had them each shoot it at the 330 yard target once. They couldn't believe that the recoil felt like a 22LR and that the impact on steel was so loud.

These 2 guys thanked me multiple times and offered me money for helping them shoot further than they ever had before. They asked me if I had a business card and if I was a shooting instructor. I just told them I was a good old boy with some accurate rifles that liked to see people have fun. By the time they left, shooter #2 was talking about getting his barrel threaded and buying a suppressor and getting a FFP MIL scope. I guess I'm a bad influence even when I'm just trying to be nice...

Here's to freedom seeds and new friends! Happy Independence Day.

Jay