3300 Yards

[ShaunBrady]

A few weeks ago, Lynn invited me to shoot the 3300 yard target they'd set up for URSA matches. We spent a couple hours waiting for fog to clear at the shooting position but eventually gave up. We were going to try again Wednesday, but something came up and he couldn't make it. I went up on my own to give it a try.



The target is the light spot between the big rock and the camera. It's 37" in diameter, a little over 1moa or 0.3 mil at that distance.

I shot six strings of 10 and captured video on 3 of them. There are 2 hits in each video. After looking at the target, 1 hit is a skip for sure and a second probably is. These are raw shooting video and I could have done a better job setting the camera up for less shaking. No narration, no pretty girls, just spotting video that probably would have been better if there had really been a spotter. Lynn likes Video 3 the most. It's the shakiest, lowest contrast, and mirage is starting but my shooting was probably the best and most of the splashes were very visible.

The gun is a RPR with a 30" 1:8 Bartein barrel chambered in 300 Lapua shooting 250 grain ATips at 2950 fps. The scope is a 7-35 ATACR on the 30 moa Ruger base in Burris rings with 20 moa inserts. I used a 30 mil NF wedge in front of the scope. The firing solution was ~ 50 mils. The windage turret had left 4 mils in it to cover spin, Coriolis, and to center the wind in the relatively narrow field of view. Wind holds were between 1 mil right and 2 mils left. Time of flight is 7 seconds.

[RickyRacer87]

Congratulations on the hit's :-)

[1990Husky]

Very cool videos!

Couldn't help wondering if the road behind the target is gated. Was waiting for a truck to come around the corner

[ShaunBrady]

100% safe? No, not either way.

The road down to that manicured corner took a couple man weeks to chainsaw down to. Chubby, tired old men, not real loggers. That manicured corner has several man days into its preparation. I've done a fair amount of clearing myself and have profusely thanked the others involved. The 2020 August Complex fire shut the forest down for over a year. Prior to that, the brush that had overgrown the abandoned road would have taken a CCC crew weeks to clear down to the target. It goes nowhere and had been abandoned for decades. After the fire, the brush situation was a lot better, but there were many downed trees to deal with. As it sits now, my Tacoma drags the trailer hitch in a few places on the way down and picks up fresh scratches in the clear coat every trip.

Lynn mentions that guys have attended his matches in a Prius in his match announcements. That's true, but they've never hung targets from one. Even the main road will frequently need to be cleared of fallen trees by locals before cars can pass. I carry tools to clear fallen trees with me every trip and use them several times a year. The kit includes 2 decent sized chainsaws, a peavey, landscaper grade sheers, 10" hand saw, a firefighter's hoe, and tow straps to pull trunks from the road.

It's basically head out to the middle of nowhere, drive up the hill for an hour, then turn left and drive awhile longer. There is a paved road to where the "main" road leads to so there just isn't a lot of traffic on a rutted up dirt road. During the week, I usually don't have anybody drive by if I'm up there for a few hours.

I saw 1 other truck while I was up there. Three cowboys in a bright yellow 3/4 ton dually were early scouting about 200 yards from where I was going to shoot from. They were watching a bear about 850 yards below the road. We watched the bear together until it left and talked about where we were going to be for the rest of the day. Other people being friendly isn't a given out in the middle of nowhere, but if their binoculars cost more than yours, they're probably not serial killers. Other vehicles are easily heard from a few miles away and It'd take far longer to drive from the main road to the target than I'm muffed up.

There isn't any value left in outdoor grown rag weed, so illegal grows aren't the problem they used to be. We're still up there with thousands of dollars of easily sold equipment though. You're on your own with vehicle problems.

The local SO and Rangers are aware of what's going on and have chosen not to interfere. I've talked to the SO up there myself. When they want to shut stuff like this down, they build a tank trap across a pinch point.

I wouldn't shoot up there in the weeks leading up to deer season or during.

[Hoffer]

Awesome shooting Shaun!
Centered horizontally very good, even with a bit of wind.

Note to the average shooter;
There is so much going on in the mountains between the shooter and target. Winds up / down / right / left and all 4 can happen over that same 5-6 second flight.
Most will never know how hard that is, till you go out and watch it or do it.

[Markbsae]

That's quite a shot. I can't even imagine the variation of wind gusts at that distance and trying to adjust for it.

[Scottie15]

Tell me about the camera setup!

[ELR Researcher]

100% safe? No, not either way.

The road down to that manicured corner took a couple man weeks to chainsaw down to. Chubby, tired old men, not real loggers. That manicured corner has several man days into its preparation. I've done a fair amount of clearing myself and have profusely thanked the others involved. The 2020 August Complex fire shut the forest down for over a year. Prior to that, the brush that had overgrown the abandoned road would have taken a CCC crew weeks to clear down to the target. It goes nowhere and had been abandoned for decades. After the fire, the brush situation was a lot better, but there were many downed trees to deal with. As it sits now, my Tacoma drags the trailer hitch in a few places on the way down and picks up fresh scratches in the clear coat every trip.

Lynn mentions that guys have attended his matches in a Prius in his match announcements. That's true, but they've never hung targets from one. Even the main road will frequently need to be cleared of fallen trees by locals before cars can pass. I carry tools to clear fallen trees with me every trip and use them several times a year. The kit includes 2 decent sized chainsaws, a peavey, landscaper grade sheers, 10" hand saw, a firefighter's hoe, and tow straps to pull trunks from the road.

