I can offer my opinion. Based on my PRS rifle and multiple data sources. Rifle is a Sako Quad Custom with Lilja bbl using a Arken SH4 6-24x FFP MIL optic. Lapua CX ammo.
Finally, 400y. Our 400y range is really a few yds less than that. We have a full sized IPSC plate and a KYL plate rack with the largest being 10" the next is 8" and the smallest is 2". I can hit the IPSC plate every time but the 10" and 8" round plates are much much harder and become an act of random luck in my opinion. If you shoot at them long enough, you will hit one every now and again but it is tough.
This weekend, I am taking the Quad to our local range and trying it out past 400y. Hoping to get out to 500y before I run out of up elevation and hold over capacity. We will see.
I took the Sako out to the big boyz range at our club this weekend. This range has only steel tgts from about 100y out to just under 1000y in irregular increments. Our current steel targets off the standard firing line: 100 yards, 220 Yards, 335 yards, 385 yards, 400 yards, 424 yards, 519 yards, 568 yards, 610 yards, 615 yards, 645 yards, 684 yards, 692 yards.
When we move back to the far position we have steel at: 856 yards, 861 yards, 891 yards, 922 yards, 930 yards. I had no delusions of being able to hit any of these ELR tgts but hoped to get out past the 400y distance with repeatable accuracy and maybe hit one of the 500+ plates. Most of the plates are 12" round.
At 220y (I ranged it 224y), I was on steel with the first shot and followed it up with three more. Easy peasy, right? Moved out to 335y (I ranged it 334), and it took one miss high left, down 1/10th mil, right 2/10mil... Impact!. Followed this with 4 more clean impacts on the plate. It was gusty this day but seemed to be steady right to left most of the time and was not affecting me too much. My Strelok Pro model for this rifle is still not perfect. Plus I have to remember to input ambient temp data every time or it is off just enough to be a problem at the longer ranges.
Next was the 12" plate at 424y (I ranged it the same). Took two shots but then was able to hit it three in a row until the next miss which could have been wind or ammo (never the shooter
). Next, I pushed out to 568y (I ranged it 560y). I run out of up adjustment at 17 mils. So, I was holding 6.5 or 7mils over at 424. When I went out to the 560y distance, I think I had a brain fart that only became clear to me as I was writing this post. Here's the deal, to quote another senile old bastid...
Strelok calls for 36.6mils up at 560y for my rifle/ammo combo. I dialed the 17mils in the scope earlier on the 424y tgt. So, all I had to do was hold over for the difference of 19.5 or 20 mils right? I have developed a habit of keeping range notes at all practice and match sessions. It helps me to remember which ammo worked best in which rifle and what conditions I was shooting in, etc. Looking back at my notes for this session I found the smoking brain fart that cause me to miss the 560y tgt for all my shots. Those of you who have the SH4 Mil scope probably already know that it cannot hold over 20mils and still see the tgt... Ooops. My notes say I held 10mils over plus the 17 I had previously dialed.... Double Ooops. My holdover was not enough by 10mils. At that distance my rifle's shots drop about 739 inches, or 61.5 feet. That is about 20inches per mil. So, by not holding the extra 10mils, my bullets were 202 inches low or almost 17 feet low. Yeah, I could not even spot my misses to make adjustments, lol. Epic fail. Since this rifle, optic, ammo combo is limited to about 17 dialed plus 15 hold over mils, I cannot hope to shot past about 515y without changing the mount or going to faster ammo.
I wish I have figured this out sooner, while at the range, but that is why we practice to learn and get better. At 500y, I think I would have needed a much larger tgt than the 12" plate available at that time. Now, I want to return to the range. If I dial 17 and hold over 15 mils and then aim12 feet over the tgt, I could just about lob one into that 560y steel plate, lol.