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Category: Firearms & Shooting
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This summer I was able to shoot at Spirit Ridge Rifle Golf course on two occasions. The first trip I used my Winchester Model 1885 in 300 Win Mag and shot 215 Berger Hybrid bullets. 

On this first trip there were a few fliers that I just couldn't explain other than there was something wrong with the rifle. Upon returning home I shot some groups at 300 yards with the 215 Berger Hybrid and the 208 A-Max. Both five shot groups were in the 5 inch range. Not very stellar. I looked over the rifle and found the the forearm wood was touching the barrel. I thought that I had fixed this when I first setup the rifle. A little sanding and some polyurethane and the barrel was back free floating.

A second trip to the range to shoot groups at 300 yards turn in much better results. A 3 inch five shot group for the 215 Bergers and about a 2 inch five shot group for the 208 A-Max. This was much better. I was now ready for another trip to Spirit Ridge.

On my second trip to Spirit Ridge I decided to shot the 208 A-Max out of my Model 1885 since they grouped better at 300 yards.  I'm probably going to tweak my 215 Berger Hybrid load a little more before I shoot them at long range again although a 3 inch group at 300 yards is a minute of angle I think I can get them shooting a little better.

The biggest thing I learned from this trip is that I need to learn to judge and calculate the wind.

Being able to make shots on targets at long range requires a good rifle, high ballistic coefficient bullets, a good tactical scope, sub MOA accurate loads and a ballistics app to calculate the shots. My app of choice is Strelok Pro combined with the weather censors inside my Samsung Galaxy S4 android phone. Strelok Pro was dead on both days with targets ranging from 350 to 1,000 yards. My misses were always the result of judging the wind incorrectly.

The highlight of the round was hitting the small Master's course 1,000 yard target. For hitting the target a got another 1,000 Club cap from my friends at Spirit Ridge. I got my first 1,000 Club cap last year shooting my Model 1885 chambered in 270 WSM.

Tee Off With A Bang at Spirit Ridge

Dallen, my father in law, brother in law and nephew at Spirit Ridge.

 

Calculating slope angle with Strelok Pro

Using the slope angle camera calculator feature inside of Strelok Pro. This is really cool. You touch the Slope Angle field in the App and a camera view opens up with a crosshair. Just place the crosshair on the target area and press ok and it uses the phone to give you the angle of the shot.

 

Winchester Model 1885 in 300 Win Mag and 208 Hornady A-Max bullet

Winchester Model 1885 in 300 Win Mag sporting a Vortex Viper PST 6-24x50 MOA second focal plane rifle scope and my 208 Hornady A-Max load.