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Gun Thread: Mid-July Edition!

Howdy, Y'all! Welcome to the wondrously fabulous Gun Thread! As always, I want to thank all of our regulars for being here week in and week out, and also offer a bigly Gun Thread welcome to any newcomers who may be joining us tonight. Howdy and thank you for stopping by! I hope you find our wacky conversation on the subject of guns 'n shooting both enjoyable and informative. You are always welcome to lurk in the shadows of shame, but I'd like to invite you to jump into the conversation, say howdy, and tell us what kind of shooting you like to do!

96 Days! Count 'em, 96 days!

Q: Weasel, what happens in 96 days?
A: How can you not know this? The Texas MoMe happens in 96 days!!

That's right, boys and girls, the TXMome is a mere 96 days from today, and by now you should be rushing your MoMe attendance plans to completion. There are lots of big doin's in the works and your hosts Rancher Bob, Cow Horse Queen and Ben Had are ready to welcome YOU to the festivities! Have you signed up? Are you on the exclusive guest list, or are you one of the mentally defective people who always finds a reason to make it next year?

Holy Shitballs, people. Have I not implored and cajoled you enough? Do you require additional imploring and cajoling? I challenge you to find a single person who has attended a TXMoMe and not found it to be a life altering experience. Life altering for the good even! So please quit screwing around and making up reasons not to commit and start planning on getting your ass to Texas in October!

You will see this material again, so for heaven's sake, email Ben Had!

With that, step into the dojo and let's get to the gun stuff below, shall we?

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Range Data Part Dos - Wind
Last Sunday we talked about the importance of range data in establishing elevation settings based on ammunition and atmospheric conditions. By consistently recording basic range data, whether adjusted or unadjusted for local conditions, you greatly improve your chances for a successful first round hit on target. If you have practically unlimited ammunition, you can use the trial-and-error approach with the assumption that given a sufficient volume of fire, eventually you're going to hit what you're aiming at, or at least hit something down range. That discussion can be found HERE.

Also previously, I have mentioned the ballistic app I use, Ballistic AE. I do not think there is a version of this particular app for Android phones, but any sufficiently sophisticated application is going to perform the same important calculations I am about to discuss.

Math Warning!
The computation I am referring to is wind deflection. Just as muzzle velocity, bullet design and gravity will affect ballistic arc in the vertical plane, wind will influence a bullet on it's trip downrange in the horizontal plane. What you need to concentrate on is finding the wind value.

Q: Weasel, what the ever-loving Hell is 'wind value'?
A: Think of it as a combination of wind speed and wind direction or offset perpendicular to the bullet's line of flight.

In greatly oversimplified terms, a pure headwind or tailwind will have a zero wind value, because these neither push the bullet right or left. Likewise, a wind blowing straight from the right or left will have a full value by imparting 100% of it's potential effect on the bullet. Anything between 0 degrees and 90 degrees for any quadrant will have something between 1% and 99% of it's full potential effect on the bullet. With me so far?

Let's go the the big board and have a peek at a range card I made up for this exercise, modeling a .308 round at 2,650 fps in a standard atmosphere. Below you see the output from 0 - 1000 yards in 100 yd increments, and assuming a constant 1 mph wind across and perpendicular to the course of flight. I need the 1 mph wind value because that deflection, dependent on range to target, will be the constant I use when computing the effect of wind on the bullet.

OK, so now all you have to do is figure out the wind speed and just as importantly, the wind direction. Either one of these without the other equals incomplete data. Estimating wind speed can be challenging, even for experienced observers. Judging wind direction is slightly less troublesome, but if not done accurately, will absolutely screw up your firing solution. Below are some visual representations of what I'm talking about.

First, we have a data card with indicators for wind speed based on the behavior of flags and mirage if present.

Next, we have a more simplified look at the effect of wind direction or offset. As you become more experienced in wind reading you can refine the 'discount' applied to angular wind, but to start, consider any wind from the 1 o'clock to 2 o'clock quadrant to be worth about 70% of the full value effect. Later you can get all fancy and say things like "that's 62.74% of a full value wind" to impress the range babes, but for now, just use 70% and remember that most observers tend to overestimate wind speed at first.

Say you're dressed up like a shrub and laying prone behind your rifle at 1000 yards and are engaging a target where a first-round hit is important. You have your elevation already set because you have been faithfully recording elevation data based on density altitude, or DA, because Weasel said so. You peek out over the range and determine a 5 mph wind is blowing from the 10 o'clock direction. Here is all the math you need to do:

a) 5 mph x 70% = 3.5 mph. This is the wind effect your bullet will encounter.
2) 3.5 mph x .21 MOA = .735 MOA. This is the left wind correction.

