So after listening to @Cjwise5 podcast about his experience with high angle shooting, I decided to crunch a few numbers. (I like numbers)
Question: When Do I need to worry about making an Angle Correction?
First of all, we need to understand the amount of elevation change needed to create shooting angles. As Joel said, shooting a 400yd target from the top of 2 conex boxes does not even start to have the heights needed to make angle corrections. Here is a chart the shows how many feet of elevation we need to be above or below our target to create an angle situation. You will see at 400 yards you need to be up 208 feet to get a 10 degree angle.
But what if we do have an angle situation. How much does it effect our come-ups at angles and distances? Here is a chart for my 6.5 Creed and the corrections needed for angle shooting. This is presented in 2 ways. The first is the actual come-up and the second is the difference in come-up from our flat trajectory. I have deleted any come-ups that are less then 0.07 mil change. Studying the 2nd chart can show us the relativity of the come-up change and when we need to be aware of the conditions to make adjustments. I can start to eliminate areas of concern: any target inside 150 yards is less than 0.2Mil or .75-ish MOA of change, that is less than 1"; any target less than 20 degrees out to 300 yards
For me, this is one of things we need to ask, does it really matter? How much will this really effect my bullet trajectory? For most shooters this will likely never be an issue. If we are mountain shooting, yes, this will matter. Most shooting ranges are on relatively flat land. I live in Iowa and I doubt I can find a range in the state that I'll need to account for high angles even if they have obstacles that add elevation. Even if I did find a steep range it might have an effect on my bullet but not likely more than 1MOA. To prove this, Lets analyse the dope charts with the elevation gain chart. I'll delete the elevation changes that will effect my bullet by less then 0.2mil or 3/4moa on the Come-up sheet. This will identify the conditions I need to look for before I even start to think about making an angle correction.
This chart identify's the change in height I need to have before I start to worry about angle changes. I did not notice, until I did this exercise, that at each angle the height is right at 330 feet (or more) of elevation change. Now I know what to look for when asking myself "will this angle matter?". I can now ask, "Is it 300 feet of change?"... 24 feet of Conex box... not gonna matter.
Answer: When shooting upward or downward more than 300 Feet in Elevation for my Rifle.
Question: When Do I need to worry about making an Angle Correction?
First of all, we need to understand the amount of elevation change needed to create shooting angles. As Joel said, shooting a 400yd target from the top of 2 conex boxes does not even start to have the heights needed to make angle corrections. Here is a chart the shows how many feet of elevation we need to be above or below our target to create an angle situation. You will see at 400 yards you need to be up 208 feet to get a 10 degree angle.
But what if we do have an angle situation. How much does it effect our come-ups at angles and distances? Here is a chart for my 6.5 Creed and the corrections needed for angle shooting. This is presented in 2 ways. The first is the actual come-up and the second is the difference in come-up from our flat trajectory. I have deleted any come-ups that are less then 0.07 mil change. Studying the 2nd chart can show us the relativity of the come-up change and when we need to be aware of the conditions to make adjustments. I can start to eliminate areas of concern: any target inside 150 yards is less than 0.2Mil or .75-ish MOA of change, that is less than 1"; any target less than 20 degrees out to 300 yards
For me, this is one of things we need to ask, does it really matter? How much will this really effect my bullet trajectory? For most shooters this will likely never be an issue. If we are mountain shooting, yes, this will matter. Most shooting ranges are on relatively flat land. I live in Iowa and I doubt I can find a range in the state that I'll need to account for high angles even if they have obstacles that add elevation. Even if I did find a steep range it might have an effect on my bullet but not likely more than 1MOA. To prove this, Lets analyse the dope charts with the elevation gain chart. I'll delete the elevation changes that will effect my bullet by less then 0.2mil or 3/4moa on the Come-up sheet. This will identify the conditions I need to look for before I even start to think about making an angle correction.
This chart identify's the change in height I need to have before I start to worry about angle changes. I did not notice, until I did this exercise, that at each angle the height is right at 330 feet (or more) of elevation change. Now I know what to look for when asking myself "will this angle matter?". I can now ask, "Is it 300 feet of change?"... 24 feet of Conex box... not gonna matter.
Answer: When shooting upward or downward more than 300 Feet in Elevation for my Rifle.
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