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Question for 600yd shooters

Looking through a lot equipment lists from matches held all across the country, I'm noticing that a lot of shooters use fixed power scopes like the 36, 40 and 45 power Leupold. My question is how do you deal with mirage when the scope magnification is that high. I couldn't even see the rings on my target a few days ago at 300yds,with my Leupold36X, let alone bullet holes but I could with a 6X20 Weaver Grand slam set to 16 power. Now my Leupold is very old and I was wondering if the newer lens coating of the grand slam allowed me to see the holes or was it the reduced power that eliminated the mirage? I would really like to get this figured out.
 
The answer to your question is that we just shoot "through" the mirage.

By this I mean you just keep on shooting with a "wiggly" image.

Seeing bullet holes is not an issue as the targets are marked in the pits with the hit location and the value.

George
 
There is an article on this site about "Reading Mirage". Unsure if it will answer all your questions, but it may help. I'm about clueless as to how it's done, though I have read a lot of articles written by shooters who talk about dialing back the power until the mirage "comes in". I know when my targets start dancing around at 24x, I can back the power off a bit and it sure seems to help. But I am not shooting 600 yards either, always 300 or less.

Article on Mirage:http://www.6mmbr.com/readingmirage.html
 
I got the chance to shoot out too 1000yrds where my father in law lives. I have never shot comp. but want to once certain things take place to allow me too. I'm also able to shoot out to 700yrds on my uncle's land. Many times this summer Mirage was awful. I backed the power down to 18 the day I was shooting 1000 and it did stop the target from dancing around. As well when shooting at 5, 6, or 700 and mirage was bad I would back the power down and adjust my side focus until I was comfortable with what I was seeing. My shooting at 700 or 1000 isn't that great, but at this point I think the wind is more of a problem for me than mirage. This was with a Mark 4 Leupold 8.5x25x50 LR TMR rec. Hope this helps a little.
Mark
 
The best shooters in the six hundred yard game use high powered scopes as you state. They can read the wind using the mirage and for the most part see bullet holes . The better scopes with great glass makes it easier to see even through the mirage is bad .Example i shoot weaver and burris. at a shoot when i could not see bullet holes with my 32 power burris. i could see them with a borrowed nightforce on 32 power . As for beating the mirage i'll go along with you guys . i have done quite well turning down the power as low as 8 X and have manged to place in a couple shoots . I can still aquiry the center on a target at 600 yds. better on low power than i can fighting mirage . The Rifler
 
If you cant see it --you cant read it

Mirage is mother natures wind flags....it is there whether you can see it or not....sometimes the target is hard to see ,,but ...it is telling you much more than what the flags can....many times the target image will rise up 1 moa +/- ---the flags wont tell you about that....the scope merely compresses the water vapor to the point it can be seen ,,,good or bad depends on whether you want a clear image or a clear picture of where the target is and where the bullet is going....practice,practice.....Roger
 
I use the sighters to tell me how the mirage effects my aim point. If I aim in the average center of the perceived target (clay bird) in a straight boil and bust the bird center, I'll do the same on the record string. If it's a kind of mirage that lets me see the target clear for an instant then blurs with the direction of the wind, then I compensate for the wind but hold where the target was clear. I know that the target appears to be off to the direction that the wind is blowing but isn't there. For the super nasty fried chicken boil, I try to center on the average of the wiggle to reference my bird and see where the bullet actually impacts then do the best I can to repeat that sight picture during record string.
I hope I didn't make things worse.
This is how I'm doing it now but I'm not scared to try a better way.
Jim
 
It is hard to find anyone really willing to tell you how to shoot in a mirage. Guys that do it well on low or highpower have simply had significant experience and watch and learn where their bullets go. I am no expert at this by any means. But the way I like to do it is to leave my scope on highpower (40-50) and let the target dance and tell the story. For example today was moving over 1.5 minute R to L as well as about 1 minute of vertical. I would wait till it moved back to the right hand side, It would settle there for a while. This, to me was a good indicator of wind and told me that the wind had finished the peak and settled back into its lighter pattern. The gusts would move the image further and the consistent wind would be on one side - every day is different though. Sometimes it is more consistent in the middle and moves both right and left. Then I just use that orange spotter to adjust from there, keeping an eye on the flags to watch for change. Same said for up and down - but it is all just a relative thing as long as I can find some consistency in it - When it is constantly changing it gets more difficult.
 
Thanks for all of the input. I think for me it's just a matter of lots of range time as my skills have diminished since my short range BR days. 600 yds. is a totally different animal, so I'm back to being a rookie but I do love the challenge. I also have a whole new respect for the fellows that do it so well.
 
chuckhunter,
I think you are spot on with trigger time! My skills are not as good as I would like, and I could just sit here and read all day. This summer I have tried to get advice on somethings to understand them in my head, but put more trigger time in and put what I learn reading into practice. It has been working well for me, but like I said I still need even more practice.

Good info guys!! ;D
Mark
 
One of my F Class buddies shoots a 25X with a doubler. He has been Ontario F(O) Champion many times. He just seems to have a knack that he can`t really explain to shoot through mirage with 50 power.

The Ontario Final is shot at 1000 yards and the wobbly bull on a hot summer day doesn`t seem to bother him.

The best he can come up with is quality of glass and trigger time.

He shoots a custom gun with a MacLennon barrel chambered for a 6.5/270WSM wildcat, a reamer he designed himself and cut by PTG.

So I guess it all "boils" down to hard learned experience where he has blown a lot of targets and developed a method in his unconscious brain that has become instinctive which is overlaid by conscious decisions.

In otherwords, there ain`t no shortcut. You have to pay your dues.
 
I know it is hard but treat mirage as a friend not an enemy. Sometimes "she" can tell you a lot more than the flags and it is easier to concentrate on the target image alone rather than watching the flags intently.

Experiment a little with your highpower scope by placing a cover over the front like Gail McMillans suggestion with a dime sized whole. This reduces the light intake but increases the depth of field. You can see the mirage a lot better in the middle of the course but on my scope the image is clearer (although duller)
 
Ditto on mirage as a friend. At the Ontario F Class Championships this past weekend, I was shooting F/TR with a .308. My F(O) 6AI had stripped its throat. Used a Bushnell 4200 Tactical set at 24X. Struggled all weekend with a bullet going 400 fps slower than I had trained with all Spring and early Summer.

In the 900 yard Friday match, I saw a reverse in the flags and a reverse in the mirage at the target boards. BUT, something caught my eye at the last minute. It was a normal mirage flow about 200 yards from the firing line. I aimed for the wind set on my windage knob, no hold off because of the flags and I got a 5 on the DCRA 5 ring target with its 1/2 minute V ring.

We shoot in threes alternating shots in the Provincials. No single string. The next shooter in my squad got a wide 3 because he didn`t see the normal mirage closer to the firing line. He held off for the flags.

I didn`t win the match but that one shot made my whole day. I caught the anomoly in the mirage.
 

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