JeepDriver
01-29-12, 20:26
AAR Precision Carbine with Imprecise Components
Attended a quick one day class at Central Virginia Tactical with Ed Shell. The class was Precision Carbine with Imprecise Components. Basicly, learning what your HD/SHTF carbine can do past 100 yards.
I took a BCM 11.5 ( pretty imprecise component ;) ) w/ a TA33G-H & was shooting Prvi 75gr Match. I have 75gr TAP in my go bag, but didn't have the money to pick up an extra couple hundred to rounds. The Prvi is a pretty close second.
My BIL took 6920 w/ a Comp M4 & used Federal XM193.
Both guns are free floated mine has a RRA 2 stage trigger, his is a stock trigger. Both guns wore suppressors, mine has a YHM 7.62 Phantom, his wore a Gemtech G5.
We started off tweaking the zero's on a 2" square at 50, then I adjusted at 100 for the ACOG's zero. Then we started working on DOPE. Ed had paper targets at 150 & 200 then steel at 250, 300, 350, 400, 450, 580, 650, 750, 860 & 1060. Ed supplied a few ballistic charts for popular loads with their predicted drop, mine was off from the word go due to the barrel length, I found the BDC on the ACOG to be around 100 yards off with the short barrel and heavier ammo, my next chance to get past 300 yards I want to re-dope for some 62 gr ammo. Having Ed on the spotting scope calling corrections made it almost easy to get hits. Once I got past 350 things started getting interesting with the little SBR. We had a 8-14 mph wind most of the day, and we were shooting across a valley. The combination of wind holds (Ed was calling them, that's something I could spend a month on and still not know a tenth of what Ed knows ) and vertical holds started requiring a lot more concentration on my part.
Also, the magnification started to be an issue, we were shooting at 1/2 IPSC targets that are really small at longer ranges. They were painted white and in the January sun and with the dead vegetation made the white very hard to pick up with low & no magnification. Ed called his wife and had her run to the hardware store and buy some bright orange paint. Now I can see the targets, can I hit them is the question.
With Ed on the spotting scope and a few rounds to get the elevation the hits kept coming. Well out to 580 atleast. I think my bullets were going trans sonic somewhere inbetween 580 & 650. There was no predictable correcting for elevation or wind past the 580 target.
I never expected to push my 11.5" gun past 100-150, shooting and getting easy hits at 400 and getting any hits at 500+ was never in the plan when I put the gun together. While I wouldn't grab this gun if I knew I had to take a long shot, it's nice to know it's capable of it.
Also, the ACOG w/ the BDC is the way to go. My BIL was having to hold over with no real point of reference. I had the tree below the horse shoe and was able to really get good DOPE on the gun and ammo. I also learned how to build good DOPE for the gun/ammo/optic combo.
I'm looking forward to heading back down with my 308 for a 3 day class and working out to the 1060 target. Anyone in the area interested in long range shooting instruction should check out Central Virginia Tactical.
Attended a quick one day class at Central Virginia Tactical with Ed Shell. The class was Precision Carbine with Imprecise Components. Basicly, learning what your HD/SHTF carbine can do past 100 yards.
I took a BCM 11.5 ( pretty imprecise component ;) ) w/ a TA33G-H & was shooting Prvi 75gr Match. I have 75gr TAP in my go bag, but didn't have the money to pick up an extra couple hundred to rounds. The Prvi is a pretty close second.
My BIL took 6920 w/ a Comp M4 & used Federal XM193.
Both guns are free floated mine has a RRA 2 stage trigger, his is a stock trigger. Both guns wore suppressors, mine has a YHM 7.62 Phantom, his wore a Gemtech G5.
We started off tweaking the zero's on a 2" square at 50, then I adjusted at 100 for the ACOG's zero. Then we started working on DOPE. Ed had paper targets at 150 & 200 then steel at 250, 300, 350, 400, 450, 580, 650, 750, 860 & 1060. Ed supplied a few ballistic charts for popular loads with their predicted drop, mine was off from the word go due to the barrel length, I found the BDC on the ACOG to be around 100 yards off with the short barrel and heavier ammo, my next chance to get past 300 yards I want to re-dope for some 62 gr ammo. Having Ed on the spotting scope calling corrections made it almost easy to get hits. Once I got past 350 things started getting interesting with the little SBR. We had a 8-14 mph wind most of the day, and we were shooting across a valley. The combination of wind holds (Ed was calling them, that's something I could spend a month on and still not know a tenth of what Ed knows ) and vertical holds started requiring a lot more concentration on my part.
Also, the magnification started to be an issue, we were shooting at 1/2 IPSC targets that are really small at longer ranges. They were painted white and in the January sun and with the dead vegetation made the white very hard to pick up with low & no magnification. Ed called his wife and had her run to the hardware store and buy some bright orange paint. Now I can see the targets, can I hit them is the question.
With Ed on the spotting scope and a few rounds to get the elevation the hits kept coming. Well out to 580 atleast. I think my bullets were going trans sonic somewhere inbetween 580 & 650. There was no predictable correcting for elevation or wind past the 580 target.
I never expected to push my 11.5" gun past 100-150, shooting and getting easy hits at 400 and getting any hits at 500+ was never in the plan when I put the gun together. While I wouldn't grab this gun if I knew I had to take a long shot, it's nice to know it's capable of it.
Also, the ACOG w/ the BDC is the way to go. My BIL was having to hold over with no real point of reference. I had the tree below the horse shoe and was able to really get good DOPE on the gun and ammo. I also learned how to build good DOPE for the gun/ammo/optic combo.
I'm looking forward to heading back down with my 308 for a 3 day class and working out to the 1060 target. Anyone in the area interested in long range shooting instruction should check out Central Virginia Tactical.