"Hey, LSP, why not come over and join us for a shoot on Friday at 8 am on the 1000 yard line." I thought about it for a moment, a thousand yards, would I make a complete fool of myself in the face of these expert, experienced and scientific shooters? Probably. "Sure, I'm in, see you there and thanks a lot."
So I rolled up to J's 1000 yard setup and looked down the lane towards the targets, a series of metal plates, gongs and a silhouette named Jihad. Did I see the targets? No, I did not, far too far away. But that changed when we got up on the stand with Nightforce optics and a spotting scope, I forget the brand. Then the targets came in loud and crystal clear. It was time to shoot.
J went first, to see if the guns were on, an M40 and a custom 300 Win Mag. They were, and N followed with some hits on steel. Well look at that, you can, actually, shoot that far. Exciting, eh? But of course J was guiding the show as a spotter and he knows his stuff.
Then it was my turn. Huh. By way of full disclosure, I'm not a particularly good shooter and hadn't shot out to 600 yards, even, for years. So I wasn't expecting to get on steel at this range but hey, money on the monkey and devil take the hindmost.
Line up the crosshairs of the beautifully clear Nightforce glass on the plate. Observe the mirage roiling at the base of the sight picture. The wind is moving at what, 5-8 mph? J calls "hold fire..." the wind dies down, "Hold center." You breathe, shoot. A massive winmag explosion ensues, mitigated by the awesomeness of the rig.
And lo and behold, you're on steel. "Hit!" I was amazed, this thing works. And so it did for the next few shots. The gun was on, along with the spotter and, amazingly, the shooter himself. We moved onto the Jihad and scored convincingly.
The M40 was more tricky, with a lesser scope and its round more prey to the wind. Still, the beast got on target to good effect. And then it was over, all too soon.
Wow. Shooting at 1000 yards and lots of sub moa to boot. What a lot of fun. Of course, for me, none of this would have been possible without a guide getting me onto the target. Big thanks go out to J for making it happen, at every level. And now look what you've done.
Looking at ballistic charts, equations and far more math than's sensible. And optics and guns and spotting scopes and... Hmmmm, I feel an obsession brewing.
And what a great morning.
Shoot straight,
LSP
8 comments:
And tell the truth!
That's amazing, Parson. the In-Laws on the ranch have a 25yd rang, and a 100yd range. He was thinking of building a 600yd range, and he has enough land to do a 1000yd range.
Shooting good rifles long distances is enjoyable. I never got past the 200yd range back in SoCal because I never thought I'd have to engage a target beyond that. If the 600yd range was guilt, I'll have to try it before the snow flies. I know my Garand has the range, but does the shooter!
Hitting anything at 1000 yards would take precise accuracy, adjustments, and patience in setting up the equipment; what exactly is that ball peen hammer for?
A ball peen hammer would not be what anybody would call a precision tool.
Drjim, 1000 yards with a Garand... give it a shot! What a lot fun.
I had a feeling you'd ask about the hammer, Fredd. Very useful tool. If the shot's going wide just give the scope a sharp tap. And boom, you're on.
Or if the shooter's going wild, apply hammer to head.
But that didn't happen, fortunately. J used it to tap something open.
Whoa, big time fun. Yea, I was thinking some money might start getting spent duplicating all that tech.
Sure was, Kid. And yes, not at the lower end of the, ahem, budget...
Spotters are your friend... Just sayin... Looks like an M-40A3. I have an M-40A1 :-)
I think it's an A3, NFO -- J bought it off a soldier at Ft. Benning. Curiously, I shot better with the M40 than the Win Mag, which had a better optic, but still, bulls on the Jihad with both.
Jealous of your A1!
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