24 Hour Sniper Adventure Challenge

[Mudinyeri]

Training continued yesterday afternoon.  It was a perfect day to head down to ENGC for a little shooting.  Neither Nick nor I had ever shot out to 600 yards before, even though I put together a gun to do it over a year ago.

We started out at 100 yards.  I put three rounds through my bolt gun, two of them touching and 2" high, windage was about 1/4" right.  I made a slight adjustment and put a round in the same vertical plane 1" high - just where I want to be at 100 yards.

We ran a few rounds through Nick's AR with an EOTech and then moved up to the 600 yard range.

With my rifle zeroed for 200 yards, it took me six rounds to get on paper (man-sized target).  The next ten rounds are shown below.  I walked the shots in from the right side of the target toward the bull's eye as I adjusted for wind (coming from about my 11:00).



With windage and elevation pretty well adjusted, Nick put four out of four rounds on target.



For the seasoned long range shooters, a couple questions:

1. I zeroed my rifle 1" high at 100 yards in the prone position but was shooting off of the tables at ENGC yesterday.  Would the different position account for the additional 1" elevation difference that I saw in my first two 100 yard shots yesterday?

2. Is there any place around the Omaha area where we could shoot out to 1200 yards?

[bkoenig]

Switching from prone to the bench would cause some shift, but I doubt if it would cause a full MOA.

What bullets and load are you using?  1200 yards is going to be quite a stretch for a 308.  You might want to consider a Lapua Scenar.  They're expensive, but they have the high BC of a heavy bullet and they're light so you can push them to higher velocities.

[Mudinyeri]

Switching from prone to the bench would cause some shift, but I doubt if it would cause a full MOA.

What bullets and load are you using?  1200 yards is going to be quite a stretch for a 308.  You might want to consider a Lapua Scenar.  They're expensive, but they have the high BC of a heavy bullet and they're light so you can push them to higher velocities.

Bullet is Hornady A-Max 178 grain.  Load is a "secret" worked up by a buddy of mind from Californiastan who is an ammo manufacturer.  The load is specific to my gun and the bullet and the ranges that I wanted to shoot.  He also told me that 1200 yards would be a stretch but that's the absolute maximum that I would have to shoot in this competition.  I need a blend of a relatively lightweight rifle and ammunition (have to carry 50 rounds) as well as an ability to potentially reach out to 1200 yards.  We'll be covering 30+ miles on foot while carrying our full load-out, including rifle, sidearm and ammo for both.

[bkoenig]

The 178 Amax is supposed to do a good job transitioning to subsonic.

[Mudinyeri]

The 178 Amax is supposed to do a good job transitioning to subsonic.

Do you mean over the course of the bullet's flight or by changing the load to slow the bullet's speed initially?

[wallace11bravo]

Do you mean over the course of the bullet's flight or by changing the load to slow the bullet's speed initially?

Bullet's flight.

Some rounds are known for destabilizing/pitching/yawing, and eventually tumbling and generally being useless when they hit the transonic barrier, and with the lower BCs and initial velocities typical in 308 win, it is something to be concerned about if you want to go much past 600.

[Mudinyeri]

Bullet's flight.

Some rounds are known for destabilizing/pitching/yawing, and eventually tumbling and generally being useless when they hit the transonic barrier, and with the lower BCs and initial velocities typical in 308 win, it is something to be concerned about if you want to go much past 600.

Thanks for clarifying.  My buddy knows his business and he's a competitive long range shooter himself.  I was very confident that I could trust his "recipe".

[wallace11bravo]

1. I zeroed my rifle 1" high at 100 yards in the prone position but was shooting off of the tables at ENGC yesterday.  Would the different position account for the additional 1" elevation difference that I saw in my first two 100 yard shots yesterday?

The position itself will not cause the change, but a change in your physical eye to axis of sight alignment and/or eye relief will. So will barrel fouling, atmospheric changes, headwinds/tailwinds (REALLY contrasting ones), powder temp, or any number of other things.

2. Is there any place around the Omaha area where we could shoot out to 1200 yards?

Not likely, but be sure to share if you do find something

Locations I know of/use:
Gresham: Private-900
Wilber: Private-1100
Dwight: Public Land-800 (have to hump your steel in about 3/4 of a mile one way)
Bennett: Private-1300
Broken Bow: Club-1000
Alliance: Club- Not sure, over 1000
Lexington: Club- 1600

[Mudinyeri]

The position itself will not cause the change, but a change in your physical eye to axis of sight alignment and/or eye relief will. So will barrel fouling, atmospheric changes, headwinds/tailwinds (REALLY contrasting ones), powder temp, or any number of other things.

Not likely, but be sure to share if you do find something

Locations I know of/use:
Gresham: Private-900
Wilber: Private-1100
Dwight: Public Land-800 (have to hump your steel in about 3/4 of a mile one way)
Bennett: Private-1300
Broken Bow: Club-1000
Alliance: Club- Not sure, over 1000
Lexington: Club- 1600

Understood on the eye axis.  I'm new to this long range stuff, but understand that from deer hunting.

Thanks for the tips on the shooting areas.  I can get a little over 700 yards on my farm, but that's when the crops are out.

[SeanN]

Best of luck to you guys. Keep training hard, it will pay off.

[bkoenig]

Do you mean over the course of the bullet's flight or by changing the load to slow the bullet's speed initially?

I mean at extreme ranges when velocity has slowed to subsonic - a lot of bullets will tumble during that transition, but the Amax remains stable.

Edit:  I'm slow on the draw, I see John already answered.  That's what happens when you try to post while you're working on a client's SQL server

[Mudinyeri]

I mean at extreme ranges when velocity has slowed to subsonic - a lot of bullets will tumble during that transition, but the Amax remains stable.

Edit:  I'm slow on the draw, I see John already answered.  That's what happens when you try to post while you're working on a client's SQL server

As long as the server doesn't tumble ....

[lunchbox]

Are either of you using a 1911 for your pistol in the challenge?

[Mudinyeri]

Are either of you using a 1911 for your pistol in the challenge?

Neither of us plan to.  We have to carry 100 rounds of pistol ammo in magazines.  That would be a LOT of magazines if we decided to carry 1911's.  I plan to carry a Glock 17.  I think Nick is planning to take his S&W M&P.

[lunchbox]

I was gonna offer up some reliability work if you guys were carrying a 1911. I get wanting to save weight though. Good luck on the challenge. I’m jealous.

[Mudinyeri]

I was gonna offer up some reliability work if you guys were carrying a 1911. I get wanting to save weight though. Good luck on the challenge. I’m jealous.

Thanks for the offer

[NENick]

I definitely appreciate the support!

[stutzcattle]

Another guy and myself are planning on doing this. 

[Mudinyeri]

Another guy and myself are planning on doing this. 

Cool. See you out there.

[NENick]

Team Handyman Joes is gearing up!