TheBelly
04-19-2015, 21:04
I've gotten a bit more into the precision shooting the past little bit, so here's where I'm going to post what happened, what went right, what went wrong, etc.
Today was the Texas Precision Rifle Club Match. This is a recurring event that happens throughout the state. For teh brave souls, the possibility exists to hit one of these matches almost every weekend. Here's my rundown of today's match, broken down by equipment and then the stages:
GUN: I used my 16" .308 LaRue. The majority of the distances at this facility were between 200-500 yards. a .308 was plenty enough.
OPTIC: Vortex 2.5-10x42. This was just fine for all but the smallest of targets (only affected one target on one stage). I think a top end of 15~ish magnification would have been a perfect blend of features. FFP was very helpful. I also had a hard time seeing my impacts at 1100 yards. The impact area was mud. literally, the berms were mud because of rain the previous day.
AMMO: I had some loaded up and it worked just fine. 175gr Nosler Custom Comp pushed by 42.5gr Varget. Federal brass and primers round it out. I pulled the trigger 72 times today. The MV was at 2414 fps, with an SD of 11, and an ES of 32. For a 16" barrel this is fine. For most of the shooting, this was fine. When pushed out to longer ranges, though, things got a little screwy. I wasn't able to find a reliable G7 BC for this bullet. If you're asking what all that means, then here's the deal: Most manufactureres publish their G1 BC. For the short to medium/long range stuff it can be used without too much trouble. At LONG ranges (1k and farther) the G1 is pretty outdated. The G7 is the base, and if Bryan Litz has published data, I will use that. Also, this ammo went subsonic at about 1040~ish yards, or so said my little computer. This meant that it was fine for 90% of the shots, and then it just sucked at the 1100 yard stage.
SUPPORT: I used an Eberlestock Gunbearer GS-05 backpack. The on board gun scabbard is a really handy idea, but a little cumbersome for this type of match. Constantly putting the gun in and out of the scabbard was a little too much effort for me. We didn't have far to walk, so I ended up just slinging the rifle. What would I use instead? I normally use a Kata Beetle-282 backpack. It has all the room, but it's specifically meant for folks like me who have to have everything in it's own place. This is a backpack meant for photo/video support. It's just not tacticool. What's nice about it is that it has a velcro movable grid system that I can make sure everything goes in it's little place. It's organized as &^*k! Also, it has the most comfortable waist strap that I've ever used. I'm going to make a video about this tonight, actually. Video about the backpack: http://youtu.be/cwbSguhDsJQ
Stages:
1. COLD BORE: 4" square at 495 yards, 5 seconds to load and engage with 1 round from the prone. This happened as soon as we got to the range. First Thing. I didn't get the hit. Most folks did not get the hit. what did I learn here? Get dope and be able to refer back to it quickly. I have not fully developed this load, so I have only trued the curve. I do not have actual dope on this ammo/gun combo. After this stage, we all laid down and confirmed our zeros. This was a great test.
2. HOSTAGE HEAD: 8 shots in 45 seconds. 9 points possible.The target is an orange flapper that swings from either side of a 2/3 IPSC steel at 494 yards from the prone. The first shot hit was worth 2 points and the rest were worth 1 point. I hit the first shot and the 2nd. The flapper then stuck behind the head of the hostage, so I moved to the alternate target. Then the original target moved to where it could be used. The RO told me to re-engage the original target. I got one more round off and ran out of time.
3. TOP DECK: 10 shots across across the top and middle railing of a structure. They had a platform that had a long top and middle railing. There are four verticle posts holding up the railing. one shot each from the top rail and middle rail from each of the sections divided by the vertical rails, with shots #9 and #10 being support side. The target was a 16" piece of steel at 402 yards. A lot of folks did very poorly at this stage, and I was also one of them. Here's what I did wrong: Seeing as I was using an AR, I had a longer hand rail than a bolt gun. I put my bipod back a couple slots on the bottom rail and then jammed that portion into the railing so that I could get a decent hold. I was too far away from the pivot point, so even the small movement that I had made a large difference downrange. I should have centered the rifle on the rail so that it would be more balanced. I would have had a steadier sight picture, which would have allowed me to better spot my impacts. I need to test this more so that I can not make this same mistake again.
