Target @ 400 Yard
 

This morning the temperature was 26. Elevation was 4900'. There was zero breeze in the beginning. The first 6 shots were loaded and fired without haste. Wondering if the warm barrel was resulting in slower muzzle speeds, the seventh shot wasn't taken until the barrel felt cold. The eighth shot wasn't taken until the barrel felt cold, but the air started to move some. The ninth shot was hurried so to beat the building breeze. The tenth shot was taken after the barrel was cold, but by then there was a noticeable breeze.

This rifle is the only one that can shoot 400 yard. The cds dial was turned almost a full revolution. The last time out a dimple was punched at what appeared to be 375 yard mark. There were 5 clicks between the 350 yard mark, and the dimple. So, 5 clicks were made beyond the dimple thinking this would be zero for 400 yard. There is only 2 click from this 400 yard mark to the 'stop'. It appear this scope and rifle max range is 410 yard or so. The rifle is a 45 caliber Knight Disc Elite topped with a Leupold ultra-light 3-9 power scope, that has a wide duplex reticle, and a cds dial. The load was 200g SST, 120g BH209, smooth blue sabot, and W209 primer. The cds dial was engraved for the 200g SST at a muzzle velocity of 2270 fps.

Ron, that's awesome. Shots 1 and 2 are all you need anyway and looks like you're spot on.

Ron, all I can say is - - - - - DANG!

Do you walk out there to check the target after each shot? :D

Impressive stuff there. 400yds is a LOOOONNNNNGGGG way. Bronko is right...shot #1 is what really counts. Good shooting man, awesome. Those CDS dials sure are something, I'll say. I personally at this time have no use for one...but you've proven they are worth it for long range use.

How far off was your velocity?

(oh, and once you peel the target from your stand...that's an amazing 400yd group! ;) :D)

Nice shooting, almost a quarter mile.

Never walk when you can ride; never stand when you can sit.

After coming home, i forgot which shot was 1, and which was 2, or which was 2, and which was 1. Also, may have interchanged 5 and 6.

I don't know.

NICE Shootin! Better watch out if this info get's in the wrong hands they may Out Law MLer's during MLer Season.
(BP)

wow thats great shooting

Dang them 200yd shots are gonna be easy now. This got me thinking....I practice shooting my Bow at 60-80 yds so when I shoot competition the 50+yd shots we shoot are much easier, or they seem to be anyway.
The furthest I've shot at it 200yd's, I've gotten dang good at 200, and on a good day can put out a 2"+- group. Mbay I should stretch it out to 300 and see what happens. But I know what My Load will do and how much energy and ft lbs it has to do the job while hunting when I shoot at 200yds. Have you figured out the ft lbs your load has at 400? I know this is probably mostly for FUN and you'd neve consider taking a shot at 400yds...or would you?....or even 300? why are you doing this for exactly?
(BP)

Ron try some sub bases from mmp and see if that helps a little more for a better seal no go its a 45cal but thats some good shooting there

Very impressive shooting. First couple of shots would get it done.

South Dakota has already dealt with your worry. It is iron sights only during muzzle loader season.

You already answered this question--for fun.


There is ample energy at 400 yard to kill a prairie dog, coyote, wolf, pronghorn, or deer. Seems i would want to have a real real good rest, before i would take a shot at a deer or a pronghorn, but i wouldn't hesitate to throw lead at them other critter at any range.

Very nice shooting. But (i wouldn't hesitate to throw lead at them other critter at any range) I would like you to consider that "them other critter" are living creatures that more than likely feel pain too and deserve a quick and ethical demise as much as a deer. Sorry about the sermon but I had to get that off my chest.

That's some fine long range shooting.

No need to apologize. Sometimes it pains me to 'throw' lead at them beautiful critters we are sharing mother earth with. My personal definition of 'heaven' is something like: Heaven is the place where we don't have to kill to live. Nothing can live here, unless it kills. We kill to live no matter what we eat.

It seems to me, that anyone willing to hunt, can't be overly concerned about inflicting pain. Anyone willing to pull the trigger, and send a bullet into one of them beautiful critter, cannot be overly concerned with inflicting pain. I have no less respect for them 'vermin' than i do deer, elk, or pronghorn. When the trigger is pulled, inflicting pain is inevitable.

I hate the taste of gut shot venison. I don't think i can ever ever again bring home a gut shot critter to eat. Fearing a poor hit on a critter i intend to eat, is why i would require a solid rest when going for a long range shot, not because i am concerned about the pain the bullet would cause.

400 Yards is a long way with any rifle let alone a ML. Rons groups are probably fantastic at that range. But what the target clearly shows is it is not even close to being acceptable hunting accuracy at all.

I like about 800-900ft lbs of energy for deer or larger animals. Im actually surprised that there's that much at 300+ yds. And I know some may dis-agree with me on this one but a Coyote is a Mean Heartless Killing Machine that does nothing but Kill and Inflict Pain. I'd have no problem sending a load at one of them no matter how far they are.
Thank's for the graph.
(BP)

More shooting this morning
 

Did some more of the same shooting this morning. Pretty much everything was the same today as yesterday. It was 23 degrees to begin with, and at the end it was 24 degrees. Initially there was no breeze, but the air was moving. About half way through, the air was definitely drifting to the right, but not really a breeze.

