pd at 3260yds

[wilbur300wsm]

pdog06
the (.397" off the bottom) is the measurement under the rear scope block and the mount. the front scope block is your pivet point, and the rear block moves up and down for elev moa ajustment. for every 10moa at 100yrds you need .0165" gap under the rear block. so the .397" gap is broken down like this. .397" divided by .0165" = 24. 24x10moa (at 100yrds)= 240moa. plus the 18moa he had in the scope is 258moa. with his zero, the height of the scope, and the cosine angle we were shooting at, 258moa is what it took to get the bullet to land at 3260. hope this helps.

 

[yobuck]

I have a zeiss 85 t spotting scope we use, it's kind of a good spotting scope I think. but I sure as hell can't see a prairie dog at 2 miles with it or a 24x leupold scope so just what kind of optics are you using?[ excellant question bud. we have the best optics available by way of spotting scopes in brackets. beats me how guys can see hits at those extreme distances. especially here in the east on tree covered sidehills.

 

[jghoghunter]

Yobuck
The 2nd pic is taken with the camera thru the spotting scope that is set on 30x and the camera is not zoomed at all. I couldn't get it to worked zoomed in and I couldn't get a picture with the spotter zoomed any more as you can see those are mounds at 3260 to alittle more than 2 miles if the spotter was zoomed in you can see dogs walking on the mounds. Give it a try sometime you will be suprized what you can see.

 

[yobuck]

jdhoghunter, very nice pictures, and setup you guys have there.
what you have is tailered for what you do. obviously it works well.
actually, your not seeing the hit, what your seeing is the dust cloud caused by the hit. thats all you need for what your doing.
bring that setup here to north central pa. and its an entirly different game. due to leaves, and or snow, you need to see the actual impact of the bullet. no dust cloud.
that swaro. scope is very popular here also, as are the large kowas. (can we argue ford and chevy) but you will rarly if ever, see a single. always in pairs as binnoculars.
your bench is pretty basic, but the rest wouldnt work well on an animal that might run after the first miss.
you would rarly be able to see clearly through an eyepiece more powerful than 40x here. too much humidity even in winter.
what we have on this site is a very diverse group who share an interest.
but like racing, it can vary from track to track. yet its all racing.
so i guess what im saying is, all you young guys here in the east, dont think your going to duplicate this. track conditions just wont permit it.
these guys arent your typical prairie dog hunters. even by long range standards.
and unlike a deer or other large animals, it dont take much energy to kill a prairie dog.

 

[wilbur300wsm]

yobuck
jg and i both live in central pa. and shot many ground hogs here also. like you said, it doesn't take much to kill a p-dog. the energy our guns make at 2 miles would be like a 9mm at point blank range. you are right about the dust signature. you see that, you in the money. although when you hit the face and the top of the mound, you can see the bullet splash when the mound is damp. we don't do any long range big game hunting, where you need a large cal. to see bullet inpact in all types of debree or to bring down game. a single swaro works fine for long range veiwing, but it does give eye fatige after awhile. we aren't glassing a montain side for game, we are just using it to spot shots. out west, there are days you can crank you scope to 42 power on the nf or even 60 power on the march. i agree that you don't get the best conditions here in pa for any type of long range shooting. we are stuck with that, can't help mother nature. in a dog town, you rarely have to change you setup because you get more shots at 'um before they take their marbels home and don't want to play anymore. happy shooting.

 

[Bud Martin]

I have a zeiss 85 t spotting scope we use, it's kind of a good spotting scope I think. but I sure as hell can't see a prairie dog at 2 miles with it or a 24x leupold scope so just what kind of optics are you using?[ excellant question bud. we have the best optics available by way of spotting scopes in brackets. beats me how guys can see hits at those extreme distances. especially here in the east on tree covered sidehills.

I tried my Zeiss scope today at 2 miles, I can kind of see a white 5 gallon bucket there is no way to make out the prairie dog sticker on the bucket. don't care how good your eyes are. I thought my zeiss scope was one of the best. If it gets above 65 degree's all you can see is heat waves if you turn up over 45 power. guess I'll go to the eye doctor.

 

[devildoc]

I have some experience shooting at those ranges with a friend of mine. And you don't just shoot in any conditions. I don't care how good your optics are, out here (southern Colorado) you could have the hubble telescope mounted on your rifle and you wouldn't hit anything if the mirage is up. But if conditions are good you can resolve a PD at 2+ miles with a Premier boosted Leupy.

I'm interested in what kind of mounts you guys are using. Are you using something based on Elmer Laitala's original design?

 

[jghoghunter]

I'm with devildoc if conditions are GOOD, they don't have to be perfect, we are able to see dogs. If the mirage is up your done. My partner and I also spend our time try to resolve 30 cal and 6mm bullet holes at 1000 yds. When conditions are good as in last week one day you could see 6mm as plain as day, 30 cal jumped out at you. Today you could see 30 cal easy but you had to really look for 6mm and even then you missed some. Other guys at the range couldn't see the 30's we marked them and went and looked and thats where they were. So it takes some time behind the scope also. Last year we were at 2200-3000 and the conditions were fair and at 3k you had a hard time seeing but just wait a minute and the wind may blow the mirage away.


Devildoc PM sent

 

[wilbur300wsm]

devildoc
i have the blue and white gun in the pics. two years ago i made shots over 1700yrds with the same 20x50 prem. boosted leupy. last year i shot one 2217yrds with a 12x42 nf, back down to about 30 power (mirage). this year i switched to a 10x60 march. you are right, the conditions have to be darn near perfect to see that far. when conditions were good i was up on 60 power for some shots. the wind does help to keep the mirage from getting too fat. as for the mount, i called elmer two years ago. he said he no longer made the mount. if i wanted one i would have to buy from someone who had one. i guy in minnasota. had one. (met him through vha mag) he sent me detailed pics of his, i thought of a simaler but simpler design with less moving parts and had a machinist buddy make two of them,one for each of the guns. if you are interested in it i can send pics and scaled drawing of it. the elev adjustment is .750" which works out to juat over 4200yrds. and windage is good for about 30 to 35 mile winds at same distance. i'm not sure about my eyes but jg and i were load testing today for the upcoming pa williamsport world open shoot on the 11th and 12th. at 7:30 this morning we could see 6mm holes at 1000 yrds on white paper with a swaro 60x spotter. at 10:00am you could only see the 30's. again in the right conditions you can see. happy shooting.