The inteweb says it can't be done...or can it?

[Rayne]

The interweb says it can’t be done, but we did it! Mohawk Slim and I spent the day at Deputy Big Shots shooting on their 500 yard range. Now if you read the internet you will find out that you cannot shoot sub-MOA groups unless you have all the latest and greatest gear that money can buy. Well I’m not sure about Slim, but I am one cheap son of a gun and can’t afford all the latest and greatest gear so I just used my cheap pieced together Palmetto State Arms AR, Wolf steel case ammo and a simple Crossfire II scope, mixed in some marksmanship skills and shot sub-MOA groups at 300 yards. At 100 yards shots grouped at 1.5 MOA, 200 yards was a 1.68 MOA group, 300 yards was the myth breaker at a .58 MOA group, 400 yards yielded a 2.31 MOA group and 500 yards was the largest coming in at a 2.35 MOA group.

Deputy Big Shot is located just east of Deputy Indiana, in the south eastern part of Indiana. It is an outstanding range to sight in, gather dope, and just generally have a great time. We spent all day Monday enjoying the beautiful weather while shooting groups at 100-500 yards and walking back and forth to see and record the results. All told, we walked over 7 miles in the eight hours we were there!

What did we pay for this opportunity? $10 each. That's right, unlimited range use for $10 a shooter. When you go to Deputy you will be greeted by Joe and Mike. Friendly and enthusiastic with big smiles on their faces all the time. Deputy will be hosting their Grant opening on April 30[SUP]th[/SUP] and May1st, so you can see they haven’t been in business long and they sure have an uncut jewel with this range.

This is the view from the rifle firing line. Nice open field to shoot into with berms at 100, 200, 300, 400 and 500 yards. Very nice place to set up and sight in. It’s perfect for observing the same target at different distances through your reticle and comparing the sizes. — at Deputy Big Shot LLC.

We purposely chose to to set up in the weeds/shade. We wanted the true field shooting experience.

First group of the day. About 1.5 moa. — at Deputy Big Shot LLC.

Slim’s first group of the day. He said he’d take sub 3MOA all day long. — at Deputy Big Shot LLC.

Don't go chasing those sights! Shoot, measure, then use math and science to make good hits on your next string. Rayne is keeping calm and doing IMC. That's how it's done, right Unbridled Liberty? — at Deputy Big Shot LLC.

Your computer-generated data charts are only a starting point. You have to field test and get good dope. Here I was measuring the distance from the lines to center of the target to see if my sub-tensions matched up with what Vortex Optics said, and they sure did.— at Deputy Big Shot LLC.

Later in the afternoon the sun had shifted to our backs. So neat to see the effects of light on our targets and what it caused us to do with our sights. The light spot at the end of the field in the center is the 400 yard berm. The 500 yard is just to the left and is the smaller light spot. It was really helpful to see all 5 targets at the same time and you could use your reticle to practice ranging and to verify your sub-tensions.— at Deputy Big Shot LLC.

Chillaxin on the firing line after giving some good feedback.

If anyone is interested in learning the skills of American Marksmanship, contact me or Mohawk Slim, and we'll hook you up with the next Revere’s Riders Event where we teach this.

I almost forgot. Here is picture proof of the sub-MOA group. This is a 300 yard group that is .58 MOA.

 

[Cameramonkey]

OUTSTANDING!

 

[6mm Shoot]

Great shooting. Looked like a nice place to shoot.

 

[rbhargan]

Very nice! We will have to check that place out. Thanks for the post.

 

[SEIndSAM]

Great write up Rayne!!

 

[bocefus78]

Great shooting and great write up! Sounds like I'll be making a road trip to check that place out soon.

 

[jd4320t]

Good job Rayne and nice write up.

 

[masterdekoy]

Great shooting. Shows how much of a difference using correct technique can make.

This is range looks great. I may have to make the trip sometime!

 

[DanVoils]

Thanks for the info and pics! I'll have to check this out next time I'm down that way.

 

[Leo]

I am glad that you got that opportunity. I am also glad that you did not let internet opinions stop limit your experience. A quality rifle is generally pretty capable just the way it is. As you found out, the nut behind the trigger is the main factor.

