08-23-2017, 03:42 AM
On the first shot!
Previously the farthest we could go was a 12"er at 900. Was able to find a flat spot on an outcropping about a month ago and was able to get a general idea of a route doing some repairs on the hill about a week and a half ago. Finally gathered the muster and strapped a 1/2" thick 16" square slab of steel to the top bar of a Campmor external frame backpack purchased for $99 in 1994. Tied a Rouge Large Swinging Gong Stand on the bottom of the frame. It took 2 hours to get there from the bottom of the hill 200 yards from the firing line - 930 ft of elevation gain, across several steep ravines with soft gypsum soil and loose rock. I realized pretty quickly that I hung the target on my pack way to high (just used the hanging strap) but there was no turning back. With a 51 year old "really, I should stop smoking" body, I felt like Gollum scurrying up the hillside the last 200 yards - "my precious (1k target), my precious (1k target).....
[ATTACH=CONFIG]9616[/ATTACH]
Was 10:15 when I got back to the firing line after a 7am start. Took about 30 minutes to relax and make sure the dog got enough water before banishing him in the truck in the shade on the other side of the clubhouse. Checked environmentals (humidity was 37% on the bench and 49% in my hand -lol) and lased to confirm distance and the 13% angle. Set up Greywyrm and took a 350 to warm up the barrel. Moved to one at 450 and one at 750 to make sure everything was in order. Bypassed the 12"ers at 800 and 900 and got right to it.
Reticle holdover at 9.9 mils (easy with the H59 with the long line at 10 mils). Dialed back to 14x to assure I kept sight picture. 3 mph wind? Takes a lot more than that to get juniper and pinion to move, but that's what the tape on a pole at 460 was saying. Set, square, 1st stage take up, all good, let her fly. 1.6 seconds later it danced. I fist pumped and the only other guy there looked at me like I was smoking crack. 4.5 seconds after release a resound "dong" filled the air (the steep rocky hillside does a great job of bouncing sound back). Upon inspection at 30x, I just caught the lower right corner. If it was a 14" square, it probably would have been a miss. But it is 16".
The moral of the story? Hunting season is around the corner. And everyone is starting to show up with their 300 winmags and 7mm remmags and 300 weatherbys and their pick a number super duper ultra mags. They pull a lead sled and box of bricks out of their truck and are lucky to shoot a 2" 3 shot group at 100. A guy sat next to me Sunday with a 7mm Remmag and went 0 for 20 on 8" at 350. I guess they need the power because chances are they'll probably hit the elk they're shooting at in the @ss. But they get lucky every now and then and it is impossible to keep steel hanging out to 250 yds. There's even a guy with a Savage Stealth 338LM who took out the rebar crossbar hanging a life size steel turkey on an 6" chain at 240 yards (snapped the rebar in half!) So a lot of big chunks of lead are going to get launched up the hill. Hopefully if they get close, they don't take out a leg or the crossbar. There's a couple of 6.5 CM bolt guys who should hit it as well as a 6.5 - 284 guy. The guy with the 26" 7mm WSM with a TB9 damn well better get it.
But the first shot ever at the first 1000 yd target at a gun club that has been around for a very long time (and the only 1000 yd target that I'm aware of in a 120 mile radius) was a hit. With an AR-15 chambered with a mousy little round known as 6.5 Grendel.
Previously the farthest we could go was a 12"er at 900. Was able to find a flat spot on an outcropping about a month ago and was able to get a general idea of a route doing some repairs on the hill about a week and a half ago. Finally gathered the muster and strapped a 1/2" thick 16" square slab of steel to the top bar of a Campmor external frame backpack purchased for $99 in 1994. Tied a Rouge Large Swinging Gong Stand on the bottom of the frame. It took 2 hours to get there from the bottom of the hill 200 yards from the firing line - 930 ft of elevation gain, across several steep ravines with soft gypsum soil and loose rock. I realized pretty quickly that I hung the target on my pack way to high (just used the hanging strap) but there was no turning back. With a 51 year old "really, I should stop smoking" body, I felt like Gollum scurrying up the hillside the last 200 yards - "my precious (1k target), my precious (1k target).....
[ATTACH=CONFIG]9616[/ATTACH]
Was 10:15 when I got back to the firing line after a 7am start. Took about 30 minutes to relax and make sure the dog got enough water before banishing him in the truck in the shade on the other side of the clubhouse. Checked environmentals (humidity was 37% on the bench and 49% in my hand -lol) and lased to confirm distance and the 13% angle. Set up Greywyrm and took a 350 to warm up the barrel. Moved to one at 450 and one at 750 to make sure everything was in order. Bypassed the 12"ers at 800 and 900 and got right to it.
Reticle holdover at 9.9 mils (easy with the H59 with the long line at 10 mils). Dialed back to 14x to assure I kept sight picture. 3 mph wind? Takes a lot more than that to get juniper and pinion to move, but that's what the tape on a pole at 460 was saying. Set, square, 1st stage take up, all good, let her fly. 1.6 seconds later it danced. I fist pumped and the only other guy there looked at me like I was smoking crack. 4.5 seconds after release a resound "dong" filled the air (the steep rocky hillside does a great job of bouncing sound back). Upon inspection at 30x, I just caught the lower right corner. If it was a 14" square, it probably would have been a miss. But it is 16".
The moral of the story? Hunting season is around the corner. And everyone is starting to show up with their 300 winmags and 7mm remmags and 300 weatherbys and their pick a number super duper ultra mags. They pull a lead sled and box of bricks out of their truck and are lucky to shoot a 2" 3 shot group at 100. A guy sat next to me Sunday with a 7mm Remmag and went 0 for 20 on 8" at 350. I guess they need the power because chances are they'll probably hit the elk they're shooting at in the @ss. But they get lucky every now and then and it is impossible to keep steel hanging out to 250 yds. There's even a guy with a Savage Stealth 338LM who took out the rebar crossbar hanging a life size steel turkey on an 6" chain at 240 yards (snapped the rebar in half!) So a lot of big chunks of lead are going to get launched up the hill. Hopefully if they get close, they don't take out a leg or the crossbar. There's a couple of 6.5 CM bolt guys who should hit it as well as a 6.5 - 284 guy. The guy with the 26" 7mm WSM with a TB9 damn well better get it.
But the first shot ever at the first 1000 yd target at a gun club that has been around for a very long time (and the only 1000 yd target that I'm aware of in a 120 mile radius) was a hit. With an AR-15 chambered with a mousy little round known as 6.5 Grendel.
Let's go Brandon!