Holy moly! At ranges like that you have to not only account for wind, thermals, and whatnot but also stuff like gyroscopic drift and coriolis effects. It matters which direction (N,S,E,W) you are shooting. Wow!
After that many shots, they are just flinging lead. Ballistic calculations are out the window due to everything mentioned above. The bullet isn't even on a trajectory at that point.
In the 60s (Navt Corpsman-medic-attached to a Marine line Co.. I remember NOT getting a maggies drawers at 500 yards with a M1. Now that gave you a "HOLY FK" I hit it. Can't even SEE 4 miles.
I was also impressed with the 24 seconds from trigger pull to impact. I was just doing some gozintas. 4.4 miles is 23,232 feet. Divide that by 24 and the approx avg speed was 968 FPS. Like Rock was alluding to......there's probably a killer speed curve involved in this. Some math whizzes had to be involved in this effort.
Buddies and I have spent a few days shooting at one mile. With a .5 MOA set-up, the gear is accurate enough to shoot about a 9" group. With wind and mirage, actual groups are way, way bigger.
We did a 1 mile shot on the TopShot TV show, using the Barrett MRAD in .338 Lapua. If I remember right, the bullet had around 110ft of drop at that distance?? Kentucky windage for drift, holding about a tractor trailer length to the left!
Look at scope tilt on that custom rifle.... at 4.4 miles it damn near becomes a mortar!! LOl
While I am impressed I am not. 1/69....what's the difference. 1/69 or 1/300 1/1000 the claim would be the same. Makes me think with enough shells I could do it. It's just chance at that point.
I didn't read all the reply's or links... I wonder at what distance that bullet slows down to terminal velocity? At 4.4 miles would it kill you or just leave a nasty bruise?
JL figured the POI velocity to be 968 fps which is subsonic. I have killed deer with subsonic .300 blk and .308 that were going nearly that exact speed. The bullet does not deform due to low velocity and usually zips right through the deer like a muzzleloader round ball. Still extremely deadly at 968 FPS, especially with a 422 gr bullet. Most of the calibers that won the West like .45 Colt and 44-40 Winchester were only going that fast at the muzzle and were used to kill everything from grizzlys to humans.
We have the many times 1000yd National Champion here nearby in Tracy. On the long range forums he goes by, Switchbarrel.
The amount of effort these guys have in their gear and practice is phenomenal….but mainly its wind and conditions doping that sets them apart from good shooters. If you blink when the rifle goes off like I do you will never be a great long distance shot.
Ive tried to get him to speak at our SCI meetings but he is an under the radar guy.
Watched a Sportsman channel show on long range huntin last week. They ranged the elk at 880 yards. Were patting the guy on the back because he "just shot over him". That sickness should not be shown.
Years ago when it was new I was into watching Top Shot on the History channel. One year they had a guy with Air Force sniper training shooting, and an older guy (maybe retired LEO?). Anyways, they shot 1 mile with a Barrett .50 cal.
The young Air Force guy runs up there, dopes it out, figures it out, dials it in, etc. First shot hits. Seems like it was 25-30 seconds for him to do it.
Older retired guy runs up there, flops down and starts putting rounds downrange and adjusting fire. . . 1 shot. . . . wait a second and see where it hits, adjust, shoot again. Etc. I think it took him 4-5 shots to hit, but he did it in like 18-20 seconds.
So who's the better shot?
And if I remember correctly, seems like the older guy won it all in the next couple rounds.
It can sometimes be difficult to hit this 10" steel target with a 308 or 6.5 Creedmoor at 560 yards with our hot summer winds here in Kansas. 7 mag though, will hit it like a sledgehammer. I prefer dead calm evenings at sunset to shoot out to a thousand.
On my son's place we have an 800 yard just for grins. Goes across two draws, figure the wind on that one. I shot it once with my old grandpa 700classic in 06, took three shots on a foot size steel, then said "I'm done". No damn way we should shoot at game at a half mile. NOW, if you want to take out terroists at that range, go for it.
