put the target up at 600 yards, measured.
to the shooting bench. blanket out, and over a block. sandbag on the block, sandbag at the toe of the stock. ears & glasses on. three shots in the magazine. fire the three shots. two more shots at a 500 gong, shooting high. let the barrel cool. two more shots at the 600 target, which is some cardboard about 9 inches in diameter, and painted red.
the scope set at 10 power. no adjustment for wind, which is steady at my back.
five shots complete, the rifle back into the shoe, brass collected, and bags and blanket and rifle into the s-10, and collect the target.
results. three shots on the red target circle, two shots just below, but in line vertically with the other three, the target group at 8.100" inches. 8.1 divided by 6, equals approximately 1.35 moa at 600 yards.
yes, i am very pleased.
john jay @ 09.15.2012
p.s. to the basement, to clean and size the brass and prepare for reloading some more cartridges. this will be the 3rd loading for these cartridge cases, but they look to be in very good shape. actually, in terms of fit to the rifle's chamber, they will be nearly perfect, as i will partial size them, reducing only the case neck diameter.
p.s.s. i have at hand volume 66, issue 25, the september 10, 2012 issue of "shotgun news." i am opened to page 10, and an article by editor peter g. kokalis entitled "springfield's m21 tactical: vietnam-era m14 sniper weapon system updated."
mr. kokalis is the james a. michener of gun writers, in that each article starts at the laying down of the earth's bedrock. he is thorough, to say the least.
on page 12 of the article mr. kokalis is pictured at the shooting bench. on the bench he has a range finder; a weather station complete with wind vane; a cast iron rest with padded vise to hold the rifle and screw dials to adjust it for elevation and windage; and what appears to be a nightforce 5.5-22x56mm nxs scope, retail $2,200; and a very large spotting scope that would show the pores on dan rather's nose at 600 yards. and, a couple boxes of ammunition.
the text of the article also describes the use of another nightforce scope, a 2.5-10x32 scope, retailing at $13-1500, depending on how it is equiped.
mr. kokalis shooting the 7.62x51mm nato loaded with the 175 grain sierra matchking bullet, loaded by lake city arsenal, and by federal ammunition, as specifically crafted for sniper use, both accepted standards world wide for use by snipers. (kokalis did not like the lake city ammo. i've always had very good luck with it, and w/ just the standard issue stuff.)
he reported targets grouping at 1.5 moa at 100 yards with that setup. he thought the grouping might settle in a bit past 200 yards, as the bullet tends to "go to sleep" once some initial instability dissipates.
you can read the article at www.shotgunnews.com .
you can equal or better this without all the paraphernalia. on a good day. but, in the wind, especially with the wind blowing in different directions and intensity between your shooting position and the target, all that gadgetry would be welcome.
if you have time and the ability to use it, and to put it "... into battle array." remember, what you use, you have to carry, and you have to deploy it to use it, and when it is time to leave you have to gather it up and take it with you.
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