FIFTY CAL STORY + long range shooting !!!
This is a story of a few UNITED KINGDOM`s guys dream of shooting the-
BIG FIFTY BMG !!!!!
Back in the early 1990`s myself and a few shooting friends got an invite to a weapons proving ground in the WELSH mountains to test fire different large bore weapons on a MOD ALL WEAPONS FREE FIRE RANGE .
It took us 3 1/2 hours driving in the pouring rain to get there , but nothing was going to stop us from firing the big fiftys right .
When we got there , there was around 10 rifles of various different makes and models of FIFTY CAL RIFLES on the shooting point .
Most sporting a LEUPOLD MK4 scope on top, back then MK4`s were the dog`s bollocks in optics , how things have changed .
3x BARRET RIFLES .
4x MCMILLAN 2x McMILLAN RIFLES .
1 X FORTEK RIFLE
1 X BIG BERTHA FROM STATE ARMS4 X ROBAR RIFLES .
1 X BOYS ANTI TANK RIFLE from WW1 , yes old school .50 .
The main guy in charge was a ROYAL MARINE SNIPER INSTRUCTOR ,
SO HE SAID WHAT TO EXPECT WHEN USING THE RIFLES AND THE DO`S AND DONT`S , of what to do, like if you think you are going to cry with the pain go to the parking lot and do it there, you big girl`s blouse , he was a funny guy .
Remember all of us had at that point in our life had only used 7.62x51 sniper rifles or traditional target rifles in our practical rifle competitions in the UK .
It was my turn with a McMillan M87 I think , we were shooting at steel targets at 500 yards 800 yards and 1,000 yards , there was an old blown up armoured car at approximately 1,300 yards if we felt lucky .
There was one main range rule , that was , -
" DON`T SHOOT ANY OF THE SHEEP ON THE RANGE COMPLEX "
We thought they were safe from us , they were well away from the targets !!!!!!!!!
So taking aim at the 500 yards target I squeezed off a round ,-
THEN THE BLOODY SHOCK WAVE HIT ME ,
I thought what the F--k was that , like being slapped in the head at 100 mile an hour !!!!
But at least I was hitting the target .
So I get brave and go for the 800 yards target and start ringing it easily , then go for the 1,000 yard target and hit it , but not every shot , but it was easy to see my misses , with the rounds impacting the ground around the target .
The easiest rifle to shoot was the FORTEK , it was not a traditional bolt action rifle but , like a M14/ M1A action straight pull action .
You pulled the bolt back where it was on spring tension then let it go into battery , simple .
The BARRETS + McMILLANS + ROBAR rifles were roughly the same weight give a pound or two , but the STATE ARMS BIG BERTHA was a different story IT WAS A BLOODY TON IN WEIGHT !!!! but the softest shooting by far .
After firing all the rifles on display and taking a break from the NOISE!!!! of the fiftys ,
Back then electronic ear muffs were never seen so we all had pretty poor hearing protection , cheep muffs and sponge ear plugs ..
Just not good enough when shooting .50 CAL rifles OVER A LONG PERIOD OF TIME and I was getting a bloody headache and had to stop shooting the fifties , yes I know what a pussy , but my head was killing me .
We looked down the range to just see what was there to shoot at as far as you could see , with our own rifles we had brought .
At the bottom end of the valley range complex there was a large oak tree at about 1,600 yards away , we thought lets have a go at that .
How often do you get a chance to shoot at something at nearly a mile , remember this is back in the early 90`s so lets shoot at probably a 300 year old oak tree.
My rifle was a PARKER HALE M85 SNIPER RIFLE in 7.62x51 with a LEUPOLD MK4 scope on it , so I know my 1,000 yard SETTING AND DIAL THAT ON THEN TAKE A GUESS AT WHAT WAS NEEDED TO HIT THE TREE OR GET ANY WHERE NEAR IT .
I was using my LAPUA 185gSCENARS home loads , but the trouble was seeing the fall of shot for the normal 7.62FMJ round, even through spotting scopes .
The MARINE guy in charge said try these BRAND NEW SHINY tracer rounds , at least you will see them in the air UNTILL THEY BURN OUT .
The PARKER HALE M85 uses the M14 rifle 10/20 round box magazine , and I fill it up with the tracers .
So every one is watching me thinking what is this " IDIOT " thinking he will able to hit out there with a 7.62 .!!!
I fire a round off and watch it fly , it fell at approximately 1,400 yards .
So I put on a lot more elevation on the scope , and have another go .
