Long Range Pistol Shooting

Lining up a 300 yard pistol shot with a 1911, you can just barely make out the targets at the berm.

Yesterday we posed a question on Facebook asking our fans how far the longest pistol shot they'd ever made was. The answers ranged from a mere 25 yards, the standard distance at many pistol ranges, to shots in excess of 250 yards. One thing that surprised me however is how many people refused to believe that you could actually hit a target over 100 yards away. Believe it or not, the full sized pistol you own is probably capable of shots out to 200 yards.

At a recent 3-gun match here locally there was a pistol stage with full sized silhouette targets set out to distances as far as 80 yards. Needless to say, many competitors had great difficulty landing hits on these targets. I've practiced on half sized silhouettes up to 50 yards away, but the additional 30 yards for the longest target on that stage gave me fits. Still, I've personally witnessed a number of shooters hit a man sized target consistently at distances up to 200 yards away with a 1911 chambered in .45 ACP.

A typical 1911 zeroed at 7 yards has a drop of only 1.7 inches at 50 and a mere 14 inches at 100 yards. Things get a bit more interesting when the distance is increased past 100 yards however. At 150 yards the bullet drop has increased to more than 40 inches, and at 200 yards a 230 grain bullet with a muzzle velocity of 900 feet per second will have dropped a whopping 81.4 inches. Which begs the question: how can anyone reliably make a shot with a pistol over 200 yards?

Scribing the front sight of a magnum revolver with a ramped front sight is an excellent way to get on target past 200 yards.

First of all, it helps to have a pistol that shoots a fast bullet. .357 Sig and .40 S&W both are fairly flat shooting rounds, but for the ultimate in long range pistol shooting you'll need a Magnum cartridge such as .357, .44, .500 S&W or .50 AE. Still, the amount of holdover necessary to land a good hit can difficult to estimate on the fly. There is however an solution for aiming such shots. It's not possible on all pistols, but by holding a scribed front sight up far above the rear, you can get the proper hold for a long range pistol shot. Ideal shooting positions are supine (leaning back as if in a recliner, this pose is well known to silhouette shooters) and prone.

Even without a powerful magnum or a tall ramped front sight, it's possible to get hits consistently with your standard service pistol. I took my .45 ACP 1911 with stock GI sights out to the range to demonstrate this after failing to hit the 80 yard silhouette at the 3-gun match last week. To start with, I calculated the ballistics mentioned above for my load.

Beginning at 50 yards, I held just a hair high and, shooting prone, was able to land all 7 shots on the target in a tight 3" group. Moving back to 100 yards the target looked much smaller on my front sight, but by holding on the head of the silhouette I was able to consistently drop the rounds into the torso. Things got more interesting at 200 yards however, and I was glad to have an earthen backstop so I could see the splash of my misses. Using these clues, I managed to walk the rounds onto the target in short order and figure out the proper hold.

Now that I knew the amount of hold necessary for that distance, I went ahead and tried to make the shot off hand. I won't lie, only 3 of the 7 rounds hit the target. But given that distance, I felt pretty happy knowing that I could engage a 200 yard target with my pistol and still land hits at all.

What's the point here? The point is shooting is 90% mental. Most people don't even realize that a pistol can be a viable weapon when a rifle is not available, and of those who may know such shots are possible most will never practice with their own handguns. The point here is that if you know your gun and you practice with it, you too can land hits on a target 200 yards away. Heck, with the right caliber, such as a .357 or .44 Magnum revolver, hitting targets at 300, 400, and even 600 yards is possible.

Elmer Keith, father of the famous .357 and .44 Magnum told one such tale of hunting deer at over 500 yards with a .357 revolver. Many chalked his tale up to nothing but a bit of "Hunter's Hyperbole" but Keith stood by his claims, and I for one believe the tale. Here's his story:

Paul Kriley and I hunted up Clear Creek on the right side where it is partly open bunch grass meadows and partly patches of timber. We hunted all day, and although we saw several does at 80-90 yards, one at 60, that I could have killed. We passed them up, as I wanted a buck. Toward evening we topped out on a ridge. There was a swale between us and another small ridge on the side of the mountain slope about 300-400 yards away. Beyond that, out on the open sidehill, no doubt on account of the cougar, were about 20 mule deer, feeding. Two big bucks were in the band, and some lesser ones, the rest were does and long fawns. As it was getting late and the last day of the season, I wanted one of those bucks for meat. Being a half-mile away, I told Paul, “Take the .300 Magnum and duck back through this swale to that next ridge and that should put you within about 500 yards of them. I’ll stay here (the deer had seen us), let them watch me for a decoy.” Paul said, “You take the rifle.”
“I said, how is it sighted?”
He said, “one inch high at a hundred yards.” I told him to go ahead because I wouldn’t know where to hold it. I always sighted a .300 Magnum 3 inches high at a hundred and I wouldn’t know where to hold it at 500.
I said, “You go ahead and kill the biggest buck in the bunch for me.” Paul took off, went across the swale and climbed the ridge, laid down and crawled up to the top. He shot. The lower of the two bucks, which he later said was the biggest one, dropped and rolled down the mountain. I then took off across the swale to join him. Just before I climbed up the ridge to where he was lying, he started shooting again.

When I came up on top, the band of deer was pretty well long gone. They’d gone out to the next ridge top, turned up it slightly and went over. But the old buck was up following their trail, one front leg a-swinging. Paul had hit it. I asked Paul, “Is there any harm in me getting into this show?” He said, “No, go ahead.”

I had to lay down prone, because if I crawled over the hill to assume my old backside positioning, then the blast of his gun would be right in my ear. Shooting prone with a .44 Magnum is something I don’t like at all. The concussion is terrific. It will just about bust your ear drums every time. At any rate Paul shot and missed. I held all of the front sight up, or practically all of it, and perched the running deer on top of the front sight and squeezed one off. Paul said, “I saw it through my scope. It hit in the mud and snow right below him.” There was possibly six inches of wet snow, with muddy ground underneath. I told him “I won’t be low the next shot.” Paul shot again and missed with his .300 Magnum. The next time I held all of the front sight up and a bit of the ramp, just perched the deer on top. After the shot the gun came down out of recoil and the bullet had evidently landed. The buck made a high buck-jump, swapped ends, and came back toward us, shaking his head. I told Paul I must have hit a horn. I asked him to let the buck come back until he was right on us if he would, let him come as close as he would and I’d jump up and kill him. When he came back to where Paul had first rolled him, out about 500 yards, Paul said, “I could hit him now, I think.”

“Well,” I said, “I don’t like to see a deer run on three legs. Go ahead.” He shot again and missed. The buck swapped ends and turned around and went back right over the same trail. Paul said, “I’m out of ammunition. Empty.” I told him to reload, duck back out of sight, go on around the hill and head the old buck off, and I’d chase him on around. Paul took off on a run to go around this bunch-grass hill and get up above the buck and on top. He was young, husky, and could run like a deer himself. I got on the old buck again with all of the front sight and a trifle of the ramp up. Just as I was going to squeeze it off when he got to the ridge, he turned up it just as the band of deer had done. So I moved the sight picture in front of him and shot. After an interval he went down and out of sight. I didn’t think anything of it, thought he had just tipped over the ridge. It took me about half an hour to get across. When I got over there to the ridge, I saw where he’d rolled down the hill about fifty yards, bleeding badly, and then he’d gotten up and walked from the tracks to the ridge in front of us. There were a few pine trees down below, so I cut across to intercept his tracks. I could see he was bleeding out both sides.

Just before I got to the top of the ridge, I heard a shot up above me and then another shot, and I yelled and asked if it was Paul. He answered. I asked, “Did you get him?” He said, “Yes, he’s down there by that big pine tree below you. Climb a little higher and you can see him.” Paul came down and we went down to the buck. Paul said the buck was walking along all humped up very slowly. He held back of the shoulders as he was quartering away. The first shot went between his forelegs and threw up snow. Then he said the buck turned a little more away from him and he held higher and dropped him. Finally we parted the hair in the right flank and found where the 180-grain needle-pointed Remington spitzer had gone in. Later I determined it blew up and lodged in the left shoulder. At any rate I looked his horns over, trying to see where I’d hit a horn. No sign of it. Finally I found a bullet hole back of the right jaw and it came out of the top of his nose. That was the shot I’d hit him with out at 600 yards. Then Paul said, “Who shot him through the lungs broadside? I didn’t, never had that kind of shot at all.” There was an entrance hole fairly high on the right side of the rib cage just under the spine and an exit just about three or four inches lower on the other side. The deer had been approximately the same elevation as I was when I fired that last shot at him. We dressed him, drug him down the trail on Clear Creek, hung him up, and went on down to the ranch. The next day a man named Posy and I came back with a pack horse, loaded him and took him in. I took a few pictures of him hanging in the woodshed along with the Smith & Wesson .44 Mag.

