Range Report A Beginner's Journey to Shooting the Breeze

[rlsmith1]

Thought I would start a thread to help others as they get into long range shooting and document what I've learned (very basic to this point). Hopefully this evolves into something more but I can't guarantee that! Would love to have any additional input from others along the way since I'm far from an authority on long range rifle (I grew up in Iowa where long range was 125 yds with slugs). I do shoot at night so hopefully this will bleed into that a little bit.

I'll give a quick equipment list as well as what I've learned and likely follow up as I learn more / become more proficient. At this point, I have an accurate rifle, can make a stable shooting position almost anywhere, get reasonably accurate ranges to 1k and have ballpark data to work with since I don't have a unit that runs AB (yet).
Action: Terminus Zeus Long Action QC with 6.5 CM, 308, 300 WM and 300 NM barrels. Sandman S suppressor but waiting on a larger can from Rex Silentium (might get a 338 LM or XC barrel down the road)
Stock: KRG Bravo (until @Terry Cross will sell me a Zealot LA!)
Optic: Leupold Mark 5 5-25 with CCH reticle
Bipod: Harris
Rangefinder: Vortex Impact 1000
Tripod: Leofoto LN364c with a LH55 head
Ballistics: JBM on a laptop / phone screenshots

At this point, I have purposely chosen to shoot almost exclusively 308 (except to break the other barrels in) because I want to learn to deal with the wind that seems to blow here in Iowa more days than not. I'm running a 26" MTU barrel that spits factory second M118LR out at 2650fps which isn't fast but does require better wind and drop calls (the whole reason I'm shooting 308 in the first place). Before I start shooting other calibers, I want to be comfortable with the 308 on 1-1.5 MOA targets to 800 yds no matter the conditions. 1400 is the goal for the Creed and the Norma will be the fun one to shoot someday. I also want to replicate this capability as close as I can with my AR10 with 308 (16") and 6.5 CM (18") uppers that share a 3.6-18 MK5. Eventually, I want to shoot mostly 6.5 CM but everyone likes shooting 6.5 and not as many like shooting 308 so I am learning on the cheap here. Oh, and I'll be doing as much of this at night someday as I can. Someone please make a weapon mounted LRF with ballistics that isn't $10k! Bonus if it links to a clip on or scope to disturb the reticle.


Session 1: I'm excited to shoot my new rifle and spend more time than I'd like to admit "testing" the QC feature of the Zeus. It's awesome to go 308 to 300 mag in minutes but verifying a zero on paper is important. I had a good zero before I started swapping barrels and when I dropped the 308 back on, I was 0.3 MIL high at 100. Repeatable enough to be accurate in a pinch but I will certainly verify zero each time I change barrels. No data yet on how the barrels shoot in relation to eachother but that's its own rabbit hole.

On to the shooting... Since I want to feel good about myself, I set a 12" plat at 460 yds. It's a bean year here so until they are picked, spotting misses is basically impossible (fun). Wind is blowing about 18mph at 1/4 value. I was a little too confident in my ability to "read wind" and having read how terrible the 308 is in the wind (lol) I ran drop on JBM, step out and start sending rounds. Like 20 of them. I think I hit the plate once or twice. I held 1-2 MIL off and no dice, held high and low, no dice. Pretty embarrassing to shoot so poorly with a bolt rifle in the prone at such a large target. Looking back, I should have held about 0.6 MIL.


Session 2: After getting one hit during the day, I should be able to get lucky at night right? Well I shot almost a dozen shots in one night and got one lucky hit again. No matter where I held, I was not able to get a second hit. I believe at this point I was still overcompensating for the wind.


Session 3: No wind today so I can focus on shooting accurately and gathering good dope for my rifle. Hits are easier this time and I am closer to 80% hit rate (still not great on a ~2.5 MOA target).

A few days later, to ensure I'm able to run the rifle and have good ammo, I put 15 shots into ~1 MOA at 100 on paper. I use the next few days of calm to shoot a handful of rounds a day between zoom calls and solidify my drop (2.7 MIL at 460yds). The center of the plate begins to show a lot less paint which is nice to see. After 80 rounds I am very familiar with the rifle and what it takes to make hits. One calm night I am able to go 3/3 with the PVS30 which is encouraging.

Lesson Learned: I overestimated the impact wind would have on my bullet the first windy day. Even on somewhat breezy days, I am able to hold center or just off center of the plate and still get hits. One day I thought I had more wind but JBM said my hold was 0.2 MIL. Sure enough, I was making consecutive hits.


Session 4: 15mph winds at a little more than 3/4 value. I consult JBM, include wind metrics and go 3/4 value for a hold of 1.3 MIL. The way the land lays and the way the house sits, I am largely out of the wind and the bullet is out of the wind for the first 50-75 yds (according to the beans) so I settle on a 1 MIL hold. First shot breaks a little further right on the target than I would like but I still get a hit. Curious, I hold left edge and miss. Next two shots are 1MIL hold dead center and I get consecutive hits. I definitely prefer to dial for drop and hold for wind. I am able to holdovers with wind but it is slower for me at this point (I still wouldn't sell my grid reticle).

Lesson Learned: variable winds aren't always the ones that change left to right. Sometimes variable is different wind speed at different distances. I now consider 460 to be a known distance and I'm comfortable in the wind with this plate / distance combo. I am considering moving the 12" plate further out and putting an 8" plate in it's place. Once the beans are picked I will have more options for sure.