Shumba
Well-Known Member
Hey guys,
I have been a lurker here for quite a few years and have not made many posts, but have learned quite a bit from the knowledgeable people here about long range shooting and many things precision rifle related. this place is a wealth of information! I saw there was a section above about Antelope hunting but this story is more about the rifle than the hunt so I hope this is not the wrong section....my appologies if it is.
The Rifle:
I had a 375 Allen Magnum made by Kirby Allen. The rifle is made on a Stiller Tac 408 single shot action. 31' Lilja fluted barrel with APS painkiller brake. Mcmillan Desert camo A5 stock. Topped with a Nightforce 5.5-22X56 scope. a Jewell bottom safety trigger set to @18-20 oz and the rifle weights @ 17 1/2lbs with scope. I took delivery of this rifle last week just in time for a hunt in the panhandle of Texas for antelope, OH JOY!!
The night before the hunt I took the rifle out to fire it for the first time and zero it @200 yds. Kirby had zeroed the rifle at 1000 yards so I knew roughly what the dial in was to get it up to 1000. However; He had to remove the scope for shipping so I needed to verify it upon re mounting. I ran a trajectory table and I figured that without having actual field proof of the accuracy of the table, knowing the exact zero @200 and at 1000 would give me enough info to make the dial in for the ranges in between fairly close. I was able to shoot 3 shots from the rifle before light ran out. Two shots zeroed it at 200. I then found a @ 12-14" rock at 975 dialed it in and punched it just right of center! I was cleaning the rifle after every shot during this period. Lets go hunting!
The next day we found 8 different bucks on the 10K acre ranch we were hunting. We spent all morning looking over the ranch looking for the best goat we could find. One of the first goats we found that morning ended up being the best one we came across. We went back to the area where we had seen him and his does and found them in the same area. I had my hunting partners drop me off well beyond a hill that rose up between me and the goats. I stalked up to to where I could see them and 719 was as close as I was going to get to them. I dialed in what the chart said on my I phone APP, Ballistic FTE (which has proven to be as good as any ballistics program I have used) The wind was straight from the buck to me. The buck dropped where he stood! It was a great fist outing with Kirbys 375 AM.
The afternoon after the hunt I wanted to finish breaking in the rifle so we went back and took more bark off the 975 yard rock 6 more times while cleaning after every shot. This rifle seems, right now anyway, to be a rifle that will spoil a guy when it comes to hitting long range targets! LOL. I was able to get a range on a tree at 1300 yards. There was a smallish rock beside it. I am guessing here but I assume it to have been the size of a large canteloupe or small round watermelon. It was more or less completely covered by the crosshairs at 1300 yards im sure someone here will know if that is a legitimate size based on the crosshair coverage. It looked small anyway! It took 5 shots....the first two got us zeroed elevation wise. The next two walked us back into the wind. the first shot @2'-3' right, the next I made a large correction but it didnt move according to what I had dialed in, I dialed 24" and it moved only @12". We were shooting across two canyons so I assumed the wind must be less predictable than I predicted...HaHa. I moved it again and shot number 5 found its mark hitting the rock! This was awesome fun!
I had never attempted a shot at over 1000 yards before this. I have had a 50 BMG for several years but never was able to get it to hit what I wanted consistienly at ranges over 800-1000 yards so I never really tried. I know that there are shooters on here that do this with boring consistiency but this was pretty extiting for me and thought I would share.
Thanks to Kirby Allen for building a great rifle and dealing with all my questions. Thanks man.
Headed to the Glass Mountains of Marathon TX in two weeks to help a landowner remove at least 30 aoudad sheep from his property. By remove I mean PERMANANTALY REMOVE, not re locate. I will be toting the 375AM up into those mountains for this one. Ill be sure to post a story when it is over. Here are some pics from the last trip there.
I have been a lurker here for quite a few years and have not made many posts, but have learned quite a bit from the knowledgeable people here about long range shooting and many things precision rifle related. this place is a wealth of information! I saw there was a section above about Antelope hunting but this story is more about the rifle than the hunt so I hope this is not the wrong section....my appologies if it is.
The Rifle:
I had a 375 Allen Magnum made by Kirby Allen. The rifle is made on a Stiller Tac 408 single shot action. 31' Lilja fluted barrel with APS painkiller brake. Mcmillan Desert camo A5 stock. Topped with a Nightforce 5.5-22X56 scope. a Jewell bottom safety trigger set to @18-20 oz and the rifle weights @ 17 1/2lbs with scope. I took delivery of this rifle last week just in time for a hunt in the panhandle of Texas for antelope, OH JOY!!
The night before the hunt I took the rifle out to fire it for the first time and zero it @200 yds. Kirby had zeroed the rifle at 1000 yards so I knew roughly what the dial in was to get it up to 1000. However; He had to remove the scope for shipping so I needed to verify it upon re mounting. I ran a trajectory table and I figured that without having actual field proof of the accuracy of the table, knowing the exact zero @200 and at 1000 would give me enough info to make the dial in for the ranges in between fairly close. I was able to shoot 3 shots from the rifle before light ran out. Two shots zeroed it at 200. I then found a @ 12-14" rock at 975 dialed it in and punched it just right of center! I was cleaning the rifle after every shot during this period. Lets go hunting!
The next day we found 8 different bucks on the 10K acre ranch we were hunting. We spent all morning looking over the ranch looking for the best goat we could find. One of the first goats we found that morning ended up being the best one we came across. We went back to the area where we had seen him and his does and found them in the same area. I had my hunting partners drop me off well beyond a hill that rose up between me and the goats. I stalked up to to where I could see them and 719 was as close as I was going to get to them. I dialed in what the chart said on my I phone APP, Ballistic FTE (which has proven to be as good as any ballistics program I have used) The wind was straight from the buck to me. The buck dropped where he stood! It was a great fist outing with Kirbys 375 AM.
The afternoon after the hunt I wanted to finish breaking in the rifle so we went back and took more bark off the 975 yard rock 6 more times while cleaning after every shot. This rifle seems, right now anyway, to be a rifle that will spoil a guy when it comes to hitting long range targets! LOL. I was able to get a range on a tree at 1300 yards. There was a smallish rock beside it. I am guessing here but I assume it to have been the size of a large canteloupe or small round watermelon. It was more or less completely covered by the crosshairs at 1300 yards im sure someone here will know if that is a legitimate size based on the crosshair coverage. It looked small anyway! It took 5 shots....the first two got us zeroed elevation wise. The next two walked us back into the wind. the first shot @2'-3' right, the next I made a large correction but it didnt move according to what I had dialed in, I dialed 24" and it moved only @12". We were shooting across two canyons so I assumed the wind must be less predictable than I predicted...HaHa. I moved it again and shot number 5 found its mark hitting the rock! This was awesome fun!
I had never attempted a shot at over 1000 yards before this. I have had a 50 BMG for several years but never was able to get it to hit what I wanted consistienly at ranges over 800-1000 yards so I never really tried. I know that there are shooters on here that do this with boring consistiency but this was pretty extiting for me and thought I would share.
Thanks to Kirby Allen for building a great rifle and dealing with all my questions. Thanks man.
Headed to the Glass Mountains of Marathon TX in two weeks to help a landowner remove at least 30 aoudad sheep from his property. By remove I mean PERMANANTALY REMOVE, not re locate. I will be toting the 375AM up into those mountains for this one. Ill be sure to post a story when it is over. Here are some pics from the last trip there.
