I got out yesterday, with hopes of shooting this rifle at 300 yards. However, our normal 300 yard berm, at my neighbor's gravel pit, is now gone. The excavating company that's been taking gravel out decided that they needed that pile, I guess. So I had to find another lane of fire. To add to the problem, they have a lot of trucks and equipment parked in the pit right now, so finding a safe lane is a whole different story. I ended up putting my sihllouette target up and shooting from the top of another old gravel pile. Where I put the target was pretty hard, so I couldn't stake in the legs as I normally would. To add to the frustration, the wind was really picking up (about 20mph from my 4 o'clock) and getting the target to stay put was difficult. I ended up digging a "shelf" of sorts to put the bottom in and leaning the target board back against the pile, at about 25-30 degrees from vertical (you can see from the bullet holes that it was leaning backwards quite a bit) to keep it from blowing away.
The spot that I shot from was at the peak of a somewhat steep pile. This was the closest I could get to 300 yards (my LRF said it was 289) and still have a clear line of sight. This was actually a good test of some "real world" factors. At the top of the pile from which I was shooting, it had over-grown with cockelburrs and thistles that were over 2 feet tall. The back side, on which I was laying, was probably a 60 degree slope that rolled down to my right. As luck would have it (if you want to call it that) there was an entrance to a badger den about where I wanted to put my right knee, so I used that to keep me from rolling off the hill. There was just enough of a shelf at the top to put my front rest and spotting scope, but that was it. There was no way I was going to be able to use a rear bag. Oh, and did I mentioned that it rained yesterday morning (for the first time in two months!) and everything was a little messy? Anyway, I humped up the side of this thing with my rifle, spotting scope, front rest and box of ammo and got set up. I adjusted my elevation turret and took a sighter on a small rock, just hitting an inch or two to the left. I was ready to go.
During this session I was just trying to get a somewhat solid hold before pulling the trigger. I didn't take time to let the gun cool off or for any other "comforts". It just wasn't happening. So, it was basically rapid fire, with only a break every couple shots to do a quick check with the spotting scope. I did adjust my hold on the rifle a couple times and you can see the results. I never once adjusted the scope and tried to use the same point of aim for the COM and head stickers. However, I found that when I put my weak (left) hand back under the butt for support, the rifle shot low, every time. I ended up switching it back to the forend, where it belongs. It seemed that a good firm hold to my shoulder, using both hands to pull, was more effective.
Forgot to add; ammo used was my new sniper pet load, using a Hornady 174gr. bullet over Varget. Full sized Prvi brass, Tula primer. This load shoots best out of my '44 Tula PU, but I'm finding that this rifle is a close second (we're talking hundredths of an inch close, at 100 yards).
Truly nothing spectacular when compared to a modern rifle fired from a bench, but not bad when you consider the conditions and the fact that both the rifle and the scope are 72 years old.
John
The spot that I shot from was at the peak of a somewhat steep pile. This was the closest I could get to 300 yards (my LRF said it was 289) and still have a clear line of sight. This was actually a good test of some "real world" factors. At the top of the pile from which I was shooting, it had over-grown with cockelburrs and thistles that were over 2 feet tall. The back side, on which I was laying, was probably a 60 degree slope that rolled down to my right. As luck would have it (if you want to call it that) there was an entrance to a badger den about where I wanted to put my right knee, so I used that to keep me from rolling off the hill. There was just enough of a shelf at the top to put my front rest and spotting scope, but that was it. There was no way I was going to be able to use a rear bag. Oh, and did I mentioned that it rained yesterday morning (for the first time in two months!) and everything was a little messy? Anyway, I humped up the side of this thing with my rifle, spotting scope, front rest and box of ammo and got set up. I adjusted my elevation turret and took a sighter on a small rock, just hitting an inch or two to the left. I was ready to go.
During this session I was just trying to get a somewhat solid hold before pulling the trigger. I didn't take time to let the gun cool off or for any other "comforts". It just wasn't happening. So, it was basically rapid fire, with only a break every couple shots to do a quick check with the spotting scope. I did adjust my hold on the rifle a couple times and you can see the results. I never once adjusted the scope and tried to use the same point of aim for the COM and head stickers. However, I found that when I put my weak (left) hand back under the butt for support, the rifle shot low, every time. I ended up switching it back to the forend, where it belongs. It seemed that a good firm hold to my shoulder, using both hands to pull, was more effective.
Forgot to add; ammo used was my new sniper pet load, using a Hornady 174gr. bullet over Varget. Full sized Prvi brass, Tula primer. This load shoots best out of my '44 Tula PU, but I'm finding that this rifle is a close second (we're talking hundredths of an inch close, at 100 yards).
Truly nothing spectacular when compared to a modern rifle fired from a bench, but not bad when you consider the conditions and the fact that both the rifle and the scope are 72 years old.
John
