Range Report...a few LMT monolithic railed ARs

[Dirtyboy333]

Nice job dirtboy, don't under estimate the wind. Did you post up and flags or such. How much were you holding off for wind? 1 -2 mil's?

Thanks for the compliments guys....I'm very new to this so I feel I can get a much better hit rate when I get some good ole' experience.

Pappa: Yeah your right about the wind. It's a BI%CH!!! I have a MOA scope and I think the chart Trident posted worked out to be about 5 MOA hold off for every 5 MPH of wind at 1,000 yards. Now, I'm definitely not a good judge of the wind but I do remember holding left on a shot about 7 MOA (which seemed like I was aiming off the target by like 10ft. guesss it only would have been 70") and I made a nice hit. That was pretty exciting. I have a flag on the top of the target stand and I had an extra so I just placed it in the ground at the foot of the stand. The wind was changing directions constantly and plenty of times the flag on top was blowing the opposite way of the flag 4 ft below it I have no clue why that would happen. The problem with this range is that I can't place any flags in the middle of it bc its an 800 yard valley.

[Dirtyboy333]

So i just got done cleaning my MWS for the 1st time and man that was easy. As odd as it may be this was the 1st time i've cleaned a chrome bore and/or chrome BCG (never cleaned my DD and my 1st AR is unlined). Cleaning the chrome parts was almost effortless and the bore took about 1/3rd of the swabs as my unlined bore. I pulled the barrel out so the chamber was a breeze as well.

Does anyone have any tips on taking the 1/16th hex screw out of the bolt catch? I've snapped 2 allen wrenches already and the thing isn't budging. I cant believe how tight this thing is I noticed that with the mag out the bolt catch just flips up and down freely. I dont think it was like this before I shot yesterday but it could have been. Isn't it supposed to have a spring behind the lower part of it making sure the catch is disengaged when there's no mag or a loaded mag in place (like an AR15)? I think the spring may be caught on something in there because if i depress the lower half of the catch with some force i can feel a little "spring" reistence. It shouldn't cause the bolt to lock back prematurely unless i'm shooting upside down or something so I'm not that worried about it.

I just wanted to update on this: I shot 30 rounds at the 100 yard range yesterday as i was testing FGMM and Prvi before I take them to 1k. Well, all of the sudden my bolt catch spring is placing tension on the bolt catch again. So, it fixed itself...

[ALCOAR]

^^^ .308 recoil isn't always a bad thing ^^^

RE: Wind reads.....

2 things to help you out

1.) Use this guide to help you read wind based purely on the environment your shooting in:

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

Note in my last report and video....the trees behind my target were swaying quite dramatically at times. I was shooting in 17-22mph winds, and that amt. of wind caused medium sized trees to sway just to take that guide above a bit further.

2.) Turn a weakness into a strength....Learn to identify, and understand mirage in order to read the wind. I've found this can only be mastered/utilized through experience actually doing it. It's almost impossible to relate how crazy mirage looks through an optic, much less describe how to interpret what it's relaying in terms of wind/speed. Nonetheless, don't overlook this valuable natural tool when trying to read wind for LR shooting. I've spent 30min + each of the last 4-5 trips out just watching the mirage through my glass.

Tomorrow night I'm thinking it's on like donkey kong.

[Dirtyboy333]

^^^ .308 recoil isn't always a bad thing ^^^

RE: Wind reads.....

2 things to help you out

1.) Use this guide to help you read wind based purely on the environment your shooting in:

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

Note in my last report and video....the trees behind my target were swaying quite dramatically at times. I was shooting in 17-22mph winds, and that amt. of wind caused medium sized trees to sway just to take that guide above a bit further.

2.) Turn a weakness into a strength....Learn to identify, and understand mirage in order to read the wind. I've found this can only be mastered/utilized through experience actually doing it. It's almost impossible to relate how crazy mirage looks through an optic, much less describe how to interpret what it's relaying in terms of wind/speed. Nonetheless, don't overlook this valuable natural tool when trying to read wind for LR shooting. I've spent 30min + each of the last 4-5 trips out just watching the mirage through my glass.

Tomorrow night I'm thinking it's on like donkey kong.

Dude, thanks for that awesome guide!!! Based on what you just said I think I may have been underestimating the wind (like Pappa mentioned) I'm thinking now it was around 10-12mph but the wind at the target was always blowing a different direction. Who knows what that big valley is causing in terms of wind. Here's a vid from the same day and time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKYb4XMErxc


Watch the pine trees in the background starting after the 1st shot. I'm still not sure what mirage is so i'm going to look it up. I have noticed that the target seems a little blurry one minuet and then clears right up the next but i have no idea if that's related.

Here's a cool screenshot followed by my target setup.





