Shortest distance for accuracy testing ?

[Hammer]

Have heard of folks testing handguns at 10, 15, 25, and 50 yards.

Think the air rifle folks use shorter than that, but don't know.

Most rifle tests seem to be done at a 100 yards, but the long-range shooters maintain anything less than 600 yards is foolish.

Obviously wind plays a bigger component the longer the range, as do sighting errors.

Mike Venturino once wrote about the breakthrough in his thinking when he changed from 100 to 200 yards for rifles.


What is the shortest distance for reliable rifle accuracy testing ?


Hammer

 

[Cheechako]

Hammer

What are you testing???

If you're testing a 100/200 yard Benchrest rifle you need to test at those two distances.

For a hunting rifle I would test at the distance you expect most of your shots to be.

For long range Benchrest, test at whatever distance you have access to but only if the conditions are good.

And exactly who are these "long range shooters" who say that testing a LR rifle at anything less than 600 yards is foolish?

Ray

 

[Hammer]

Testing at known hunting ranges is good advice, but what about them pesky prairie dogs who do not cooperate and are sometimes at a 100 yards and sometimes at 500 yards ?

Some of the 1,000 yard shooters tell me that they have seen lots of ammo tested out at shorter ranges that lose their ballistic stability just short of 1,000 yards under some atmospheric conditions. They tell me that some bullets are not allowed on their 1,000 yard range for safety purposes whereas the same bullets are fine at 600 yards.

They tell me the wind bucking ability of some bullets out at 1,000 yards cause them to choose them even though other bullets may have shown better inherent accuracy close up.

My own experience is too limited to be of value.

 

[Cheechako]

Some of the 1,000 yard shooters tell me that they have seen lots of ammo tested out at shorter ranges that lose their ballistic stability just short of 1,000 yards under some atmospheric conditions. They tell me that some bullets are not allowed on their 1,000 yard range for safety purposes whereas the same bullets are fine at 600 yards.

They tell me the wind bucking ability of some bullets out at 1,000 yards cause them to choose them even though other bullets may have shown better inherent accuracy close up.

What those guys said is right. BUT, I know of no serious long range competitor who goes into a match unless he knows that his load will be supersonic at worst and above transsonic at best at whatever distance he is shooting. Anyone shooting ammo that may become unstable doesn't belong in a long range match.

The same goes when choosing a bullet. Competitive shooters always have to settle for the best compromise between accuracy and wind-bucking ability.What those guys said is absolutely correct.

Back to the prairie rats. I'd test at 100 and 200 yards and take the most accurate load. Then I'd shoot at different distances to determine drop and wind deflection.

And it wouldn't be much fun if you hit EVERY one, now would it?

Ray

 

[Hammer]

I know of no serious long range competitor who goes into a match unless he knows that his load will be supersonic at worst and above transsonic at best at whatever distance he is shooting. Anyone shooting ammo that may become unstable doesn't belong in a long range match.

Talked to some long range shooters in Mobile, Alabama.

Some of their friends, whom they had competed against at their friends' home range, visited them in Alabama.

Their friends' loads which worked well on their home range did not work on the Gulf Coast on that day.

Could have been powder sensitivity, could have been sea level, could have been temperature, could have been humidity or atmospheric pressure differences. Could have been the fried catfish and sweet tea for lunch. Don't know.

Maybe we can't always predict as well as we wished.

 

[chino1969]

I start at 100 meters just to get on paper but do all my fine tuning and load development at 200 meters. Once I'm getting consistent small groups at 200 meters, I'll start shooting @ 300, 400, and 500 meters. Shoot the distances you expect to be shooting during practice. It will help you to develop a feel for the load, develop click charts, etc. If you can consistently make little groups at a known distance on paper at the bench, you'll develop the confidence and field savvy to make the shot in the field.
Chino69

 

[Hammer]

A friend has the ability to shoot 47 yards from his back porch. He can load and test a lot at 47 yards. Natural barriers,a mountain) prevent longer range.

To shoot longer range requires packing everything, driving an hour each way to a range, and testing a much limited set of loads. He cannot stay away from the house long due to an ailing family member needing his care. Shooting at the house does not bother the ailing family member.

Is my friend wasting his time testing loads at 47 yards then taking the best candidates on his infrequent and short visits to a longer range ?

 

[savet06]

in a word, yes unless he is testing .22 LR ammo or, as was said, that is the range at which he will be doing the majority of his shooting.
As an example:
My savage .223 was shooting .2 and .3 at 50 yards during sight/barrel break in, but then went to nearly an inch with factory ammo at 100 yards.
50 yards is good for rimfire, but for a centerfire cartridge it just doesn't tell you too much.
Mike

 

[chino1969]

As said before, unless it is a 22 rimfire, it's a waste of time. Look at any trajectory chart and you will see that projecticles are crossing the line of sight in two locations; when the projectile is starting it's upward parabolic arc and again during the downward arc. By trying to shoot at this distance, you have no idea where you are in the arc and have no way of predicting where the bullet will be at longer distances. Even with a good ballistics program, you have to shoot from the bench in a 'real world' environment to determine your point of impact.
Chino69

 

[Hammer]

Has anyone ever taken a set of different loads, say thirty different loads, and shot groups at 50 yards and then at 200 yards and done a scatter plot of the pairs ?

Calculated an R-square maybe ?

 

[REELDOC]

Is my friend wasting his time testing loads at 47 yards then taking the best candidates on his infrequent and short visits to a longer range ?

I would say that you are never wasting your time when you have the opportunity to shoot. You may be limited at what you want to accomplish in your testing but stuff like chrono'ing a load, position shooting, etc. can be done at any range. Plus, he could strive for placing all shots in one hole at 47 yards Hell, I'd have a fine 22 if I had a 47 yard range in the backyard and then maybe play in the 50 yard bench game. All shots, one hole, 47 yards.