It's basically head out to the middle of nowhere, drive up the hill for an hour, then turn left and drive awhile longer. There is a paved road to where the "main" road leads to so there just isn't a lot of traffic on a rutted up dirt road. During the week, I usually don't have anybody drive by if I'm up there for a few hours.

I saw 1 other truck while I was up there. Three cowboys in a bright yellow 3/4 ton dually were early scouting about 200 yards from where I was going to shoot from. They were watching a bear about 850 yards below the road. We watched the bear together until it left and talked about where we were going to be for the rest of the day. Other people being friendly isn't a given out in the middle of nowhere, but if their binoculars cost more than yours, they're probably not serial killers. Other vehicles are easily heard from a few miles away and It'd take far longer to drive from the main road to the target than I'm muffed up.

There isn't any value left in outdoor grown rag weed, so illegal grows aren't the problem they used to be. We're still up there with thousands of dollars of easily sold equipment though. You're on your own with vehicle problems.

The local SO and Rangers are aware of what's going on and have chosen not to interfere. I've talked to the SO up there myself. When they want to shut stuff like this down, they build a tank trap across a pinch point.

I wouldn't shoot up there in the weeks leading up to deer season or during.

Shaun - really need you to get back in the game, and spread the word to get shooters out. Thanks in advance. Oscar

[ELR Researcher]

Awesome shooting Shaun!
Centered horizontally very good, even with a bit of wind.

Note to the average shooter;
There is so much going on in the mountains between the shooter and target. Winds up / down / right / left and all 4 can happen over that same 5-6 second flight.
Most will never know how hard that is, till you go out and watch it or do it.

Hoffer - really need you to get back in the game, and spread the word to get shooters out. If you need a rifle, I suspect Lynn would be quite happy to loan you one - and the ammo. Thanks in advance. Oscar

[ShaunBrady]

Tell me about the camera setup!

I was introduced to that camera setup by RickyRacer87 at a URSA match.

It's a Nikon P1000 on an Amazon knock off surveyor's tripod with a video head. I'm powering it from an inverter on a cordless drill battery. These videos were recorded in the camera itself. I set it up for self spotting with a video to WiFi adapter and set my cell phone up on a bag on the left side of the gun. I was getting enough feedback through the rifle scope this day that I didn't set that up. The WiFi adapter software allows recording on the phone. I'll power the phone from the cordless drill battery when I'm spotting with it. I don't usually extend the tripod legs and often use a 25# weight on the spider between the legs. The camera is nose heavy for a standard 1/4"-20 camera mount. RR87 has a better tripod mount system. Maybe he'll post that.

I fought the idea of spotting with the camera for years because I didn't want to lose the reticle. I think the reticle speeds things up when there is a spotter that needs to communicate with the shooter but I don't miss it at all for self spotting. The latency on this system is very low so it might not be the way to go for self spotting on closer targets.

It has a lot more resolution than my Swaro 60X spotter. If you're familiar with digital photography, it'll pull images out of deeper darkness or can produce more contrast on bright blown out days. If you know what you're doing, it's a lot more flexible than lower cost spotting scope mounted cameras. It's complicated enough that dry firing it several times at home is a good idea before you bring it to the range.

Camera-Kit.jpg

This is the WiFi adapter

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1642248-REG/z_cam_ipman_s_hdmi_wireless.html

The US versions of the camera can be a little bit of a pain to find at MSRP from reputable suppliers. Heavily marked up US versions and gray units from other markets are easier to find.

[liber]

Shaun,

Do you hang out on LRH at all? I think we exchanged PM on here and possibly AS in the past. I still want to get out to ELR. I literally just got my shop paid for, and it's dried in. I have only a few machines up there, but waiting on a 6.5 PRC, and I may take to Upper Lake, just to see if it can even get close to something at 2000. I will use this for hunting, mostly in A zone, for black bear, deer, and pig. I had a Krieger barrel I was gonna use for 6.5 PRC, but I just sold it to pay for the barreled action I ordered.

Hope to meet you one day!

Alan

[ShaunBrady]

I don't spend any time on LRH. 10 years ago it popped up in searches when I was researching wildcats. Actual testing showed most of the info to be nonsense. There is good information on the internet, but not much and it won't be recognized without some actual experience.

2k yards at a DA of 4K' on a 37" target with a 6.5 PRC wouldn't be much of a trick if the conditions were similar to the video. Great light, great feedback from the berm, wind was a little high but relatively steady. Ammo with less than 30 fps spread over 10 shots a decent bullet will make it easier. One of the ELD line would work. Scope travel might be a problem with a hunting rig. A match might not be the best place for your first try, but it's been done. Add a solid 100 yard zero and chrono data for that batch of ammo to the list.

We've PMed, here or AS.

[liber]

I don't spend any time on LRH. 10 years ago it popped up in searches when I was researching wildcats. Actual testing showed most of the info to be nonsense. There is good information on the internet, but not much and it won't be recognized without some actual experience.

2k yards at a DA of 4K' on a 37" target with a 6.5 PRC wouldn't be much of a trick if the conditions were similar to the video. Great light, great feedback from the berm, wind was a little high but relatively steady. Ammo with less than 30 fps spread over 10 shots a decent bullet will make it easier. One of the ELD line would work. Scope travel might be a problem with a hunting rig. A match might not be the best place for your first try, but it's been done. Add a solid 100 yard zero and chrono data for that batch of ammo to the list.

We've PMed, here or AS.

Yes, I will contact Lynn and try to meet you guys out there. I just finished my shop, now to get the log shell moved onto the foundation.

I will have a solid zero by the time I head up.