Advice on shooting out to distance

[stello1001]

Hello all,

So I've had a Howa 1500, specifically the HCR. I've seen how well it shoots and groups at 100. I want to stretch it out a lot more. Life and work have gotten in the way in the past and it seems like right now I finally may be able to do it. I've found land that can allow me to attempt shots past a mile but I'll be satisfied up to 600 to 800 maybe. I will be doing this on the 24th and 25th so exactly a week from now. I don't have any technological devices that people use. I have a scope with a top magnification of 30 that I plan to use as a spotter. I also have 100 rounds of ammo, all same lot. I'm guessing steel will be my best option in order to spot (see & hear) hits. Give me advice on how to slowly stretch from say 100 or 200 yards out to 600 maybe even 800. What size of steel do you all recommend and what thickness?

Any info is appreciated.
Thanks,

Serg


**edit**

My HCR is chambered in 6.5 creedmoor. I forgot to include that initially.



***EDIT***

So I was able to get out there friday evening and shoot on Saturday morning. The ranch is 15,000 acres of high fenced south Texas brush. It was just beautiful being out there. We saw hundreds and hundreds of turkeys and so many really big 150+ whitetails. The wind was blowing and the weather was hot, but that didn't stop us from having fun. We woke up on Saturday morning before the sun and went straight to shoot. The person who invited me has not been able to see all of the land due to it being so much so we had to cut the shooting short since he wanted to go see all the land. I did not argue since I was appreciative of the invitation. Enough of that, now to the shooting.

We started off by me firing 3 rounds at 100 to confirm zero. Perfect!!! Dead on!!! I decided to move back to 200, took a few shots and got hits. Moved back to 300 and did the same. Everything was real smooth so off to 445 we went. I had trouble at first getting hits since the wind was really blowing and I had not made any elevation or bullet drop adjustments in the scope. Little by little, shot after shot, I started dialing on my scope until I got closer and closer. I was seeing splashes low and to the right. After a few trial and error shots, I was on target. I don't recall how much windage I had to dial. As for elevation, 1.8 mils put me on right on target. The person that invited me also took 2 other gentlemen. We all tried shooting the target and all of us got hits. I wasn't really going for tight groups. My main concern was just to hear the steel ring and for everyone else to enjoy and have fun. That's exactly what happened and it was a total blast. We might go again next weekend. If so, I will then focus more on stretching out more and seeing how tight I can get my rifle to group. There's an area where it's all clean land, no brush, for 2.4 kilometers so if I can one day make it to half of that, I will feel extremely accomplished. I will say though, the ballistic app I used gave me a MV of 3005.5 which I obviously think is wrong and too high. This is factory hornady black ammo. It consists of 140 grain HPBT. I have my zero at 100 and entered the amount of elevation I had to dial at 445 in order to true my MV but again, I'm sure 3005 is way too high. Anybody have recommendations on this???

Thanks

These next two pics are from the target T-post looking towards my shooting position...

 

[Olen_4504]

What caliber are you shooting? at 600-800 with a soft recoiling gun/caliber you should be able to spot your own impacts.

yes, if you can get some steel to shoot at that will be best. For 600-800 yards I would get a 10-15" plate. AR500 steel is what you want. i use 3/8"

My approach would be:

1) check your 100 yard zero.
2) using a good ballistic app on your phone (i recommend BallisticARC, there is a free version). input all the appropriate data and generate your drop chart.
3) shoot the furthest you can, you will be surprised how easy it can actually be, just don't forget your fundamentals. the same ones you use when you are shooting for the nice tight groups at 100.
4) if you are struggling hitting the furthest target. then back down to 400 or so and work your way back up.
5) take pictures/videos and report back!

 

[Olen_4504]

if you have access to over a mile, then buckle up. once you hit 800 yards the first day you'l be itching to stretch your limits.

past 1,000 yards you'll probably want to start looking at bringing someone to help you spot, getting some form of weather meter to gather all your environmental factors, etc.

 

[stello1001]

Thanks for the info...

I have edited my OP to include what I'm shooting with. It's a 6.5CM. I actually will have someone with me so I'm sure that's going to be helpful. I'll definitely start downloading the app right now and play with it without any real world data just to familiarize myself with it. The next step, go look for steel somewhere lol.

If anybody else has anything to say, I welcome it...

 

[Olen_4504]

i order my steel from magnumtarget.com. but also lots of vendors on here that will probably help you out. it's relatively affordable considering how important and much use you get out of it.

the app will at least let you search the local weather station and give you that data which will be sufficient for under 1,000 yards most of the time. but definitely download it now and play around with it. it's pretty intuitive.

