Huskemaw custom turret development

[FullDraw84]

I have recently discovered this website and am very glad I did! Has a wealth of information to offer from some very experienced shooters. I have hunted very seriously my entire life and have recently became intent on becoming a much better shooter. My expectations as a 1st year long range shooter probably aren't much to some of you (I would like to be comfortable to 500 yards by this elk season), but I am determined not to let the excitement of long range shooting make me take questionable shots. I want to master the basics as a shooter and then progressively gain skill and confidence at further distances.

That being said, I was wondering if I could get some guidance on how to properly shoot and gather all of the data needed for the custom turret on the Huskemaw 5-20 LR scope.

Here is my situation: I am shooting a Browning A-bolt Long Range Hunter in 7MM RM. I have worked up a handload (with help from an experienced shooter) which is a 160 gr Nosler Accubond, 66 grains of Reloader 22 and Federal 215 primer in a WW case. I have had the Huskemaw scope correctly mounted, broke my gun in properly and have taken special care to properly clean my gun (using Sweet's to remove copper fouling).

I have a chronograph, good shooting bench, rests and areas where I can shoot as far as necessary. I have shot only 40 shots through my gun and understand that I need to shoot about 2x that many before I proceed with data gathering.

I live in Colorado and hunt around 8000' in temps ranging from the 60s to anywhere near 0 degrees.

I want to do this process properly, get the turret on my rifle and practice, practice, practice. I have also began focusing on my shooting mechanics and trigger control by shooting many rounds through my .22 and .223.

Thank you very much for any suggestions and guidance.

 

[Greyfox]

I have set up two long range rig with the Huskemaw system over the last few years and have had good success out to 1000 yards with 11 deer and antelope taken. It's actually not too difficult to set up. The first question that you have to think about is whether you plan on extending your hunting distance to ranges longer than 500 yard limit you have established for the upcoming elk season. If so, you may want to consider a higher BC bullet like the Berger Hunting 168VLD which would give you a substantial increase in ballistic performance at the extended ranges over the Nosler, +20%. They perform very well at distances from 200-1000 yards at 7MMMag velocities. Since your going to produce turrets, you will only need to do this once. I am sure that there are many opinions on this but thinking ahead can save some time and money. As far as setting up the scope, following the process described on the CD that came with the scope is relatively easy and does work when you plug the numbers into the ballistic calculator. I would for sure collect data out to at least 500 yards since that's your planned range. BOTW does a nice job producing the turrets to the provided data. You have a fairly wide temperature range. For 500 yard work, I would get a turret set at the the average temp for your season. At this distance, each 20 degree
difference will amount to a one or two click elevation adjustment, up for colder,down for warmer. I use an IPhone with Ballistic FTE for the longer distances if I find conditions too greatly from my turrets but this has been rare and only required a few clicks of adjustment when required. It's a great scope, I think you will be pleased with the results.

 

[bowhunter42]

Hey full draw 84, I sent you a pm with my phone #, I sell, set up, and shoot data for Huskemaws all the time. shooting, and Gathering the Correct data is VERY IMPORTANT, but not as hard as you might think. just give me a call and I can walk you through it step by step. you have a great scope on your 7mag!

 

[Nimrodmar10]

I started to order turrets for some of my guns but then I got to thinking about how many I'd need for each rifle. One for summer, one for winter, one for Tennessee and one for the Rockies. Figure $100 each for three guns and you get to $1200 in a hurry. So I got to looking for an alternative.

Now I'm just an old Tennessee Hillbilly so I'm not too fancy. I can use slick and shiny, but I can use utilitarian too. I'm an electrician by trade and for control wiring we use wire numbers to identify individual wires. These numbers come in either books or sheets and are cheap. You can get one sheet that will do you for a lifetime for about a buck. I set my scope for 200 yards and set the zero stop there. I then shoot the rifle at each range until I have a good zero for that range and apply a single number for that range, 2 for 200, 3 for 300, etc. The numbers are fabric based and I've never had one slip yet. I can record the drop tables for each shooting condition and move the numbers to the appropiate places on the turret. No fuss, no muss. And they don't look bad. The numbers are almost exactly the same size as 1 MOA on my HS turrets on my NightForce NXS scopes. If you need more than one rotation to get you to your max distance, just put the first round low and the second round high.

The brand I use is Bradymarker Labels at www.bradyid.com but I'm sure you can find something close at your local Radio Shack or electrical supply.

I may not be too fancy, but I "Get her Done"

 

[Greyfox]

I started to order turrets for some of my guns but then I got to thinking about how many I'd need for each rifle. One for summer, one for winter, one for Tennessee and one for the Rockies. Figure $100 each for three guns and you get to $1200 in a hurry. So I got to looking for an alternative.

Now I'm just an old Tennessee Hillbilly so I'm not too fancy. I can use slick and shiny, but I can use utilitarian too. I'm an electrician by trade and for control wiring we use wire numbers to identify individual wires. These numbers come in either books or sheets and are cheap. You can get one sheet that will do you for a lifetime for about a buck. I set my scope for 200 yards and set the zero stop there. I then shoot the rifle at each range until I have a good zero for that range and apply a single number for that range, 2 for 200, 3 for 300, etc. The numbers are fabric based and I've never had one slip yet. I can record the drop tables for each shooting condition and move the numbers to the appropiate places on the turret. No fuss, no muss. And they don't look bad. The numbers are almost exactly the same size as 1 MOA on my HS turrets on my NightForce NXS scopes. If you need more than one rotation to get you to your max distance, just put the first round low and the second round high.

The brand I use is Bradymarker Labels at www.bradyid.com but I'm sure you can find something close at your local Radio Shack or electrical supply.

I may not be too fancy, but I "Get her Done"

I did this for years. I used white electrical tape, a sharpie, and then cut a stip
of 3m clear packing tape and cut a strip the same size as the electrical strip. It's permanent and easy to see.

 

[bowhunter42]

You get 2 free turrets with each Huskemaw you buy, I also order a third for my guns and the price is now below 50 bucks. I have one for the elevation I live 3000' then one for the elevation I do alot of backcountry muledeer hunting, 7000' and the third is for 5000' for shoots I go to around the west. all are set for 30 degrees except for the 5000' its set for 50 degrees the turrets are good for 2000' of elevation change. so with the 3 turrets im good from 1000' to 9000' thats alot of country in between. as far as temp goes if its 20 warmer I take out a click and 20 below I add 1 click. It works very well and I still have the windage hold cut in the turret so Im not having to dig out a chart and such. I just got back from the Huskemaw challenge held by The Best of the west, this last weekend in Cody. the temp for the shoot on friday was 93' and I had my 5000' 50 degree on, all I did was take 2 clicks out of the ranged yardage and all was great,