9.3 X 62 Long Range?

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stokesrj
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Re: 9.3 X 62 Long Range?

Post by stokesrj »

I'm measuring it with my Magnetospeed which has proven very accurate in the past. I have a hard time believing they are going anywhere near 2600 FPS.
Perhaps I should verify with another Chronograph.
Robert J Stokes

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Re: 9.3 X 62 Long Range?

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stokesrj wrote:I'm measuring it with my Magnetospeed which has proven very accurate in the past. I have a hard time believing they are going anywhere near 2600 FPS.
Perhaps I should verify with another Chronograph.
I just checked what mine was doing and the data I have is saying 2544fps. Now that was with my old chrony and not with the magnetospeed. Now I never did any load validation with it.
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Measure it, when it’s on the deck

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Re: 9.3 X 62 Long Range?

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I spent the morning at the range today, again verifying what I thought to be true with my R8 Professional Success, 20.5" Semi Weight Fluted Barrel. Shooting the same load I've been woking with, the 250 grain Accubond, 58.0 grains of IMR4895, Fed 215 primer, Hornady case and the bullet seated to the channeler. This is a slightly compressed load but it has proven very accurate in my rifle, well under 1 MOA in a variety of conditions. After today, I consider it qualified and fully developed, when paired with my Zeiss 3-12X56 HT rail mount, with ASV ballistic turret and #60 lighted reticle. You may recall the effort I had to put into acquiring this particular combination, since it is not available in the US, I purchased it in Europe and went back and forth a couple of times with Zeiss USA and Zeiss Germany to get everything correct.

Now with all that behind me, I think this is without doubt a fantastic combination. I also regulated my Aimpoint H1 Micro and the open sights to this load. They all perform to my expectations and I have high expectations.

Image

I was in Cincinnati last week, and some of you from the US will remember that the weather was pretty harsh. I was working in the down town area and didn't bother to get a rental car, instead, I walked everywhere I went since it was all relatively close by. I was regretting that decision Thursday morning when I had to walk about a mile in -12 degree Fahrenheit weather. That's pretty cold to a Florida boy accustomed to 50-60 degree mid winter temperatures.

The weather also was impacting flight schedules and sure enough my flight was cancelled Friday afternoon. I didn't get back home until close to midnight, but I had a mission, so was up at 5:00 am, and heading out to the Manatee range which is about 2 hrs south of my home. I got there well before the range opened but used the time to get everything set up and then, walked the range with my anemometer This allowed me to compare the measured wind velocity all along the path of the bullet from the bench to the 400 yard line and then compare that to the wind flags and later when the sun was higher the mirage. I got pretty solid feeling that I understood the wind flows and how to use it to dope the wind today.

Normally when testing I don't dope the wind as I'm only interested in the vertical dispersion relative to point of aim but today I decided to hold into the wind and see how well the combination of this rifle load and my doping would work. I planned to shoot only one shot at each 100 yard line from 100-400 yards to simulate a real hunting situation, one in which only the first shot counts.

This is a pretty boring way to spend the morning since I have to wait until the range is called cold to change my target distance. In other words I was going to shoot one shot every 45 minutes, way to slow for someone like me that likes to shoot. But I stayed with it, for a while anyway.

The first shot was at 100 yards from a cold barrel. The wind was coming from about 2:00 at 4 MPH, I held at the edge of the red X ring at 3:00. As you can see it hit about 3/4" high but dead on left and right at 12:00.

The second shot was at 200 yards and the wind was pretty much the same as the 100 yard shot. I held at 3:00 into the black slightly and as you can see it was pretty much dead on, just a little low and right but still what I would consider a center shot.

By the time I got set up for the third shot which was at 300 yards the wind had shifted direction coming from 4:00 and picked up considerably. I held at 3:00 outside edge of the ten ring. When I broke the shot, I checked the mirage through my spotting scope and it was going straight up, the wind had let up completely. The shot hit just a little high of where I was holding. I messed up that wind hold but still within 3/4 MOA of the center.