This time I am allot closer to the tree , now all the guys who thought I was an idiot were all silent .
All the elevation on the MK4 scope and using all the mill dot holds on the reticule and Kentucky windage for wind and this time I said I would put two rounds in the air at the same time , yes remember I am an idiot , as the time of flight is ages for the 7.62 .
I fire one off then straight away another and watch through my scope at the fall of shot .
The rounds were roughly at the distance of the tree but must have been 30 yards apart !!
How is that for accuracy , not very good , garbage right ..........
So now I am cocky and I think if I fire from my left shoulder and be very fast with the bolt with my right hand and pull the trigger with my left hand , I might get THREE ROUNDS in the air at the same time, remember I was an optimist on my ability to be a great shooter back then but you have to give it a go on a free fire range don't you .
So I get myself into some sort of semi comfortable position , holding on to the bolt , I let rip , boom/boom/boom almost as fast as you can say it , the rounds went down range .
Watching the tracers fly towards the tree , I see one veer off miles to the left , towards a single grazing sheep , I think to myself in a miliy second ,F##K F##K F##K PLEASE GOD DON`T LET ME KILL THE SHEEP !!!!!!!!
The round fell just short of the lucky as hell sheep , and I started to breath again .........
Then the marine in charge said ENOUGH F##KING SCARING THE SHEEP FOR ONE DAY DIPSHIT .But it does show you if you have the opportunity to do something , you will never get the chance to in your life again , give it a try .We were told 7.62 tracer would burn out at around 1,200-1,300 yards .Well on that day it was almost a mile , well not exactly a mile but long enough to make a very interesting range shooting trip that you can tell your grand children what you did on that day in Wales !!!
To all the tree hugers out there we did not even get close to damaging the oak tree , so you can relax , but must have scared it a bit though .
Remember this is back when hardly anybody apart from a few army sniping teams had even used any BARRETS in the field , we were very lucky to take part in the event .
We were always told you need a longer barrel for shooting 1,000 yards plus distances 27 to 30 inch barrels at least , but I have watched guys in the UK shoot short barrelled cut down rifle/pistols in 7.62x51 with 11 inches of barrel shoot 1,000 yards .
I would not have believed it if unless I saw it with my own eyes !!!!
You never know what you can achieve with your rifle setup until you give it a go !!!!!!
Ramble over .....
Dave .........
This is a story of a few UNITED KINGDOM`s guys dream of shooting the-
BIG FIFTY BMG !!!!!
Back in the early 1990`s myself and a few shooting friends got an invite to a weapons proving ground in the WELSH mountains to test fire different large bore weapons on a MOD ALL WEAPONS FREE FIRE RANGE .
It took us 3 1/2 hours driving in the pouring rain to get there , but nothing was going to stop us from firing the big fiftys right .
When we got there , there was around 10 rifles of various different makes and models of FIFTY CAL RIFLES on the shooting point .
Most sporting a LEUPOLD MK4 scope on top, back then MK4`s were the dog`s bollocks in optics , how things have changed .
3x BARRET RIFLES .
1 X FORTEK RIFLE
1 X BOYS ANTI TANK RIFLE from WW1 , yes old school .50 .
The main guy in charge was a ROYAL MARINE SNIPER INSTRUCTOR ,
SO HE SAID WHAT TO EXPECT WHEN USING THE RIFLES AND THE DO`S AND DONT`S , of what to do, like if you think you are going to cry with the pain go to the parking lot and do it there, you big girl`s blouse , he was a funny guy .
Remember all of us had at that point in our life had only used 7.62x51 sniper rifles or traditional target rifles in our practical rifle competitions in the UK .
It was my turn with a McMillan M87 I think , we were shooting at steel targets at 500 yards 800 yards and 1,000 yards , there was an old blown up armoured car at approximately 1,300 yards if we felt lucky .
There was one main range rule , that was , -
" DON`T SHOOT ANY OF THE SHEEP ON THE RANGE COMPLEX "
We thought they were safe from us , they were well away from the targets !!!!!!!!!
So taking aim at the 500 yards target I squeezed off a round ,-
THEN THE BLOODY SHOCK WAVE HIT ME ,
I thought what the F--k was that , like being slapped in the head at 100 mile an hour !!!!
But at least I was hitting the target .
So I get brave and go for the 800 yards target and start ringing it easily , then go for the 1,000 yard target and hit it , but not every shot , but it was easy to see my misses , with the rounds impacting the ground around the target .
