Posted on 12/22/2015 9:26:29 AM PST by w1n1
Many of you hunters/precision long range shooters out there have various methods on gauging distances on long range shots. Here's one method that I came across and by all means let me know what your techniques are.
The first is to know precisely where your rifle bullet will hit at the longer ranges, and the second is to be fairly accurate at judging the distance at which the shot will be taken. If you can't do BOTH of those things when you are looking through your scope at an animal - DON'T SHOOT!
Shooting Journal
At the range, it's easy to practice shooting at various long distances. Most ranges have back stops at hundred yard intervals, or , if you have your own area in which to shoot, set these up for yourself. Please don't only shoot at 100 yards and then, after simply reading a book about bullet drop, decide that you know where to aim at these longer ranges. Trust me, there is a BIG difference between studying long range shooting and actually doing it! As you do this shooting, be sure to record (write it down) exactly how much your bullet drops at these ranges and how far above the desired point of impact you need to hold at each of these distances. That way, when you see an animal at 200, 300 or 400 yards, you will know what your hold-over needs to be. But, of course, you need to know just how far away that critter is for this to work.
Cheap Range Finder
When I started hunting over forty-five years ago, my buddies and I didn't get dozens of catalogs each year from "The World's Foremost Outfitter" or anyone else, so we pretty much had to design and build much of our equipment. Even now, I prefer to devise my own gadgets whenever I can. Here's a workable, effective and fun method for determining how far away an animal is from you that only requires an investment of about $3.00 for materials. For starters, you need to know how many inches it is from back-line to brisket on the particular animal that you are hunting. On a bull elk that's about 33 inches (give or take an inch or two), on a buck deer or ram it's about 18 inches, and an adult antelope measures around 15 -16 inches.
With those measurements (or those of the animal you are hunting) in mind, construct a ranging-target of the same size. This can be done by spraying an appropriate size rectangle of black paint on a piece of cardboard. Outline the rectangle with two inch wide white duct tape so that it has a nice sharp edge. (This is important when you start placing the target at the extreme ranges.) My target is set up with three adjoining rectangles that are 15, 18 and 33 inches high, so that I can practice ranging antelope, deer and elk at the same time.
Next, set the target up at various distances out to the farthest that you've determined by practicing to be the limit of your confidence zone. For example, set it at 200, 300 and 400 yards, but DON'T shoot it. This target is used as a reference only. After you set the target up at any given range, the next thing you need to do is record the space that it subtends in your scope at each of these ranges. (The word “subtend†simply means filling-in or spanning the space between one point and another.)
In the diagram below, the 33 inch section of the target subtends the space from the horizontal crosshair to the top of the lower post when the target is placed 200 yards out. This means that a bull elk with a 33 inch back-line to brisket measurement would subtend that same space if it were 200 yards out. If you were sighted-in at 200 yards, you would have to aim at the exact spot where you wanted to hit that elk. If the elk subtended one half that space, it would be 400 yards away. If you knew from practice that at 400 yards your bullet dropped 19 inches below your aiming point, then you would just leave your horizontal crosshair right on the elk's back line and squeeze the trigger. That's the good thing about measuring from the horizontal crosshair dowward toward the lower post. On these longer shots, you'll often find that you have to make very little adjustment for bullet drop as your crosshair will already be on the top line of the animal.
IMPORTANT NOTE: These scope shots are examples ONLY. They are not meant to be actual working illustrations for every rifle or your rifle. There are too many variables to make this possible. What the reticles in your scope look like and the magnification of your scope will determine how your range-finding target will work and just where you need to aim at game in the field.You need to do your own range work to determine how these backline-to-brisket spaces look in your scope and how much of your crosshairs/posts space they subtend at various ranges. You also need to know precisely how far your bullet will drop at these ranges.
Also, if you use a variable scope to judge distances, you should remember to use the same settings when you are at the range and in the field. (I suggest the highest power setting that you have.) Now we'll look at some animals through a scope to see how this range-finding works in the field, and how to adjust our point of aim at different distances. In the series of scope pictures below, the one on the left shows where the horizontal crosshair is placed when judging the distance of the animal. The picture on the right shows where to aim after the distance has been established. The red dot indicates where the bullet will hit. Read the rest of the story here.
My plasma rifle in the 40 watt range has no drop.
Mil-dot.
Good stuff. Thanks.
L
5.56mm
Wish my 10 millimeter explosive-tip caseless standard light armor-piercing round would do that!!!!!
Very good. My longest confirmed kill was 450 yards with a 22-250. Prairie dog dead center.
Laser rangefinders work well and cost a couple of hundred dollars.
AT&T
Mine was a Model 70 heavy barrel 22-250 and 4 dogs at 400 yds with 5 shots. The last one took 2 shots because it got nervous after I hit the first 3. :)
Mine was a crow, 440 yds, sitting on top of a wooden power pole. .25-06, 45 years ago. The thing just exploded and it was nothing but black feathers floating to the ground. Friends custom gun and my first time shooting a bull barrel, 10x scope. We had gone coyote hunting on that cold winter morning without a breath of wind. Never saw any coyotes but I was deadly on the crows.
Just mount a 100x-400x zoomcamera on your rifle [stationary locked-in-mount], - fire a 400 yard target shot, zero the cam on the bullet hole- lock the camera on that position on your rifle- all set - who needs a riflescope?
What kind of scope?
That was a 12x Weaver.
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