400 yards is a long way. Good shooting. Keep practicing at that range and 200 yards shots will seem like child's play.

Another Morning Without Wind
 

It snowed about 1" last night, so had to shovel a little snow off the drive. Whilst shoveling, i noticed there was only a slight breeze, so when finished, headed for the hills.






That last time out, it seemed like the rifle wasn't shooting as good as i thought it should. Whilst cleaning it, i removed the barrel from the stock, and removed some tape i had placed last summer to make the barrel more free floating. It also seemed the bullet were hitting low when compared to the setting on the cds dial, so i increased the powder charge to 130g BH. Because of these changes, it seemed prudent to check the aim. The previous photo shows where the bullet hit at 200 yard with the cds dial set at 2. This was satisfactory, so a move was made so to be able to shoot at 400 yard.


There seemed to be a few lion hunters out looking for fresh tracks in the new snow, and their tracks can be seen in the photo. The air was thick with a little fog, and a very very minimum snow fall. The temperature was 14 degrees, and the breeze was near zero, but inconsistant. The cds dial was twisted as far as it could go, before shooting at the 400 yard target.







I saw the first bullet hole; the second bullet hole, but i couldn't see where the third and fourth bullets hit. For some reason the light was such that no matter how i tried, i couldn't see bullet holes today. This made me wonder, so i had to drive the 400 yard to the target. At the target, i could finally see bullet holes.







Then, returning to 400 yard away, i was able to get off 5 more shots before it seemed the breeze was too much.

That is some great shooting. It appears your groups are a slight bit low/right as a whole, and about 12" or so around? (I don't know how big that circle is. Very impressive regardless, I doubt I could do that with my centerfire - and its a tack driver. (I ain't that good!) :D

That has to feel good....holding on something that far away and connecting within inches of where you aimed.

What would feel good is every shot in the red. The group can be moved left with 'clicks'. It can't be moved up at this range, unless the muzzle velocity is increased. The dial is turned up as far as it can go. Of course, one could use a dial without 'stops', and go for it. However, it doesn't appear this rifle is accurate enough to even shoot this far. Where is that 45 caliber Mountaineer??

How about a .45 V2?

It's my next gun.

That's some good shooting, but I think for that distance I would prefer a faster twist and bullet with a higher BC. That's just my personal preference .

What bullet did you shoot?

Oops never mind. 200gr SST.

Too much creep in the trigger to suit my taste. Yes, yes, i know, you are going to write how perfect the trigger is. I have read so so many posts about how sweet the CVA trigger are, but i don't agree. Myself, i own 3 Accura, and they are OK, but to be honest, the creepy trigger gets old after awhile.

It seems mighty mighty strange to me, that i happened to purchase the only 3 Accura rifle in the world that have trigger with creep. Now, don't get me wrong, they have a decent trigger, and one can make some decent shoot with them, but they are not perfect. The trigger on every Omega i own are far better than the trigger on every Accura i own. Omega trigger break clean; crisp, and are reasonable light for hunting. Accura trigger are light, but aren't without minor creep. Knight trigger are adjustable.

No, the V2 45 caliber will not come into my house. An Omega 45 caliber will get the next chance, and perhaps the 45 caliber Mountaineer, if it becomes a reality. This long range shooting is great fun; perhaps even addictive.

Funny how that works out huh? My Omega trigger was lousy.

We sure are unlucky with guns.

Myself, i know of no common bullet available to me, that has a higher BC than 0.265. What bullet are you suggesting? As for faster twist, what rifle currently available to me would have a faster twist. Keep in mind that i paid $200 for this rifle brand new last summer. It could be i am kinda, sorta, addicted to this long range shooting, but....................

Or biased. :s4: I have to agree with Ron on the trigger. I think Knight has a great trigger on the mountaineer

I don't consider myself unlucky!

I wasn't looking for any grief when I suggested the V2 .45. Since you bought 3 V2's. I figured you liked them.

You are right as far as common bullets. SST and most 40 cal aren't going to have a higher BC. I was thinking along the lines of a PR ultimate conical 360 gr and a BC of .320. And there are others that are even higher but you won't walk into a store and buy them . It's usually one of those deals where you have to order online

Them bullet would require a faster twist barrel?

Two Rifles at 400 Yard
 

Six degrees and calm at dawn. Also wanted to try the Mountaineer at 400 yard, but haven't been able to because the cds dial only can turn one rotation and that is only good for about 325 yard. Switched out the cds dial with a moa dial, studied ballistic, and gave the 400 yard target a go with both rifle.








The three holes on the left were punched by the 45 caliber Knight Disc Elite. The load was 200g SST, 130g BH209, smooth blue Harvester sabot, W209 primer. The cds dial was turned as far as it will go to make the 400 yard hits.

The two holes on the right were punched by the 50 caliber Knight Mountaineer loaded with 300g Deep Curl, 120g BH209, crush rib sabot, W209 primer. The moa dial was turned more than 1 1/2 rotation to accomplish a 400 yard zero.

The wind came quickly this morning, so not many shots were taken.