Rusty me on the 600 yard range.

[Hatchdog]

It’s been since September of 2019 since I have shot my target rifle. Most of the 2020 matches were canceled and stupid me scheduled vacations on the dates of the first two matches this year. So with an upcoming match on September 5th and with me being home that day I headed out yesterday for some 600 yard practice. Not surprising my layoff had brutal affects.

I had removed my scope and put lower rings on the rifle and I couldn’t remember if I had re-zeroed it or not so I arrived early to check/set my 200 yard zero. I was a bit high and right so adjusted to low and left of course. Last four shots are the four in the center. Next I shot a five shot group that measures 1 3/8” which is still under MOA at 200 but this rifle is capable of better. I have shot five shot 3/8” groups at 100 but of course at 200 sight picture and wind are a bigger factor than at 100.

So, on to 600 and that’s where I really fell down. I had a very hard time seeing the center of the target thru my scope (24X), not sure if it’s my two year older eye’s or the scope or both but it was a struggle. My scope is a low priced one compared to the Nightforce high Enders the other shooters use. Mine is a Vortex 6-24X Viper PST and it’s really just not up to the task I feel.

I was a genie pig for the beta test of a new electronic scoring target the club is putting into play. While this had no bearing on my poor shooting it didn’t give me an accurate picture of my shots as a hand scored target does. Again, not causing me any shooting problems but while it did give the correct total score it didn’t score my hits correctly. I had two 7’s it didn’t register as 7’s and two 10’s that didn’t register as 10’s. The issue here is in making scope or hold adjustments while shooting for score. I didn’t know I was so far out in the 7 ring and maybe would have made different adjustments if I had that knowledge. Plus, mostly I was just doing a 600 yard sight in of the rifle so this info would have been good to have. Again, I stress this is not a contributing factor to my poor shooting.

All in all it was a great day at the range, light winds and upper 70’s for temp. Oh, one other discovery with the electronic scoring target. Normally we fire a shoot, the scorer lowers the target, marks the hit with a spotter disc and then marks the score with another disc then raising the target for the shooter to spot and then mark the scorecard. This takes probably 30-40 seconds and keeps our rate of fire on the slower side. Using the new electronic scorer I would get my hit and score on my IPhone within seven seconds. I found this really increased my rate of fire and of course heated up my barrel quicker. That’s on me, slow down you fool. We have 20 minutes to fire 20 shots so the pace is great!

First pics are the 200 yard line sighting in. Next is the 600 line with the targets under the red arrow. I forgot to take a picture with my rifle set up on the mat but it’s the same as the 200 yard picture. Bagged buttstock and bi-pod on the front. Next is my electronic scorecard and my actual target. The electronic scorecard doesn’t do a very good job of putting the target in size prospective. The bullseye (10 ring) is 6” in diameter and the X ring is 3”. The group looks great on the electronic card and not so great on the actual target. Dang, makes me want to live in a fake electronic world.

I scored 180 out of 200 and when in form I am just above and just below 190. Only two X’s which is bothersome. I’ll come back and post a picture of an actual score card from a match.

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[Hatchdog]

Heres’ my score card from September 2018. Guess I not as awesome as I thought.

Score is 753 with 20 X’s.

This card reflects 40 shots at 600 and 40 shots at 300. The 300 yard target is exactly 50% of the 600 yard with the 10 ring measuring 3” and the X ring 1.5”. Of course much less wind drift at 300 than at 600 and the target is much easier to see thru my low budget scope. This year the format has changed and we will be shooting three stages of 20 shots at 600 only. No 300. This will make for less line/pit changes and speed up the time of the match. Personally I like this as I struggle from 600 more that I do from 300. This score card shows from the top two rows of 300 yard score and then two rows of 600.

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[RanchRoper]

Very cool. Wish I was there!!

[Kissmybrass]

Very cool. Wish I was there!!

ditto

[BigAl52]

What caliber Hatch 6.5. 308?

[Hatchdog]

What caliber Hatch 6.5. 308?

.223 shooting the Sierra 77 grain Matchking at 2750 fps. Me desire is to end up with a 6.5 CM with quality glass someday. The wind pushes my little .22 cal bullets around pretty good.

[Rifletom]

Hatch, what spotting scope are you using? And power. Thanks.

[Hatchdog]

Hatch, what spotting scope are you using? And power. Thanks.

It’s a Vortex Viper 15-45X65mm. Same scope in an 80mm magnifies to 60x.

[GFK]

That is pretty good shooting to me! What rifle are you shooting? Did you have to do any trigger work?

[Hatchdog]

That is pretty good shooting to me! What rifle are you shooting? Did you have to do any trigger work?

The rifle is a mid-90’s Savage M/112 in .223. This was Savage’s first venture into target rifles and it is called the Competition. While Savage uses a two digit number for short action rifles such as M/12 this early version used the triple digit model number which today dictates a long action. It has a 30” heavy barrel, vented laminated stock with an adjustable comb and an oversized bolt handle. Scope is a Vortex Viper 6-24X target that’s great at 300 but not clear enough for me anyway at 600. I got it used and the trigger was either worked by the previous owner or perhaps just great from Savage. I don’t have a trigger gauge but it breaks very light without any creep, probably less than a pound. Strictly a range rifle of course, you wouldn’t want that trigger in the field.