Long Range Practice with 338AX Raptor

[MT4XFore]

Went out today for some long range practice with my 338AX Raptor Stalker. My spotter and cheerleader was Fiftydriver. He brought along his video camera to capture my misses for posterity. He set up his camera and told me to find a target and shoot it. So I found a dangerous looking rock at about 600 yds. I ranged it, dialed my scope, guessed at the wind and proceeded to fire away. I did not hit the rock, but had it been a rockchuck, it would have been splattered over the hillside. Well, I picked out several other rocks that looked likely to have criminal backgrounds and proceeded to shoot them too. They were all very small targets and all shots taken pleased me very much because they all would have been in the boiler room of anything down to a coyote sized critter. Finally Fifty picked a rock that was hiding at 997 yds. My first shot was perfect elevation but way right. I realized that I made my windage correction in the wrong direction (brain fart!). After correcting my mistake, the next shot hit the rock! While we were talking about that shot a nice buck antelope appeared walking up a ridge between us and the rock I had just "killed". So with the camera running, I ranged that goat, dialed my scope, and took my shot. You could hear the CLICK of my dry fire on the video. Since he was just a tad over 900 yds, I'm certain that if I had been loaded, I would probably be incarcerated right now! I cant tell you what a great practice session that turned out to be. Especially the dry fire practice on that goat. That gives you a good idea of what it would be like to set up for a live shot in real time.

Viewing the results of the shots I took on a big screen TV was a new experience for me. Even though I could see my hits in my scope, I wasn't able to watch them in slow motion and in reverse! What a hoot. I want to add that I had worked out a drop chart for my load using the G7 ballistic calculator on the Vortex website and it proved to be right on the money! I used the G7 BC for my bullet when calculating my drops. In any case it was a productive couple of hours of shooting and a pleasurable time with a friend. Cant beat that.....................

 

[WildRose]

Went out today for some long range practice with my 338AX Raptor Stalker. My spotter and cheerleader was Fiftydriver. He brought along his video camera to capture my misses for posterity. He set up his camera and told me to find a target and shoot it. So I found a dangerous looking rock at about 600 yds. I ranged it, dialed my scope, guessed at the wind and proceeded to fire away. I did not hit the rock, but had it been a rockchuck, it would have been splattered over the hillside. Well, I picked out several other rocks that looked likely to have criminal backgrounds and proceeded to shoot them too. They were all very small targets and all shots taken pleased me very much because they all would have been in the boiler room of anything down to a coyote sized critter. Finally Fifty picked a rock that was hiding at 997 yds. My first shot was perfect elevation but way right. I realized that I made my windage correction in the wrong direction (brain fart!). After correcting my mistake, the next shot hit the rock! While we were talking about that shot a nice buck antelope appeared walking up a ridge between us and the rock I had just "killed". So with the camera running, I ranged that goat, dialed my scope, and took my shot. You could hear the CLICK of my dry fire on the video. Since he was just a tad over 900 yds, I'm certain that if I had been loaded, I would probably be incarcerated right now! I cant tell you what a great practice session that turned out to be. Especially the dry fire practice on that goat. That gives you a good idea of what it would be like to set up for a live shot in real time.

Viewing the results of the shots I took on a big screen TV was a new experience for me. Even though I could see my hits in my scope, I wasn't able to watch them in slow motion and in reverse! What a hoot. I want to add that I had worked out a drop chart for my load using the G7 ballistic calculator on the Vortex website and it proved to be right on the money! I used the G7 BC for my bullet when calculating my drops. In any case it was a productive couple of hours of shooting and a pleasurable time with a friend. Cant beat that.....................

Sounds like a great day out! Now where's the pictures? Vidieo? HA!

I'm like you when it comes to practice targets I think rocks are God's gift to the "sportsman on a budget" and around here most of ours are a soft white lime that really powders well on impact so you are rarely left with any question as to hits/misses kind of like using white wash (lime slurry dried)on steel plates.

 

[MSLRHunter]

I have been admiring that rifle ever since your first post about it. Good shooting!