With decent rifle and ammo (bolt-action 6.5CM) and ability to maintain consistent on-POA hits out to 600 yards, why am I finding it far harder to get consistent hits on 2-MOA targets at 800-1000 yards?
Most of my shooting is 550 yards or closer. With bipod in front and Gamechanger bag in the rear, I can shoot consistent sub-half-MOA groups at 100 and 1-MOA at 550 (actually 540 for those of you who know Woody's in central NC). My worst handloads have shown ES in the 20s and SD around 10; the best are single-digit ES/SD.
I also have membership at Frontline, where I can shoot to 1000 yards. I don't get up there very often because it's way closer to go to Woody's, which is 20 minutes from my house so I'm there two or three times a week.
So I drove up to Frontline today to meet a couple of friends. We had the 1000-yard deck to ourselves all day. Sunny, light wind, moderate mirage.
Bottom line: out to 600 yards, I get consistent center hits on 2-MOA targets. But at 800-1000 yards, I'm not getting consistent hits anywhere. Not just today but every time I've tried 800-1000 yards. Right, left, high, low. Fire a round, see the impact, correct, next round seems overcorrected - or no change.
Maybe this belongs in the "Stupid Questions" forum, but I'll ask anyway... if I can maintain 1-MOA groups or better at 500, why am I having such difficulty at 1.5-2x that range? Wind was light today and there are plenty of wind flags. Mirage was moderate but nowhere near as bad as it often is at Frontline. At 1000 yards, spin drift and Coriolis combined are far less than the "spread" i get. Do technique errors multiply at the longer ranges? Mirage?
Any thoughts as to what I need to check or work on are appreciated.
Most of my shooting is 550 yards or closer. With bipod in front and Gamechanger bag in the rear, I can shoot consistent sub-half-MOA groups at 100 and 1-MOA at 550 (actually 540 for those of you who know Woody's in central NC). My worst handloads have shown ES in the 20s and SD around 10; the best are single-digit ES/SD.
I also have membership at Frontline, where I can shoot to 1000 yards. I don't get up there very often because it's way closer to go to Woody's, which is 20 minutes from my house so I'm there two or three times a week.
So I drove up to Frontline today to meet a couple of friends. We had the 1000-yard deck to ourselves all day. Sunny, light wind, moderate mirage.
Bottom line: out to 600 yards, I get consistent center hits on 2-MOA targets. But at 800-1000 yards, I'm not getting consistent hits anywhere. Not just today but every time I've tried 800-1000 yards. Right, left, high, low. Fire a round, see the impact, correct, next round seems overcorrected - or no change.
Maybe this belongs in the "Stupid Questions" forum, but I'll ask anyway... if I can maintain 1-MOA groups or better at 500, why am I having such difficulty at 1.5-2x that range? Wind was light today and there are plenty of wind flags. Mirage was moderate but nowhere near as bad as it often is at Frontline. At 1000 yards, spin drift and Coriolis combined are far less than the "spread" i get. Do technique errors multiply at the longer ranges? Mirage?
Any thoughts as to what I need to check or work on are appreciated.
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