 

[stello1001]

Once again, thank you. Not sure I'll order steel online or from a vendor here since I'll need it in a week. I may have to go out and look for a shop or something local. Corpus Christi isn't too small of a city and neither is San Antonio. I should be abe to find some hehe.

 

[JayB]

If you don't have any chronograph or labradar or magnetospeed to measure muzzle velocity you would have trouble getting accurate data out of a ballistics solver app. You will need to know which bullet is in the 100 round ammo you have and find the parameters on the bullet (length, weight, most importantly BC). If you have trouble hitting 600 yard due to elevation, either keep adjusting or you can try putting something at 300 yard and use the 100 yard dial to hit the 300 yard and measure your drop. With the drop and all the other bullet parameter you can get a decent estimate of the muzzle velocity, which you then put into the ballistic app to get you the elevation dial out to 600 yard and beyond.

 

[Olen_4504]

Good point^^^

I should have mentioned that for him. The MV on the box will get you in the ballpark if that’s all you have.

 

[PinesAndProjectiles]

If possible, find someone local that has a chrony and ask if they will help you chrony a few rounds. I'm sure you can find someone more than willing if you let them shoot with you. I know I'd love access to that kind of range where I'm at, especially if it entailed teaching a new shooter how to make some impacts.

 

[Deleted member 113831]

How about starting at 100 yards and backing up 100 yards at a time? 5 rounds x 8 yard lines is only 40 rounds. Put a water mark on the target to measure the difference in drop from point of aim at each yard line.

It isn't rocket surgery...shooters were gathering dope long before the app and the chronograph were common.

 

[JayB]

How about starting at 100 yards and backing up 100 yards at a time? 5 rounds x 8 yard lines is only 40 rounds. Put a water mark on the target to measure the difference in drop from point of aim at each yard line.

It isn't rocket surgery...shooters were gathering dope long before the app and the chronograph were common.

Agreed. As long as you don't mind sending rounds down range, the classic way of gathering dope works extremely well, no app or devices needed.

 

[stello1001]

The bullet I will be using is a 140 grain BTHP. It is Hornady Black factory ammo. This stuff has shot decently accurate in the past at 100 so I will give it a go with it. I have no problem taking someone with me if they have all the good stuff. The thing is, I am already going with someone who has invited me to a 12,000 acre hunting lease and I already know how strict things are there and how private they like to keep it. Anyhow, the box of hornady black does give me a ballpark MV. After playing around with the app a bit, it seems there is a way to true my MV. I may have to send a few shots downrangr say at 300 or 400, and input my actual drop in order to calculate a more accurate MV. Am I correct on this? Someone please correct me if this not the way to do it lol. And yes, I plan to slowly reach out by shooting a few rounds every 100 or so if I absolutely have to. I don't mind working for it if it means learning my drops or gathering dope...

 

[JayB]

The bullet I will be using is a 140 grain BTHP. It is Hornady Black factory ammo. This stuff has shot decently accurate in the past at 100 so I will give it a go with it. I have no problem taking someone with me if they have all the good stuff. The thing is, I am already going with someone who has invited me to a 12,000 acre hunting lease and I already know strict things are there. Anyhow, the box of hornady black does give me a ballpark MV. After playing around with the app a bit, it seems there is a way to true my MV. I may have to send a few shots downrangr say at 300 or 400, and input my actual drop in order to calculate a more accurate MV. Am I correct on this? Someone please correct me if this not the way to do it lol. And yes, I plan to slowly reach out by shooting a few rounds every 100 or so if I absolutely have to. I don't mind working for it if it means learning my drops or gathering dope...

You got it. The truing is exactly the step you would want to perform.

 

[stello1001]

I just remembered I'll probably run into some serious mirage troubles. At the distance I want to shoot, should i be very concerned. This is south Texas and I think temps will be around the 100s...

 

[PinesAndProjectiles]

At 100 degrees, it very well could. What's the humidity down your way?

 

[stello1001]

Around 30%...

 

[ctso030]

Shoot early in the morning the mirage won’t be as bad, if you wait until it gets hot you will have problems with the mirage

 

[JayB]

Bring down the zoom level on your scope in thick mirage. Also watch out for temperature change, your muzzle velocity could change quite a bit to affect your impact at long range. Try to shade the ammo from the sun. I have seem plenty of misses due to ammo baked in the sun.

 

[stello1001]

Okay everyone, I was able to go out and stretch her out a little. I will be updating the OP to include the info. Thanks to all who helped me with tips and tricks.