Shot at 600 today

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jmr40

jmr40

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The range where I normally shoot only goes to 300 yards and I've never had a chance to go past 400 until today. I have a friend who cuts and sells hay with plenty of room. Finally worked out all of the details. He leases the land for hunting so I had to squeeze in some time between the end of deer season, the beginning of turkey season and catch his fields dry. And he doesn't want people driving there during the growing season. Today was perfect.

The trio. The 2 on the left are SS Winchester 70 Classics in 300 WSM and 30-06. The one on the right is an EW in 308. All 3 are in McMillan Edge stocks and weigh exactly the same as equipped at 7.5 lbs. The 300 is about 3-4 oz heavier, but with the lightest scope it evens them out.

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The view from 600, the white speck in the center is a 4'X4' pallet covered in white paper with a couple of 2" orange dots for aiming points.

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I didn't use a bench, just a set of shooting sticks.

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I fired all 3 rifles several times at 400 yards. All shots hit about 15" low and a couple of inches left due to wind, but groupings were all in the 4"-5" range. I was just wanting to see what type of groups I was capable of and didn't really worry about elevation at this point. That can be corrected later. The 3 holes taped over above are with 300 WSM factory loads, my hand loads were much better.

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Going to 500 yards I put up the 308 and 30-06. They are zeroed at 100 and with standard duplex reticles I knew I couldn't keep shots on paper without aiming well above the back stop. The 300 WSM is zeroed at 200, shoots flatter and has long range dots. Using the correct dot I was pretty much dead on with a 9" group.

At 600 yards I was a little low using the same dot but still kept 3 shots under 12". Not going to win any matches, and I'm not ready to shoot at game past 400 yet. But overall I'm pretty pleased for the 1st time at that distance. Especially with just shooting sticks.

At 600

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dang dude. if you did that off those shooting sticks, that's very good. next time bring a rest of some sort or some sandbags or something.
 
It makes you a better shot at shorter distances knowing what your rifle does farther out. Good job. Nice rifles.
 
Welcome to the long range club, sir. Good first time work. In the future, I recommend working on your prone position. This is the most stable position except a bench. You could use a sandbag, but I recommend a Harris bipod with cant. Lightweight, well made- easier than carrying around a sandbag. All 3 of your rifles have front q-d swivels which is where they are mounted. Also think about a small rear support bag- a nice one can be made with some old BDU material and some airsoft pellets from wally world- you can even bunji it to your sticks for improved support off them if you want. Study your ballistic tables, and watch your shooting experience improve! Good job!
 
Not bad. If you want to stick with practical field accuracy, shooting over a backpack can be quite stable (for us lazy but hard hunting folks that can't/won't carry a bipod). Also, looping the front portion of your sling into the shooting sticks can work way better than you might think.
 
Good job for getting out there. You're a hunter so shooting sticks are often more practical than a bipod as I'm sure you know. I shot a nice mule deer in 2014 at 203 yards off shooting sticks using my .375 H&H. The grass was almost waist height so the sticks were essential. Last year I shot a mule deer at 341 yards using a bipod and had to belly crawl through snow over a ridgeline so that I could see him over the grass. If you can shoot well off sticks you'll find a bipod much easier.... but I'm sure you know this already.

Talking of long range shooting, I put another target up at my place this weekend at 700 yards. It's an 18" gong to go with the 8" plate also at 700 yards. My gf was having a hard time hitting the small plate on Saturday and the lack of splash meant she wasn't learning much. The bigger plate sure helps to build confidence.
 
Yes, I'm a hunter, not a target shooter. But like most here I just enjoy shooting and wanted to push things a bit. There aren't many places where you'd get a shot that far here, but they exist. There are several elevated shooting houses on the property where I was shooting. I don't have access to this place for hunting, but do help haul hay when he needs extra help.

I thought about shooting prone, but the target was elevated in relation to where I was shooting and the sticks just seemed more comfortable. Had it been level, or shooting down hill I would have probably done so.

My goal was to determine the maximum range where I felt I could ethically take a shot at game. Altogether I took 42 shots at 400 yards with 3 rifles. If my scopes had been zeroed for longer range use every shot would have been in a kill zone. The 6 shots at 500 yards were borderline acceptable with 8"-9" groups. I probably wouldn't take that shot at deer, but on a larger animal such as elk might. I'm not ready for 600 yards on game but feel pretty good out to 400 or so with a range finder.

Turkey season opens here in a couple of weeks so I won't be able to get back for a while. This summer and early fall I plan to go back and so some more work in between hay cuttings.
 
As stated by others, especially using shooting sticks, very well done! Nice firearms. Thanks for sharing the experience and photos.

Geno
 
the problem with longer shots is usually the wind.

several times at the AI long range classic PRS match this past weekend, it felt like almost no value wind, but shooters had to hold 7-8" left or right on 400 yrd targets
 
Out here in the desert we can shoot out to well over 1000 yards, however, my range finder only goes out to 800 yards. Up at Mohave 7 Mile Shooting Range I've tried shooting at their 1000 yard range, using my Remington 700 BDL .270 with a borrowed 6X24X52 Zeiss scope from a friend at the range. Needless to say I had a heck of a time even coming close to the target, after setting it up to shoot at a 200 yards zero. Now from a bench, out to 500 yards using my handloads, I was capable of shooting 5-6" groups from the bench using the lead sled, with 3 rounds. At 1000 yards I'd have maybe one or two rounds hit the 4'X8' target, and as I recall there was no wind. I would say at least the two rounds that hit the target, maybe 15-20" groups.

Shooting at 600 yards using only shooting sticks, I'd say that was fantastic, I'm a bit envious to say the least.
 
Fun, ain't it? I am lucky to have a gun club with a 600 yard high power range and hardly any club members who are high power shooters, so it is almost always available when matches aren't scheduled, so I get to use it often.

Good shooting... just under 2 MOA off sticks. If you can get where those groups are regularly centered on target at 5 and 600, that's good enough to take a shot on a deer or hog at those distances.
 
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