I've been living in the middle of nowhere for just shy of a year now. Middle of nowhere is off grid and 22 miles from pavement. So, of course I carry everywhere. Both a pistol and rifle.

My ranch rifle is a 10.5" SBR home built. Noveske Barrel & handguard with an H2 buffer. LWRC Lower, Black Rain Ord upper, Wilson Combat single stage trigger, Troy iron sights and an Aimpoint T-1. Mounted out front is an ancient Gemtech Halo. I'm not a fanatic on cleaning my AR-15 rifles like I am bolt guns or 1911s. And even then I prefer not to clean to the point of inducing more unnecessary wear. My ARs get a wipedown after use, quick wipe the bolt down and relube, and maybe run a boresnake through the barrel. Every 6mo or so I go on a cleaning binge and clean all the ARs and a couple of glocks if they have been shot.

I have shot rifle at short to semi-long range for a few years. I'm mostly ok in a static shooting position prone or supported such as a bench or barricade. I am capable out to around 500 yards. It is definitely a skill set that I have lots of room to improve on. I've never had any professional instruction, but two of my best friends were Scout Snipers and instructors at the USMC Designated Marksman school Dam Neck in Virginia Beach. They both heavily influenced me into long range shooting and got me set with good basic skills. It's easy to keep those basic skills going on a range when you have the time. It's another thing when you're in a hurry. Slow is smooth and smooth is fast seems to have an application here.

I have never in my life hunted, it just wasn't in the cards for me. That's gonna change, soon. I made two shots last week that to me are more impressive than any other hits I have ever made. One at 225 meters kneeling and one at 260 meters standing. Both shots were taken on coyotes running away from me in a direct line. These coyotes were in my inlaws horse pastures so it was their time to go. What is most impressive along with the shooting on the fly is the condition my gun was in. Havent shot this in over 2 months and it goes back and forth between the trucks, side by side, and house. This is AZ high desert. Lots of dust and dirt, occasional wipe down, but no regular maintenance. Additionally I was out cutting wood the morning of the second shot and the rifle was on the seat of my machine and down wind of my cuts. Nasty dirty thing when I stopped and took a look at it.

Summery, I really surprised myself with what would otherwise be run of the mill shots for some. I am convinced I made both shots with the aid of a well built rifle with quality parts and good a basic shooting skill set that repeats when you are in a hurry. I may have glossed over maintenance, but I believe you find what works for your guns. I mostly wrote this to remind others that shooting is not only a perishable skill, but a combination of skills. I was just sort of thinking that I'm not as experienced as others with shooting in many forms, but I guess I have more available skills than I realized. It was just an interesting break down in my head of what got me in a position to make shots that afterwards had me asking myself "how did I do that?"

Last Item to check, 55gr Hornady V-max does the job.

Para has a clean your gun thread, maybe we need a work your skill set thread?


Red lines are my driveway and my inlaws driveway. Green line are approximate lines of the shots taken, distance, and date.



Filthy gun with chainsaw dust and dirt that ran like a top. I put another 200 rounds through it just to see. No issues, flawless.

Nice shooting!

quote:

Originally posted by Sigolicious:
Last Item to check, 55gr Hornady V-max does the job.

You may want to step to heavier bullets if you want to extend your range.

I have been getting good results from the 73gr Hornady ELD for long range coyote killing.

Nice work!

I'm not a fanatic either - wipe down, lube, etc but they aren't museum pieces either.

While not as long ranged as your shots, I did hit 4 x ferrel hogs in under 30 seconds on my property one fall afternoon, from 25 to 75 yards - 3 of 'em on the move (mostly away from me, which made it easier) with my SBR SCAR 16.

Like you, afterwards I thought "wow, how did I do that"!

No yote pix with the dirty gun? That is some fine shooting D.



The Az desert has nothing on the middle east and our warriors and their weapons have handled it well.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: old rugged cross,

Great thread with pics! Most would be very surprised just how durable and reliable their sticks are, as long as they are a quality build and maintained occasionally. The dirt and grime rarely affects them. This isn't to be confused with neglect and poor quality parts. People that do that to their guns, often talk poorly about the quality and reliability....not the same.

I've no issue with the gun running, I've never had an issue with much worse. As I don't have those kind of ranges around me, much too forested...so how does one actually aim using that optic setup? Aimpoint dot =6" or so (assuming a 2moa one, double that with a 4moa), bullet drop =12" or so. Coyote com =4" (or at least those where I live). Not holdover help from the aimpoint.

quote:

Originally posted by IndianaBoy:
Nice shooting!

quote:

Originally posted by Sigolicious:
Last Item to check, 55gr Hornady V-max does the job.