I took him home and hung him up in the garage. About ten days later my son Ted came home from college and I told him, “Ted, go out and skin that big buck and get us some chops. They should be well-ripened and about right for dinner tonight.” After awhile Ted came in and he laid the part jacket of a Remington bullet on the table beside me and he said, “Dad, I found this right beside the exit hole on the left side of that buck’s ribs.” Then I knew that I had hit him at that long range two out of four times. I believe I missed the first shot, we didn’t see it at all, and it was on the second that Paul said he saw snow and mud fly up at his heels. I wrote it up and I’ve been called a liar ever since, but Paul Kriley is still alive and able to vouch for the facts.

Elmer Keith

Hunting Ross' and Snow Geese

You'll need to lead by as much as 5' to land a solid hit on a crossing goose.

Goose season is fast approaching and soon thousands of hunters will take to the field to bag as many snow geese as possible during this year's Special Conservation Order. The exact dates vary from state to state, but most areas have taken off restrictions on the number of geese that can be taken and in some areas allowed hunters to use unplugged shotguns and electronic callers.

In 1999, the Arctic Tundra Habitat Emergency Conservation Act was passed due to massive overpopulations of Snow and Ross' Geese that were damaging the arctic tundra. "The overabundance of light geese is harming their fragile arctic breeding habitat," according to H. Dale Hall, Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. He continued, "The damage to the habitat is, in turn, harming the health of the light geese and other bird species that depend on the tundra habitat. Returning the light goose population to sustainable levels is necessary to protect this delicate habitat, and every species dependent on it."

Many hunters are taking advantage of this opportunity to fill up their freezer with tasty geese during this year's Special Conservation Order. Here are some tips to make sure you're able to fill your limit on light geese this year.

When choosing camouflage, make sure the pattern matches where you'll be hunting.

Lead your target: I can't emphasize this enough. The biggest mistake most novice wing shooters make is not leading their target enough. A standard load of #2 shot traveling at 1450 feet per second takes 0.085 seconds to travel 40 yards. In that small amount of time, a goose flying at 40 mph travels nearly 5 feet!

Lead below landing geese: Landing geese may appear to be hovering, but remember that if they were not moving they'd simply fall out of the sky! For geese landing, lead in the direction of travel and slightly below the goose.

Match your choke to your ammunition: It's very important to match your choke to your shot, and now is the time to do so before the season gets really going. I like to bring a variety of ammunition to the range with me and try the different brands in my Improved, Modified, and Full choke tubes. If you're shooting steel, make sure that your choke tube is steel rated. Usually, you’ll want to pattern your shot at various ranges from 10 out to a maximum for 40 yards to see how the pattern opens up as the range increases. There aren't many manufacturers of life sized goose targets, so I use a life-sized turkey target to determine the number of hits to the vital areas. Start out with plain target loads to get your shot onto the paper. Once you’ve established this baseline zero, go ahead and take the target out to 40 yards and fire a load and observe the result. Ideally, your pattern should be concentrated enough to land 8 or more pellets in the vital areas. Any less than that and you either need to use a different load/choke combination. If you find that changing the shot load or choke doesn’t help, you will need to bring the target closer until you can consistently get an acceptable pattern.

Use the proper shot size: Snow geese are not usually as large as their darker cousins. The largest light goose species, the Greater Snow Goose, tops out at just under 10 pounds, while the Canadian Goose can easily top 14 pounds. The smaller size of Snow Geese means that you should stay away from the larger shot size. Stick with #1, #2, or even #4: you'll get better patterns and the shot will still be effective out to 100 yards (if you can hit them that far!)

Use a LOT of decoys: You'll need a lot of decoys for snow geese. A small flock of decoys should exceed 100 rags or shells. Some professional guides stake out decoy flocks which number in the thousands. Rags and movers are great at convincing geese that your field would make an excellent landing spot, but take care not to space them too closely together. Geese can have a 6 foot wingspan and will be looking to see if they have room to land. Decoys spaced 8-10 feet apart will make a more inviting spread.

Take the time to construct your blind properly: Goose have excellent eyesight and are quick learners. They can recognize a poorly constructed blind from hundreds of yards away. Make sure that the color and pattern of your camouflage matches your surroundings: I can't tell you how many times I've seen a RealTree AP Hardwood pattern used in a corn field where it just stands out like a sore thumb. Instead, something like Mossy Oak Duck Blind or RealTree Max-4 would be more appropriate.

Wrap or camouflage your gun: Glint from shiny blued barrels is a sure fire way to scare off a goose. Many guns are available in a camo finish straight from the factory, but if yours is not you can use camouflage tape to prevent reflected glare from indicating your presence to a keen eyed goose.

Practice shooting while sitting: Don't assume that practice on clay pigeons will substitute for practice mounting the gun from a sitting position. Most goose blinds require the hunter to sit or lay down and then sit up for the shot. You will almost never be standing when it's time to "take 'em" so practice mounting the gun in a sitting position.

Get solid cheek weld: When mounting the gun, make sure you have proper cheek weld and sight alignment.

Single out your target: Don't think that you can just aim at a flock and have birds drop. Single out your target and aim at just that one bird.

Planning a successful goose hunt is not always easy. With these tips and a bit of luck however, you'll be well on your way to filling your limit of light geese this season.

Installing a Scout Style Scope on a Mosin Nagant

One of the most common questions customers have after purchasing a Mosin Nagant is, "How do I mount a scope on there without altering my receiver?" Generally, scopes are installed on to a receiver that is drilled and tapped to take scope rings. This presents a problem on the Mosin Nagant, as the straight handle bolt would interfere with the scope's eye piece. The only viable alternative is to install a scout style scope, but the wooden stock and fore grip of the Mosin make such a proposition a bit complicated to properly execute.

S&K Manufacturing stepped up to the plate with their Mosin 91/30 scope mount. It utilizes existing hardware on the rifle and replaces the original iron sight with a Picatinny style rail to which virtually any scout style scope can be attached.

The most difficult part of installing the scope mount is driving out the pin that holds the rear sight in place. You'll need a few simple and inexpensive tools that aren't included with the scope mount to accomplish this: a punch and a brass hammer. If you use a steel punch (which we recommend, as brass punches are too soft and may bend or break) be very careful to make sure that it is perfectly lined up with the pin before striking it so as to avoid marring the sight. On most Mosin Nagant rifles, this pin is held very tightly in place and takes a while to carefully drive out.

Once the pin is most of the way out, the spring pressure on the leaf sight will push the sight up and partially trap your punch. Carefully remove the punch and then the leaf sight and spring before continuing to drive the pin out. With the pin completely driven out and the spring and leaf sight removed, carefully place the flange nut into the rear of the sight holder. Placed properly, it should appear as shown in the image to the right.

Next, place the actual rail in place into the sight box and place one of the screws through the hole where the pin once was and gently thread it into place but do not tighten it. Using your punch, ensure that the flange nut is lined up with the countersunk hole in the top of the rail and then screw it into place with the countersunk screw and an Allen wrench until it is just snug and then loosen it 1/4 turn. Then go ahead and screw in the other screw through the other side of the pin hole until both sides are snug and then back those out 1/4 turn.

At this point the rail should have some play and be able to be wiggled ever so slightly. Remove the bolt and place your scope on the rifle and gently snug the rail mount rings onto your rail. Bore sight the rifle by and adjust the set screws on the rail until the scope's cross hairs are near the center of the bore. For this process, you may need to remove the scope, adjust the set screws, and then place the scope back on the rail. Once you have a decent bore sight, tighten up the counter sunk screw into the flange nut and then the pivot screws where the pin used to be. With the rail tightened up, reinstall your scope and continue to sight it in as you would normally.

Mounting a Scope

Sometimes it seems that nothing is more confusing to a new gun owner, and even some old hats, as installing a scope on a firearm. The sheer number of choices and options in optics alone are enough to write books about, and the ways to actually put the scope on the gun are even more complicated.

This article will attempt to clarify choices and make the novice gun owner’s job in choosing a way to mount a scope easier, while at the same time illuminate the myriad of options for any gun owner.

What You Need to Know (or Find Out)
When you start looking to mount a particular scope on your firearm you need to know certain things before you start shopping for mounting options. To begin with, you’ll need to know your scope’s objective diameter, usually the last and largest number in a scope’s specifications. This will be used to determine the clearance needed for your scope. The next important measurement you’ll need is the scope tube, and thus what ring diameter is required by your scope, usually 1″ or 30mm.

You need to know what mounting system your rifle is equipped with; receiver grooves, Picatinny rail, Weaver dovetail base, or nothing at all. The type of firearm you have and in some cases, what barrel type and contour, will also impact what mounting system you will need to use. A flat-top AR-15 has vastly different ring requirements than a Remington 700 with a tapered barrel.

