What does it take to hit at a mile?

[royinidaho]

.30 cal,

Now you're cooking. Best stock up on lead for the pencil.

I don't understand this: "I didn't adjust for parralax on every shot because I was maxed out but I did notice on some shots if I moved it then maxed it out again the sight picture cleared up so I will do this for every shot."

The need to adjust parallax between shots doesn't seem reasonable. Maybe there's something I don't understand.

Regarding your bench: I've attempted to build a half dozen or so of benches with pipe legs. The only ones that came even close to steady enough were rigged with various types of braces between legs. None fully met my needs.

I ended up with railroad ties forming a 5 X 8' prone shooting spot filled with sand. When I get home I'm gonna plant grass on it.

Broz's advice is good.

 

[.30 CAL]

I like the idea of putting a camera on the bench to see how stable it actually is. But how do you check the stability of your prone set up? Not necessarily ground movement but torque due to recoil.
As far as my parralax being maxed out goes, I mean that my parralax adjustment knob has been rotated to its stop. There is an infinity symbol and the knob can not be rotated any further in that direction. So what I noticed is that after some shots the target and or crosshairs were fuzzier than before. If I rotated the knob to bring the crosshairs and target out of focus then rotated it back to its stop and my sight picture was clear again. I also noticed if I took to long to break the shot my eye would focus on the target and start to blur the crosshair so the solution was the same as above and my sight picture would come back with a crisp reticle and clear target.

 

[Broz]

I like the idea of putting a camera on the bench to see how stable it actually is. But how do you check the stability of your prone set up? .

Group size.........

Just kidding.

Jeff

 

[WildRose]

So after reading your suggestions I came up with a list of items to help me connect at a mile and changed my goal of hitting a 15 inch target to hitting it on the first shot. Let me know what I forgot or left out.
royinidaho
I agree more shots will increase my odds of connecting so I am going to shoot 20 shots per outing no more no less.
A bigger target will increase my odds of a hit but I am not willing to lower a standard to gain success, so the largest target I will ever shoot at is 15 inches. 2000 Yards and 2640 will be the next milestones.
Windflags, windflags, windflags, at a minimum I will be setting up flags at the target at 1000 yards and where I shoot from. I will probably get the kestral weather vane for my meter so I can monitor the wind constantly instead of just before I shoot.
338 Allen Mag (I wish) 338 Edge is what I will be using. My buddies were using a 300 RUM and a 6.5-284. 6.5 surprised everyone not because it made it but because it kicked up more than enough dust to see impacts.
BROZ
Even though I would love to shoot prone my prone position isn't developed enough to shoot to a mile (in my opinion) so I am kind of married to the bench. I did notice when I lean into the bench and crush my chest my heartbeat is less noticable. Here's a pic so you can see the flat I am leaning against.
I didn't adust for parralax on every shot because I was maxed out but I did notice on some shots if I moved it then maxed it out again the sight picture cleared up so I will do this for every shot.
I didn't think of cooking ammo this may have had some effect on my high and low misses, so I am not going to shoot more than 2 without a cooling break.
I did have a jacket under my bag and didn't think about it affecting POI. I do need some extra height so the butt of the rifle doesn't rest on the bench so I am getting a taller bag before my next outing. I don't have a scope level so I will get one as well because leveling the crosshairs just wont cut it at a mile, hopefully it brings my left and right in a little bit.
WildRose
Thanks for the link I will practice timming my trigger break between heartbeats.
I'm going to make a checklist and put it on a card untill I memorize it, hopefully it helps with shot to shot consistency here's what I have:
Bag positon on rifle (needs to be the same every shot)
Natural POA (muscle the rifle as little as possible)
Parralax (adjust it every shot)
Wind (speed and direction)
Dry fire once before every shot
1000 yard warm up prior to shooting a mile
I am also going to keep a mile log book it will have the following:
Before Firing
Date, Time, Range, Ammo, Light (where are shadows use clock format direction of fire is 12), Mirage (can it be seen good, fair, poor), Temp (ambient, barrel?), Wind (current, average)
After Firing
Elevation used (MOA), Wind call with windage used (MOA), Impact location (clock format high is 12 include distance from target)
Lastly I've been using the following rules of thumb please correct me if I'm wrong or you use something else:
20 Degree change in temperature equals 1 MOA shift in impact
20 percent change in R.H. equals 1 MOA shift in impact
Baro Pressure I do not compensate what is a good rule ie. 1000 ft change in alt equals 1 MOA
Thanks for your help and sorry for the long post.

A couple of things for you.

Your bench has some inherent instability because it's a tripod with minimal support at each point of attachment. The plywood alone has considerable flex to it.

Put some 45 degree angle braces on each leg extending to the corners and it will tighten things up for you a lot. That is IF you don't go ahead and move to a prone set up.

I like the idea of the built up sand box someone else offered.

I would also suggest moving to a very stable bipod rather than the bags. Something like the Tango Down or Atlas or even the versapod. The wide spread legs will help greatly to reduce torquing.

I just bought a versapod and really like it and have a tango down coming next week. I don't like lugging bags around and I'm tired of weak, cheesy assed bipods as well.

Last, the line about parallax adjusment.... . If you are for any reason needing to adjust parallax between shots something is loose in your scope!

 

[bassin93]

I believe the biggest problem is, he said he does not have a level on his rifle. This makes a huge huge difference.

 

[.30 CAL]

U.S. optics anticant device is on order it will be here NLT the 24th. I chose the fixed model because I didn't want there to be chance of error in the fold away model. The b square one is junk that's why I don't have one I broke it before it got used. It'll be 2 weeks before I get out again don't think the wifey will let me get away with going out on a holiday weekend. I will also film the bench stability video and post it for informational purposes.

 

[BMcKell]

When you get ready to shoot, Move your head around a little and see if your cross hairs move. That's parallax. Then adjust it to bring the cross hair and the target into the same focal plane. When it is, then the crosshair won't move. As others have said, the parallax is not a focus.

I would recommend shooting prone with a bipod and rear bag. Your point of impact will change when going from a bench to prone. Benches get too heavy to pack around when hunting

Alot can happen between you and 1760 yards. Anytime you make a hit from that range it takes alot of skill and a little luck. Practice alot shooting across canyons, in different winds and terrains and you will get a feel for what different winds will do to you. The arc of your bullet goes so high when shooting that far and sometimes you will run into a wind that you just can't see. It can kick your butt at any time.

Sorry for rambleing on, just thought of a couple things to add to the other great posts.