Open invitation: Post target pics, range photos, etc

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Re: Open invitation: Post target pics, range photos, etc

Postby unfitmother on Wed Jan 31, 2018 7:09 pm

I hope New Zealand is amazing, Erik!

Shot 20 rounds today. Distance was 370 yards. The gong is 2 ft X 2 ft.

First 10 shots:
1-31-18.2.jpg
1st group of 10


Second 10 shots:
1-31-18.jpg
2nd 10 shots


I am very pleased. Elk River F-Class, here I come!
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Re: Open invitation: Post target pics, range photos, etc

Postby yukonjasper on Wed Jan 31, 2018 7:48 pm

Erud wrote:I just found out that I have been selected as one of 8 shooters to make the trip to shoot for the US National Rifle Team at the New Zealand Long Range National Championships in January. This is the "scout" trip before the Long Range World Championship that will be held in the same place in 2019. 16 shooters will be selected to represent the US at the 2019 WC as the US Palma Team, and this scout trip is a big step towards that. Making it into the 2019 Palma Team has been my goal since 2013.


Quite an achievement. Congratulations. I hope you have continued success.
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Re: Open invitation: Post target pics, range photos, etc

Postby xd ED on Wed Jan 31, 2018 8:40 pm

unfitmother wrote:I hope New Zealand is amazing, Erik!

Shot 20 rounds today. Distance was 370 yards. The gong is 2 ft X 2 ft.

First 10 shots:
1-31-18.2.jpg


Second 10 shots:
1-31-18.jpg


I am very pleased. Elk River F-Class, here I come!

Nice shooting!
What did you different in the second string?

The F Class league at Elk River is a good way to get your feet wet. An informal league that shoots most Mondays thru the season.



They do have a required new shooter orientation where you'll need to demonstrate a 100 yd zero, and simulated 300, and 600 yd zeros, then move out to 300 yards, then to 600.
I don't know when the orientation is. It's not yet on their calendar. There is a very useful wind clinic scheduled for the morning of Saturday, 28 April, with a match in the afternoon, and a tournament the next day.
Somebody will post hereabouts when more is known.
Here's the Elk River calendar: http://www.ersportsman.com/Calendar.asp
There will be some mid, and long range practice opportunities at Gopher in Harris this season; Tuesday nights, and many mid, and long range matches around the region.
Here is another schedule, and very good resource, put together by Erik's wife, Mia: https://lifeofashooterswife.com/rifle-shooting-blog/match-schedule/

Good Luck
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Re: Open invitation: Post target pics, range photos, etc

Postby unfitmother on Wed Jan 31, 2018 9:57 pm

That calendar on lifeofashooterswife.com is the most up to date one I've been able to find. Thanks Mia! I'm getting dialed in now in preparation of the new shooter orientation, whenever it is :D


xd ED wrote:What did you different in the second string?


I added graphics to the photos to hopefully clarify (please excuse the poor quality of graphics and photos). Both strings seem pretty similar to me. The second string had a flyer, whereas the first string had a cold-bore outlier.

1-31 measured.jpg


1-31 measured 2.jpg
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Re: Open invitation: Post target pics, range photos, etc

Postby xd ED on Wed Jan 31, 2018 10:07 pm

unfitmother wrote:That calendar on lifeofashooterswife.com is the most up to date one I've been able to find. Thanks Mia! I'm getting dialed in now in preparation of the new shooter orientation, whenever it is :D


xd ED wrote:What did you different in the second string?


I added graphics to the photos to hopefully clarify (please excuse the poor quality of graphics and photos). Both strings seem pretty similar to me. The second string had a flyer, whereas the first string had a cold-bore outlier.

1-31 measured.jpg


1-31 measured 2.jpg


I should have edited my post. At first it looked like the 1st group was a bit larger than the 2nd. When I enlarged the photos, I saw there are similar.
Nice shooting.
I should get out one of these nice days.
LET'S GO BRANDON
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Re: Open invitation: Post target pics, range photos, etc

Postby Erud on Wed Jan 31, 2018 10:07 pm

That’s good shooting. Glad you like the web page, she puts a ton of work into it. I always figured running a web page was easy, until she started that one!
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Re: Open invitation: Post target pics, range photos, etc

Postby unfitmother on Wed Jan 31, 2018 10:15 pm

Hey! How's New Zealand? Post a range photo or 2 if you can.
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Re: Open invitation: Post target pics, range photos, etc

Postby Erud on Wed Jan 31, 2018 11:06 pm

NZ is awesome. The wind is unbelievable on this range. It is notorious for a fishtailing tailwind, and we've been seeing it. They had to stop matches today after target frames started breaking in 35 mph+ gusts. Slight direction changes will put you right off target if you don't see them, and they are easy to miss. I am sort of computer limited down here, but I have managed to post some pics and short videos on the Palma Alliance page if anyone is on Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/PalmaAlliance1/
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Re: Open invitation: Post target pics, range photos, etc

Postby Rip Van Winkle on Thu Feb 01, 2018 6:21 am

How does the Kiwi's 5V target compare to our LR target? Only 7 shot groups for score?
And what's up with the 2? :twisted:

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Re: Open invitation: Post target pics, range photos, etc

Postby Erud on Thu Feb 01, 2018 11:56 am

The scoring rings on the 5V are pretty much identical to our target, except for the 300 yard one. The aiming black at 300 is huge, so lot of Americans have some trouble getting a good sight picture. Also, the 5-ring is considerably smaller than our 300 yard 10-ring, so Solid position and NPA is very important. In the World Championship matches the US has earned the bad reputation of losing way too many points at 300, then being forced to try to catch up at the longer ranges. Not a good strategy. The 500-yard center gets put on over a 600-yard face, so you also get a bigger aiming black than we are used to, but rings are same size as ours. All the other targets are the same sizes as ours.

