AJ Peacock
Well-Known Member
We had a bit of fun this weekend.
I was over at DogDinger's range and even though I'd shot the 338AM at long distance (over 1500yds), I'd never verified my drop chart further than 800yds on anything other than rocks!.
Dogdinger found something to use as a target and said he'd haul the target around and I could stay at the bench and shoot the drops. He loaded the target into the back of his pickup and headed downrange.
We each had a vhf radio to stay in contact. He drove to the 600yd berm and set up the target, he also verified the range with the Swaro LRF and then moved the truck over to a safe location. He gave me a wind reading from the target and I sent the first shot of the day. He then marked the shot and moved the target to repeat the entire process at the next distance. I shot at 600,800, 1000, 1214, 1320,1483 and then finished with 400 and 200.
We shot all the drops on the same board (except the 200yd shot, since we had a paper target at that range, and shooting the 338AM at 200yds is essentially a waste of ammo!).
The goal was not necessarily to hit the bullseye with every shot, it was simply to hit the target board and document what the hold was for each shot, so I could finalize my drop chart. The wind was switching from 0mph to 7mph and I realized how important a spotter is to watching the wind, as we normally spot for each other and are constantly calling the wind. In this case, the shots were 10-15seconds after the wind calls.
The shots were around 10 minutes apart (that's how long it took to move the target). It was around noon and the mirage was nearly impossible at 1320yds and 1483yds. I nearly missed the target at 1320, I hit the backer and scratched the edge of the tin. At 1483yds, I expected to miss the target completely, as the mirage was moving nearly 2 minutes of angle up and sideways. I couldn't see the white on the target at all at 1483, at 1320, the white was just a smear of light color on the green target.
As always, I'm amazed at how this rifle shoots. I try not to shoot this rifle very much (just to save the barrel), but really needed to shoot and verify my drops at long range).
FWIW: I had 3/4moa left windage for both the 1214yd and 1320yd shots. Just as I shot the 1214, the wind gusted downrange. And just as I shot the 1320yd shot, the wind stopped!
Here is the drop board. To help with size, the distance between the 400yd hole and the 800yd hole is just under 6".
AJ
I was over at DogDinger's range and even though I'd shot the 338AM at long distance (over 1500yds), I'd never verified my drop chart further than 800yds on anything other than rocks!.
Dogdinger found something to use as a target and said he'd haul the target around and I could stay at the bench and shoot the drops. He loaded the target into the back of his pickup and headed downrange.
We each had a vhf radio to stay in contact. He drove to the 600yd berm and set up the target, he also verified the range with the Swaro LRF and then moved the truck over to a safe location. He gave me a wind reading from the target and I sent the first shot of the day. He then marked the shot and moved the target to repeat the entire process at the next distance. I shot at 600,800, 1000, 1214, 1320,1483 and then finished with 400 and 200.
We shot all the drops on the same board (except the 200yd shot, since we had a paper target at that range, and shooting the 338AM at 200yds is essentially a waste of ammo!).
The goal was not necessarily to hit the bullseye with every shot, it was simply to hit the target board and document what the hold was for each shot, so I could finalize my drop chart. The wind was switching from 0mph to 7mph and I realized how important a spotter is to watching the wind, as we normally spot for each other and are constantly calling the wind. In this case, the shots were 10-15seconds after the wind calls.
The shots were around 10 minutes apart (that's how long it took to move the target). It was around noon and the mirage was nearly impossible at 1320yds and 1483yds. I nearly missed the target at 1320, I hit the backer and scratched the edge of the tin. At 1483yds, I expected to miss the target completely, as the mirage was moving nearly 2 minutes of angle up and sideways. I couldn't see the white on the target at all at 1483, at 1320, the white was just a smear of light color on the green target.
As always, I'm amazed at how this rifle shoots. I try not to shoot this rifle very much (just to save the barrel), but really needed to shoot and verify my drops at long range).
FWIW: I had 3/4moa left windage for both the 1214yd and 1320yd shots. Just as I shot the 1214, the wind gusted downrange. And just as I shot the 1320yd shot, the wind stopped!
Here is the drop board. To help with size, the distance between the 400yd hole and the 800yd hole is just under 6".
AJ
