Good results today with stock 10 FCP-K at 545 yards

[Joe L]

I only get to shoot at 545 yards once or twice each month when I can get off work and drive some. I go to the same place and shoot the same target position and time of day so that I can continue to improve my fundamentals. This weekend I went out on Saturday and did not shoot under 5", but not over 8" 5 shot groups. I've done better. There was no problem with the gun or the ammo or the scope. It was me. I was never comfortable behind the gun.

Today, I went back and started from the same position as Saturday but was not comfortable. The 545 yard target is uphill and it helps for me to shoot from the sloping dirt portion of the shooting pad when shooting prone. I moved the pad down the slope some and was able to get quite comfortable for the last two groups. I felt the stock seating solidly in my shoulder after moving. On Saturday, I felt like the stock was low and I was only catching the top of the stock in my shoulder. I should have extended the bipod legs a couple of inches on Saturday to get a proper fit of the stock in my shoulder, but the neck angle would still have been better moving down the slope.

Here is what the shooters pad looks like after getting in to a comfortable position.

http://joelynch.smugmug.com/Firearms/Ruidoso-545-6-23-13/i-PKP8dqW/0/M/EE506297-M.jpg

Here is what the terrain looks like from the shooter's position. My target is the white patch just above and to the left of the tip of the barrel.

http://joelynch.smugmug.com/Firearms/Ruidoso-545-6-23-13/i-HqFsDjQ/0/M/EE506300-M.jpg

And now the results when I drove up. 4 shots in the first group on the left, changed elevation dial in on group 2, and then fixed most of what I was doing wrong for groups 3 and 4, with no changes other than positioning and grip.

http://joelynch.smugmug.com/Firearms/Ruidoso-545-6-23-13/i-JBfGgLb/0/M/EE506309-M.jpg

Final results, two good groups and I was still comfortable with no eye/neck strain after 19 rounds.

http://joelynch.smugmug.com/Firearms/Ruidoso-545-6-23-13/i-KG6p238/0/M/EE506311-M.jpg

Savage rifle, Bushnell scope, Southwest Ammunition 168 all work great. Shooter needs work.

This is fun.

Joe

[Yoshi]

I admire folks like you that can shoot "distance". Besides Maryland being an anti-gun state, there aren't too many places to shoot around here. Have to travel +2hrs for that. Anyway, looks like a great day and your groups will shrink with time and practice.

I had a hard time getting comfortable behind my Model 10 PC until I got a LARGE rear bag. That helped me out A LOT.

[eddiesindian]

great shooting Joe!....
I sometimes get the uneasy feeling as well behind my rifle where it just doesnt seem to fit or Im over thinking everything. When that happens, I try to remind myself to take get back up,move around abit,stretch, reset my body position, and take more than a few dry firings and see where Im moving...

[Joe L]

great shooting Joe!....
I sometimes get the uneasy feeling as well behind my rifle where it just doesnt seem to fit or Im over thinking everything. When that happens, I try to remind myself to take get back up,move around abit,stretch, reset my body position, and take more than a few dry firings and see where Im moving...

That is good advice. I could have saved myself some frustration on Saturday if I had just realized that the butt of the gun was too close to the mat and that the gun was sort of under me instead of settled in to my shoulder. Perhaps I could have raised the gun on the bipod and then got a better stock plant in the shoulder.

Fortunately for me, today I wasn't in a rush and I was able to make some good changes behind the gun. I didn't change anything other than my position and the groups were good again. Most importantly, I got to see the improvement on the same target, same ammo, no other changes. I learned from the first 9 rounds and enjoyed the results for the last 10.

Fundamentally speaking, I'm still learning fundamentals, LOL.

Joe

[eddiesindian]

there ya go. "good" practice makes a better shooter. fundamentals as you said are key. heck Ive been shooting for the past 40yrs and find myself having to go back to the fundamentals and stop over thinking....go figure.
it at times amazes me that some days, you can get behind your rifle and your mind/body are as one with the rifle without even thinking about it. other days?....your wondering why the hell you even took the rifle out of its case.

[brasse]

So true. I am new to rifles, at least being able to shoot sub MOA. May 2012 was my first sub MOA at 100 yards, August 26th was my first sub MOA at 200 yards. I now have 6 rifles that can shoot sub MOA, shooter doesn't always. If I have some Black Hills ammo, I just shoot better!

So EVERY day shooting is going to the fundamentals. Plus I shoot where it can get windy, as 10 MPH is normal and 20-25 is 35 to 50% of the time. My Creedmoor is staying in it's bag until I get a muzzle brake for it. I was shooting a perfectly spaced ring about 1.2 inches around the bulls eye.

I am working on body alignment lately, basics, basics, basics.

Yesterday using cheaper 308 ammo I was shooting sub MOA with the new 10TR (sweet gun) but stringing horizontally due to wind gusts. I put out little red flags (Lowes property markers) and had my wind gage out. But darn wind was coming from about 160 degrees, behind me and blowing right to left. I couldn't feel the wind coming, nor see it.

Still I had some great shots. Twenty minutes between shooting sessions, got a couple of "relative" cold bore dead center bulls eye.

Did I say I love my 10TR?

[eddiesindian]

did you say you love,d your TR?.......I dunno did-ya?................olololololoolo

[brasse]

Yeh after 40 years of marriage, a new rifle can beat the same ole you know what.

Dang I really want to shoot at 500 yards and more. local range is less than 5 miles away. The range with 500 yards is nearly an hour from my door and cost a LOT more.

[Joe L]

The range above is near Ruidoso, N.M. I joined their club and paid my dues and got a key. I usually go out there at sunrise and stay a couple of hours. I have it all to myself at least for the first hour but, by then, I can move over to the pistol range which is one bay but about 25 yards wide and 50 yards to the berm. The rifle range has a 50 yard rise to the 500 meter (547 yard) berm and it is that rise that gets me.

Unfortunately, that is not a lake off the pistol range shed in the background, it is a parking area.

It is cold in the winter, so cold that I have to use oil in the semi-autos instead of grease to get them to cycle. 10F is common in the mornings, and the sun angle is a problem at the rifle range which faces south. No one shows up in the winter that early but me, LOL.

There is lots of National Forest land in the area and I am going to find a place to shoot out to 1000 yards soon. At 7000 feet altitude, even a .308 might be OK at a 1000. If not, I'll move in a little. Might even start out at 800 yards, with a target cam and a big target!

Joe

[eddiesindian]

you will be ok joe. imo though I think you,d be better off using your own reloads (if you reload) when you do send-em out to 1K.
at that elev?...wow.....Im gonna do some ballsitic calculations later and see just how much less of a drop there is with my loads at 7K as opposed to 4400 where Im at .....im curious......
now finding a open spot to get you out to 1000?....now that sounds pretty darn hard from what you saying