The Basics
The most common setup used, and inquired about, for putting optics on a long gun is mounting a traditional magnified rifle scope to a traditional bolt action rifle. Let’s use this setup to explore the basics of putting a scope on a rifle. Traditionally the scope is held onto the rifle by “rings” which are clamped around the body of the scope. In turn the rings are attached to some sort of “base”, which are normally then attached to the rifles receiver or action.

To add to the confusion, there are many variations of all of these components. There are ways mount a scope that combine some or even all of these individual components. (An example would be mounting an EOtech HWS to an AR-15 rifle, where the scope has an integral mount that does not require rings, and the rifle has an integral rail that does not require a base.)

Bases
The base is the part of the system that allows the attachment of the scope rings to the rifle itself. Traditionally bases are attached to the receiver of a firearm by some sort of screw or bolt. Some rifles have built-in bases that are integral to the firearm.

Bases are usually specific to the make and model of firearm for which they are designed, and most are specific to the type of rings that can be used with them.

Rings
The Ring you select must be the same inner diameter of your scope’s tube diameter, which makes sense. The rings clamp onto the main tube of the scope, so they must be the same size. Most scopes are 1 inch in diameter and so are most rings, but there are many 30mm scopes and rings, and a smattering of other choices, such as 34mm. The other end of the ring attaches to the rifle’s base, so it too must be compatible with that particular base.

The important thing to remember is to match the rings with the scope and the base.

Ring Height
Scope rings come in varying heights to vary the distance from the scope’s centerline to the firearm’s base or receiver. The different ring heights allow you to mount scopes with different objective sizes and also to mount the scope in the proper place for a quick and proper cheekweld. Rings normally come in low, medium and high heights. There are extra low and extra high variations from some manufactures. Ring height is one of the most confusing options for new gun owners.

The traditional mantra is that scopes should be mounted as low as possible without the front of the scope, the objective bell housing, touching the barrel. Also bearing in mind the need to the back of the scope, the ocular bell or eyepiece, to clear the bolt handle. The thing most often ignored in this choosing scope ring height is the need for the scope’s height to match the shooter. When the rifle is shouldered quickly, the scope should be at the correct height to look through it, without any additional movement on the stock up or down to get a good view through the scope.

Remember though that there is no “perfect” ring height that would suit every person, as each person’s physiology is a little bit different. There is a standard ring height worth noting, as it gives an excellent starting point for 90% of gun owners.

In this illustration from UTG, Ring height is measured with “C”

Ring Height According to Leupold

• 50mm objectives will almost always use HIGH rings in a given style. In certain instances, such as with extremely heavy barrels or some makes of firearm, EXTRA HIGH rings may be necessary.
• 42-45mm objectives will almost always use MEDIUM rings in a given style. In certain instances, 45mm scopes may require HIGH rings.
• 40mm objectives will almost always have enough clearance with LOW rings in a given style, though MEDIUM rings will give slightly more clearance, particularly when using a barrel with a thicker shank portion or a heavier contour.
• 28-36mm objectives will almost always use LOW rings in a given style. Again, in certain instances of a heavy barrel or heavy shank portion of a custom barrel, MEDUIM rings may have to be used, but LOW rings will almost always suffice.
• 20-24mm objectives will almost always be able to use LOW rings, but in some cases may also use EXTRA LOW rings. In this instance, bolt handle clearance of the eyepiecel will come into play more so than objective / barrel clearance and should be carefully considered.

No Leupold riflescope will fit into EXTRA LOW rings if using a one-piece base.

Ring Height According to Weaver

• Use low 1″ Rings for up to a 38mm Scope Objective
• Use medium 1″ Rings for up to a 40mm Scope Objective
• Use high 1″ Rings for up to a 44mm Scope Objective
• Use extra high 1″ Rings for up to a 50mm Scope Objective
• Use 30mm Low Rings for up to a 33mm Scope Objective
• Use 30mm high Rings for up to a 44mm Scope Objective

For a more in depth look at ring height click here to refer to our ring height article.

Now that we have discussed ring height standards, there are some notable exceptions: for the AR-15 and M-4 series of rifles with “flat top” receivers extra-high rings are the rule of thumb, but some applications use high rings. Also, for mounting a scope on a Harrington and Richardson Handi-Rifle or the NEF Pardner you will need at least medium and perhaps high rings clearance between the scope’s eyepiece and the rifle’s hammer.

Mounting Systems
Weaver
The most common scope mounting system is the Weaver system. The weaver system utilizes flat dovetail rails with crosswise slots found on everything from rifles to shotguns to handguns. The Weaver style bases are 7/8 inch wide and are designed to accept Weaver style rings. Most rings manufacturers make a Weaver style ring and/or rail. On Weaver style rings the bolt used to secure the ring runs underneath the web of the ring and fits into a corresponding crosswise slot in the Weaver base. This prevents any scope movement fore and aft under recoil or abuse. The bases can be found in one or two piece configurations and can be made of steel or aluminum. The Weaver style system allow the Weaver ring to be detached from the base with the scope still in the rings and reattached without any major loss of zero. The optic can be removed from the gun for maintenance, transportation or storage. The weaver system also allows for using different optics on one weapon or one optic on different weapons.

Picatinny and MIL-STD-1913
Picatinny rails are very similar to Weaver rails. The difference is a published military standard. The physical difference between Weaver rails and Picatinny rails are the width of the slots that are cut crosswise in the base, and the spacing of these slots. The slots in Picatinny bases are wider than slots in a Weaver base, and the spacing of these slots in a Picatinny rail is consistent and standardized. The Weaver style rail’s spacing of the cross slots are not standardized and the spacing is left up to the manufacturer. The recoil lugs on Picatinny rings are thicker to fit in the corresponding wider slots in the Picatinny bases. Weaver rings will fit on Picatinny bases, but Picatinny rings won’t fit on Weaver bases.

22 Rimfire Rings, Tip-Off Rings and 3/8″ Dovetail Rings
Most .22 rimfire rifles and airguns produced today have cuts running lengthwise in the top of the receiver to mount rings on. Some European .22s and air rifles have grooves that measure 11mm or 13mm. 3/8″ dovetail rings are clamped into the groove of these grooved receivers, these rings are also referred to as rimfire rings, .22 rings, and Weaver brands them Tip-Off rings. There are also rifle found with 3/8″ bases attached to the receiver with screws as a normal base would be, and you can buy 3/8″ bases to add to most firearms without them. Some rifles with a grooved receiver are drilled and tapped for Weaver style bases. We recommend using a Weaver style base in these cases as they offer more area for the rings to grab and are more secure and stable.

Redfield Style
The second most common mount type is the Redfield style. This type of mounting system, like the Weaver, has many clones and manufactures of bases and rings. The bases can be one or two pieces, and are known for their sleekness, and strength. Unlike Weaver style rings, Redfield style rings are not detachable from the rails system. The top half of the rings must be separated from the bottom half to remove your scope. The front ring in the Redfield system has a dovetail that turns into a corresponding slot in the front base, allowing the scope to pivot around this point. The rear ring in the Redfield system sits on the base and is held by two opposing windage screws tightened into the ring. The windage screws have a leading edge that fit a corresponding slot in the ring. By loosening out one screw and tightening the other, the ring moves right and left on the base, acting as an external adjustment. This adjustment allows you to zero the windage of your scope without using its internal adjustments.

Dual Dovetail (DD) Systems
Dual dovetail bases are the same as Redfield style, but instead of the windage screws holding the rear ring to the base, the rear ring is turned in just like the front. This system does not offer the windage adjustments that the standard Redfield style bases offer. This system is secure and a very strong system for heavy recoiling rifles and handguns.

Clamp-on Mounts
Clamp on mount such as made by B-Square, S&K, ATI and other manufacturers allow easy scope mounting on guns that aren’t drilled and tapped for scope mounts. These mounts typically do not require gunsmithing, and are easily removed without any modifications to the firearm. Older and military surplus firearms often benefit greatly with these style mounts.

Maximum Point Blank Range and the Battlesight Zero

The MPBR is the maximum range at which the bullet rise and drop stays within the vital area of your target. Anyone who has been in the U.S. Army or Marine Corps is familiar with a battlesight zero or improved battlesight zero (BZ0 or IBZ0). The concept for an MPBR or battlesight zero is pretty much the same: zero the rifle so that you get a point of aim that is effective over the longest range. The battlesight zero used by Marines when shooting the iron sight M16A2 is the 36/300 zero, meaning that the bullet will be on the sight line at 36 yards and again at 300 yards. The US Army uses what is referred to as an improved battlesight zero, which calibrates the rifle to be dead on at 50 and at 225 yards. The USMC also uses the 50/225 IBZ0 for M16A3 rifles equipped with Trijicon ACOG scopes.


