quote:

Originally posted by bolo4tom:
yeah Dan, having some great glass is every bit as important as load development. sounds like you're well on your way. im shooting Sierra 165 gr HPBT with great results out of a Savage 10

I have done some long range stuff (out to a max of 1000) with my customized 1998 Savage 10FP in years past. Liked DIY moly treated (used KG Products) Sierra or Hornady 168s and Sierra 175s handloads over Varget, previously IMR4064.

Glass is a 1994 production Leupold Vari-X III 4.5-14x50 Long Range Tactical Matte Mil-Dot.
(SKU #51668 w/ 100 moa elevation adjustment, wire USMC oval Mil-Dot reticule, and target turrets, later became the Mark 4).

JBM will accept manually-entered specific ballistics coefficients if a bullet isn’t in its library, and that’s what I always do when using the calculator.

According to Bryan Litz the G7 BC of the Hornady 155 grain 0.308 HPBT is 0.211 in the velocity range 2500 to 3000 feet per second.

quote:

Originally posted by bald1:
wire USMC oval Mil-Dot reticule

Wow! I've read about those—I believe. I can't go back and check, though, because the pages of the books are crumbling with age.

That combination must have been quite a performer in its day, and probably still is.

quote:

Originally posted by sigfreund:

quote:

Originally posted by bald1:
wire USMC oval Mil-Dot reticule

Wow! I've read about those—I believe. I can't go back and check, though, because the pages of the books are crumbling with age.

That combination must have been quite a performer in its day, and probably still is.

Didn't so much shoot targets with this as going after prairie poodles way way out there.

Used to pack 3 rifles for dawg outtings. A single shot break barrel H&R SB-2 Ultra in .223 with a 1:12 twist that preferred 40 and 50gr V-Max fodder for short range work. A Winchester M70V in .243 with a Canjar 2oz 2-stage trigger with 80 gr Sierra Blitz loads for intermediate range dawg towns. And, as said, the 10FP .308 for crazy way out there stuff. Lots of fun!!!!

This message has been edited. Last edited by: bald1,

What are the scopes on the 223 and 243?

That's cool. I managed to ring a steel target with an AR-15 at 500 yards last week. It's amazing what you can do with a proper optic (In this case an ELCAN 1x/4x).

quote:

Originally posted by sigfreund:
What are the scopes on the 223 and 243?

Nothing exotic.
Bushnell Elite 3200 10x40 Matte (SKU#321040M Mil-Dot w/80MOA 1/4"adjustments acquired in 2011 as a scope upgrade) on the 1995 .223 SB-2.
And a Bausch & Lomb Elite 4000 6-24x40 Matte Multi-X AO (only a disappointing 26" @ 100 yds elevation adjustment but I make due) I picked up back in 1996 on the 1966 vintage .243 M70V.


And a little on that old wire USMC oval Mil-Dot system:
https://www.boomershoot.com/general/TruthMilDots.htm

As an aside that's a MilDot Master (https://mildot.com/) pictured with my Savage 10FP laying across a laminated ballistics card reflecting my handloads.

With your background the mil-dot history and that calculator are mentioned only for others looking at this thread.

quote:

Originally posted by bald1:
And a little on that old wire USMC oval Mil-Dot system

Thanks for that link. I am familiar with how mil-dot system works and can be used, and was also aware that the early scopes could have either the so-called Army or USMC dots. I didn’t know all that history, though, and was specifically unaware that the Army dots were 3/4 MOA or 0.22 mil in diameter. The listing of the many scopes that used mil-dot reticles nearly 20 years ago was also informative.

I thought your Bushnell 10×40mm scope looked familiar and when you described it, I recalled that my agency bought four of the same model years ago to use with M14 rifles and a planned sort-of designated marksman program. I wasn’t involved in the selection of the sights, but I did prepare some training materials after they were acquired. I see from a review of those old references that the Bushnell reticle used round dots, but they were a true 0.25 mil in diameter rather than the 0.22 mil of the original Army dots.

Thanks for the validation of the Bushnell 10x40 scope. Interesting choice to hang on M14s.

FWIW many might question long range shooting on small prairie dogs. Back in the day, the Varmint Hunters Association, headquartered in Pierre SD, used to give out patches for 500 and 1000 yard shots. Had to be witnessed and range verified, etc. I never went after any patches but knew guys who did. Some of the equipment used was extremely exotic. LOL

Sadly age and health issues have curtailed such activity for me.

Here's a couple articles on crazy distance prairie poodle eradication. Some frown on the "red mist" activity as opposed to clanging steel, but many ranchers and farmers welcome the help. It was also an activity that served to really hone long range shooting skills like wind doping.
https://www.longrangehunting.c...00-yard-p-dog.31934/
https://forum.accurateshooter....vha-witness.3846054/

quote:

Originally posted by bald1:
Interesting choice to hang on M14s.

Yes:

quote:

Originally posted by sigfreund:
I wasn’t involved in the selection of the sights ....

I hunted prairie dogs for several years and found it an enjoyable challenge. My spot was pretty close to Denver and easy to get to, but no really long shots. They were fairly heavily hunted, though, and they were very alert to anything that looked like a hunter. That plus the fact that they disappeared underground at the sound of a shot made for a lot of walking and stalking.