Vid... savage 10 predator in 204 Little shooting fun

[Brent]

Shooting some balloons from 420 to 560. Little Savage Fun.

[Brent]

Cold Bore at 640 after load work up. Confirmation of drop etc.

[03mossy]

That's just impressive!!! And from a stock Savage?

[fgw_in_fla]

Nicely done, Brent.

Wish I had a place here to shoot longer distances. Beyond 3-400 yds & I have to break out the D9 and do a little clearing.
Good luck with that rig. Lookin' good.

[Brent]

Thanks guys. It is a stock rifle. It is the first savage I had ever been around. I won this rifle and have been hooked on savage since. I have about 600 rounds through it and it holds .25 moa with 24.7 grains of H4198 at 3780 fps with a 40 gr bullet. I have a couple of longer barrels I picked up and want to experiment with speed a bit. I have new model 11 22-250 I am changing the bolt head on and will swap the barrel asap.

[fgw_in_fla]

Hey Brent,
How hard is it to learn & use those electronic gadgets? Look like you have a pretty good bead on their use & application.

I never really took much interest in gadgets & always learned my scope, rifle & ammo so I could holdover where needed. I see guys using them & wonder what's involved in using them.
Keep in mind: I hate cell phones, I-pads, TV controllers with too many buttons, computers, garage door openers, X-box - if its electronic, I hate it.

[Brent]

Well, it makes it a lot easier for sure. I know old school sniper training did not incorporate the E devices and ranging via reticle in mils was the method. In fact, I can still do it with MOA reticles as well. I just like the precision of the gadgets available to us today. It is fast and easy in my opinion. Old school DOPE has its place so don't think I am knocking it at all. If you really want to shoot precision this stuff helps tremendously on cold bore or first shot attempts. I am not a target shooter so having first round hits on game is my goal so my TOOL bag has tools to help me get there a little bit easier and quicker.

I assume you are already aware of the influences of the atmosphere (barometric pressure, humidity, temp, elevation), range, slope, and wind. What these devices do is just take all this into account and do the math for you. I can go from a 500 yard target to a 1000 yard target with a 10 degree slope change in a matter of seconds. With my Leica range finder I can range a target at 400 and one at 800 and the leica with give me a MOA shoot to solution. Lets say I range a rock at 400, 15 degree slope, with a MOA of 6 and at 800, 6 degree slopem with a MOA of 16. I can literatly dial up my scope to 6 and shoot, then dial to 16 and shoot. The only worry I would have is wind. The computer will do that too. These devices are aids/tools. Just like a carpenter has tools for certain things, so do I.
If you ever want to just chat about it call me. 208-880-6885. I would be glad to help.

[Brent]

So bottom line, yes, they are easy to use in in my opinion.

[fgw_in_fla]

Cool.
Good info. Maybe one of these days I'll have a look into them. When I get up the courage. And convince my wife I can't live without it.
Thanks.

[Brent]

Cool.
Good info. Maybe one of these days I'll have a look into them. When I get up the courage. And convince my wife I can't live without it.
Thanks.

There is the issue! LOL

Now that I think about it, unless you shoot the longer distances these devices might not be that helpful to you. I can use the drop lines in my scope for closer shots, especially under 400. I had it set up to 500 and it was good enough for deer. Yotes, maybe. Their kill zone is pretty small so 400 mas probably the max. I learned to use these devices as I shoot a lot from 800-1500 yards in mountain terrain. 1500 yards requires 50 moa or about 750 inches of drop. Taking these devices to the closer ranges is definitely helpful and makes for more precise shooting. 541 yards on the 204 required 36 inches of drop compensation.

[fgw_in_fla]

Yeah, not a lot of mountains here in swampland, USA....

It's hard to even pop off a shot over 3-400yds without the jungle getting in the way. I guess that's why I rely so heavily on knowing hold & bullet drop instead of gadgets. These short distances can cause a guy to lose his touch, too...

Maybe one of these years if I end up out there in the potato farms I'll look you up for a lesson or two. I'd love to try my hand at a little down angle (or up), long distance, really reach out & touch someone (or something) shooting.