The illustration above demonstrates how a battlesight zero works. The bullet is fired from the barrel and rises up to be exactly on the line of sight at 36 yards. It then continues to rise, topping out at 6"-7" depending on the round used and the barrel length of the rifle. It then descends until it is again exactly on the line of sight at 300 yards. This gives the Marine a good aiming point for a man sized target at any distance between 0 and just over 300 yards.

From the USMC manual:

If a rifle is zeroed for 300 yards, the bullet crosses the line of sight twice. It first crosses the line of sight on its upward path of trajectory at 36 yards, and again farther down range at 300 yards. Since a bullet crosses the line of sight at 36 yards and again at 300 yards when a rifle is zeroed, a rifle's zero may be established at a distance of 36 yards and the same zero will be effective at 300 yards. It is critical that a Marine fires tightly grouped shots directly on the point of aim when establishing a BZO at 36 yards because any error in shot placement at 36 yards will magnify as the bullet travels down range.

If the rifle is properly zeroed for 300 yards/meters, the trajectory (path of the bullet) will rise approximately 7 1/2 inches above the line of sight at a distance of approximately 175 yards/meters. At other distances, the strike of the bullet will be less than 7 1/2 inches above the point of aim. Only at 36 yards/30 meters and 300 yards/meters does the point of impact coincide with the point of aim. If only a portion of the target is visible (e.g., the head of an enemy soldier), the trajectory of the bullet may have to be taken into consideration when firing at a distance other than 300 yards/meters. If a Marine does not consider trajectory, he may shoot over the top of the target if the target is small and at a distance other than 300 yards/meters.

The 50/225 IBZ0 is useful as the bullet has much less rise at the midpoint of the trajectory. Its shorter effective range is more suited to urban and jungle warfare where visibility is limited and most engagements are at close range. The fact that the bullet rise is lower means that shots taken at ranges between 0 and 250 yards are much more accurate, with a bullet rise less than 2 inches at the midpoint of the trajectory.

The battlesight zero as a concept is very useful to hunters as well. When hunting deer, or any medium sized game, it is rare to know the exact distance that the quarry will be encountered at. Luckily, if your rifle is properly sighted in for its maximum point blank range (MPBR) you don't need to know the exact distance. While the ballistics vary from rifle to rifle, it is generally a simple matter using any number of online ballistic calculators to work out what the ideal zero for your rifle should be. The most critical calculation is your second zero. Based off of the size of the vital area of your target, you can compute the maximum rise and drop tolerable for your cartridge. Most white tail deer for example have a vital area that is generally 10 inches in diameter. Mule deer, elk, and moose have vital areas that are significantly larger. A large mule deer has a vital area around 12" in diameter, an average elk around 15", and a good sized moose nearly 21". A hit from a medium caliber rifle to this area will result in a quick kill. Therefore, if we are hunting white tailed deer, we can tolerate a maximum rise and drop of 5". Using this value, it is simple to calculate that the MPBR for a 180 grain Remington Core-Lokt .308 roundnose soft point cartridge in my trusty Remington 700 is 293 yards, with our second zero at 252 yards. With our rifle zeroed for these distances, we can be assured that a perfectly centered aim on a deer at any distance between 0 and nearly 300 yards will result in a hit in the vital area of our target.

The problem with zeroing your rifle for 293 yards in this case is that not many people have access to a 300 yard range. Not to worry, there are other ways to achieve the same zero for your hunting rifle. As it mentions in the USMC manual we referenced above, you can sight in your rifle at a closer range for the same result. In fact, if you have a good bench rest and a gridded target you can, with a little math, perfectly achieve a MPBR zero on your rifle at any range. Lets assume for this example that our range only has a 50 yard rifle range. We're shooting a Remington 700 chambered in .308 and plan to use the 180 grain Remington Core-Lokt mentioned above. By plugging in the information for that load, we can see that the bullet should hit 2.2" high at 50 yards (if you were at a 100 yard range, it would hit 4.45" high). Our first zero for this rifle and cartridge combination is actually just shy of 20 yards, and you can use that distance if that is the only range available at your local shooting gallery, but be aware that minute errors in measurement which may not be apparent at that close range will be magnified at longer distances, possibly throwing your shot off.

Remember: The Battlesight Zero and Improved Battlesight Zero discussed here only work on 5.56 M16 and AR-15 style rifles. You will need to find the maximum point blank range for your unique rifle, optic, and cartridge combination. Even differences such as the scope you have mounted on your particular rifle will change the MPBR and subsequent zero. Find the manufacturers information on your favorite rifle load, google up a ballistics calculator, and in just a few minutes after plugging in your date you'll have a good MPBR zero for your setup.

Compensating For Wind At Rifle Competitions

In the past few weeks, we've gone over how to sight in your bolt action rifle, and discussed how to navigate wind and mirage. After practice at the range, you're probably getting pretty confident in your ability to place rounds in the X ring at various distances and may be considering entering a High Power, F Class, or other long range rifle match. How do you apply these concepts under the pressure of competition and the time constraints when it's your turn on the firing line?

Windsock image courtesy Elizabeth/Table4Five, licensed under Creative Commons

To start with, relax. It's normal to have "competition jitters" at your first match, but take a few deep breaths and try to relax. Talk to other competitors and ask questions. Most long range shooters are more than willing to help newcomers, and you'll be amazed at the amount of knowledge you can pick up from an experienced rifleman. Don't hesitate to confirm your wind and mirage observations with your fellow shooters. Target shooters are a friendly bunch, and most won't hesitate to give you their opinion on the methods they use to measure and compensate for wind and mirage.

From the moment you arrive at the range, begin observing the prevailing atmospheric conditions. Once your squad is called to the line, set up your equipment and immediately start analyzing the wind and mirage. You may not be able to use your scope prior to assuming your firing position, but you can observe wind flags for clues about wind speed and direction. Make a decision about what the prevailing conditions are and how you will initially adjust your sights or scope. This initial observation shouldn't be set in stone; wind conditions can and do change and you may need to further adjust your windage after firing your sighter rounds.

Some novice shooters try to take their shots during lulls in the wind. Keep in mind that wind conditions can change rapidly. This rookie mistake relies on the shooters ability to get every shot fired during identical conditions, a nearly impossible task. Accept the wind and mirage for what they are and instead determine what speed and direction is the predominant condition, then bracket the conditions by firing your sighter rounds and noting the maximum and minimum drift. After adjusting for the average drift, fire your rounds for record by targeting the windward side of the X ring. High power rifle 10 rings are 2 MOA in diameter. By bracketing the conditions and adjusting your scope or sights for the for the average wind speed and mirage, you should be able to fire all of your rounds at the windward side of the 10 ring with confidence that most rounds will land in the 9, 10, or X ring (assuming you can shoot a 1 MOA group of course). For example, with a wind blowing 5 - 10 mph from left to right, depending on the cartridge you are firing, you might adjust your aim 4 MOA to the left. This splits the difference between the 2 - 6 MOA the wind will move your bullet, so that when the wind gusts it will simply move your bullet from the windward side of the 10-ring to the leeward side.

In some cases, the wind changes direction frequently, at times blowing left to right and at others right to left. The key to shooting well in these conditions is consistency. If you are set up for a left to right breeze and it keeps switching right to left, simply be patient and shoot what you're setup for. This is where your consistent observation of the wind conditions prior to approaching the firing lines comes in. You will need to be able to identify an inconsistent wind that changes direction frequently versus a wholesale change in wind direction.

When shooting during slow fire, use a notebook to record the wind conditions and any adjustment or hold and mark the impact of each shot on a sketch of your target. You'll have plenty of time during these slow fire stages to determine how the wind is affecting your trajectory and how well your windage adjustments are compensating for drift. During competition, keep an eye on the upwind indicators; flags, trees, grass, etc. These upwind indicators will give you a few seconds warning of changes to wind speed and direction. Any significant change from the wind and mirage conditions that you have already compensated for may result in a shot flying wide, so if possible wait to see if the change is just a temporary shift or if it is a prolonged change of the prevailing conditions.

During high power rapid fire stages you will only get two opportunities to compensate for changing wind conditions: once before your string of fire and once during the reload. Some shooters prefer to use holdover rather than take the time to adjust for a slight change in wind speed or direction. While it helps you maintain a better sight picture if you adjust your windage rather than hold, the risk of throwing your string off target can outweigh the benefits during rapid fire stages. Unless there is a dramatic change in the wind, it's far better to stick with your bracket and shoot the "safe" side of the 10 ring.

If the wind is fitful, changing direction and speed between your firing position and the target, give the most value to the wind closest to your target. Your bullet is traveling the slowest in the last couple of hundred yards before your target, which gives the wind the most time to affect its trajectory. A .223 bullet takes only 1/10th of a second to travel the first 100 yards of a 600 yard shot, but takes three times as long to travel the last 100 yards. this gives the wind near the target three times as much effect as the wind near the firing line.