At 800 yards, you would have had 27 MOA of adjustment to even hit it. That's 27x4 clicks on your scope in elevation =108 clicks up. 224.5 " of drop at that range on a 30-06 with 150 gr bullets. Not gonna happen with an old 3-9x40 or fixed 4x hunting scope. You could do hold over and shoot until you got lucky.
If you know your data, you can plug it into the Strelock program and it will print out your exact reticle with the yardage on it. It takes out some of the guesswork. This is my Vortex Razor AMG MOA 6-24x50 with the EBR-7 reticle after the ballistics data was plugged in.....ie....I figured out the load for the 140gr Accubonds in my CA 6.5 PRC.
The brother uses Strelock and it is accurate. We used it on his 6.5 PRC last year on a antelope at 240 or 260-something yards and it was dead on.
I use Hornady ammo and all you have to do is select the exact caliber you're using, bullet type and weight, atmospheric conditions, and it is right on. Here's the data for 150 gr 30-06. 260 yards is very short range. So short you literally could have aimed right at the antelope with the 6.5 PRC and still hit it.
I prefer dialing for drop and holding with MOA hash marks in the reticle for wind. I have my dials marked in yards to match the load. More than one way to accomplish hits but that's the fastest for me in a hunting situation. I zero at 200 so don't really start dialing until after 275 with a flat caliber on big game and if time is short it's good to know your 300 drop with no adjusting.
Same here. I've shot several bucks and a bull out past 300 just holding the crosshairs of my.243, 6.5, or 7 mag on top of their back. Drop at that range is rarely over 7" or 8".
24 seconds of hang time? Hell… Today I was shooting at 70 and I got almost that much!
;)
At least I was keeping them all on the paper. Or at least mostly within the width of it.
“Look at scope tilt on that custom rifle.... at 4.4 miles it damn near becomes a mortar!! LOl”
That’s why Artillery was invented.
And JMO, if you blink when the gun goes off, you’re flinching. Nothing a few bricks of .22LR won’t cure, but admitting that you have a problem is the first step.
Personally, I made the classic Rookie Error of starting off with a belted magnum, and I developed the Flinch From Hell. I had to buy myself a good .22 to cure it, and it took at least two bricks to get there.
Once I got the flinch sorted out, MOA accuracy off of a bench or bipod was really not very difficult, even in Laramie winds. Not at 300 yards, anyway… Never really had occasion to push it beyond that, and that was the longest shot we had at the club then.
Funny thing is…
When I figured all I needed was for an animal to show itself within 400 yards, none did.
When I started hunting round ball muzzleloader, and figured I had an 80 yard max, 100 yard shots were par for the course.
Once I started bowhunting - with a 20-yard mindset - 50 yard shots became kind of a cinch.
You get what you pay for. Mindset is The Thing. The answer is not to shoot farther, but to hunt closer.
I’m more impressed when someone can shoot well without dialing in a scope and using all this fancy stuff. Learn your weapon and adjust where you aim according to where the bullet hits. Any one ever read about the Americans shooting Pennsylvanian long rifles or the southern Deckhard rifles around the Revolutionary War period? That’s impressive!
Rock....that's great shooting there for 5 shots and no fliers at 200yds. Upgrading my scopes to make it easier for my older eyes was what helped me a lot.
Let's see the gun Rocky. I know benchrest shooters that handload at the range with 15 lb guns and have done it 49 years that probably couldn't shoot that good. Not to mention,your brother must be some sort of world record shooter:
Let's see it. I've shot 1/8th" groups out of my .222, but never 1 hole. I'm fine getting 1" for my hunting rifles. German snipers in WWII only required 1.5" groups at 100.
If you're willing to put in the time to work in your reloading room and the range....you can get very accurate. I would define accurate as putting a 3-shot group inside a penny....a dime is even better....at 100yrds. IMO....a great scope with the right cross hairs will help out your groups alot. A great scope will also help compensate for old eyes.....at least my eyes. For me...it takes alot of load work, range time, focus, technique and a good log book to get to that penny/dime group. It seems the more I do this reloading and shooting thing, the more I learn how to make the correct adjustments and improve.
