31 minutes of elevation and 13 minutes of windage

[Sim G]

I'm not one for spending hours on YouTube watching shooting videos, unless it's full auto in slow motion, but I am fond of the Long Range Shooters of Utah and their 1000 yard milk jug challenge. 10 rounds, 1000 yards, one gallon milk jug...

This is from a few years ago and I've only just seen it. Standard factory Tikka .223, 1 in 8", 75gn Amax at 2900fps, 31 minutes of elevation and 13 minutes of windage in cold, blustery conditions..... 1 shot!

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=20Fp239bERs

[Mattnall]

My AR needs 45 minutes at 1000yds with 80gn SMKs and I only had a couple of minutes left on the scope so less windage adjustment to play with, also they didn't always stay supersonic.
I changed to JLKs and the elevation became 38 minutes and they are super slippery, staying supersonic past 1000yds. Takes nearly 2 seconds to reach the target - time for a tea break.

I used to shoot the PR League and the 1000snaps match, but don't get to shoot the long distances with the 223 so much now. Better cartridges available for that game.

[Ovenpaa]

Where is Laurie Holland when you need him? He used to shoot a .223 in F Class.

EDIT - I remember being at Newark one Friday before the show and the Viking was 'arguing' with Dougie about the relative merits of follow up shots on rabbits at 1000 yards with a 5,56x45. I am sure Laurie and Vince were there :)

[snayperskaya]

There was a milk jug challenge on the sniper rifle forum on Gunboards with the same format and guys were doing it with WWII-era sniper rifles including Mosins, Mausers and Lee Enfields with period scopes.

[The Gun Pimp]

Dave - yes we were there.

I love long range stuff. OK, it was a lucky shot on the milk jug but you still have a lot of decisions to make and sometimes luck is on your side. Which golfer was it who said "The more I practice, the luckier I get."

Yes - Laurie had some amazing shoots with that 223 FTR - I remember him going head to head with Russell Simmons (308 FTR) at Blair Atholl in a GBFCA League shoot - a large crowd watched in amazement as Laurie kept pace with a 308 at 1000 yards trading V bulls!

Stuart Anselm has just built one for FTR to take advantage of the new 90gn Bergers.

[Laurie]

My immediate thought on the thread title when applied to the 223 was it had to be shot on a location that was high and probably hot too. Shooting here in chilly lowland Britain this combination needs 35-MOA + for 1,000. Change the ambient parameters to 3,000 ft ASL altitude and 80 degree temperature and you now get 31-MOA.

More important, the 75-AMax at 2,900 is subsonic at 1,000 here in most conditions, and it is inadequately stabilised in a 9-twist barrel in many conditions too which increases drag even if bullets don't tumble. Climb high enough and there is an astonishing improvement in retained velocity (+ 200 fps @ 1K at 3,000 / 80-deg) which keeps it well above the key 1,225 fps mark and bullet stability is much enhanced too.

Not a bad shot though (says he, tongue in cheek and understating things just a trifle) for a one-shot hit on this size target at this distance with any cartridge - you really do have to be spot on with the windage estimate and the 223 needs just a little more than a 7WSM for comparison.

My old 223 F/TR rifle is currently disassembled but having had a new Benchmark 7-twist and barrel tuner put on will be shot again from next year, not in F/TR though as it's way too heavy now having like its owner put weight on. There are some excellent new heavy .224" bullets around to add to the 90s I was shooting at 1,000 10 or so years ago so it should be fun. (I have some of Berger's new 85.5gn Hybrids for which I hold very high hopes.)

Shooting the Berger 90gn VLD at 2,910 fps back in 2011, we found it would perform beyond 1,000 at Blair Atholl. I was a member of a scratch Scotland team in June 2011 against the US F/TR team and thanks to excellent wind-reading by local coach Hamish the 223 made the second highest score in the 1,100 yards stage. A couple of days earlier we'd had a fun / practice shoot at 1,200 yards (actually 1,224 yards at Blair IIRC) and in unusually still conditions I managed to keep 9 out of 10 shots within the four-ring and all bar the sole 3 within a half-MOA elevation band. The 223 can be a fantastic long-range cartridge with heavies, but unlike 308 is prone to produce an elevation flier every ten shots or so for unknown reasons.

(The Americans loved the combination of instant response electronic targetry and 1,200 yards - they'd have stayed up there all afternoon and the evening too until they ran out of ammo if we'd let them. Rather less fun was the flipside of the windless conditions - a near biblical plague of midges. I looked like I'd caught measles after four days of this and neither of the insect repellents I had worked on the damned things.)

[Sim G]

Always love to read your view Laurie!

But just for sh1ts & giggles, same group of guys, Long Range Shooters of Utah.

Milk jugs at 1200 and 1500 yards.... with an 18” barrel .223 AR15!!!! 77gn Bergers @ 2630. When he bounces then round the target and then hits the backer at 1500, and then you see how small the backer is, hitting the jug is even more impressive!

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=sOumuAb1KEQ

[mag41uk]

I am sure I could hit that water jug given enough time and ammo!
Monkeys and typewriters etc!
31moa seems low to me assuming a 100yd zero.

[Sim G]

31 minutes is just a quote from the video. Don’t know what the zero was.

And the challenge is only 10 rounds...

[PeterN]

This chap can hit a balloon at 1000 yards on his second shot with a revolver.
Regards
Peter.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJ3Xwiz ... ProShooter