Post by Lee Martin on Apr 13, 2015 18:45:44 GMT -5
5-shots, 100 yards bench rested
.50 Alaskan BFR
Bullet - 585 gr Martin LFN
Powder - 48.0 IMR 4198
Brass - Starline
Primer - CCI Large Rifle
Velocity - 1,400 fps, or 100 under max
The spread is 4 3/4". My personal best is just under 4.0" so I was pleased with the target (for complete transparency I fired 19 other groups on Saturday and the second closest was 7")
________________________
100 Yards
Before I met David Bradshaw, I punched paper at 25 or 50 yards. Occasionally I'd sling lead to 100, but it was usually to ping a rock, stump, or anything else I thought I could hit. Precision shooting wasn't pursued at that range with a handgun. Then David comes along and my goals changed. His encouragement, technical acumen, and just plain good advice inspired me to stretch revolvers. Three years later I'm sighting in at 50 and tacking paper at 100 paces.
The journey hasn't been an easy one. For the first few months I was humbled, or better yet, plain frustrated. Absent were the tight clusters routinely shot at 25 - 50. Instead of trying to get holes to touch, I struggled to land on a 10" plate. But all the while David and I kept talking. Throw in his wonderful photo essays for motivation and I trudged ahead. Six months into the endeavor I started seeing results. 3 hits out of 5 on demand with the right gun and load was a big lift. I soon graduated to 4 out of 5 and with certain combinations 5 out of 5. I reviewed my log book the other night and summed the shots taken at 100 with open sight revolvers. 8,450 since the late 2012. I only mention this to reinforce the importance of practice.
________________________
The Visual
Everyone sees targets and sights differently. There's no one size fits all, so I'll just share what works for me. I like white 10" paper plates and a 6:00 hold. My sights are predominately post style out of aluminum and they want a dark backdrop. Our 100 yard target frame takes a 2 x 2 foot insert sprayed matte black. I pin a plate towards the upper half and slowly bring the gun up. Once the black disappears I know I'm close. At that point I'm focusing on a silver blade with a tiny dot on top.
The targets I use at 100:
Here's the view from the bench.
__________________________
The Challenge
On to the point of this post. A month ago I talked to a member about the inordinately high number of customs on SA.com. We also discussed recurring themes. I could be wrong, but it seems threads involving customs or high-end commercial models break down along these lines. 50%+ of the time it's the proverbial drool fest. We put out a picture of say a .500 something, marvel at its appearance, and respond with "wow", "very nice", or the over-done "enabler" comment. 30 - 40% rehash their mechanical attributes. You know, talk of line-boring, bolt bearing blocks, special alloys, high end grips, back-strap contours, and finishes. Then we have what I call the "versus" threads. Examples include "FA vs. custom", "cast vs jacketed", "this twist vs that twist", and the list goes on. Sometimes informative and certainly entertaining, they become circular arguments if not backed by real world shooting. Less than 10% of the time we're illustrating what the gun and shooter are capable of. So here's my idea. We dedicate this thread to 100 yard shooting with iron sights. It doesn't have to be a five shot group per se, Just being able to routinely hit at that distance is an accomplishment. We'll keep the paper target or object a maximum of 12" at the widest point. The posts themselves should include:
1) A photo of the gun
2) Firearm specifics
3) The load (bullet, powder, charge weight, and primer)
4) A picture of the target or object
5) Any relevant details on the shooting technique
And again, I want to thank David Bradshaw for his help over the past three years.
-Lee
www.singleactions.com
"Building carpal tunnel one round at a time"
.50 Alaskan BFR
Bullet - 585 gr Martin LFN
Powder - 48.0 IMR 4198
Brass - Starline
Primer - CCI Large Rifle
Velocity - 1,400 fps, or 100 under max
The spread is 4 3/4". My personal best is just under 4.0" so I was pleased with the target (for complete transparency I fired 19 other groups on Saturday and the second closest was 7")
________________________
100 Yards
Before I met David Bradshaw, I punched paper at 25 or 50 yards. Occasionally I'd sling lead to 100, but it was usually to ping a rock, stump, or anything else I thought I could hit. Precision shooting wasn't pursued at that range with a handgun. Then David comes along and my goals changed. His encouragement, technical acumen, and just plain good advice inspired me to stretch revolvers. Three years later I'm sighting in at 50 and tacking paper at 100 paces.
The journey hasn't been an easy one. For the first few months I was humbled, or better yet, plain frustrated. Absent were the tight clusters routinely shot at 25 - 50. Instead of trying to get holes to touch, I struggled to land on a 10" plate. But all the while David and I kept talking. Throw in his wonderful photo essays for motivation and I trudged ahead. Six months into the endeavor I started seeing results. 3 hits out of 5 on demand with the right gun and load was a big lift. I soon graduated to 4 out of 5 and with certain combinations 5 out of 5. I reviewed my log book the other night and summed the shots taken at 100 with open sight revolvers. 8,450 since the late 2012. I only mention this to reinforce the importance of practice.
________________________
The Visual
Everyone sees targets and sights differently. There's no one size fits all, so I'll just share what works for me. I like white 10" paper plates and a 6:00 hold. My sights are predominately post style out of aluminum and they want a dark backdrop. Our 100 yard target frame takes a 2 x 2 foot insert sprayed matte black. I pin a plate towards the upper half and slowly bring the gun up. Once the black disappears I know I'm close. At that point I'm focusing on a silver blade with a tiny dot on top.
The targets I use at 100:
Here's the view from the bench.
__________________________
The Challenge
On to the point of this post. A month ago I talked to a member about the inordinately high number of customs on SA.com. We also discussed recurring themes. I could be wrong, but it seems threads involving customs or high-end commercial models break down along these lines. 50%+ of the time it's the proverbial drool fest. We put out a picture of say a .500 something, marvel at its appearance, and respond with "wow", "very nice", or the over-done "enabler" comment. 30 - 40% rehash their mechanical attributes. You know, talk of line-boring, bolt bearing blocks, special alloys, high end grips, back-strap contours, and finishes. Then we have what I call the "versus" threads. Examples include "FA vs. custom", "cast vs jacketed", "this twist vs that twist", and the list goes on. Sometimes informative and certainly entertaining, they become circular arguments if not backed by real world shooting. Less than 10% of the time we're illustrating what the gun and shooter are capable of. So here's my idea. We dedicate this thread to 100 yard shooting with iron sights. It doesn't have to be a five shot group per se, Just being able to routinely hit at that distance is an accomplishment. We'll keep the paper target or object a maximum of 12" at the widest point. The posts themselves should include:
1) A photo of the gun
2) Firearm specifics
3) The load (bullet, powder, charge weight, and primer)
4) A picture of the target or object
5) Any relevant details on the shooting technique
And again, I want to thank David Bradshaw for his help over the past three years.
-Lee
www.singleactions.com
"Building carpal tunnel one round at a time"