Obviously, you can't dial .735 MOA because scope adjustments don't have that level of granularity, but you can hold just inside 3/4 MOA.

Send it!

Now for some harsh realities. You don't have all day to do the math, consult your ballistic app and start turning knobs. Much as I have a 2-minute rule for food, there is a 3-second rule for taking a shot. That means the wind call expires after 3 seconds. Period. If conditions are changing that's about how long you have to get pointed at the right place and pull the trigger, otherwise the wind condition needs to be recalculated. Get used to holding rather than dialing wind, unless the conditions are very, very, very consistent and stable. I cannot overemphasize this. It's extremely easy to dial on some wind correction, forget it's there, and wonder why all of a sudden, your wind calls really suck the next time the wind changes.

With a little practice, you can come up with that .7x MOA adjustment in your head, and that's all you need to do. The operative word is practice. You can right now go outside and practice this very thing, and I absolutely encourage you to do so. If you spend 15 minutes a day sitting on a park bench practicing wind calls (quietly to yourself) you will find it becomes much easier to do when it counts on the range.

My word as a Weasel.

Comments? Concerns? Questions?

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First up, we have a report from our pal, amigo, bro, and all 'round great guy, NZFrank sharing his long range bundook!

The rifle started out as a bog standard Rem 700 long action hunting rifle in 7mm Win Mag and I turned it into a .338 Lapua Magnum precision long range rifle, as we all know stock anything sucks. That and I cannot afford to buy an off the shelf rifle for $20k.

The rifle was purchased for just the action and the only things left from that rifle is the receiver and the bolt shroud. Everything else was discarded and replaced with what I needed. In my accuracy world, it is about the three B's. Barrels, Bullets and Bedding in that order. Barrel is a NZ made stainless Tru-Flight, 26 inch 1 in 12 twist, I fluted it to reduce some weight and help cooling and a heavy 1.3 inch straight profile. Think truck axel, it barely fits in the fore-end. There is a Sako TRG muzzle brake on the end keeping it loud. I make mil grade suppressors, but I decided not to put one on, as it is a competition rifle and the blast can nicely disturb any other firers. (Ha, what a bastard I am) For the money these NZ made barrels are very good. For bullets I use either Berger 250 or 300gn VLD's. I am trialing South African 272gn bullets, very slippery and are homogenous copper with an alloy tip designed to keep the weight to the rear. They are very promising for range and accuracy.

The bedding is sorted out by an XLR Element chassis with an Ace folding stock adapter using AICS steel long (CIP) 10 round mags. These feed very well. The bipod is an ATL wide job and I use an Accu Shot monopod. The monopod is the trick, using your left hand with a glove on an angle to squeeze and control elevation. The bolt is aftermarket and has a Sako extractor upgrade and is smoothed out. Trigger is a stock Rem 700 but I have tuned it to about 10 oz and very crisp. The scope is a Vortex Razor Gen II 4.5 x 27 x 56mm FFP with a Milrad EBR-2C reticule currently sitting on a 20 moa base and 34mm Vortex rings. This is a good scope and I picked up at a Los Angeles gun show cheap. Will do for now. I have a Spuhr ISMS 34MM/13 MIL scope mount arriving soon to help out with elevation past 2000 mtrs. I love Spuhr mounts, anything decent I have I run those mounts.

The rifle is a very heavy beast and long, hence the folding stock. But once I am set up it just sits there and a 10 year old can fire it. As I now getting some 1600- 1700 mtr practice and playing with the 272gn solid projectiles is the accuracy becoming apparent. Let's just say if I and the conditions behave its, clap in t'clout. For a made up shooter it outperforms most off the shelf rifles and thus I am very happy with it, until it misbehaves, then I give it a stern talking to.

Cheers,
Frank

It's not a bundook, NZFrank, it's a fundook!

Very nice! Man, you are speaking my language. Very, very, bigly excellent. And the bolt? Priceless I'm looking forward to shaking your hand in October, brother!

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Next up, we have a most excellent range report from our pal Dave in Fla.

