Setting up a drop chart?????
Oct 27, 2014 21:45:12 GMT -5
Post by hankinsrfls on Oct 27, 2014 21:45:12 GMT -5
Guys... I just finished a rifle build for a fellow in North Carolina. He asked me if I could make him a drop chart for his new Smokeless Muzzleloader out to 300 yards. I told him I would do it, and today I went to the range where I was able to set his rifle up out to 335 yards.. Here is a picture of the completed rifle. It has a Krieger barrel finished at 28 inches, a muzzle brake, Remington 700 SS short action, Boyds modified stock with a 1 inch Pachmayr Decelerator pad and a high gloss clear , the trigger is a Jewell set at 1/5 pounds. The scope is a Vortex Viper PST 4-16X50 with a 30 MM tube and lighted reticle. The rings are Vortex precision match rings and a Warne 20 MOA Picatinny base.
I bore sighted the rifle by looking down the barrel and lining up the target in the barrel and on the reticle and when I thought I was close to the bull, I loaded the rifle and shot three shots. The first shot was approx. 2 inches low and 2 inches to the left. I went ahead and shot 2 more shots just to see what kind of group I could get and after three shots I had a group of .480 MOA. Next I adjusted the scope up a few click and over to the right a few clicks, I then fired a shot at the bottom dot to see where I was. The 4th shot hit the orange dot just a little low and still to the left so I clicked it up one more and to the right one more and fired my 5th shot. This time I was in the bull pretty darn good so I called it quits for the 100 yard zero.
Next I moved out to the 150 yard target. I made an adjustment of 2 clicks up (.2) and fired 2 shots. The 6th and 7th shot was pretty much dead on so I have an elevation of 2 clicks (.2) for a 150 yard shot. Now shooting at a big target such as a deer the 2 clicks are not needed but when you have a very small target you want to hit then the 2 clicks make the difference in a hit or a miss.
Next came the 200 yard target. I made a guess of how many clicks to go up on the elevation and that was 10 clicks (2.2). I fired a shot and it was 2 inches high so I loaded again and fired another shot, it was in the same hole, so I thought what the heck, 2 shots one hole, lets try for one more and make it 3 shots and one hole so I fired off the third shot for the group and we now had a one ragged .570 MOA hole at 200 yards. this was my 9th, 10th and 11th shot for the day. I brought the reticle down 2 clicks (2.0) and fired my 12th shot. It hit 12 o:clock on the dot, down 2 more click (1.2) and I was at a perfect elevation but the wind must have got me a little and blew me off to the right an inch and a half.. So I settled for 6 clicks up (1.2) for a 200 yard shot.
Next came the 250 yard target., The wind was starting to pick up speed and blew from all sides, but I was still able to shoot some good groups. I moved the reticle up 12 clicks (3.0) and fired a shot, it hit perfect on the elevation so I shot 2 more times making a 3 shot group of 2.230 MOA. this was my 14th, 15th, and 16th shot for the day. Not giving any cool down time for the rifle except the time it took me to reset targets.
Now moving on to the 300 yard target I moved the reticle up 17 clicks (4.1) and fired a shot. The first one was dead nuts in the bull so I shot my second shot at 300 yards and dang it if it didn't fly out to the right and go low on me about 2.5 inches,, dang I hate it when that happens, but it does happen to all of us,,, so I loaded up again and fired the 3rd shot for the 300 yard group and it was also low but inline with the bull, I decided to shoot a 4th shot just to see if it would tighten up the group and it did, I got a three shot group of 1.580 MOA but that flyer shot killed me giving me a group of 4.320 at 300 yards..... If only that flyer could be tossed out but it's there to stay. I decided to add one more click to the drop chart and call it 18 clicks (4.2).
I walked out to the 300 yard target and carried it back as far as I could, usually I can only get 325 yards but today the leaves have almost all fallen so I was able to get the target back to 335 yards. I added 4 clicks to the scope and shot my first shot. Once again it was dead nuts in the bull, so I went ahead and fired two more. These were my 22nd and 23rd shots of the day. Both of these shots fell a little low but I was happy with the results and called it good to go. At the 335 yard mark I got a 3 shot group that measured 3.720 MOA and 22 clicks of elevation or 5.2 on the scope.
Now that I have the drop chart figured out. I make a little print out and tape it to the front of the scope. There it is very easy to see and all you need to do is range your target and dial your scope to that range. Hold dead on and let it fly. Return back to zero each time and you will always be ready for the next shot. This is how I do it. I think it works much better than the custom turrents you can buy because it you change bullets or loads all you have to do is pull off the chart on the scope and make a new one.
The bullets I used for todays drop chart are Parker 275 Grain BE's, the powder was 78 Grains of IMR 4198 with a velocity of 3000 FPS. The primers were Federal large rifle magnum 215. This is my favorite load for the SML and it has never let me down.
Please remember to start low with your powder charges and work your way up. This load IS NOT safe in brake open guns such as the Thompson Encore or the CVA Apex. My rifles are built on a 1.250 diameter barrel so make sure you understand what you are doing when you load this into your rifle....
Jeff Hankins.... www.hankinscustomrifles.com.