Another interesting thing about the targets here is that sling and F-Class shoot on the same targets. There is a 1/2 MOA “Super V” ring inside the 1 MOA V-ring that serves as the F-class V. F-class scores the same in the 1-5 rings, but a V is worth 6, and the super V (or X) is the tie breaker or them. So, in a 7-shot match, highest possible score for a sling shooter is 35-7v, while F-class could score 42-7v.

The matches are all either 7 or 10-shot strings. We have 8 shooters on each target and are shooting 4 or 5 yardlines each day, so the strings need to be short to get everyone through. They have paid target pullers here, so not having to go to the pits saves a lot of time, but it’s still a lot of shooters to get through.

That 2 was pretty legit. I looked in the scope right after I broke the shot, and was terrified when I saw what the mirage was doing as compared to what it was doing before I shot. I was pretty relieved that the target even went down, and I half expected to see a miss come up. The changes are so fast here, I have never seen anything like it. It’s like a day with a tricky fishtail on the 1000-yard line up at Harris, but with 20+ mph winds much of the time. We broke out a ballistic calculator the other day when there was pretty consistent 24mph winds running. It turns out that a 5 o’clock tailwind is worth 9 MOA at 1000. So you can shoot a solid V when it’s straight behind you, and follow it up with a 2 on the next target 10 seconds later if you aren’t careful.

For those that don’t know, that’s US Team captain Norm Anderson in the picture. He is a living legend, having shot for the US Army Marksmanship and All-Guard teams for 24 years. He has been everywhere and won every major match, including the President’s 100 (twice), the NTI (twice), and the Mountain Man Aggregate at Camp Perry 4 times. He made the Palma 20 when he was 14 years old shooting an M14, then went on to make it through the Palma team tryout that same year shooting a borrowed bolt rifle. So yeah, he’s pretty awesome. I am squadded with him on the same target all week, and so far I haven’t done anything to embarrass myself. I hung right with him until the fateful 2 on the last shot that day, then I actually snuck past him by a point the next day! My elevation has been really good all week, and ive only had a couple of bad shots that cost me points. The rest have been missed wind. It’s been a great trip so far, 3 more days of shooting to go.
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Re: Open invitation: Post target pics, range photos, etc

Postby yukonjasper on Thu Feb 01, 2018 12:29 pm

Sounds like a great experience. Hats off to you. Good luck to you on the rest of your stay. Keep us updated if you can.
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Re: Open invitation: Post target pics, range photos, etc

Postby unfitmother on Thu Feb 01, 2018 1:01 pm

I'm just trying to imagine your process when you have a good NPA and then the wind changes. Are you dialing windage changes on your rear sight, and then moving your hips to shift your NPA? Or holding over?
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Re: Open invitation: Post target pics, range photos, etc

Postby Erud on Thu Feb 01, 2018 2:52 pm

When your NPA is good, wind changes won’t affect it. The target is always in the same place, so it’s just a matter of adjusting the sights and/or waiting for your preferred condition to come back. Of course in winds this strong, there are definitely times when you are just being shook by the wind and can’t hold on the target properly. When that’s happening, don’t shoot! Don’t ask me how I know that... :?
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Re: Open invitation: Post target pics, range photos, etc

Postby Erud on Fri Feb 02, 2018 12:25 pm

The individual agg wrapped up yesterday. The top 21 shooters compete in a final 15-shot match this afternoon at the 900-yard line. I just snuck in at #19. I am pretty pleased with that, the conditions have been brutal, and the competition is fierce. There is definitely a little bit of luck of timing involved, as one shooter can shoot in a completely different set of conditions than the previous or next. I was lucky enough to be on the one relay yesterday that got to shoot in a downpour at 1000 yards. It sucked, and all of my gear got soaked, but the wind was very steady while it was raining and I was able to make up a lot of ground on people in that short 10-shot string. I kept my ammo covered and broke good shots and it worked out well. Here is a link to the Ballinger Belt aggregate scores:

https://www.nranz.com/assets/2018-Natio ... 1-belt.pdf

I have had to adjust my expectations a lot on this trip. At the ranges I normally shoot in the Midwest, high x-count 200’s happen all of the time. On this range, clean scores are a lot more rare, even with only 7 and 10-shot strings. In the last 1000-yard match yesterday, I felt fortunate to get off the line with a 43 out of 50 possible points.
Last edited by Erud on Fri Feb 02, 2018 6:26 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Open invitation: Post target pics, range photos, etc

Postby yukonjasper on Fri Feb 02, 2018 1:25 pm

Was that location chosen because it is known for unstable weather this time of year so it adds the elements into the equation to really test the shooters or is it just a random string of lousy weather that just happened to coincide? Seems like the conditions you are describing could really humble you if you are used to shooting in relatively decent conditions.
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