I finally got back to the range after 19 months away. I'm not kidding, Thanksgiving 2020 is my last time at the range. Obviously, feeling horribly guilty about it, but the combo of a new gun safe, new ammo, and a new LCP II got me off my butt and shooting. I worked with 3 of my guns, the new LCP II, my Sig P320, and an FN15. I shot some rounds to work off some rust, then pulled out good targets to test myself. Bottom line is I'm decent with a rifle, but terrible with a pistol.

First up is the LCP II at 5m. Honestly it is hard for me to control because it is so small in my hands. And it has a hell of a kick. I cut my thumb pretty good on the first magazine because of a bad grip. I have a hard time figuring out what to do with my left hand. You can see from the photo, most rounds were low, and 3 rounds don't even show up. No idea where they went. But the gun is very concealable which is why I wanted it.

Next was 15 rounds with the P320 at 5m. The larger gun feels more comfortable, and the grouping was a little better, but shots were low and right. Again, some shots not even on the paper. I did shoot faster with this gun though.

Finally was two 15 round groups with the FN15. The upper left was at 15m, while the center group was at 25m. I use a red dot on this gun, but it has no magnification and I'm shooting from a standing position. Other than one stray, pretty happy with the 25m grouping.

I finished out with sending 60 rounds at a 15m target with the FN15. Went fast with this, shoot, line up the dot sort of on target and shoot again. Very pleased with this result with about 90% in the blue.

Anyway, I'll be interested to see what advice folks have for me.

So, um, what exactly is wrong with your shooting, Dave in Fla? Looks like you're doing just fine to me! Thanks for the range report!

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DIY M1 Garand Single Feed Clip

From the DIY & Hobby Thread yesterday:

I saw "Weasel" and "make a sled" and figured it'd be this. Posted by: Oddbob at July 16, 2022 07:32 PM (nfrXX)

Are you at all mechanically inclined? Our pal Oddbob, who really isn't all that odd after all, found this nifty conversion of a standard Garand Enbloc clip, to a single feed version, courtesy of Ray-Vin, Inc. Ray-Vin has apparently retired but the instructions for this nifty project are still available for download.

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Moar Ballistics!

This is great and worth 18 minutes of your time.

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Please Don't Say These Things

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Gun Thread Musical Interlude

For I minute I thought this was one of bluebell's backyard parties!

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Gun Basics 101
This week the She Equips Herself gal does a video on flying on a commercial air carrier with a gun. With the TXMoMe on the horizon, this is very timely information. It's way less complicated than you think. Take it away, SHEG!

When I first began traveling by air with firearms, I expected it to be a big deal. Turns out it snot, and the airline/TSA employees aren't nearly as excited as I expected them to be. Just know and follow the rules and it's easy-peasy!

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Cigar of the Week
Our pal rhomboid brings it with another excellent cigar review.

Espinosa Laranja Reserva Corona. The name ("laranja" is Portuguese for "orange") is from the orange color cast that the Brazilian-sourced wrapper leaf has in certain light. Overall, a medium bodied stick. Slightly sweet, nutty flavor notes throughout much of the burn. Draw was problematic on this one, but the first one I smoked was perfect. I'm starting to agree with many who say the 69% ideal storage relative humidity for cigars can end up being *too* moist for good burn performance, and I'm taking mine out of the tupperdor a day or two in advance to dry them out a bit. Your local climate/relative humidity will affect any fancy footwork like this that you may do with your cigars, of course. These Espinosa coronas can be had for around $8 online. The price recently went up - surprise!.

Funny how the orange color of the brass prep tool works with the foot-band on the cigar.

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This week, Cigar Vixen unboxes a Luxury Club monthly cigar subscription service delivery. Let's take a peek!

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Link-O-Rama

I'm really very seriously not kidding around anymore. Buy Ammo
AmmoSeek - online ammo search tool
GunBot - online ammo search tool
SG Ammo
Palmetto State Armory
Georgia Arms
AmmoMan
Target Sports USA
Bud's Gun Shop

***Mail Bag***

This week's mailbag entry is from our pal and prolific funny submitter WTM. Thanks!!

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Please note the new and improved protonmail account gunthread at protonmail dot com. An informal Gun Thread archive can be found HERE. Future expansion plans are in the works for the site Weasel Gun Thread. If you have a question you would like to ask Gun Thread Staff offline, just send us a note and we'll do our best to answer. If you care to share the story of your favorite firearm, send a picture with your nic and tell us what you sadly lost in the tragic canoe accident. If you would like to remain completely anonymous, just say so. Lurkers are always welcome!

That's it for this week - have you been to the range?