Angled shots

[Dave King]

Angles can be simple or extremely difficult.

The easy method is to take the cosine of the angle and use it to recalculate the distance to the target. The difficult method is controversial.

At short distance and small angles there's no need for a big game hunter to get too excited.

I'll discuss this more later this evening.

Here's another thread about the difficult method.
http://www.longrangehunting.com/cgi-...c&f=3&t=000266

[Ian M]

I have never tried this but I believe that Kahles suggests using one bar less than the appropriate distance bar for angled shots at longer ranges.

Good luck.

[Dave King]

Okay

Let's take a 300 yard shot at a 20 degree angle with a 300 Win mag at 3150fps and a BC of .508 at 59 degrees and sea level.

For a flatland shot with a rifle sighted at 300 yards then a 20 degree angle shot the new distance is (300*.94=281(+-)) 281 yards and the correction is .5 MOA or about an error of 1.5 inches on the target at 281 yards, not enough to bother with.

Change to a 45 degree angle and we're shooting at about 212 yards (300*.7071=212(+-)). The correction is now 1.8 MOA and this equates to about 4 inches of error on the target at 212 yards.

For a flat shooting cartridge and a short range (relative) and small angles there's no need to get too bothered for a center mass lung shot on big game animals. Increase the distance significantly or start shooting a rainbow trajectory rifle and all bets are off.

There's a post on this site that talks about methods to determine the angle and the answer(s) usually include the MilDot Master. This handle little device will allow you to determine the angle and also give the necessary correction. It's a sliderule card type affair that weighs about the same as a few business cards (not too much extra to hump around).

[Dingo Jack]

Thanks. I know that 45° is improbable but 20° or 30° can be realistic. I have a Leica LRF 800 and I will know the distance if it is far. I am not sure how far I would actually try to shoot at game. 265 yds is the longest shot and kill I have made here over the years on South Texas deer and that was last year. Hopefully I will not ever have the need to worry about this angle stuff with a flat shooting rifle but I thought I would throw it out here.
If presented the oppertunity to shoot at a Bull Elk I will do all I can to make that shot less than 200 yds.
Less than 6 months left to Elk season. Its getting close. Hehe... I'm excited.

[Dingo Jack]

To correct, for example, the 45 degree angle shot, because the loss of gravity in angled shots causes the bullet to hit high. This is true at angled up and down shots. True? How much compensation, generally speaking do you make if you are making a 300 yd shot? A 200 yd shot?
My rifle is 300 Win Mag with a 24" barrel and I shoot Federal 180 gr BarnesX.
Would it be something like: Aim for 200 yds when 300 yds away? I am a flat lander and I will be hunting Elk in the mountains. I have no way to practice this shot but I do have a Kahles TDS scope that is super in long range shooting. Thanks in advance.

[Caesars727]

This product addresses your concern.

Cosine Indicator

Gentlemen, you are on top of your game. However there are many instances when a 45 degree angle shot comes into play at “short” range. For instance, times have changed in the U.S. and the World. Terrorism is reality. And should a bad guy be on top of a 16 story building in your town, similarly to what occurred in Texas a few year back and angle shooting quickly becomes a key attribute. You could easily be 300 yards from your target and holding at 45 degrees. If you are shooting a .308 and do not correct for the effects of gravity you will hit 7.9” high. If you are utilizing a scope OTHER THAN a high quality scope, YOU WILL have a floating zero; add another 1.5” – 3”. Everything that you can possibly do to be as on target as possible is imperative and that is where the Angle Cosine Indicator comes into play. Besides, Sheep hunters will engage their target regularly at 60 degrees. If you want a serious, vault solid tool that is permanently affixed to your rifle that has passed the test of real world combat and has been in use by many militaries world wide, this is it. http://www.snipertools.com

[ 10-11-2003: Message edited by: W ]

[ 10-11-2003: Message edited by: W ]