Semisane

I have three small food plots on my hunting lease. One of them offers shots of no more than 100 yards or so. But the far end of another one is 150 yards from the stand, and the wood line at the back of the longest one is 176 yards from the stand. That's a real long shot (for me anyway).

Knowing I would be carrying the .45 Sinful Renegade for several hunts over these plots, I decided to build my confidence by knowing what the trajectory of my load is out of my rifle.

I took seven shots from the bench, starting at 25 yards and moving the target back 25 yards for each shot. So I had one shot each at 25, 50, 75, 100, 125, 150 and 175 yards. The target is below.

The load was 85 grains of GOEX FFFg under a 200 grain .40 Hornady XTP in a Harvester H4540B sabot. Point of aim for all shots was the one-inch dot.



Most likely any shot I take will be no more than 125 yards. But it's awfully nice to know that given the right circumstances (a broadside unmoving deer) I can connect on a 150 shot by aiming just above the centerline of the chest, or a 175 yard shot by aiming at the very top of the body.

thumper50

You don't have any excuse if you miss. With the exception of loose operating nut!! Darn good shootin der semi!!!

Carpmaster

Thats very impressive!

dphobby

Loks like you have some good results there Semi. Always give you more confidence when you know your trajectory, no matter what distance you are shooting at.

cayugad

I have the same rifle barrel. I will have to get to playing more with that. That is some good shooting there. Is that rifle scoped?

Semisane

Yeah Cayugad, it's the "Sinful Renegade" (it's a sin to scope a sidelock) with a 4X Simmons ProDiamond.

Krypt Keeper

Semi I would rather you sin and scope a sidelock than to take a shot at a deer and just wound it. Ethics outweigh looks any day of the week and twice on Sunday.

I love my sidelock, but this past weekend I altered the front sight and drilled a small hole and put in a small piece of fiber optic. (my eyes aren't getting any better with age) Just have to adapt and overcome as you go along.

Duckbutter48

Does a 6" drop from 150 to 175 seem normal? I noticed it looks like about a 3" drop from 125 to 150. I thought a 6" drop for an extra 25yards seemed a bit extreme.

I have never shot my M/L in 25 yard increments so I really have no idea what the norm is for bullet drop.

I've seen the bullet drop M/L scopes but didn't notice that much separation at those distances between the lines on the recticle.

Semisane

It is for this particular bullet/powder/gun combination Duckbutter. I haven't shot it at 200 yards, but it probably drops another twelve to fifteen inches in the 25 yards between 175 and 200.

Of course, trajectory will change with more or less powder, or a different bullet, or (and this is important) a sight adjustment. As you can see, I'm sighted in for one-inch-high at 100 yards with this load. If I change it to "dead on" at 100 yards it hits about a foot low at 175.

You should try it some time - it sure is educational. It's also a confidence builder. I don't think anyone has any business shooting at game over 100 yards unless they've shot their hunting load at longer distances on the range and know where the bullet is going.

TNHagies

Everyone should do this if they're going to hunt at any varying ranges. Some only can see 40-50 yards max where they hunt, so the POI won't change much but those who don't, they MUST know where the load hits at every range.

Additionally, they should take shots at all the ranges using the position/rest they will be using in the stand. Shooting 150 on a bench is A LOT different than shooting off your knee at 150. Most would probably be quite surprised with the results.

Thanks for posting this Semi