Top Gun Range, Leonard, TX (500yrds)

[Beiruty]

What a day! After, I fixed a zero running away (1"+U,2"R) at Frisco gun club. I finally loaded another 25 rds of 300WM Hornady 208gr A-max over 70gr of Alliant 4000MR (~2849fps). At Top Gun Range, Temp was 74F-82F and AP is 29.40issh. I computed dope with Strelok+ for 400yrd and 5MPH cross wind at 90degree, Wind was SSE 8-12MPH but not consistent. It dies out and comes back. Strelok reported 5.7 MOA up and 0.9 MOA Right. Dialed, I scored first-shot hit. Horray! Target was a a silhouette 5 MOA wide, or some 20"

Then, I shifted to 500 yrd where there is a 36"x36" plate and another Silhouette 20" wide. Strelok asked for 8.5 MOA Up and 1.2MOA right. First shot at 500yrd was also a hit and I kept shooting at 500yrds with almost all shots were hits. I missed once when the wind died but I did not zero my windage knob.

Finally, once I got bored shooting steel at 500 yrds with my A-max handloads. I decided to shoot some 20 rds of factory Federal PowerShok 180gr with MV of 2960fps (from the back of the box). Strelok asked for its usual parameters. I was missing BC of the Federal bullet, and the vertical offset of the impact at 100yrd with the zero of the 208 A-max rd. So, I shot one rd at 100yr and my v.offset was 2"up or +2 MOA. I shot another rd at 500yrd and I scored a hit but it was 2MOA high measured with my FFP scope. So, I started manually adjusting the BC parameter and and recompute dope to lower it by 2MOA and my estimated BC of the Federal Bullet (Soft Point) was 0.31. So, I shot at 400 yrds and got first-shot hits (4.5 MOA). At 500yrds, Strelok asked for 8 MOA and all the factory Federal shots were hits too. Now, I have another 20 cases for reloading

N.B.: While cleaning my rifle, I found out the the scope rings' screws are loose. This explains why the zero shifted.

Range is now excellent. New nice Restrooms were added. On site Restaurant is only available Sat 11AM-2PM. Range owner, Terry is very cheerful and welcoming. 2 Golf Carts are available at your disposal to drive to and back from your targets. Skeet bays are added too. Range is highly recommended. A nice Vortex Spotting scope (mounted at solid-like-rock tripod) is at your disposal if you do not have one. Benches are now made from cements and there are also 5-6 covered prone positions if you do not like the bench shooting.

Since it did not happen without photos, here you go:
Handloads:



Factory Federal 180gr SP Ammo:

[puma guy]

Nice!

ditto

[Beiruty]

Now I need to reload some more and drive to a 1,000 yrds range.

[The Annoyed Man]

Very nice, Beiruty!

Not taking away from that group at all, it's really good, and 500 yards is harder than a lot of people think.......but I'm actually a little surprised at how good modern equipment makes old shooters look. Here is a picture of one of my buddy's results yesterday at ETTS:

That group was shot from a 5.56 AR with a 16" barrel, using Hornady 75 grain match, at a distance of 800 yards. My friend is not a trained sniper or anything. He's an experienced shooter, with a nice home-built AR carbine, shooting off-the-shelf ammunition.

Despite all the griping about people trying to take our rights away, we do live in an era where great rifle accuracy is much easier (and less expensive) to attain than ever before.

