Movers - strange but true

[Ian M]

Shot the moving target system for several hours (450+ rounds of .308 Win.) and we came to an interesting conclusion - 200 yard moving target was easier to hit (and our groups were smaller) than the 100 yard target. Speed was constant, target carrier had a backboard on it that was about 8' wide and 3+ feet high. Caught every round fired at ShootnSee circles or balloons so we could see where the misses hit. I put fresh paper on the backboard after each twenty shots, looked at the groups size at five and ten shots going each direction. Another wierd thing, our Right to Left moving groups were always smaller than the Left to Rights, even tho we usually find that Left to Right swing is easier to do.

Got the barrel so hot on the rifle that we use for movers that my buddy raised a blister when he accidently touched it. This is a factory sporter barrel and it takes incredible abuse and just keeps shooting around 1 moa.

Not long range but might be interesting to some guys.

 

[Tim Behle]

Ian,

Sounds like a lot of fun!

Do you normally shoot left handed? Hitting moving targets from left to right has always been harder for me ( I shoot right handed ). In fact, when calling, I turn my body to put the caller more to my left to ensure I don't have to twist far to the right if I get a runner.

Tim

 

[Ian M]

Tim,
All the shooters that have helped me with this testing have been right handed. Most of the time they do better when the target is tracking left to right. This time we all shot better right to left, must have been the water we were drinking... I have some jpegs of the system if you would like to see them.

Shot today in extreme heat, muzzleloader bullet test out to 300 yards to get some drop info with the TDS reticle from Kahles/Swarovski and some new bullets. 36 degrees C whatever the hell that is in F, so hot we had to put the rifles onto the air conditioning vents in the truck to cool down the barrels. Even muzzleloaders get so hot that accuracy goes to hell, 15 minutes on the air conditioning vent and the rifle was good for two shots, then spray. Ran out of bullets and Pryodex about when the sun went down.

 

[speedbump]

Ian,

FYI, some military sources recommend increasing the lead going left to right for a righty... apparently the more you swing toward the dominant side, the more difficult it is to overcome. Some can do it fine, others can't....

Bipods are usually tougher on movers than a flat bag or pack, IMHO - you don't have to fight the springs.

 

[Ian M]

Bump,
We sure find differences, catching every shot on paper lets me see what is going on. We shoot from rests but they are very moveable - have a fantastic Nightforce Sniper Tripod and also use pedastals with the heads loosened-off so they move freely. Virtually eliminates the elevation component of the shooting. Don't use Harris's at all, lots of shooting sticks, packsacks etc. Don't let the guys shoot offhand as this would result in the transport cables getting blasted for sure. Already had the powe-cord shot and cut clean...

Bottom line is that you have to practice movers to obtain any skills, takes a lot of shooting. Unfortunately there are very few places that enable such practice.

 

[Tim Behle]

Ian,

If you want some good practice on moving targets, come hunt coyotes with me this Winter and I'll let them all run though the stand.

Any one can hit one at 25' standing broadside. But try hitting one running full out 15' in front of you!

 

[speedbump]

Ian,

You're dead-on about the practice in general & offhand in particular! Humbling.

The NF tripod & packs sound like a good solution. Are you holding a specific lead to center crosshairs, or using mildots for leads?

 

[Ian M]

Bump,
We shoot right on a moving target - no leads. Have a 4' by 8' backing so that we can catch all the shots, hits and misses. That lets me try to determine actual lead, the bullets hit back of the aiming mark according to speed and distance and form a "moving group".
We also shoot using the mildots and they work well. Have to remember that this is on paper, bucks are a different story all together!
We use Shoot'nSee targets a lot, they are great as you can see the bullet holes so well.
Just loaded 490 rounds this afternoon for our next session.

 

[Ian M]

Tim,
That is why they make Remington 870's with extension tubes, just fill the air with double-awt-buck

I used to carry one of those suckers for a lot of years, killlingest firearm that I ever used when you were really close.

Probably the most interesting running game shooting that I have done was from the air. I used to get opportunities to shoot fairly significant numbers of running deer from helicopters, found that a mini-14 with lots of mag capacity was the best rig for that job. Those were the good old days, deer were taken for scientific collections such as parasite studies etc. Also did wolves, moose and elk but used a little more rifle for the big critters.

 

[speedbump]

Life is good in Saskatchewan!

 

[Ian M]

Went out today, wind was gusting into the 20+ mph so too windy to setup the movers. Shot some of the "mover-ammo" on my steel plates at 700 yards. 125 Speer hollowpoint made the trip but we are talking serious wind drift. Great way to use up some 30 year old 4895 and RWS primers dated 1973 on the package