Being able to accurately read and compensate for the wind is an important skill, but at the end of the day, there is no replacement for practice. Some shooters spend hours hand loading match ammunition, trying to squeeze the last 1/4 MOA out of their favored cartridge. Instead of fretting over the accuracy of your ammunition, that time would be better spent behind the rifle getting trigger time. In almost every case the rifle and ammunition are far more accurate than the person pulling the trigger. It does you no good to have a rifle and ammunition that can shoot a 1/4 MOA group if you can't keep it within 1 MOA shooting off hand. Shooting full power loads for practice can get expensive, but there are alternatives. If your local range doesn't have targets farther than 100 yards you can still get good practice reading wind with a .22 rifle at distances from 50 to 100 yards. Even setting up a small pellet rifle range in your basement will result in improved match scores by giving you more experience obtaining a good sight picture. By focusing on your basic marksmanship skills rather than your equipment, you will be better able to shoot in a variety of wind conditions.

Curtis Stone Responds to Our Article on Compensating For Wind

Blogger Curtis Stone from Captain of a Crew of One made some recent comments concerning our recently published article on Reading Wind and Mirage. He mentions the fact that wind will more greatly affect the trajectory of bullets as they continue down range.

One thing they weren't very clear about: Wind effects on bullets over varying distances is not linear because the flight times are not linear.

Due to the drag of the atmosphere through which the bullet is traveling, the velocity of a bullet is constantly decreasing throughout its flight.

Therefore, on a 600 yard shot, the bullet is moving faster during the first 100 yards of travel than during the final 100 yards. Because it takes longer for the bullet to travel that last 100 yards than it does the first, the wind has a longer time to act upon the bullet's path during the final 100 yards.

This is especially true under strong wind conditions.

What that means is you can't just take your 100 yard correction for the prevailing winds and multiply by 6 to get an accurate 600 yard correction.

Curtis is absolutely right. We weren't very clear on this topic in our earlier article, but there is a very good reason we multiply by wind speed and not distance in the examples we use. The effect of a full value wind increases as the bullet slows down. This is part of the reason why it is important to have a chart that calculates the drift at a given distance.

You can multiply by the wind speed, but you can't multiply by the distance. For example, a 5 mph breeze might move a .223 bullet only a half inch at 100 yards. But you cannot multiply that by 6 to get 3 inches at 600 yards. That same 5 mph breeze will blow our little .223 round more than 45 inches at 600 yards. How much of a difference does that make? Curtis breaks it down in his example:

Using the match ammo that I generally prefer: 77gr Sierra Match King HPBT at 2750 fps at the muzzle, the correction for a "full value" 20mph wind at 100 yards is 1.75moa. If I just multiply by six, I get 10.5moa correction at 600 yards. In reality the correction at 600 yards should be 14.5moa. If I just tried to multiply the 100 yard correction by 6, my point of impact at 600 yards would be off by a full 4 minutes of angle or 24". That would take a perfect center "X" hit out to the 6 ring on a standard NRA target. If you were shooting for a bad guy at that range, it would mean a clean miss...unless the bad guy was unusually hefty in which case you might wing him. [Emphasis ours]

The best way to prepare to compensate for wind at varying distances is to have the drift for your load already calculated for various distances (I like to use 50 yard increments) with a 1 mph breeze. In this manner, all you'll need to do is select the appropriate distance, note the drift for a 1mph wind, and multiply by your measured wind speed and value.

This gets more complicated if you have wind breaks or shifting winds. Camp Swift, for example, is notoriously difficult to shoot due to the sometimes inconsistent and shifting winds there. You may have a 5 mph wind blowing one way near the shooting line, and an 8 mph wind blowing the opposite direction near the target. This seems like impossible conditions, but once you realize that it is the wind speed and direction in the final 200 yards leading up to your target that will have the greatest effect on your round, it's not difficult to dial in your wind dope.

We'll have more on this topic later when we address reading wind and mirage during rifle competitions.

Reading Wind and Mirage

Click here to read more.

Last week we discussed how to bore sight and zero your scoped bolt action rifle. In that article, we touched on reading or "doping" the wind, as well as reading mirage. Reading wind and mirage is sometimes mentioned in the same breath as black magic and astrology. But taking cues from the wind and mirage is not so much hocus-pocus. There are some simple techniques for accurately reading the wind and mirage that you can use to determine how these conditions will affect your point of impact.

There are two primary atmospheric conditions that can affect the point of impact of your fired round. The first, and most obvious, is the wind. The wind pushes your bullet as it flies downrange, changing the point of impact. Mirage on the other hand can cause your target to appear blurry and distorted, or even have it appear to be where it is not, such that firing at the apparent image of your target will result in your bullet hitting somewhere other than the intended point of impact. Compensating for wind is fairly easy, even for novice shooters. Mirage on the other hand can be a bit tricky. Almost everyone has seen a mirage before. Look out across a blacktop road on a hot summer day and you'll see the watery mirage caused by hot air rising off of the sun baked asphalt. This same phenomenon can plague shooters who are engaging targets at long-ranges, even on overcast or mild days. Mirage is caused by differing air densities between the shooter and the target. For an easy example of what mirage does, examine a spoon setting in a tall clear glass of water. When you look at the spoon, you will notice that the handle above the water appears to be in a different place than the handle below the water. This is caused by light being bent as it passes through the boundary between the denser water and the less dense air. In much the same fashion, light reflected off of your target is bent as it passes between dense cool air and less dense hot air. Still, mirage can be your friend, as we'll discuss later you can use the mirage to your advantage by reading it to get very accurate wind speed estimations.

Wind

The first step in negotiating atmospheric conditions is knowing the wind direction and how much value to assign it. Assessing the direction of the wind is a fairly easy task. Wind flags are used at most long range rifle competitions, and are generally a permanent fixture at established rifle ranges. If your range doesn't have wind flags you can make some easily and inexpensively using some wooden stakes and fluorescent orange engineers tape. The most basic measurement that a flag is good for is determining actual wind direction. This essential measurement will help you to determine what value to give to the wind; full, three quarters, half, or no value. Wind direction is determined relative to the shooter's position using the clock face method, or using the angle measured in degrees. When the wind is blowing at 90 degrees (3 o'clock) or 270 degrees (9 o'clock) relative to your shooting position, we assign it a full value of 1. Wind blowing at 45 degrees, 135 degrees, 225 degrees, or 315 degrees relative to your position is given three quarters value. When the wind is blowing at 0 degrees or 180 degrees (12 o'clock or 6 o'clock) relative to your position it is disregarded and given no value. See the diagram to the right for more details on assigning wind value.

Some shooters try to compensate for bullet drop or rise caused by the wind blowing directly away or directly towards the target. In this writer's opinion, a head or tail wind simply will not affect the bullet flight enough to warrant compensating for. Yes, it is true that a bullet fired into a head wind will drop due to additional aerodynamic drag, but the amount it will drop is almost negligible. At 600 yards, a 150 grain .30-06 bullet will only drop by a half-inch with a 10 mph head wind, a margin of error so small it must be measured in hundredths of a minute of angle (for those doing the math, that's 1/12th or 0.083 MOA). Only a handful of the most accurate shooters in the world can shoot well enough to be bothered compensating for that small of a drop. If you're reading this you're probably not one of them, so don't worry about it.

Once wind direction and value is determined, it's time to measure or estimate the wind speed. An anemometer is probably the most accurate device for measuring wind speed, but there are other methods that you can learn. If you find yourself without an anemometer, you can use the guidelines set forth in the Service Rifle Pamphlet produced in 1931 by the US Army Infantry Team. While the information is old, the guideline is as valid today as it was 79 years ago.

0-3 mph Wind hardly felt, but smoke drifts
3-5 mph Wind felt lightly on the face
5-8 mph Leaves are kept in constant movement
8-12 mph Raises dust and loose paper
12-15 mph Causes small trees to sway

Flags can also be used as a rough estimate of wind speed. When observing a normal rectangular flag, estimate the angle between the flag and the pole and divide that number by 4 to get the approximate wind speed. For example, if a flag is flying straight out at a 90 degree angle, the approximate wind speed is 22.5 mph or greater (90/4). If the flag is limp and flapping in a breeze at a 45 degree angle to the pole, the approximate wind speed is 11 to 12 mph. This same estimation method can also be used for streamers and pennants.

As important as knowing how to read the wind is knowing your cartridge and how your load will be affected by various wind speeds. Many novice shooters simply do not understand, or do not believe, how much of an effect a cross wind can have on even the speediest of bullets. Consider a 55 grain .223 round fired down range at over 3,250 FPS for example. With only a modest 5mph cross wind that little .223 bullet will be pushed over 1/2" off target at only 100 yards. While that might not seem like much, consider that a 10mph wind will result in the same round being pushed more than 1 MOA at any range. Experienced shooters, having been frustrated by wind before, often have the opposite problem and tend to overestimate the effect wind will have on their bullet.