The easiest rifle to shoot was the FORTEK , it was not a traditional bolt action rifle but , like a M14/ M1A action straight pull action .
You pulled the bolt back where it was on spring tension then let it go into battery , simple .
The BARRETS + McMILLANS + ROBAR rifles were roughly the same weight give a pound or two , but the STATE ARMS BIG BERTHA was a different story IT WAS A BLOODY TON IN WEIGHT !!!! but the softest shooting by far .
After firing all the rifles on display and taking a break from the NOISE!!!! of the fiftys ,
Back then electronic ear muffs were never seen so we all had pretty poor hearing protection , cheep muffs and sponge ear plugs ..
Just not good enough when shooting .50 CAL rifles OVER A LONG PERIOD OF TIME and I was getting a bloody headache and had to stop shooting the fifties , yes I know what a pussy , but my head was killing me .
We looked down the range to just see what was there to shoot at as far as you could see , with our own rifles we had brought .
At the bottom end of the valley range complex there was a large oak tree at about 1,600 yards away , we thought lets have a go at that .
How often do you get a chance to shoot at something at nearly a mile , remember this is back in the early 90`s so lets shoot at probably a 300 year old oak tree.
My rifle was a PARKER HALE M85 SNIPER RIFLE in 7.62x51 with a LEUPOLD MK4 scope on it , so I know my 1,000 yard SETTING AND DIAL THAT ON THEN TAKE A GUESS AT WHAT WAS NEEDED TO HIT THE TREE OR GET ANY WHERE NEAR IT .
I was using my LAPUA 185gSCENARS home loads , but the trouble was seeing the fall of shot for the normal 7.62FMJ round, even through spotting scopes .
The MARINE guy in charge said try these BRAND NEW SHINY tracer rounds , at least you will see them in the air UNTILL THEY BURN OUT .
The PARKER HALE M85 uses the M14 rifle 10/20 round box magazine , and I fill it up with the tracers .
So every one is watching me thinking what is this " IDIOT " thinking he will able to hit out there with a 7.62 .!!!
I fire a round off and watch it fly , it fell at approximately 1,400 yards .
So I put on a lot more elevation on the scope , and have another go .
This time I am allot closer to the tree , now all the guys who thought I was an idiot were all silent .
All the elevation on the MK4 scope and using all the mill dot holds on the reticule and Kentucky windage for wind and this time I said I would put two rounds in the air at the same time , yes remember I am an idiot , as the time of flight is ages for the 7.62 .
I fire one off then straight away another and watch through my scope at the fall of shot .
The rounds were roughly at the distance of the tree but must have been 30 yards apart !!
How is that for accuracy , not very good , garbage right ..........
So now I am cocky and I think if I fire from my left shoulder and be very fast with the bolt with my right hand and pull the trigger with my left hand , I might get THREE ROUNDS in the air at the same time, remember I was an optimist on my ability to be a great shooter back then but you have to give it a go on a free fire range don't you .
So I get myself into some sort of semi comfortable position , holding on to the bolt , I let rip , boom/boom/boom almost as fast as you can say it , the rounds went down range .
Watching the tracers fly towards the tree , I see one veer off miles to the left , towards a single grazing sheep , I think to myself in a miliy second ,F##K F##K F##K PLEASE GOD DON`T LET ME KILL THE SHEEP !!!!!!!!
The round fell just short of the lucky as hell sheep , and I started to breath again .........
Then the marine in charge said ENOUGH F##KING SCARING THE SHEEP FOR ONE DAY DIPSHIT .But it does show you if you have the opportunity to do something , you will never get the chance to in your life again , give it a try .We were told 7.62 tracer would burn out at around 1,200-1,300 yards .Well on that day it was almost a mile , well not exactly a mile but long enough to make a very interesting range shooting trip that you can tell your grand children what you did on that day in Wales !!!
To all the tree hugers out there we did not even get close to damaging the oak tree , so you can relax , but must have scared it a bit though .
Remember this is back when hardly anybody apart from a few army sniping teams had even used any BARRETS in the field , we were very lucky to take part in the event .
We were always told you need a longer barrel for shooting 1,000 yards plus distances 27 to 30 inch barrels at least , but I have watched guys in the UK shoot short barrelled cut down rifle/pistols in 7.62x51 with 11 inches of barrel shoot 1,000 yards .
I would not have believed it if unless I saw it with my own eyes !!!!
You never know what you can achieve with your rifle setup until you give it a go !!!!!!
Ramble over .....
Dave .........
