How to hit the bullseye at 900 yd?

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Buckshot
Posts: 42
Joined: Sat Dec 29, 2018 9:19 pm

How to hit the bullseye at 900 yd?

#1 Postby Buckshot » Mon Dec 31, 2018 5:51 am

G'day shooters,

I visited our local rifle range for the first time a few weeks ago and had a go at the 200 yd line with my new Howa 6.5 creedmoor. I had a great morning there so returned again the next Saturday and shot as a visitor again at the 300 yd line but struggled a bit as i found holding the gun still was tough but i had a great day.

I returned to the club the next saturday that i wasnt working to spectate at the 600 yd shoot and decided i am interested enough to join the club.

I arrived at the range on Saturday just gone and joined the club. They were at the 900 yd mound and i had a try but didnt do real good 47/53 no x's. I had no idea where to aim to compensate for wind or the mirage as ive never tried to shoot a gun that far. Ive been shooting on farms for 35 years but at much shorter ranges so the windage and mirage effects are all new to me.

I am on a large property where i can set up a practice range to try get up to speed faster and id like to know the best way to practice reading mirage and windage?

Where can i get targets that look the same as the ones used in F class open for 300-900 yds?
Is there a preferred shot angle i should set up my practice range at?
Im after ideas of what a good practice session would involve for learning to read conditions and holdoff required for a novice long range shooter?

Im a hand loader and using a howa 6.5 creedmoor barreled action that i mounted into an old hogue stock that is all plastic but ive modified it a week ago to stiffen it and added weight to just under 10 kg. I have about 300 bullets through the gun and still trying to find the best load as well.

All tips welcome thanks,

Tim N
Posts: 1336
Joined: Fri Jan 25, 2013 8:18 pm
Location: Branxton NSW

Re: How to hit the bullseye at 900 yd?

#2 Postby Tim N » Mon Dec 31, 2018 6:39 am

Welcome aboard!
Probably the quickest way forward is to see who is shooting well at your club and hopefully they will help with all your questions.
There’s plenty of reading on here as well!
Holding the gun still looks like issue #1 are you using a bipod and rear bag?
We don't rise to the level of our expectations, we fall to the level of our training. Archilochos 680-645 BC

Buckshot
Posts: 42
Joined: Sat Dec 29, 2018 9:19 pm

Re: How to hit the bullseye at 900 yd?

#3 Postby Buckshot » Mon Dec 31, 2018 7:03 am

Hi Tim,

Yes i had trouble holding it steady at the 300yd line but that was with bipod and rear bag in factory stock. I screwed wood to stock and epoxied it in with lead shot, filled rear of stock with shot and epoxy, made a slider, raised butt pad and its much more steady now.
Ive only put about 50 bullets through it since the mods.
Heres a picture of the setup:

Image

Buckshot
Posts: 42
Joined: Sat Dec 29, 2018 9:19 pm

Re: How to hit the bullseye at 900 yd?

#4 Postby Buckshot » Mon Dec 31, 2018 7:11 am

Heres a picture of 100 yd load testing with hornady 140eldm, starline large brass, ar2209, 0.020 jump
Image

Heres the 41.0 load at 400yd 2moa crosswind dialed in.
Image

argh
Posts: 167
Joined: Wed Sep 04, 2013 4:25 pm
Location: Sydney

Re: How to hit the bullseye at 900 yd?

#5 Postby argh » Mon Dec 31, 2018 7:15 am

Hopefully there are some knowledgeable people at your new club that ate willing to do some coaching for new shooters.
Gear setup is a big part of consistent scores, as you have said .. holding the gun. That part will come with practice and getting your rifle setup correctly (some good fclass specific stocks available for howa's)

With practice reading wind, get a wind calculator/dial or chart. Wind reading is vital to this sport, and you have to learn the impacts of wind and how it increases dramatically with the distance that you are shooting. Reading wind and the wind charts is specific to the standard flags on the fullbore range, and the angle that they fly, so somewhat difficult to learn at home unless you go and buy a bunch of standard flags. My advice to new shooters is to not try and "read" the wind for each shot and hold off, but watch the conditions and shoot on the "normal" or your zero conditions. If the wind picks up or drops off, wait until the normal condition returns. Not always possible and a permanent wind shift means you need to make a wind correction, but it's a good way to learn to read the conditions and try and shoot on your normal wind condition. (By watching the flags for a while before you shoot, you will see the wind trends, and see what condition/flags represent the majority of the time - this becomes the normal or zero wind condition for your shoot)
Others may have a different opionion for learning to read the wind, but I find that doing the above with new shooters gets much more consistent scores and helps to learn to read wind.

https://www.q-store.com.au/products/wind-calculator
Or look at the wind charts in the corners of plot sheets like the following
http://www.icfra.co.uk/page16.htm
Last edited by argh on Mon Dec 31, 2018 8:58 am, edited 1 time in total.

ben_g
Posts: 300
Joined: Sun Apr 24, 2016 7:37 pm

Re: How to hit the bullseye at 900 yd?

#6 Postby ben_g » Mon Dec 31, 2018 7:17 am

When you figure out how to hit the X can you tell me as well!!

Seriously wind reading is something that takes years to learn and I would argue very few people truly master it.

Scoring a 53 out of 60 at 900with a short barrelled factory rifle is a decent effort, don’t feel bad about that!!
When we have new shooters at our club we always try and wind coach them so they only need to concentrate on making a good shot, is someone helping you out in that way?

Try and have a shot out of a dedicated F-class rifle if the opportunity is presented to you, it’ll open your eyes to the chalk and cheese difference between a factory rifle and a custom.

The most important thing is to have fun, don’t be afraid to ask questions and watch how other shooters go about setting up and when they fire their shots ect.