4. TEST YOUR LIMITS: 10 shots from the prone, progressively smaller pieces of steel, 60 seconds. 10 points max. You had to hit the steel to be able to move on to the next piece of steel. On most TYL/KYL stages, if you miss you give up any points you may have had. On this one, you just had to hit the steel to move on. I hit the first three pieces without too much difficulty. The last (smallest) piece of steel was too small for me to actually see with my little 10x scope. That ONE target out of all of them was just too small. Seeing as I hit the other targets without too much of an issue, this is where I wish I had about 15x on the top end.
5. 1100 YARDS: 16" target at 1100 yards. 5 shots, 45 seconds. 1 point per hit on target. This is the only stage where the weapon system as a whole, just wasn't enough. The bullet went sub-sonic at about 1040 (or so says my ballistic app, when I gave it the DA and temp), so I'm not surprised that I didn't get this. Also, 10x was enough to ID the target and it was easy to make the corrections, but I had to rely on the spotters for my adjustments to impact as I wasn't able to see them. It doesn't help when they say, "just off the right side" when they are able to look in their reticles and say "adjust .4 left." I was just dancing all over it. Lots of expensive noise. For all the uber-nerdy/particular types, this is where things get a little hinky. I was using a G1 BC. Ugh!
6. PIPE CULVERT: 8" piece of steel at 440 yards, 10 shots supported from a big drainage pipe. We had to be kneeling in the mud to be able to utilize this structure for support. I learned from the 'top rail' stage and loaded up a 10rd PMAG for this stage and leveled the rifle on the top of the pipe. The 10 round magazine (double stack) meant that the length of the magazine didn't get in the way of the rifle being balanced on teh culvert. I also put my little rear bag around the hand guard and slid it up so that the rifle had something stable to rest on. When shooting you had to move after every two shots. There were very long metal dividers (that kept the pipe from rolling around) that divided it up into the 5 sections. I did much better at this, even though it was almost exactly the same shooting positions as the 'top rail' stage.
7. PYRAMID: 10 shots, 2 minutes. 402 yards. 12 points possible. there was a homemade contraption that had four legs and it looked like a pyramid. we had to shoot two rounds from the leg on the right, from the top, and from the left leg. Each of these hits was worth one point. Then we had to transition to a small target at 495 yards and shoot from the prone, 2 shots from the strong side, 2 shots from the support side. These shots were worth 2 points each. Pretty straight forward, really.
8. LADDER: 5 shots, 60 seconds, maybe a 2-MOA target at 400~ish yards, I think. (I don't have my notes right in front of me.) The only catch here was that the shooting structure was a folding ladder. You had to be completely on the ladder for all the shots. I didn't do bad at the stage, but the support of the rifle was a key component. Using the position stuff I learned from the 'top deck' and the 'pipe culvert' stages, I just propped the rifle up there with the bag and the 10 round magazine then collapsed the buttstock until I was able to support myself and get a good sight picture. I could tell that my parallax was off for this stage. That's my fault. I said I was ready to go without double checking every setting on the rifle. I've gotten into the habit of resetting the scope back to 'zero/zero/zero' that i forgot to set the parallax for this stage. The adjustable stock really paid off for this stage.
9. CHAIR: 10" target at 400 yards. 10 shots, 60 seconds. 1 point per hit on target. No support equipment allowed (bipods, bags, rests, etc.), just you and your gun. This was not that difficult for me, but only because I was able to make adjustments to my rifle that a lot of others weren't: I could use a longer magazine to prop the rifle higher. I could adjust my buttstock so that I could have an easier time getting into a position. Here's an important lesson from this: First/Front Focal Plane optics can make/break you on a stage like this. If you have to get into a weird position, then eye relief can become an issue. Most scopes have a nicer eye box if you turn the power down. If you have a FFP optic, then you can still have the same holds. I kept mine on 10x and it was just fine, but only because I also was able to adjust the buttstock in and get into a better position to shoot from an otherwise unsteady position.