[Beiruty]

TAM,

Have you asked your friend what is his groupings at 100 yrds. That is awesome from semi-auto 5.56 rd
Is he using a bull-barrel 223?
Is it one of those, or look one of those?
http://www.accurate-ar15.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[The Annoyed Man]

TAM,

Have you asked your friend what is his groupings at 100 yrds. That is awesome from semi-auto 5.56 rd
Is he using a bull-barrel 223?
Is it one of those, or look one of those?
http://www.accurate-ar15.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Hi Beiruty, As far as I know, 300 yards is the closest distance that rifle has ever been fired at, and as far as I know, it has only been shot at steel plates; so I don't really know what it will do on paper at 100 yards although I imagine that it will group fairly tightly. The main thing it illustrates is that there is such a thing as target accuracy, and practical accuracy, and they are both valid ways of measuring what a rifle will do. That group at 800 yards means that he can pretty much hit a man-sized target at that distance, with some degree of reliability. THAT is good practical accuracy. The hits on that plate certainly group less than 8", which means that at 800 yards, that is a sub-MOA rifle/shooter combination. So, what it will group at 100 yards doesn't really matter. It will group tight enough to be impressive for an AR15 with a carbine length barrel.

No, it's not one of those in your link, and it isn't bull barreled. It's a home-built carbine. It has a 16" medium weight fluted 3 gun barrel with a mid-length gas port.....I forget the manufacturer. It is NATO chambered, has a 1:7 twist, and polygonal rifling. The barrel fluting is spiral rather than straight..... if that helps identify it. It has a matched set of billet receivers, a rail system (I don't remember the brand), a Magpul UBR stock, an EOTech sight with a 3X magnifier.

Pictures I took from a range day at TacPro.....the rifle on the shooting mat in the background is mine, and the picture was taken at the 500 yard line. My friend is shooting the same carbine he shot yesterday at 800 yards....exact same setup:

Just a good job of assembling a rifle from quality parts, feeding it good ammo, and spending time on the firing line, getting good with the rifle. This is why I am not so much a fanboy of rifle brands, as I am of good parts, judiciously chosen, and carefully assembled.

He was building his rifle about the same time as I was building mine, so I don't remember too much about what parts he was using. If you want to know, I'll ask him.

[Beiruty]

Good shooting and quality rifle and scope gets you satisfaction at the range.
Anywhere near Dallas, where I can shoot at 1,000 yrd for a fee?

[The Annoyed Man]

Good shooting and quality rifle and scope gets you satisfaction at the range.
Anywhere near Dallas, where I can shoot at 1,000 yrd for a fee?

My friend got back to me. It's a "Rainier Arms Select" barrel, one step down from their "Ultra Match".

https://www.rainierarms.com/?page=shop/ ... ct_id=4199

$325.00


The only nearby shooting range with a 1,000 yard range I know of "nearby" (for me) is Tacpro, and it is about a 1.5 hour drive (from Grapevine) and requires a membership to shoot on the 1,000 yard range, or that you be the guest of a member. I shot there once as a guest of a member, but we shot at the 500 yard line, not the 1,000.

Those pictures above were taken at ETTS, about 40 miles south of Dallas. If you google "ETTS shooting range" you'll find their website for more info. I've never been there myself.

Tacpro is about halfway between Mineral Wells and Stephenville on TX108. I've been hog hunting 2-3 times on a friend's property right next door, literally. They share a fence line. Oddest thing in the world to watch deer feeding at a feeder without a care in the world, while someone is running a M240 on rock-and-roll just a few hundred yards away. The wildlife have gotten so used to automatic weapons fire that they don't even look up at the sound of it. I assume it was a M240. The rate of fire was too slow and the pitch too deep for a SAW, and rate of fire too fast for a .50, so it had to have been a .30 caliber weapon. All the same, really weird when you are trying to be quiet, and the game is still very much afraid of men. Anyway, if you google "tacpro shooting range mingus texas", you'll see all their information.

[AlaskanInTexas]

Over the weekend, I hit a 18" x 18" piece of plywood from 20 feet with my Gamo whisper quiet pellet gun.

[Beiruty]

Over the weekend, I hit a 18" x 18" piece of plywood from 20 feet with my Gamo whisper quiet pellet gun.

Good shooting!

[The Annoyed Man]

Over the weekend, I hit a 18" x 18" piece of plywood from 20 feet with my Gamo whisper quiet pellet gun.

You da man.

Beiruty's rifle is somewhat more than a Gamo.