All bullets have a ballistic coefficient that is usually computed by the manufacturer. This number, combined with the flight time of the bullet, can help you determine how much your bullet will be affected by a given wind. By combining the wind direction and value, speed, flight time and the ballistic coefficient of your bullet, you can determine how much to hold over or how much to adjust the windage on your sights. Because of the fact that bullets with differing ballistic coefficients are affected to differing degrees by the wind, there is no hard and fast rule for calculating wind drift. I won't get into the mathematics of computing wind drift using the ballistic coefficient and flight time of your bullet; wind drift charts and calculators are readily available for almost every cartridge load. Use a wind drift chart for your specific load to determine how much holdover or windage adjustment is necessary.

With the information from the appropriate wind drift chart, apply the wind value to determine the actual drift. For example: Our chart shows that M2 match ammunition for an M1 Garand from American Eagle will drift approximately 5.8 inches at 600 yards with a full value wind at 1 mph. If we actually have a 10 mph wind blowing in at a 45 degree angle (1:30 o'clock) we assign it a value of 3/4 and do the math (5.8 inches X 10 mph X .75) to arrive at 43.5 inches of drift. If the wind shifts to be 30 degrees (1 o'clock) we would assign it a value of 1/2, resulting in 29 inches of drift. Doing the math, we correct approximately 5 MOA for wind at 1/2 value and 6.9 MOA for 3/4 value.

Example of a mirage created by a hot blacktop road; image courtesy of BrentDanley licensed under Creative Commons.

Mirage

Hot air rising up from ground that is warmed by the sun distorts the image of your target, causing it to appear blurry, or even appear to be in a location that it actually is not. This is referred to as mirage. To some degree, heat from the barrel of your rifle can also affect your target image. Eliminating mirage from barrel heat is relatively easy. Many benchrest shooters use extended scope tubes so that the hot air rises around the line of sight, eliminating any blurriness caused by the hot air. Another way to divert the hot air is to tape a light colored piece of cardboard or paper along the top of your barrel.

Mirage caused by hot ground baking in the sun is not possible to eliminate, but it can be understood and worked around. Like the spoon in a glass of water, mirage can cause the image of your target to be higher or lower, but luckily this shift is generally not significant enough to need compensation. For the most part, mirage is only problematic due to the blurriness it imparts to your sight picture. It is in this case that the wind can sometimes be your friend. When looking through your scope across a hot field in calm air the mirage appears to be "boiling" as if peering at your target through a puddle of water. When the wind is blowing however, the mirage will "follow" the wind, in some cases blowing away so that you can get a clear sight picture. Of course, as we mentioned in the section above, you will still need to compensate for the wind. That is where "reading" the mirage comes in. When observing mirage, it often appears as waves running in the direction of the wind. Many people find that reading mirage in this fashion gives a very accurate indication of wind speed. You can actually watch the waves from the mirage as they follow the wind, and estimate the actual wind speed from the speed of the waves.

Reading the mirage in this fashion can be difficult with a headwind or tailwind as those wind conditions can cause the mirage to appear be "boiling" when in actuality it is running with the wind directly away from or towards you. As we stated above however, headwinds and tailwinds generally have only a minimal effect on the overall bullet rise or drop, and for all but the most skilled shooters can be disregarded. Some shooters will even adjust for a boiling mirage in calm conditions as the hot air rising off of the ground can impart a small amount of lift or rise to the bullet. Again, for all but the most skilled shooters this adjustment is not necessary. Any lift from hot air is easily and quickly negated by the force of gravity tugging the bullet downwards at 32 feet per second squared.

When reading mirage to get an idea of wind speed and direction it is important to remember that the mirage you are seeing through your scope is only the first couple of feet in front of your target, as that is the only area that is in focus. The mirage existing the rest of the distance between you and the target is not visible because it is outside the shallow depth of field of your scope. To increase your depth of field, you can narrow the aperture of your scope by placing a lens cover with a tiny hole punched in the middle, effectively stopping down your scope and increasing your depth of field to near infinity. Another method for reducing your aperture size is taping over the objective until there is a small hole between 1/8" and 1/2" in diameter. Increasing your field depth in this manner allows you to see shifting winds indicted by the mirage over the total distance between you and the target.

An alternative to this is to change the focus of your scope so that the middle of the distance between you and the target is in focus. By examining the mirage over the total distance between you and the target, small variations in wind direction and speed can be noted and accommodated. While unusual, it is possible to have eddies and even countervailing winds between your firing position and the target. These variances in wind speed and direction will be easy to pick up with a bit of practice studying the mirage at varying distances between you and your target.

Practice Negotiating Wind and Mirage

It is difficult to explain the visual differences between a boil, a mirage running away, or a mirage running towards you. Wind drift is a simple concept to grasp, but it still takes practice to know just how much your particular load will drift. There is really no substitute for actual time spent on the range practicing. You will need to train and practice in order to properly read wind and mirage. On a hot sunny day when the wind is blowing, observe the effect this has on your mirage. With a rifle and scope that have already been zeroed in optimal conditions, take aim at the center of your target and call your shot. Sketch the target in your shooting log and mark the area where you called your shot. When marking your target sketch, be sure to make a note of the conditions in as much detail as possible. Once the range is cold, check your target and compare the point of impact to the called shot on your sketch. Note the differences between the point of aim and the point of impact that the atmospheric conditions have caused. By examining the conditions and the difference between your point of aim and the actual point of impact, you can learn how to best accommodate those situations.

At this point, do not adjust your scope to compensate for the wind or mirage. Instead, hold over the appropriate amount to bring your point of impact to the bullseye of your target. Changing atmospheric conditions can cause you to "chase the wind", adjusting your scope for conditions that may vary from shot to shot. Take aim at the center of the target. Again, call your shot, mark your target sketch and note where the round actually impacted your target, as well as the observed conditions at the moment of the shot. Repeat this procedure and continue to record information. By taking good notes, you will be able to review your information while not at the range and possibly see things that you might otherwise miss while sitting at the bench.

Repeat this procedure for differing conditions whenever possible. The more information you have, the more you will know how to adjust your point of aim for various conditions.

As with most things in life, there is no replacement for experience when it comes to reading wind and mirage. No amount of explanation can substitute for sitting at a bench and observing how differing atmospheric conditions affect the flight of your bullet. Take what you've learned, head out to the range, and see for yourself how long range rifle shooting is affected by wind and mirage. Every range is different and has its own peculiarities, so talk to other shooters and see what you can learn from them about handling wind and mirage.

Keep an eye out next week for our article on compensating for wind and mirage in rifle competitions, where we'll discuss the tips and tricks used by the pros to keep all of their shots in the X ring under even the most demanding atmospheric conditions.

Estimating Range With A Mil-Dot Reticle

Click here to read more.

It's a common feature found on many scopes and other optics, but what exactly is a Mil-Dot reticle, and how do you use it?

It's important to make clear the distinction between Minutes of Angle and Mils. A Mil, or milliradian is equal to about 3.44 MOA. Most reticles are marked in milliradians using Mil-Dots, while adjustments through the turrets are usually made in fractions of an MOA.

Variable magnification scopes come in two types: First Focal Plane (FFP) or Second Focal Plane (SFP) reticles. Most American scopes have the reticle on the second or rear focal plane, so that the reticle stays the same size as the zoom is changed. European style scopes have the reticle on the first or front focal plane, such that as the magnification on the scope is increased the reticle increases in size. European Mil-Dot reticles are accurate for range estimation at any zoom level. For American style rear focal plane reticles on variable magnification scopes, the Mil-Dot size estimation is only accurate at a certain zoom level. For most variable scopes with a second focal plane reticle the proper magnification is 10x, though this does vary depending on the manufacturer. Consult your owner's manual to determine what zoom level your Mil-Dot reticle is designed for.

Based on a presumed chest height of 15 inches, this deer would range at approximately 1,389 yards.

The first step in using a Mil-Dot reticle is accurately measuring the size of a target in Mils. Once a target of known size is measured in Mils in the scope, a simple calculation is used to estimate range to the target and compensate for bullet drop. Accurately measuring the target in Mils is not easy, and it is necessary to get an approximation down to around one tenth of a Mil. In the photo shown to the left, the chest of the deer reads at approximately 0.3 Mils. Shown here on the internet, this measurement is fairly easy to see, but when staring down a scope that you are struggling to hold steady at a target that may not be holding still, it becomes much more difficult to get an accurate Mil read.

The formula for computing the estimated range is accomplished by taking the target size in yards, multiplying that by 1000 and then dividing the result by the target measurement in Mils. The result is the approximate distance in yards to the target. The formula for meters is the same, with the target size in meters multiplied by 1000 and divided by the target measurement in Mils giving the approximate range in meters.

