785 metres

I've taken the opportunity of being off work to get out and do some hunting a few times in the last week or so and I thought, because it's been a long time since I've posted anything about hunting, I'd do a short post outlining one of my shots.

I enjoy the stalk - finding animal tracks, then the actual target and stalking to get close (I like the challenge) - and so I tend to shoot at inside the range of 350 metres a lot, a fairly easy shot for a trained long range shooter. I like hunting at greater distances as well though often taking shots out to 1300-1500 metres as it brings a different set of skills and requirements and I like to keep my skills sharp.

My latest hunt wasn't at quite that range but I made a pretty nice shot at 785 metres hitting the target exactly where I wanted to and immediately dispatching the animal and I was pretty happy with it.

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Below (second image down) is the DOPE chart I used on that evening, created using my StrelokPro ballistics app, and based on the rifle I was using as per the first image below.

DOPE stands for data on previous engagement - essentially a chart created based on the rifle and bullet type and characteristics and various known factors like muzzle velocity, ballistic coefficient, weight of the projectile and so on. It's used to determine the trajectory of a bullet under certain circumstances and factors in wind direction and speed, altitude, humidity, which allows the shooter to make adjustments to the windage and elevation on the scope turrets to land the shot in the intended place.

Below you can see my rifle profile and the various known data I gathered from the environment in the seconds leading up to the shot. These were put into the ballistics calculator and it spat out the DOPE.

As I said, the range I hit the target at was 785 metres, measured with my laser rangefinder, and it was stationary; not a super easy shot but not the most difficult either.

The wind was coming across my right shoulder at 4.5mph (so from 146° or about 5 o'clock) which is typically called half value. This means the wind will have (about) half the effect on the bullet as it flies than if the wind was coming from the 3 or 9 o'clock which would be "full value". Makes perfect sense to me, hope you're keeping up. I was also shooting at an angle of -14° as I was on the side of a hill shooting into a small valley. The bullet was in-flight for 1.11 seconds so I had to make sure I'd shoot at a point when the target would be still, sometimes difficult to gauge as animals tend to move around a bit. I took the shot as it came up from cropping grass to look around.

Below you'll see the chart and can work out what I "dialled" (into the elevation turret) to make the shot...that's the U5.2 in the ELEVATION column. That means I brought the cross hairs up 5.2 MRAD to arc the projectile into the target as shooting flat (zero MRAD) would see the projectile succumb to gravity and air pressure long before it hit the target. (It's science.)

You'll also note the windage column and because the wind was relatively slow that adjustment was only 0.3MRAD to the right. I didn't dial that in, I just "held over" which means I aimed the cross hair 0.3MRAD to the right of where I wanted the projectile to land allowing for the fact the wind would push it over.

With the last point in mind, here's an image from StrelokPro of the exact reticle (SKMR3) I use in my scope, the K624i 6-24x50 made by Kahles.

All those little marks mean something and that red dot is where I would aim if I chose to hold over completely (not to dial in the adjustments). Keep in mind, the DOPE chart I did topped out at 850m so that red dot shows the point of aim (POI) for that range, not the 785m I actually shot at. (See the blue target distance text in the top right quadrant.) You can see varying ranges in red though and that's how one works out the various hold-overs.

Anyway, I'm trying to keep this really simple so people might understand so I've left out a lot of technical stuff that's critical to a shot like this - you don't need to know.

The net result of all my training, shooting practice, the science of making my own precision ammunition and understanding the scientific principles of what it takes to make a long range shot...is that something died. A deer. (And it'll be on the BBQ at some stage.)

And, that's about it.