Now by the time I got back from setting up the target at the 400 yard line the wind had changed again but I could see the effective speed easily and held at 3:00 at the outside of the 9 ring. I couldn't see where I hit through the spotting scope so I figured it was in the black as I would more than likely be able to see it if it were in the white. But I wasn't sure, and I was getting bored not shooting much, so I decided to shoot two more rounds. I could see neither of these either.

As I drove the golf cart down to the 400 yard line the anticipation was nearly unbearable, I felt there was a good chance that all three shots were in the black and If so the #006 ring was pretty much dead on. As I neared the target, I could see there were no shots in the white and then finally I could see all three hits were in the black along with the previous shots. That was a very good feeling. I was done, confidence was in place with the ASV #006 ring. All was well.

Image

One thing remained, regulating the sights and the Aimpoint to this load. They were both set for the 285 grain Lapua that I had let my son Timmy shoot a hog with a couple months back. I lowered the vertical setting by four clicks before shooting the first group at 100 yards, I knew this would be close and it was. Three shots clustered tightly at 10:00 in the ten ring. Two clicks right and one click down and the next three shot group were all in the red X ring. Plenty good enough.

I raised the front sight using the small allen wrench but apparently too much, since the first shot at 100 yards with the open sights was in the white at 6:00 so I lowered it just a tad. That did the trick, the next three were all in the ten ring about a 1.5" group. I have the open sights just as an emergency back up so I didn't bother getting it to group in the X ring, this was close enough for my purposes.

So, now I'm done and I have the utmost confidence that this is indeed a 400 yard gun, ammo, and sight combination. I'm Happy :D
Robert J Stokes

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Re: 9.3 X 62 Long Range?

Post by deerhunter338mag »

That's just out standing Robert, great report :clap: :clap:
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Re: 9.3 X 62 Long Range?

Post by dieselten »

Great shooting Robert. You have to be happy with that

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chalky
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Re: 9.3 X 62 Long Range?

Post by chalky »

Brilliant report Bob, must've been great to see the results of all your hard work paying off

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Re: 9.3 X 62 Long Range?

Post by stokesrj »

It is very rewarding to see it all come together. What I have learned is that if you take the ammunition manufacturers word for their velocity, plug the information into a ballistic calculator, and expect to see "spot on" (cynicism intended) performance, you are likely to be disappointed. It takes time and multiple trips to the range to get it all sorted out. I estimate I spent some where in the neighborhood of $1,200 us dollars in load development, component costs, range fees, gas and mileage as well as in excess of 100 hours to get to results that I'm happy with.

I also think this is partly the reason that long range hunting is so controversial, not everyone who attempts it has done their homework first. There are so many things that can go wrong and eliminating them all takes time and effort.

I've aslo noted that it is much easier to get pleasing results at 300 and 400 yards than it is at longer distances. I'm still not happy with my 6.5 STW beyond 600 yards. I'm going to have to get serious about spending the time necessary on that one too.

Some of my fellow competitors give me a hard time about how much effort I put in to these kind of things. They simply plug in the numbers to their favorite ballistic calculator and take a shot, if they are 18" low at 800 yards that is good, they adjust from there and go on shooting. In most venues two sighter shots are allowed so they are happy enough. In hunting you must be much more certain of your first shot results, your cold bore, your clean cold bore, and jour wind estimation skills than the target shooter.

I also see many people that are happy if they hit a metal gong. They say "hit" and smile really big. That isn't good enough for long range hunting. Shot placement is even more critical when the bullet has traveled a long distance, through much air, slowing it way down and shedding energy at a logarithmic rate. That reduced energy results in a longer but narrower wound channel, placing a premium on accurate shot placement.

That is what I'm learning.

In Zeiss's defense I will say that on their calculator, if I simply plug in the Nosler 250 grain Accubond factory load it spits out the correct solution, the #005 ASV ring. However, if I select the bullet and the corresponding velocity, it goes to the #7 ring. If I had casually used the first solution, I would have luckily settled on the right one. But if I had used the #7 it would have been far enough off to cause a miss at best or a wound at worst when used at 400 yards.
Robert J Stokes

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