Today was the Texas Precision Rifle Club Match. This is a recurring event that happens throughout the state. For teh brave souls, the possibility exists to hit one of these matches almost every weekend. Here's my rundown of today's match, broken down by equipment and then the stages:
GUN: I used my 16" .308 LaRue. The majority of the distances at this facility were between 200-500 yards. a .308 was plenty enough.
OPTIC: Vortex 2.5-10x42. This was just fine for all but the smallest of targets (only affected one target on one stage). I think a top end of 15~ish magnification would have been a perfect blend of features. FFP was very helpful. I also had a hard time seeing my impacts at 1100 yards. The impact area was mud. literally, the berms were mud because of rain the previous day.
AMMO: I had some loaded up and it worked just fine. 175gr Nosler Custom Comp pushed by 42.5gr Varget. Federal brass and primers round it out. I pulled the trigger 72 times today. The MV was at 2414 fps, with an SD of 11, and an ES of 32. For a 16" barrel this is fine. For most of the shooting, this was fine. When pushed out to longer ranges, though, things got a little screwy. I wasn't able to find a reliable G7 BC for this bullet. If you're asking what all that means, then here's the deal: Most manufactureres publish their G1 BC. For the short to medium/long range stuff it can be used without too much trouble. At LONG ranges (1k and farther) the G1 is pretty outdated. The G7 is the base, and if Bryan Litz has published data, I will use that. Also, this ammo went subsonic at about 1040~ish yards, or so said my little computer. This meant that it was fine for 90% of the shots, and then it just sucked at the 1100 yard stage.
SUPPORT: I used an Eberlestock Gunbearer GS-05 backpack. The on board gun scabbard is a really handy idea, but a little cumbersome for this type of match. Constantly putting the gun in and out of the scabbard was a little too much effort for me. We didn't have far to walk, so I ended up just slinging the rifle. What would I use instead? I normally use a Kata Beetle-282 backpack. It has all the room, but it's specifically meant for folks like me who have to have everything in it's own place. This is a backpack meant for photo/video support. It's just not tacticool. What's nice about it is that it has a velcro movable grid system that I can make sure everything goes in it's little place. It's organized as &^*k! Also, it has the most comfortable waist strap that I've ever used. I'm going to make a video about this tonight, actually. Video about the backpack: http://youtu.be/cwbSguhDsJQ
Stages:
1. COLD BORE: 4" square at 495 yards, 5 seconds to load and engage with 1 round from the prone. This happened as soon as we got to the range. First Thing. I didn't get the hit. Most folks did not get the hit. what did I learn here? Get dope and be able to refer back to it quickly. I have not fully developed this load, so I have only trued the curve. I do not have actual dope on this ammo/gun combo. After this stage, we all laid down and confirmed our zeros. This was a great test.
2. HOSTAGE HEAD: 8 shots in 45 seconds. 9 points possible.The target is an orange flapper that swings from either side of a 2/3 IPSC steel at 494 yards from the prone. The first shot hit was worth 2 points and the rest were worth 1 point. I hit the first shot and the 2nd. The flapper then stuck behind the head of the hostage, so I moved to the alternate target. Then the original target moved to where it could be used. The RO told me to re-engage the original target. I got one more round off and ran out of time.
3. TOP DECK: 10 shots across across the top and middle railing of a structure. They had a platform that had a long top and middle railing. There are four verticle posts holding up the railing. one shot each from the top rail and middle rail from each of the sections divided by the vertical rails, with shots #9 and #10 being support side. The target was a 16" piece of steel at 402 yards. A lot of folks did very poorly at this stage, and I was also one of them. Here's what I did wrong: Seeing as I was using an AR, I had a longer hand rail than a bolt gun. I put my bipod back a couple slots on the bottom rail and then jammed that portion into the railing so that I could get a decent hold. I was too far away from the pivot point, so even the small movement that I had made a large difference downrange. I should have centered the rifle on the rail so that it would be more balanced. I would have had a steadier sight picture, which would have allowed me to better spot my impacts. I need to test this more so that I can not make this same mistake again.