Buckshot
Posts: 42
Joined: Sat Dec 29, 2018 9:19 pm

Re: How to hit the bullseye at 900 yd?

#7 Postby Buckshot » Mon Dec 31, 2018 7:30 am

Thanks guys, i think they just let me shoot to see where im at. After i incorrectly wound scope wrong way and ended up with 2 3's in a row... one each side of target lol. One guy yelled out i wound it wrong way. Haha. They said i had to aim into the mirage but i didnt know how far so just guessed. I couldnt see the white lines on target as its just a $140 nikko stirling scope. Just looked like a black jelly ball that danced around.

Cliff Austen
Posts: 173
Joined: Wed Jul 06, 2005 11:18 am
Location: Sydney NSW Australia

Re: How to hit the bullseye at 900 yd?

#8 Postby Cliff Austen » Mon Dec 31, 2018 8:39 am

There are good articles in www.accurateshooter.com
Cheers Cliff

Buckshot
Posts: 42
Joined: Sat Dec 29, 2018 9:19 pm

Re: How to hit the bullseye at 900 yd?

#9 Postby Buckshot » Mon Dec 31, 2018 9:07 am

Thanks men, I will have a look into all the links and tips after work.
Its a bit early to tell yet but ive got a feeling I may be on my own regarding coaching etc. its a very small club and the members are getting on in years and seem busy with their own shooting and jotting down all their own notes etc. To advance as fast as i can i think i need help from online and practice, lots of practice here at my place. The local club champ scored 99 :cry:

wsftr
Posts: 202
Joined: Tue Jan 30, 2018 12:58 pm

Re: How to hit the bullseye at 900 yd?

#10 Postby wsftr » Mon Dec 31, 2018 9:22 am

53 at 900 first time up is pretty good going IMO - well done
There is a very good book to get - "the wind book for rifle shooters". It will give you a lot of principles to work on. An important one - when to start shooting and when to stop shooting.
IMO the most important thing you can do is forget about scores and xs and keep it simple. Scores and xs go up when you shoot well so focus (think about) on technique and wind reading.
IMO it is worth considering plotting shots in the early days too. Not typically done by Fclass but is a great technique to teach yourself wind calls.
Good luck - it is fun

PS - yes make yourself some wind charts for your rifle. It will help as a starting/reference point.

Buckshot
Posts: 42
Joined: Sat Dec 29, 2018 9:19 pm

Re: How to hit the bullseye at 900 yd?

#11 Postby Buckshot » Mon Dec 31, 2018 10:20 am

Yeah it was great fun, all I can think about now is hitting that bullseye, its bugging me at night, dozing off thinking about shooting that impossible black blob lol. Best fun id had in years. The 53 contained 2 3's after my boo boo on winding turret wrong way. Looking forward to doing better next time for sure. The guys gave me an extra 20 points because im new so ended up with 120. 300yd next week and im not sure if i will go with the 39.3 grain load or stick with the 41.0 i will try pop a few groups off if i get time before saturday.

bruce moulds
Posts: 2900
Joined: Sun Jun 19, 2005 4:07 pm

Re: How to hit the bullseye at 900 yd?

#12 Postby bruce moulds » Mon Dec 31, 2018 11:25 am

good advice above.
with wind the best way to lear to read it is wind the sight.
do it for each shot .
this way you will learn how many moa for a given wind direction/speed.
aiming off will just teach you how to chase shots.
predicting the max and min windoff for conditions leading up to your string is a good start.
then fine tune that based on sighters where possible.
also a good dead wind zero is mandatory.
bruce.
"SUCH IS LIFE" Edward Kelly 11 nov 1880
http://youtu.be/YRaRCCZjdTM

pjifl
Posts: 883
Joined: Fri Jun 17, 2005 12:15 pm
Location: Innisfail, Far North QLD.

Re: How to hit the bullseye at 900 yd?

#13 Postby pjifl » Mon Dec 31, 2018 12:27 pm

Everyone winds off or aims off the wrong way at some time or other. Of course it destroys a score - but ignore those shots when assessing your rifle/shooter potential while working on a shooting rhythm that reduces the possibility of making that error.

If you choose to aim off, ALWAYS think how much in minutes and fix this in your mind for each shot. If you do not do this, you will often just chase shots aimlessly across the targets and not learn anything.

Plots of a shoot can tell you a lot. A sequential plot of elevation alone (looking like a graph) will help you assess rifle/ammunition/shooting technique. Find someone who will plot your shots and you plot theirs if you find it too disruptive plotting your own shots.
On some ranges, mirage and flags can lie and tease you. This is especially true if you have hills and gullies on the range. Remember that at long ranges, watch all flags but take more note of the flags closest to the shooter. Find out from the other shooters how true they think the range indicators are.

Peter Smith.

Buckshot
Posts: 42
Joined: Sat Dec 29, 2018 9:19 pm

Re: How to hit the bullseye at 900 yd?

#14 Postby Buckshot » Mon Dec 31, 2018 2:17 pm

The president of our club said this site was a good one to join and I can see why, lots of good tips coming in so far and I appreciate that along with the warm welcome. Good stuff thanks guys

Mozzie
Posts: 127
Joined: Sun Feb 11, 2018 5:47 pm
Location: Cairns

Re: How to hit the bullseye at 900 yd?

#15 Postby Mozzie » Mon Dec 31, 2018 4:41 pm

Buckshot
Wow your 100 yard test target results are impressive, with some very promising groups to explore further. Just wondering what magnification your scope is, what recticle and wether it has a side parallax adjustment ? Understanding these 3 things above can vastly help with hitting the x at the plus 500 yard distance. Do you have any 5 shot groups you want to share?
Cheers
Mozzie
My truck doesn’t run on love, it runs on diesel.
However, I love my rifle and it runs on lead. #-o


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