In 2002 a LEO shot a 10X clean with an iron sighted AR from 200 yards in rapid fire sitting position at a high power match in Fort Wayne. That is a 3" X ring at 200 yards. Later that summer a man did a 10X clean in sitting rapid fire at the Ohio State Championships with an iron sighted AR. I then backed it up with another group of the same size but a wind change moved 6 of the holes 1/2 inch to the right, still well within the 10 ring. 200-14x in a registered match. Reading some places on the internet, you would need at least a bipod and sand bag, holding a $4000 rifle with at least a 24 power scope shot from the slow fire prone position.

I encourage all to keep working on their skill set with whatever they have and don't let people who sell equipment limit your performance. Glad to hear about that range, might be time for a nice drive. Again, Good job.

 

[singlesix]

Thanks for the write up, good shooting. Looks like a good range, wish it was closer to Indy. I have a 223 and 308 bolt rifles that I need to stretch out.

 

[Kurr]

Great write up, and thanks for the range info, I'm about 17 mins from there, and never knew it existed. It is much closer and looks MUCH nice than Henryville Forestry Range.

 

[The Bubba Effect]

Great write up and great shooting you two!

I am glad you are on my side!!!!

 

[Chance]

Check before you go. Latest news in Madison paper is that the range is operating without an approved variance and being shut down. Grew up in Madison and was texting my brother about checking it out. He is retired LE

 

[singlesix]

HOLD YOUR FIRE - Madison Courier

 

[youngda9]

It didn't like you were shooting with a sling or using sandbags...which makes your results very surprising. How many groups did you shoot at each distance? I like to see 5-shot groups...and several different ones to determine an average group size.

 

[308jake]

They were most definitely using slings.

 

[Rayne]

Thanks for the write up, good shooting. Looks like a good range, wish it was closer to Indy. I have a 223 and 308 bolt rifles that I need to stretch out.

It actually isn't that far from major cities like Louisville, Cincy or Indy. Now if you live on the North East side of INdy it's a little drive but where else can you spend all day long for just a $10 range fee. Definitely worth the drive if you have the time.

 

[Rayne]

It didn't like you were shooting with a sling or using sandbags...which makes your results very surprising. How many groups did you shoot at each distance? I like to see 5-shot groups...and several different ones to determine an average group size.

I used a sling for the 100 and 200 yards and then switched to laying it against my backpack because I was mostly interested in gathering good data on my rifle set up. Mohawk Slim and I were sharing the same target (he shot high on the target, I shot low) and as we moved out further we wanted to make sure and keep our shots separate since we both were shooting .223. Of the times our shots were close we could always tell who's shots were who's because he was vertically stringing and my groups were always in a triangular shape. We shot three groups of three at 100 and 200 yards and we shot about 6 groups of three at 300 yard because I had a scope issue and we were working on figuring it out. By the time we moved to 400 and 500 we only had a hour of range time left and we were then walking 1000 yards each trip, so we only had time for two groups.

The reason we only used three shots per group is that the first shot could be an accident, second shot could be coincidence but three good shots is skill. After that you're just wasting ammo.

I don't mean to sound conceded or egotistical. The title of this post is a little deceiving because it was mostly a tongue and cheek joke that we hear all the time as instructors. A shooter gets frustrated and blames their equipment instead of working on their skill. The reason for this post isn't so much the group size as it is the great opportunity that Deputy Big Shot offers to be able to gather data on your rifle set up. We spent 8 hours on the range and shot very little. The ability to take your rifle, and determine a trajectory chart just for your set up. The chance to look at the same target at five different distances and compare how it appears in your reticle. These are things that marksman hold dear.

I want to be able to take my rifle out of the safe and be able to make solid hits at any yardage without the need for sighters first. There may come a time when I don't have time to check my zero before I need to use my rifle and I need that first shot to be a good one. With the data I gathered Monday, I have a good trajectory chart for my setup and the type of ammo I use. I know how many clicks up from bottoming out to my 25 zero, plus my turrets are set for a 100 yard zero. I know how many click to then put on or take off to get to 200 - 500 or anywhere in between.

Deputy Big Shot is really worth the drive.

 

[ArmedProgrammer]

Hey Rayne - good to hear from you. Got any RR events happening down south here? I have a couple of folks who are interested.