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AAR Matamoras PA .22lr 200 KD Nov 9-10 2019

Started by StevenK, November 12, 2019, 10:25:53 AM

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StevenK

November 9-10 2019

Matamoras Rod and Gun Club hosted Project Appleseed's Rifleman Only 200 yd .22 KD.  The Course goals were to have shooters take their .22  rifles and USING A 150 YARD ZERO (See description)  stretch them out to 200 yards.  Known Distance involves targets set at "known" intermediate ranges; in this course we set targets at 50-100-150 and 200 yards. This course included all positions, time limits for each stage, and history.

Instructor and SB was StevenK. Many thanks to Drifter52 for his assistance. Jon, Chris, Doug Rick, and Claire participated and qualified.   Doug and Claire are considering the IIT.

Five shooters participated in the event.  All shooters were highly skilled; one qualified on day one, and the rest qualified on day 2. 

•   Participants worked within the limits and capabilities of the .22 round at these distances using reticle information, known distances, and ballistic charts/tables. We did not use "high end" .22LR ammunition or gear for the course - However, the SB had a box of high end (LAPUA) .22lr and each shooter fired ten rounds through their rifle with improved grouping demonstrated.

•   The Course is a scaled version of a larger range - the concept was to teach the shooters to use holdunder and holdover without sight adjustment.   We used the full sized centers for qualification.

•    I strongly recommend that the participants should be prior riflemen or have attended several AS;   transmittal of the information to newer students would have been too much info (TMI) for the one event day.

•   At this event shooters brought whatever .22lr ammo their rifle preferred - a good 40 gr. HV ammo (1250+/-) or a subsonic round might be used,  but no particular brand was mentioned. The students chronographed their rounds and the SB instructed students on the importance of actual speed vs that printed on the box as it relaters to ballistic data. A scope was recommended but not required.

•   Zero at 150 yards provided a holdover/holdover similar that used with a Centerfire rifle at 1-400 distances with a 300 yard zero. Wind effect was more noticeable with the speed of the round and the distances involved.

•   After a block of instruction we moved to the 25 yard line and commenced initial zero. All shooters were previously zeroed at the SB's request, so this saved time.  We then added 13 Moa to our elevation and fired at the 150 yard line on a full scale center- this is actually a seven yard zero with the round crossing the line of sight at 150 again.  All hit, w/ one shooter in the V.  The shooters performed the IMC calculations at 150, adjusted, and fired for zero. 

Once zeroed we measured each aspect of our reticles at 100 yards. All had a second focal plane scope  with several different reticles and they measured every aspect of these reticles  at full magnification to determine MOA/MIL - we used several articles of known size placed downrange (two police - one MOA and one MIL,   and a board with MOA/MIL painted increments ). The shooters then drew their reticles on a dope sheet and recorded all MOA/MIL measurement information  -  this sheet was kept separate from all other measurements taken at the event and was used for the entire day.  Shooters were instructed on the need for development of DOPE  requisite for a course of this type, particularly recording of POA before going downrange. WHY? "You WILL forget that information!" Once downrange the POI was recorded, and the inches and minutes calculated. The shooters returned to their mats and looked again through the glass to see, now, their prior POA  vs where the round actually hit. This data was also recorded. Then the shooter fired having made his adjustment and determined the corrected POA. The data on the corrected POA was recorded and this data marked the ZERO for that stage.

•   Another part of the course material were ballistic tables provided and explained. These included different round velocities and zero points. This was also used throughout the day. The .22 drops quite a bit as it travels out to  200, so the shooters became expert at calculations to convert inches to MOA at the different distances. The SB also reinforced these calculations with several exercises with student participation throughout the second day.

•   Still another aspect of the course was introduction to unknown distance - The shooters learned the calculations necessary to estimate range using MIL or MOA data. All had consistent answers - the idea was to introduce this concept to the shooters that range estimates can be accomplished with the reticle on a known sized object at an unknown distance away.

The perceived limitation of duplex reticles vs familiarization with use of these reticles at different magnification to set a given zero aim point was explained and the shooters were encouraged to work with their scopes on this method following the event. A CHANGE that I may consider is to zero at a shorter range (50? 100?) and teach the shooters to reduce the second focal plane to engage the target within the capability of their scopes. I will work the details out over the winter.

Qualifications were based on an 80% scoring.  After two days all shooters qualified in excess of 80%.    There were often 1-2 MOA groups that appeared throughout the day at different distances.

At the days end on Sunday we practices the "riflemen's dance" against a dirt berm in excess of 200 yards using scrap orange clay birds. The shooters were instructed to use their cross hair to aim, observe the splash on their reticle, then adjust the aim point and fire for effect.  The birds quickly disappeared and the event ended.

The Course was challenging. Most shooters had walked an estimated 4-5 miles by the end of the second day with all doing incidental push ups getting into and out of position. We also had access to a golf cart that I used due to a physical limitation.

More such events are planned for 2020. For the future, the Course should be conducted with prior riflemen, or repeat prior appleseeders having shot a 200 or more. A new shooter would be overwhelmed by the material.  Also, the shooter may bring what he has- it will work just fine.  If we demand (suggest) a particular equipment (aside from the Sling!), then we depart from our mission - essentially, to take a rifle from a given source and make it work for the shooter. Maybe later a particular shooter will want to try another scope because he learned something in the Course that brought him to a deeper understanding of the relationship between an individual shooter and his own gear - OR- maybe he will discover that his equipment is just fine.  Either way he will know where he wants to go with his equipment without suggestions from anyone.   For today, let's shoot with what we have.



Thank you to everyone that attended this event. (END). :F

PeaceAndLove

What an interesting event?! I'm going to give 200yd .22lr a try. :snipersmi
In Liberty,
PeaceAndLove


I prefer peace. But if trouble must come, let it come in my time, so that my children can live in peace.
-Thomas Paine

Captain

That sounds like a GREAT course you've worked up StevenK. Did any of the shooters need angled mounts in order to get on target at 200? I really like the efficiency of a rimfire KD. Thanks for the write-up!
There's things that gnaw on a man worse than dyin'. - Open Range

TOMINCT

Great job StevenK, look forward to a listing for next season.
crak's battle road IBC 10-09
Ramseur 2-12!
ninsho's battle road IBC 6-13

JMurrayVT

It was a great event. I was one of the participants.
V/r,

JMurrayVT

StevenK

#5
No angled mounts-just bring what you have. A scope works best, even an inexpensive BDC or Mil - something with a "tree" to make accurate measurements. Still, we had a few duplex reticles  on the line too and those shooters actually had the higher scores for the first and second day. The duplex present challenges with unknown distance and ranging, but it can be done. I'm adding a new element to the ukd/ range estimator portion-not a difficult concept, but we will take reticle measurements at full and (less) value(s).   Ammo counts- find out what your rifle likes. You need not go all out, but good ammo behaves well especially if it gets along with your own rifle.   

The next day after the shoot i had to go out to the same range after watching Jon and everyone else tear the range up. I used three shot groups. The 200 target (scaled 100) is below; the three shots to the left were overadjustments on 7-10 mph wind. Wind exposure is considerable with a .22 at that distance.  After that I adjusted and fired for effect. The three shots in the target were, well, in the target. After that I went home-it was getting dark and it was getting cold out there. The Ammo is Herters 42 grain .22 lr. Nice round for the money. The .22lr deserves respect for sure.

sleepy