K
2019-09-14
0900-1100
10 MPH SSW
80F
Goal: Confirm zero and wind practice with 7.62(22) and 155 SMK (#2156) HSM load (FC 11 brass).
Environment: Hot and breezy. Mostly cloudless sky ... last week of summer ?
Equipment: 7.62(22) rifle with NF 7-35x T3, 155 SMK, RRS, Kestrel
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Activity: Confirmed zero at 100yds, clicked up 2 clicks.
Rolled out to 500yd FP and setup. Kestrel 2min wind check said
5.3 low
7.8 avg
10.9 high
I held for 8 mph.
Fired 1 rd, hit the torso. I was aiming at the torso.
I could definitely hear the wind was up, so I held for 12 mph (each wind dot is 4 mph for my setup). Got a hit, but when I cranked up to 35x it looked like I was a tiny bit low, in terms of aiming for face.
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Moved to 730yd FP and setup. 2 min wind read got
1.9 Low
3.8 Avg
5.4 High
Unfortunately, I've started to learn this stage ... and on this stage if the wind is from the SW, a ridge blocks the wind for this shooting position, so I decided to hold for 10 mph based on watching the trees down along the creek, plus I am shooting over the tops of those tree, so I'm touching 45 feet up in the air at the high point.
Held for 10 mph and 4.9 mils up. First round hit.
I smiled inside. The first time I got a first round hit from this stage I jumped and hollered! And then I berated myself about it ... many times ... and still do ... I believe in the "no emotion" rule when shooting. I don't think emotion helps you hit the target. But at least this time it was just "smiling inside".
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I cranked up to 35x and could see the hit on the left side of the torso. Since I was holding left, I backed off on the wind hold to 8 mph and fired a second shot. This hit was one of the two near the bottom. The wind was highly variable.
For the 3rd shot, I decided to go for the face, which is rare at this distance. The wind seemed to be picking up so I held for 12 mph and got a hit. I was shooting on 20x but checking the hits at 35x. I standing up on the tripod, but I was leaning back on the 4-wheeler which added a little stability. I could see the hit on the right side on the face. Tried a repeat holding for 12 MPH on the face and hit. Could see it on the left side.
Wind died down and I held for 10 mph on the torso and got a hit, repeated for another hit. The two shots lower down looked like one smudge from up on the hill where I was.
Had one round left and tried for the face holding for 10, but the wind bucked me to the right at the instance I squeezed the trigger and the barrel moved left and the splash of dirt was a few inches left of the target.
Summary/Results: The cartridge I will try to clone is the berger/berge palma. That one is a long COAL with MV 2891, versus the SMK/HSM round I'm shooting today is standard COAL mv 2891 (all out of this rifle, which has evolved into the palma bullet shooting rifle)
But I have about 140 rds of the SMK/HSM left so I will shoot it ! When I clone the berger round I will actually use the SMK 2156 bullet. BL rates the BC of the 2156 as .238 (G7) whereas he rates the BC of the berger 155.5 as .239 ... not enough difference to worry about. So I will go with the SMK hoping it is more highly available. But I will use Lapua brass (the berger round comes in Lapua brass) and load to the same COAL as the berger round. Not sure which powder yet.
But the equipment seemed to work today so the 7.62(22) rifle is reactivated. This lets me tear down the 7.62(20) Bravo rifle and swap its scope over to the 5.56(18) Mk12-ish ... and then put the L&S mk6 3-18x T3 on the Bravo gun, with the NF 2.5-10x mil-r on the 5.56(18) in the Spuhr mount. That will let me use the SIMRAD on the 5.56(18) which is the whole purpose of all the scope swapping :D
