fickle wind...

[EXPRESS]

At my range I have targets from 320 to 750 then a gap and the next at 1000, and the next at 1400 yards.

Now this area has it's own microclimate, with a localized prevailant wind different to the actual prevailing wind. There is an airstip just 1500 yard in the opposite drection that confirms this. The wind tends to swing 180 though it does also swirl a lot.
Usually you will get an almost frontal wind from about 11 0o'clock. It will swing to almost 9 oì'clock and at the 1400 yd gong it tends to be the opposite, like a 3 o'clock.

On most days hitting the 24" gong at 1000 is no big problem, but beyond, things get tricky.

Combine that with the fact that the target, a 40" piece of hardox 450 steel, does not show hits makes confirming your dope very hard.

The bullets hardly take off the paint, which is wierd, considering that I am shooting a 6.5-284 140gn JLK's @ 3060fps which should still be travelling at around 1395fps. They take off a tiny dot, then leave giant faint splatter marks.

there are no wind flags, though I plan to put one on each gong now, but there is plenty of vetegation and I do use a Kestrel 4500 to measure.

What advice can anyone give me to be able to learn more from my observtions?

 

[WyoElk2Hunt]

Do you have a spotter working with you?

 

[EXPRESS]

...no spotter

I triend using a friend last time, he is just getting into the long range game, set him up behind me with the spotting scope. But he was only able to see the trails on some shots. Also, the background isn't ideal for spotting, with a lot of visual interference.

I am looking for another place to set up, with a better backdrop and more variety, this is just a long open field.

 

[Canadian Bushman]

Is it possible the light marks on the steel are related to the paint you are using? Ive noticed that rustoleum lays down thick and flakes off in big chips compared to other spray paint and is usually easy for me to see but i always use mild steel for targets as well.

 

[drbill]

What advice can anyone give me to be able to learn more from my observtions?

No offense sir, but I personally would after 1000 yards consider a 338 of some sort. The wind and paint issues will become less of a problem. Your misses will also be significantly easier to spot.

 

[royinidaho]

I would strongly recommend videoing each shot through the spotting scope.

I cobbled up a fixture to connect a Cannon point and shoot to the Nikon spotter.

I upgraded to a GOPRO w/remote iPhone control. The faster frame rate allows the impact to be more clearly seen.

Haven't used it yet.

Have high hopes.

 

[JeffVN]

we shoot steel to and beyond 2,000 yards (using a variety of 6mm, 7mm & 338 pills). With good glass and a freshly painted target you can see hits with no difficulty. That having been said the 6.5mm pill you are shooting is not going to leave much of a mark so you should paint the target a color that gives very good contrast but still allows you to see what is going on.

We tried and abandoned White for our targets, as some sun angles made the darn thing pretty much disappear from view. Ultimately we settled on optic green... makes the target easy to spot and hits are easily distinguished until the mirage runs too bad.

Jeffvn

 

[royinidaho]

JeffVN,

What is "optic" green???

I'm getting desperate out here!!

Mirage even during cold temps w/bright sun absolutely makes hits nearly impossible. Let alone spotting the hits when they happen at those way out distances. . .

 

[RMulhern]

You ain't shootin in North Louisiana!!

 

[EXPRESS]

Colour is an important factor, I have a variety of colours, from white, fl. yellow, orange, flouro pink, which in one brand is terrible and another, normally used for marking on building sites, is very good. I like white because it covers old shots better than the other colors, and on my backdrops it is always visible. A small red aiming dot works well on a white background.

Today there was next to zero wind, but mirage still indicated a trend opposite to the shooting location on the 1400 target...
I also brought out my old 6PPC which was very hard to spot the hits past 600m, but its so satisfying to shoot such a tiny round so far so accurately. Three inch groups @ 600m on a 6" gong, then things fell apart with the wind.