So, if you have a man sized target that is six feet tall, you would compute Target size in yards (2) multiplied by 1000 and divided by the measurement in Mils. If a six foot tall target, for example, measures 3 Mils, the formula would be 2 X 1000 / 3= 667 yards.

Size of Target In Yards X 1000 / Mils read = Range to Target (in yards)

The formula is the same for meters:

Size of Target In Meters X 1000 / Mils read = Range to Target (in meters)

There are two ways to compensate for bullet drop. One is to use hold-over. This involves changing the point of aim to be somewhere other than the center of the cross hairs of a scope. The other is to adjust the turrets the appropriate number of clicks until the target can be centered in the cross hairs. Once the range is known, the shooter can then make the necessary adjustments to the elevation using the scope turrets, or hold over the proper amount using the Mil-Dots as an aiming system. If you know your rifle is zeroed at 300 yards for example, your target is an estimated 400 yards and your bullet drop at 400 yards is 15 inches, then you would hold just slightly less than 1 Mil high (1 Mil-Dot is 14.4" at 400 yards).

Click to download our free Mil-Dot Range Guide (*.PDF

There are numerous tools on the market that make range estimation using a Mil-Dot system fast and easy. Some use a slide rule type setup where the target size and measurement in Mils is input to the tool, and the range estimate is then shown. Others use a spreadsheet to allow the shooter to quickly find the range estimate. You can download your own "cheat sheet" by clicking on the image shown to the right. Simply save the *.PDF file to your computer and print it out on a plain sheet of 8.5x11 paper. Fold the paper into thirds and cut or tear carefully along the creases and you will have three copies of our Mil-Dot Range Estimation guide you can laminate or simply fold up and take with you.

Here are a few more quick references to help you quickly and easily estimate range using a Mil-Dot reticle: The average adult deer chest is around 18 inches tall. At 100 yards, that deer chest will take measure 5 Mil-Dots, 2.5 dots at 200 yards, 1.6 dots at 300 yards, and 1.25 dots at 400 yards. For calculating holdover, remember that 1 Mil is about 3.44 MOA, so 1 Mil at 100 yards is about 3.5 inches. At 200 yards, that same Mil is about 7 inches, at 300 a single Mil is 12 inches, and at 400 yards is just over 14 inches.

The only way to get good at using your Mil-Dot reticle to estimate range is to practice. Take a hike and set up multiple targets of known size (1 yard/3 foot squares of poster board on stakes work great) at various distances from your shooting bench. Head back and get out your estimation guide, calculator, or pencil and paper and find your measurements and estimated range. Confirm your estimated range figures with a laser range finder, GPS, or other device. Soon you'll be able to quickly and easily estimate the range to nearly any target.

Using and Installing a Three Point Tactical Sling

Click here to read more.

Having trouble installing or using your new three-point tactical sling? Take a look at our new video on exactly how to utilize and install this useful accessory on your AR-15 rifle. Installation can be adapted for use on almost any rifle.

Helping to Choose A Concealed Carry Handgun For a New Shooter

Click here to read more.

If you're a handgun owner and you have friends who are not, you may often find yourself looked to as an expert on the subject. A common question I find myself faced with by new shooters is: "I want to get a handgun for concealed carry and personal protection. What should I get?" It's a very personal question, with no one right answer. There is a very good reason there is such a broad selection of handguns on the market, and that is that different people look for different qualities in a defensive firearm.

The first thing a new shooter should do is become familiar with pistols in general. One major mistake experienced shooters make is recommending their personal favorite firearm as the gun of choice for a new shooter. I can't tell you how many times I've been at the range and seen a husband encouraging his wife to try out his .357 Magnum snub nosed revolver. Don't get me wrong - small hammerless big bore revolvers are carried by thousands of women. But starting a new shooter off with such a firearm can be a mistake. When dealing with a new shooter, start small with something like a Ruger .22 pistol so that they can get used to practicing proper shooting technique. Firearms are intimidating, and starting a newbie off with a fire-belching magnum is a sure-fire way to intimidate them so much that they conclude that they are incapable of handling a firearm.

Once your new shooter is comfortable with a .22, step up to a soft shooting .380, 9mm, or .38 Special. Try a wide variety of handguns and let them find out what they like as well as what they don't like. A shooter looking for their first carry pistol should find one that fits them well. Grip size, grip angle, overall weight and balance, muzzle length, and caliber all play into this complex equation. Be sure to consider the human factor: how intuitively can they manipulate the handguns controls? Is the safety easy to reach? What about the magazine or cylinder release? All of these things contribute to the overall suitability of a pistol to a particular shooter. There's no set equation for figuring out what pistol fits best - you've got to take some for a test drive.

Most pistol ranges have a variety of handguns that can be rented for a small fee. Don't bother renting full size handguns - these are usually not suitable for concealed carry. Stick with compact and subcompact firearms. Try a variety of actions and calibers. Don't place too much emphasis on finding a large caliber pistol. While a .357 Sig or .357 Magnum may be your choice as the best carry caliber, it may be a handful for a novice shooter. The ability to maintain consistent and accurate shot placement is far more important than the "stopping power" of any particular caliber. As instructor Greg Hamilton said, "Do you know how to double the effectiveness of any bullet? Put another round through your target." Two .25 ACP rounds that land solid hits on the target are much more effective than two misses with a .357 Magnum.

Consider also the price and availability of your ammunition. Practice is key to maintaining proficiency with any firearm. Your new shooter may love their .380 subcompact, but with the current ammunition shortage, will they be able to find enough .380 at a reasonable price to practice with? Many pistol models are available in a variety of calibers. If your new shooter falls in love with that Sig 229 in .357 Sig, but you're concerned with ammo availability, have them try a Sig 229 in .40 S&W instead.

The overall reliability of a handgun is also very important. Many handguns are picky about what type of ammunition they will digest. Ask your local range if you can try some standard pressure defensive rounds through their rental guns. Most ranges will gladly let you give it a test drive if you purchase the ammunition there (most will not let you run +P high pressure rounds). In addition to their ability to feed ammunition, some firearms are simply more reliable than others. Talk to an experienced shooter or range master about the reliability of the pistol your new shooter is considering for purchase. Pistols that are carried regularly are exposed to all manner of fouling media. Lint, dirt, and dust can collect on the pistol, and rust can be an issue in high humidity environments or during the summer. Some handguns are simply better suited for concealed carry. Look for polymer, stainless steel, or other frames that will resist moisture, dirt, and dust.

Once a new shooter has settled on what gun is right, the pocket book comes into play. Firearms are not cheap as a general rule, and it's possible to find that the right pistol for your new shooter is out of their budget. If that is the case, talk to your local firearm dealer about layaway plans, or consider buying used. Many manufacturers like Sig Sauer offer factory certified used firearms that come with an excellent warranty and are priced at a significant discount. If a factory certified used firearm isn't a possibility, have a gunsmith inspect the potential purchase. They can spot excessive wear and abuse and can tell how well a used handgun has been cared for.

Finally, once the new purchase has been made, practice! Practice is critical to being able to properly employ a firearm in a self defense situation, so continue to encourage a new shooter to accompany you to the range and practice with their new pistol. If they've chosen a handgun that suits them well, practice will be an enjoyable pastime that the two of you can spend together.

Reloading - A Beginner's Guide - Part 1

Click here to read more.

Ammunition prices have gone sky high in recent months, and show no sign of falling anytime soon. Heck - many calibers of ammunition are hard to find at any price. So, what's a shooter to do? For myself and others, reloading is one solution.

Reloading involves recycling spent brass and prepping it to reload with new primers, powder, and bullets. Perhaps you're one of many who are fed up with the unavailability of your choices in ammunition and are ready to get started loading your own. Where do you begin?

The Lee Anniversary Reloading Kit is one of the most popular kits for the beginner. It includes almost everything you could need for reloading a single caliber of ammunition for a low entry level price of $89.99. Lee Anniversary kits include powder measure, powder funnel, case prep tools, priming tool, scale, breech lock press, and a reloading manual. In addition to the reloading kit, you will need dies in your caliber, calipers, primers and powder. All told, you can get started with this basic press, new brass, bullets, dies, powders and primers for around $500 shipped (depending on caliber).

When your new reloading gear arrives, try to restrain yourself from diving right in and starting to throw things together. Stop! Find your instruction manual and reloading manual, and sit down with a nice cup of tea and READ IT. I can't emphasize this enough - reloading involves working with smokeless powder and primers, both of which have the ability to severely injure you if you don't respect them. Be patient, turn off the TV, and read your instruction manual front to back before doing anything else with your kit.

After you are done reading the manual, begin to unpack your kit and parts and familiarize yourself with them. Make sure that you can positively identify each and every part of your kit. Next, find a clean safe area you can work in and find a solid base that you can mount your press to (hint: if you're married, the kitchen table is not a good choice!) and a separate place to set your scale that is sturdy and level.

