Advanced Marksmanship New to this

[dannyryan007]

hello,
I am new to the forum and precision rifle shooting. I have been shooting since i was little, but am just now starting to take it seriously. I just bought a rem 700 SPS tactical in 308 and i have a leupold Mark 4 3.5-10x40mm LR/T M1 Front Focal on lay away. Which is probably the best. This will give me time to get all the other things together. I/E data/log books, proper ammo, charts, graphs etc. Herein lies the problem... i have no idea what the Fox i need to put in these books. To date, the longest shot i've had to take has been 300 yards with an M16A2 for qualification. i'm looking to go much further than that. So, if there's anyone out there who has any examples they could share with me for anything i would need, or if there is anything i am missing, please let me know. I will be eternally grateful.
-Danny

 

[Topstrap]

Re: New to this

I see lots of folks have read your question but no answers yet. Guess I'll take a shot at it but I'm sure I'm not going to recommend what others might carry with them. I'm a pretty basic type when I go to the matches but I also shoot totally different stuff than most so here. Advancing up to shooting precision long range isn't something you just decide to do one day and expect to hit everything with some scope adjustments. I think it's good to start off keeping it simple and advance as you learn and talk to others.

Of course you need quality ammo your gun likes, you should be well sighted in at either 100 or 200 yards. I prefer 200 yards for my guns but a lot also like 100 so it's up to you on that one. Try to get your velocity over a chrono and then print out a chart from JBM (which is free) http://www.jbmballistics.com/cgi-bin/jbmtraj_simp-5.1.cgi I break mine printouts down in 10 yard increments which gives me a pretty good idea of what adjustments I need for most all distances I shoot out to 1000 yards.

A simple notepad to keep track of your actual data such as elevation settings and wind adjustments or hold off at each distance will work at first. Some keep track of each round they've ever shot, I just need to know what adjustment I need for each distance which may be basic to some but works for me. I think a decent spotting scope would be helpful and either some bags and or a decent swivel bipod (6"-9")such as a Harris would a necessity. There are much better ones available and if funds are available fine but even a cheap Caldwell can get you started and will work fine.

It's hard to tell someone what they might need when first starting since some people have an unlimited bank account and buy the very best of everything and all the little goobers that go along with it. You can get into this pretty basic to start and sell or trade off later to upgrade. Some say buy once, cry once which is fine but you don't need top shelf equipment to be competitive and have fun.

There are lots of threads on here that would be helpful to you on learning correct position behind the gun and also on how to setup your scope and adjustments of it. One thing most will agree with on here is to try and find a shooting partner close by that is experienced. You'll learn so much in a short time from them, you always learn faster and shoot better when competing against someone better than yourself.

Hope this helps but not real sure what you were looking for. I'm surprised no one else jumped in to offer suggestions but maybe they forgot what it's like to jump into something with little to no knowledge and be the one to ask questions. It's a man thing I guess that makes it hard for us to ask for help rather than struggle along on our own and make costly mistakes.

Good luck, hope you do well and find this enjoyable and challenging. If you are every in Ohio feel free to drop a note here and we'd be glad to have you join us for a match or a fun practice day. Of course you'll have to be careful our redneck way of doing things don't rub off on you.

Topstrap

 

[dannyryan007]

Re: New to this

thanks!!! this is useful. I am getting more and more excited. Its a little overwhelming when i think about everything i need... but once i get the basics the rest i can work in as my wallet and lady allow. lol

Ohio is nice. I shot there once before. I was at Camp Perry providing medical support for the national matches a couple years ago and the Army team got me a 1911 to compete in the presidents 100. That was my first time shooting competition or a pistol for that matter. it was a good experience. But those 2 weeks were what really got me thinking about competition LR shooting. It was also that same weekend i blew my face up with fireworks on the back side of the range losing an eyebrow, my eylashes, and decreasing the vision in my left eye from 20/12 to 20/20. I've had good times in ohio. HAHA

 

[VJJPunisher]

Re: New to this

get the gun built, in whatever configuration you can afford, get boolits and lots of em, and a 50 cent notepad and start shootin, ALOT. With the notepad take notes of anything and everything, drawings of groups, wind conditions, what ammo, what range, temp etc etc. Over time you will learn what is useful and what is not, what works and what dont. At a later time you can get a highspeed data book and transfer data or just start over.

dont get to wrapped around the Axles about the metric shit ton of acoochemonts and cool guy gear out there, shoot first, gear queer second. And gosh darnit people like you

 

[dannyryan007]

Re: New to this

lol thanks. i'm just waiting on getting my glass paid for. once thats done, i can start. the part that i have the most apprehension about is all the math and calculations, but that's stuff that i know i'll have to pick up as time goes on. i have a decent rifle, and good glass on the way, the rest is up to me.

 

[Topstrap]

Re: New to this

I'm guessing the scope is moa or 1/4 minute clicks. Once you get your zero then have JBM print out using MOA in one column and inches in the other then it gets pretty easy to start off with. At farther distances it will change slightly but for starting out 1 moa is close enough to 1 inch at 100 yards it won't matter. It's actually 1.047197580733 inches at 100 yards to be precise. Farther out it will start to add up but not enough to lose sleep over at first.

That roughly translates to 2" at 200 yards, 3" at 300 yards and so on. If you are sighted in at 100 yards then you shoot at a 400 yard target and are hitting 4" low you need 4" of height adjustment or 1 moa to get in the middle again. Here is a pretty good site that helps explain it.

http://www.ultimatesniper.com/Docs/28.PDF

Windage is the same thing, if you are shooting at a 500 yard target and are hitting 10 inches right of center then 2 moa of left adjustment will get you back to center. It's confusing at first but easier at it goes. Some say MIL is even easier but I've never used it so can't give a judgement.

Keep good records like VA mentioned and you'll be getting first round hits in no time.

Lots and lots of quality practice. Don't fall into the trap of well I missed that one, lets shoot another. Try to figure out why you missed, like others have mentioned in another thread the barrel shoots where it's pointed so if you miss and it's not wind then it's on your end so pay attention to details on each shot.

Topstrap

 

[dannyryan007]

Re: New to this

Thanks. I'll look into that.