12-30-2013, 12:32 AM
I've always wanted to reach out and touch something far away. I built myself a 6.5 Grendel (actually .264 LBC, but same thing). 16" Black Hole Weaponry 1-8 barrel. Geissele SSA-E trigger. Primary Arms 4-14x44 FFP scope. Hornady 123 gr SST over 27.5 grains of WC844. I used google earth (took my laptop with me) to place the target as close to 500 yards as I could get it. I ended up at 515 yards, I could have gone much farther, but I've never shot at anything past 200 yds before, so I didn't want to push it WAY out there.
I used the "Shooter" android ballistic calculator app and it got me very close. The winds were pretty consistent at pretty perpendicular to the target at 8-10mph. I was having some trouble with consistency. I got a hit on my 3rd shot, then I started chasing impacts all over the place. Left/Right was pretty much right on, but I would hit over the target, adjust, then hit way under. I couldn't figure out what was going on, until I remembered... I had brought what I thought was a bag of my handloads, which I've ran over a chronograph and found to be very consistent around 2375 FPS. After shooting more than half of my ammo, and missing, I figured out that I had grabbed the bag that had handloads and Factory Hornady 123g SSTs. The factory stuff was hitting lower. So, I separated it out and started shooting. Once I got the handloads dialed in, I recorded 8 hits out of 16 rounds. On the Hornady factory, I got 2 out of 6. On a calmer day, with less wind, I think my hits would have been higher.
This was an 8" plate at 515. I feel pretty good about getting close to 50% hit percentage on a 1.5 MOA target for my first time out.
Red arrow shows where I was shooting from, from the point of view of the target.
![[Image: shootingposition_zpsfb549d94.jpg]](http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn10/webphotoalbum/shootingposition_zpsfb549d94.jpg)
Red arrow shows target location, from my shooting postion.
![[Image: targetposition_zps2abf7c77.jpg]](http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn10/webphotoalbum/targetposition_zps2abf7c77.jpg)
Shooting position (no rugs, just a backpack to rest one elbow on - and for fun, I was wearing my body armor with loaded mags on the chest)
![[Image: 20131229_113825_zpsyurqvkvp.jpg]](http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn10/webphotoalbum/20131229_113825_zpsyurqvkvp.jpg)
Plate after the fact (it was freshly painted prior to shooting. And let me tell you, that off-white color was TERRIBLE. It took me 10+ minutes to even locate it. It blended right in. I'll bring fluorescent orange or something next time.)
![[Image: 20131229_123555_zpsdbczlupy.jpg]](http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn10/webphotoalbum/20131229_123555_zpsdbczlupy.jpg)
I used the "Shooter" android ballistic calculator app and it got me very close. The winds were pretty consistent at pretty perpendicular to the target at 8-10mph. I was having some trouble with consistency. I got a hit on my 3rd shot, then I started chasing impacts all over the place. Left/Right was pretty much right on, but I would hit over the target, adjust, then hit way under. I couldn't figure out what was going on, until I remembered... I had brought what I thought was a bag of my handloads, which I've ran over a chronograph and found to be very consistent around 2375 FPS. After shooting more than half of my ammo, and missing, I figured out that I had grabbed the bag that had handloads and Factory Hornady 123g SSTs. The factory stuff was hitting lower. So, I separated it out and started shooting. Once I got the handloads dialed in, I recorded 8 hits out of 16 rounds. On the Hornady factory, I got 2 out of 6. On a calmer day, with less wind, I think my hits would have been higher.
This was an 8" plate at 515. I feel pretty good about getting close to 50% hit percentage on a 1.5 MOA target for my first time out.
Red arrow shows where I was shooting from, from the point of view of the target.
Red arrow shows target location, from my shooting postion.
Shooting position (no rugs, just a backpack to rest one elbow on - and for fun, I was wearing my body armor with loaded mags on the chest)
Plate after the fact (it was freshly painted prior to shooting. And let me tell you, that off-white color was TERRIBLE. It took me 10+ minutes to even locate it. It blended right in. I'll bring fluorescent orange or something next time.)