Thank you BRC for the construction of the new range, to all the support staff, and to the match winners. A special thank you to Tom for allowing the addition of late arrivals. I offered the use of my rifle to neighbors and a female junior team member last minute. The rifle is a factory production Savage chambered in 338 LM with a Lilja barrel along with SMKs loaded to feed through the DBM. My neighbor managed to squeeze in a sub 20” on his one target, better than what I have been able to shoot during practice.
Before the tournament, my neighbor asked what it is like shooting 2k. No different than shooting 200 yards so the old story goes. Just range, dial, and shoot. Both require sights to be adjusted off a 100 yard zero. Just read the caution printed in big bold red letters on the side of the box. “WARNING: Results will significantly vary with use of this product.” Consider the ballistics of this rifle against prudent sized targets under three different shooting disciplines. Only wind will be applied in the example not including the other sources of inaccuracies or dispersion that may compound on each other. An inaccurate full value wind of 1.5 MPH applied on a 500 yard F-Class target would cause the shot to land 1” left or right of center X. The inaccuracy is still inside the X ring and probably would not even bring a thought of concern to the shooter. An inaccurate full value wind of 1.5 MPH applied on a 1000 yard Long Range target would cause the shot to land 6” from center X. This would still be a solid 10 on the target and may or may not bring an indicator of concern to the shooter. An inaccurate wind value of 1.5 MPH applied on the MR-1 E2K target would cause the shot to land 33” left or right of center X. The shot would still land on the target but outside the last ring scoring a 0. This should cause concern and a level of awareness to the shooter. Although 2000 yards is 4 times greater than 500 yards in distance, an inaccurate full value wind call of 1.5 MPH is 33 times greater in distance in comparison to target centers. WARNING: Results will significantly vary? I would say so. Now include the other sources of dispersion and inaccuracies combined with wind. If there is anything I have gotten good with in regards to reading the wind, that is the realization I am not good with reading the wind and my results in some tournaments indicate this.
This match has applications with hunting season right around the corner. If I shoot at a game animal with a low chance of hitting vitals, successful or not, I am no longer hunting in confidence but rather shooting with ignorance. Ignorance is another word for an intentional act that is lacking in knowledge, information, or awareness. If left unchecked and untreated, ignorance becomes a cancer that will eventually kill the remainder of a healthy body. As this match displayed, hang paper targets or measure painted steel at the range and under various conditions likely to be encountered during a hunt. A succession of measured results will confirm or deny the presence of knowledge and awareness and provides the information that will either guide me toward confidence during a hunt or confirm an undesirable result initiated under ignorance. I must not let ignorance keep me paralyzed toward projecting results in the field. Stand up…..take up your mat……and walk.
Don