Posted: 5/20/2006 8:19:30 PM EDT
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I'll right was wondering about getting more practice with iron sights and shooting in general. All the rifles are zeroed for 100 yards and nats ass on at that. But I have one hell of a time judging distances and such, with iron sights. My question is this has anybody purchased the Fred's shooting books and targets in Shotgun news? How did you like them and are the a good help? Anything else needed to know? Thanks |
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Range estimation is a little bit of a pain in the ass to learn because of several variables. I have not used Freds books but I have shot at a lot of different ranges. I personally feel that range estimation for the iron sight shooter(depending on target) is a pointless venture to 200 yards(depending on caliber) in a hunting situation. What I focus on is what is referred to as PBR or point blank range. Each animal has a vital zone in which the major organs are packed. If you are shooting at a spike buck or larger animal up to and including a grizzly the minimum vital zone should not go under 10 inches across. The basics of PBR shooting: Imagine a 10 inch wide tube leaving your barrel and extending down the line of fire to the target. Your rifles PBR is the distance at which the bullet will drop out of the bottom of that 10 inch wide tube. Some rounds that have flatter trajectories will have a much longer PBR than others. Compare the 300 win mag to the 30-06 for example. My OPINION is that knowing that range and then testing it with a number of life sized targets will give you a damn good starting point for most sport shooting ventures. The book "ultimate sniper" should give you a pretty good starting point for unknown range estimation(havent read that one either but I heard it was good) |
Plaster in his book & video recommends using your thumb extended at arms length for rough range estimation. Depending on the font post of the rifle it can also beused as a estimating tool, i dont use sharp front sights, i prefer the flat blade type and use known range stakes to determine how much space to the left and right of the target target being the width of a mans shoulders/IDPA target is 18 inches on top the post to tell the approx distance. |
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I have a friend that is insistent upon his .338 Win.Mag. giving 3/4" or better 100-yd. groups; and states he has no problem shooting at paper plates at 500-yds. I personally wish to see both feats accomplished by this individual and have stated that to his face. We will be working on it this summer. My contention is that in the context of HUNTING live animals, 500-yds. is unethical. For other types of hunting an occasional miss is acceptable. |
I have made 3 nice Kills on Elk at 450-550 yards with 7mm mag and glass... It really was not that hard at all. STRAT Is that the same book I lent you a while back? |
| the 338 WM with a 210 gr softpoint will drop approx 46-50 inches at 500 yards so in that instance your range estimation had better be good. As to the 500 yard shots on game animals it is not how easy the shot is. I think more people feel that there is a higher chance of a wounded or lost animal. I have never been in the position to make the shoot or no shoot call at that range so I couldnt say one way or the other |