4. TEST YOUR LIMITS: 10 shots from the prone, progressively smaller pieces of steel, 60 seconds. 10 points max. You had to hit the steel to be able to move on to the next piece of steel. On most TYL/KYL stages, if you miss you give up any points you may have had. On this one, you just had to hit the steel to move on. I hit the first three pieces without too much difficulty. The last (smallest) piece of steel was too small for me to actually see with my little 10x scope. That ONE target out of all of them was just too small. Seeing as I hit the other targets without too much of an issue, this is where I wish I had about 15x on the top end.
5. 1100 YARDS: 16" target at 1100 yards. 5 shots, 45 seconds. 1 point per hit on target. This is the only stage where the weapon system as a whole, just wasn't enough. The bullet went sub-sonic at about 1040 (or so says my ballistic app, when I gave it the DA and temp), so I'm not surprised that I didn't get this. Also, 10x was enough to ID the target and it was easy to make the corrections, but I had to rely on the spotters for my adjustments to impact as I wasn't able to see them. It doesn't help when they say, "just off the right side" when they are able to look in their reticles and say "adjust .4 left." I was just dancing all over it. Lots of expensive noise. For all the uber-nerdy/particular types, this is where things get a little hinky. I was using a G1 BC. Ugh!
6. PIPE CULVERT: 8" piece of steel at 440 yards, 10 shots supported from a big drainage pipe. We had to be kneeling in the mud to be able to utilize this structure for support. I learned from the 'top rail' stage and loaded up a 10rd PMAG for this stage and leveled the rifle on the top of the pipe. The 10 round magazine (double stack) meant that the length of the magazine didn't get in the way of the rifle being balanced on teh culvert. I also put my little rear bag around the hand guard and slid it up so that the rifle had something stable to rest on. When shooting you had to move after every two shots. There were very long metal dividers (that kept the pipe from rolling around) that divided it up into the 5 sections. I did much better at this, even though it was almost exactly the same shooting positions as the 'top rail' stage.
7. PYRAMID: 10 shots, 2 minutes. 402 yards. 12 points possible. there was a homemade contraption that had four legs and it looked like a pyramid. we had to shoot two rounds from the leg on the right, from the top, and from the left leg. Each of these hits was worth one point. Then we had to transition to a small target at 495 yards and shoot from the prone, 2 shots from the strong side, 2 shots from the support side. These shots were worth 2 points each. Pretty straight forward, really.
8. LADDER: 5 shots, 60 seconds, maybe a 2-MOA target at 400~ish yards, I think. (I don't have my notes right in front of me.) The only catch here was that the shooting structure was a folding ladder. You had to be completely on the ladder for all the shots. I didn't do bad at the stage, but the support of the rifle was a key component. Using the position stuff I learned from the 'top deck' and the 'pipe culvert' stages, I just propped the rifle up there with the bag and the 10 round magazine then collapsed the buttstock until I was able to support myself and get a good sight picture. I could tell that my parallax was off for this stage. That's my fault. I said I was ready to go without double checking every setting on the rifle. I've gotten into the habit of resetting the scope back to 'zero/zero/zero' that i forgot to set the parallax for this stage. The adjustable stock really paid off for this stage.
9. CHAIR: 10" target at 400 yards. 10 shots, 60 seconds. 1 point per hit on target. No support equipment allowed (bipods, bags, rests, etc.), just you and your gun. This was not that difficult for me, but only because I was able to make adjustments to my rifle that a lot of others weren't: I could use a longer magazine to prop the rifle higher. I could adjust my buttstock so that I could have an easier time getting into a position. Here's an important lesson from this: First/Front Focal Plane optics can make/break you on a stage like this. If you have to get into a weird position, then eye relief can become an issue. Most scopes have a nicer eye box if you turn the power down. If you have a FFP optic, then you can still have the same holds. I kept mine on 10x and it was just fine, but only because I also was able to adjust the buttstock in and get into a better position to shoot from an otherwise unsteady position.