Now, let's get started reloading. First of all, this information should be considered ancillary to the instructions that came with your reloading press and in your reloading manual and in should no way be construed as overriding or replacing the instructions for your particular press. That being said, let's get started.

.38 Caliber Resizing Die

I want to address straight-walled cartridges first, as these are the easiest to reload. Straight-walled brass does not need resizing lube when it is used with a carbide die. Ensure that your brass is clean. Grit and particles on the brass can damage a resizing ring, so your brass needs to be spotless. There are a number of brass cleaning systems out on the market. If you are polishing your brass (as you should) make sure that all of the polishing media is thoroughly removed from the brass. You can use brass that hasn't been polished, but make doubly sure that all powder particles, dirt and grit have been cleaned away.

Take the appropriate shell holder for your brass and install it on the ram of the press. With the ram raised up, screw your resizing die in until it only barely touches the shell holder. With the ram lowered, move the sizing die in by turning it one full turn. Raise the ram up again and the shell holder should press up against the die. Now tighten the locking ring of the die tightly so that it can't back out. Adjust the deprimer pin on the resizing die so that it sticks out enough to push the primer out of the case, and lock it down securely.

Now, take your clean brass and insert one case into the shell holder. While raising the ram, the case will begin to encounter resistance as it enters the die. If it feels like it is stopping or jamming completely, DON'T FORCE IT! Lower the ram and make sure that the case is well seated in the shell holder. If it is not, the die can crush the mouth of the case and ruin it for reloading. Once you've verified that the shell is properly seated in the shell holder, operate the ram lever to the full extent of its stroke. The primer of the case should pop out. If it does not pop out, or if you are unable to operate the lever all the way, check that the rod carrying the deprimer is not screwed in too deep. Adjust the decapping rod and try again.

Inspect your deprimed and resized case. Make sure the metal is uncreased and undamaged. Ensure that there are no cracks or shiny rings around the case rim. Check that the case properly chambers in your firearm and that the bolt will close and chamber properly (or for revolvers, that the cylinder will close and operate properly). This is how we will verify that the case is resized correctly. Once verified, you can proceed to resize the rest of your cases. After resizing and depriming all of your brass, inspect all of the brass, looking for the same flaws we mentioned above. Clean out the primer pocket with a cleaning tool, making sure that all soot, dirt, and grit is cleaned out. If you are reloading rifle ammunition, at this point you should chamfer and deburr the case mouth.

Now remove the resizing die from your press and install the expander die. We will use the expander die to slightly widen the mouth of the case in order to allow us to easily seat a bullet. The process for installing and adjusting a case expander vary, so follow the manufacturers instructions precisely. Make adjustments to the case expander slowly and incrementally to avoid damaging a case. Damaged cases will not be able to be used or repaired and should be discarded. When you have the case mouth flared just enough to begin seating a bullet without having to struggle to get it positioned properly, stop. There is no reason to expand the case mouth too much, and in fact over expanding the case mouth can impede your ability to properly crimp the bullet in position.

Once all of the brass has been flared, it's time to prime them. I can't emphasize safety here enough: primers are essentially small self-contained and impact-sensitive explosives. Proper eye protection is a MUST when you are priming your brass. Make sure that you have the proper sized primer for your cartridge - pay close attention, because rifle and large pistol primers appear to be the same size, but they are markedly different in their performance.

RCBS Priming Tool

There are a number of priming tools available on the market, and most of them work in similar fashion using a lever to gently press the primer into the primer pocket of a case held in a shell holder. Follow the manufacturers instructions for your particular priming tool. When checking the primed brass, make sure that the primer is firmly set so that the cup of the primer is set just below the head of the case. It should not stick out at all. If it does, place it back in your priming tool and press it in a little farther until it is just below flush.

Finally it's time to charge your case and seat a bullet. Again, since we are working with dangerous materials, make sure that your work area is clean and that you are free of distractions. Reloading is not something you can do while watching TV or carrying on a conversation - all of your attention needs to be focused on the task at hand. As always when working with potentially explosive materials, always wear safety glasses!

There are a number of ways to properly measure a powder charge. Many of the budget model presses include pre-measured scoops or dippers that are marked with a grain measurement. These will work, but they are not as accurate as a powder measure and scale. But before doing ANYTHING with powder, grab your reloading manual and check the proper load for the caliber you are loading. Make sure that you have the right powder and bullet weight. Check your load data. Check it AGAIN. Cross reference it with a second reloading manual. Now is not the time to mess around or experiment, make absolutely sure that the load you are using is safe and within spec according to your reloading manuals!

Once you've confirmed the proper powder charge, set up your scale on a stable and level surface and place your powder pan on the scale. Zero (tare) the weight on your scale so that you are only measuring the contents of your powder pan. Dial your powder measure back to its smallest setting and fill the hopper with powder. Dispense a charge of powder into your powder pan and measure it on your scale. Slowly increase the setting on your powder measure until it dispenses the correct amount of powder into your pan. Repeat this charge two or three times to ensure it is consistent.

You can pour your charge directly into the case, use a funnel, or if you have a deluxe press, use the supplied charging system. Make a note of how full the case is. With come calibers, it's possible to double or even triple charge a case! Use this mental note of how full a properly charged case is to keep an eye on your charges and ensure that you don't overcharge any. Also, make sure to stop every 10th round or so and weigh your charge to make sure that the powder measure has not changed.

With your cases all charged, it's time to break out the bullet seating die. For bullets with a cannelure, seating is a fairly straight forward process. For bullets without a cannelure, it's slightly more difficult. First, you need to know what your overall cartridge length is. Dial calipers are extremely useful here to measure the finished cartridge as the seating die is adjusted. Using an empty (uncharged) primed and expanded case, raise the ram to full height. Unscrew the seating stem of the seating die out almost all the way. Now screw the die back into the press until you can just feel it touching the case, and then back it out a half turn and lock it in place. Take the case back out of the press, charge it, and start a bullet. Place it back into the press and slowly raise the ram. The ram should go almost all the way up before the seating stem touches the bullet. If you are able to raise the ram all the way up, hold it up while screwing the seating stem down until it makes contact with the bullet. Lower the ram and screw the seating stem down a little bit more. Raise the ram back up and the bullet should be fully seated into the case. Using your dial calipers, measure the overall cartridge length to make sure that it is within spec. Continue this process while adjusting the seating stem until it is within spec, and then lock down your seating stem. Proceed to seat bullets in the rest of your charged cases.

We're almost done, but there's one more step we need to take. Unless your manufacturer includes a crimp in the seating die, you will still need to crimp the bullet securely in the case using a factory crimp die. Follow the manufacturers instructions for your factory crimp die, and you'll be done!

That's all there is to reloading straight-walled ammunition. In our next installment, we'll discuss loading necked-down cartridges.

Cleaning Your Molle Gear

Click here to read more.

You've got the gear, you've assembled your kit, gone out into the field, and now you're back, and your gear is covered with all manner of dirt, mud, leaves and brush. How do you safely clean your MOLLE gear?

Odor Lock is a great soap to use on any MOLLE gear you use for hunting

Regularly cleaning your MOLLE gear helps it last longer. Dirt and soil left in the fabric rub and abrade the material, causing it to fray and weaken prematurely. Plus, who wants to haul around dirt gear anyway?

Start by brushing off loose dirt and plant material. Remove any leaves, twigs, grass, and burrs from the equipment. Scrape off any dirt and mud dried or caked on using a dulled tool - sharp tools will cut and abrade the fabric, weakening it. Then, wipe off loose dirt and dust using a microfiber cloth.

Wash your gear in warm (not hot!) soapy water using a mild detergent (the US military recommends using NSN 7930-00-929-1221) such as a liquid dish soap or a small amount of liquid laundry detergent. Immerse the gear completely and let it soak for a few minutes. Then, gently work the fabric back and forth to help loosen dirt trapped in the fabric.

For stubborn stains or where soil has been ground into the fabric, use a soft bristled brush such as a toothbrush to gently scrub. Never use stiff brushes, abrasives, bleach or solvents as they will cause discoloration and damage to the fabric and plastics.

Rinse your gear in clean water. Make sure to thoroughly and completely get all of the soap out.

Push the fabric back into its original shape, and set it out to dry in the shade.

NEVER DRY YOUR MOLLE GEAR IN A HEATED DRYER! Hang it out in the shade, not in the sun. Drying it in the sun can cause it to fade and shrink. Exposing your MOLLE gear to the tumbling of a dryer wears it out faster, and the heat can shrink it. For the same reason, do not use a washing machine as the agitator will cause unnecessary wear and tear. Always air dry your gear, don't use heat to speed up the drying process.

Keeping your gear clean maximizes it's useful life by reducing the wear and tear of dirt on the fabric. Take care of your gear, and your gear will take care of you!