Oh, just got my 178 AMAX in today. Think i'm going to load 50 for myself and 50 for my uncles 300mag (he wants to try the 1k shot as it was basically unheard of in his small hunting circle ))

[Pappabear]

Dirtboy, I made some flags out of that orange tape too. I tied strings to my targets then clamped tape together to make flags. Looks like what you did. Nice video. Keeps the thread interesting.

I'm no expert as I have said before, so in the name of learning let me suggest that you work on follow through with your trigger. You appear to be breaking the trigger pretty hard and coming right off of it. Consider, breaking the trigger and holding back. When your ready for your next shot, release trigger slowly till it clicks or resets. Watch your video and watch your trigger and you might see an area for possible improvement. Since you don't have someone over your shoulder, you can get feedback with video which is cool.

Pm me if I'm not clear. Even if you want more time between shots, release trigger after you watch it hit, then reset or come off trigger.

Nice shooting.

[Dirtyboy333]

Dirtboy, I made some flags out of that orange tape too. I tied strings to my targets then clamped tape together to make flags. Looks like what you did. Nice video. Keeps the thread interesting.

I'm no expert as I have said before, so in the name of learning let me suggest that you work on follow through with your trigger. You appear to be breaking the trigger pretty hard and coming right off of it. Consider, breaking the trigger and holding back. When your ready for your next shot, release trigger slowly till it clicks or resets. Watch your video and watch your trigger and you might see an area for possible improvement. Since you don't have someone over your shoulder, you can get feedback with video which is cool.

Pm me if I'm not clear. Even if you want more time between shots, release trigger after you watch it hit, then reset or come off trigger.

Nice shooting.

Yeah but actually those are some actual 2"x3" flags with a flimsy steel pole that came i a 25 pack (or so) at Lowes. The reason the flag on top of the target is longer is because I cut off like 3 or 4 flags and melted them with a lighter together as one. Now that you mention it, tape would have been much easier . That reminds me: I told the Lowes worker what they were for when checking out and he said that he was always watching guys in his unit shoot 1.5" groups @1,000 yards with the M21 .308. To be exact he said "groups like this" then took his thumb and index finger and made a circle. I dismissed anything he had to say after that. He was probably 23 and didn't seem like a mil guy.


Thanks for the tip on the trigger. Hopefully I can try that today. Yeah, i'm completely open to suggestions/tips. This is all new to me and I have 0 experience in it. Think i've learned more off this site in the past 1.5 years then I did in 17 years of school. I cant even have an interesting convo with a gunshop salesman anymore because they have no idea what i'm talking about

[R0CKETMAN]

Tomorrow night I'm thinking it's on like donkey kong.

Pregnant with anticipation.

[d90king]

D90, I hear you. We have a range we use that goes 500m, all you can do to keep from total boredom is smaller targets. We sit a headshot piece of steel beside our regular steel to keep us honest. 500 is still pretty good considering what many folks have to deal with.

That NF MLR pure sweetness. That thing will make you want to crank on the turrets.

Clays are fun and challenging enough to keep your head in it.

[ALCOAR]

Well let me first apologize for not bringing the proverbial goods on the night shoot stuff...I planned it all week, and we went Sat. night and "did it"

It "worked", however none of the 4 jugs actually exploded and the steel really isn't cool at all. Long story short, it seemed to be way cooler in my imagination than it was in reality. Live and you learn.

Now for some of the best news of the thread for MWS owners/future ones....as well as a small report on easily one of the most challenging and educational long range shooting sessions thus far for myself.

1. My shooting pal finally allowed me to achieve the third vital category for highly successful LR shooting...which is the ability to create the perfect pill for your particular rifle/barrel. Hopefully the shooter, and the rifle have been there for some time now, but never have I had the ammo part nailed. My pal just took matters in his own hands to faciliate this for me, and did all the work. The LR pill he brewed up is exactly what I needed, and it didn't require any "work up" given the parameters of the bullet I was using in conjunct w/ COL.

Let me stress this now....MWS 16" CL owners can shoot 178gr. AMAX hand loads in normal magazine feed S/A operation.

The recipe is:

Once fired Hornady match brass
FGMM primers 210m
43.9g Varget powder
178gr. AMAX
COL: 2.805

We only had a handful of test rounds of this, so I put a 5rd group @ 100yds, and then a few at 845yds just for the hell of it....little did we know that it would produce such dramatic and awesome results almost instantly.

2. Today we found out how to truly read wind, and shoot through very strong, and constantly shifting winds. It was honestly a Eureka moment for both of us. You can see what were doing different now in the video update for this session below. Also for those wanting to know what a very, very strong mirage looks like while shooting LR....you'll see it perfectly in this video. Personally, it's looks like bubbling gas.



Wicked mirage/strong winds.....@ 845yds

[Pappabear]

Nicely done as always. Did you try to shoot a group at 100 to see how they grouped, or do you just let em rip?