You may want to step to heavier bullets if you want to extend your range.

I have been getting good results from the 73gr Hornady ELD for long range coyote killing.

I have an 18" AR for longer range stuff and a Savage 12 LRPV single shot too. I think both of those guns would see better results for heavier bullets out to farther distances. 10.5" barrel isn't going to get me much with the heavier bullets or much more distance. But i'll be reloading some heavier ones for the longer barrel guns for sure!

quote:

Originally posted by old rugged cross:
No yote pix with the dirty gun?

C'mon D.

Well, you see....... I knew this would come up just after I posted. I was on the way home both times and didn't have time to go and get the carcass. Also, not being a hunter as such, it didn't even cross my mind to get pictures let alone have my phone with me. Next time for sure. After letting my father-in-law know what pasture they were in, my mother-in-law has seen fit (and irony) in making them into chicken food. HA!

quote:

Originally posted by hrcjon:
I've no issue with the gun running, I've never had an issue with much worse. As I don't have those kind of ranges around me, much too forested...so how does one actually aim using that optic setup? Aimpoint dot =6" or so (assuming a 2moa one, double that with a 4moa), bullet drop =12" or so. Coyote com =4" (or at least those where I live). Not holdover help from the aimpoint.

I moved from sea level in Virginia to 6100 feet in the high desert of AZ. One of the first things I did was re-zero some of my guns. The second thing I did was quit zeroing them for 100 yards and started zeroing them for 200 yards. I will probably zero some for farther distances. I have the option of taking mile+ shots in a 200 degree arc from my front door, maybe one day I'll be able to do more than mortar them in at those distances.

The distances noted in the picture are approximate and the mapping software is in meters. The Aimpoint(s) I have are 2MOA dots zeroed at 200 Yards. Hornady shows the 55gr V-max at 3240 muzzle velocity. The guys at rifleshooter.com did a by the inch barrel test and show the 55gr FMJ at 3202fps out of an 18" barrel and 2767fps out of a 10" barrel. They may be different bullets, but if they are coming out of the barrel at the same speed, I can extrapolate from the using JBMBallistics.com.

260 meters = 284 yards. 2MOA dot at 300 yards is 6". 8.9" drop between 200 and 300 yards. 1 1/2 dot hold over at 300 yards is 9" holdover. The math says it's not that hard and there wasn't much wind that I could tell on either day. It's still surprising to me and all this math is after the fact. I'm not fast enough yet to do this stuff in my head. But I plan to try and get there. It also helps that I have an 8" steel gong set at 310 yards I regularly shoot at with this gun. 310 yards because it was close enough to 300 Yards.

Anyone correct me if I am wrong on the math.

JBM shows the following for the 55gr V-max at 2767fps




From rifleshooter.com

quote:

Originally posted by Sigolicious:
Anyone correct me if I am wrong on the math.
JBM shows the following for the 55gr V-max at 2767fps

The best way to obtain accurate muzzle velocity is with a chronograph. I think you have over estimated your actual MV.

Hornady's stated MV of 3240 fps with factory 55 Vmax is with a 24" barrel. Measuring with a Magnetospeed V3, I obtain the following:
- 3241 from a 24" Proof Research barrel -- bolt action with a TBAC suppressor
- 3256 from a 24" DSC barrel -- AR15 with a TBAC suppressor
The suppressor likely adds 20-40 fps of MV, as compared to a bare muzzle.

Federal XM193 is a faster load than Hornady XM193. The MV you list for a 24" barrel is 3409 fps.

I have multiple AR15 barrels, from 14.5" to 24" in length. I doubt your actual 55 Vmax MV from a 10.5" barrel with a suppressor is any more than 2600 fps. If I were to place a bet, 2500 to 2550 fps is your likely MV ballpark.

*****
That said, your ballistics won't be all that far off for a 200 yard zero, targets out to 280 yards, and the precision possible with an unmagnified red dot sight.

I actually just chrono'd some reloads today out of my 10.5" SBR. Hornady 55gr FMJ over 26.1gr CFE223 shot at 2518fps, 55gr SP over 25.8gr CFE223 shot at 2416 fps (averages of 10 shots). These were done on a progressive press with automated powder drop, hence solidly in the middle of the loading data I have, rather than pushing the upper limits.