200 yard range?

[Frank Briggs]

One of my shooting buddies wants to shoot his .270 at 200 yards. That's understandable. his scoped rifle should be right at home there.

I think I'm going to tag along and lob a few .50 cal round balls out there just for fun.

I figure I'm going to have to hold over at least a foot, maybe more.

I've got a feeling that I can at least poke some holes in some paper, and it ought to be fun.

Anybody got any suggestions?

I'm shooting my TC renegade caplock. Should I stick to my best load for 100 yard acuracy, or go for more power?

Any tips or load help is apreciated!

 

[bwhoffman]

Stick with your 100 yd load. You can adjust elevation as needed.
I once looked into BPCR shooting...45-70s out to a 1000 yds, at 1000 yds, the bullet drops in at about 20* as seen on 2 targets spaced 4 ft apart.

moral is...you might be lobbing balls at 200.
so be it and HAVE FUN!

Brett

 

[reddogge]

I shot some iron rams at 200 once with .50 round ball and the 50 grain target load would make them wobble but not fall with a hold slightly over the back, maybe a foot. With 100 grains I could hold right at the top of the back but they fell every time.

All offhand.

 

[silverfox]

I would use your most accurate load, if that is a hunting load good. Someware I recall a .50 loaded with 90 grns. at 200 with a 10mph crosswind would drop 4ft and drift 4ft. I would guess around 3ft as about right. The last 50yds the drop is greater that the first 150 together. We figure with a little crosswind at the bear it's bear high and half or more bear into the wind.
Yes it takes a high hit or a hunting load to topple the bears at 200. Anything less than .50 usually just ring the target with PRB.
Look for the dust from your first shot and adjust the windage from it. With a little luck you may find a 14" circle is possible.
Fox :thumbsup:

 

[Bountyhunter]

My Springfield with carefully loaded shells=.45-70-500, and the original 1879 sight, on the 1000 yard range at Whittington Center has about a 148 foot mid range trajectory, but it will shoot a 20 inch group at 1000 pretty consistently.

 

[Frank Briggs]

I'll be rolling out to the range tomorrow at 8AM.

I will take my digicam and pop a few pics.

I figure a target with one hole in it is a winner, and anything better than that is just... Better!

 

[shortjack]

I did it once at a friends farm, we were shooting at an old road sign we set out in the bottom of the field. The range finder said it was 225 yards, took 4 shots to figure out the hold over but once that was figured out I hit 10 times and he, who doesn't shoot muzzleloaders, hit it 5 times. Left little dents in the old sign but it sure was a lot of fun.

 

[more powder]

Frank The way i shoot my 54 flintlock at long targets is i keep the front sight dead on the target and lower the rear sight that way i don't cover up the target.When you find out how much of the front sight blade to hold above your rear sight you will be surprised at the results.

 

[Gemoke]

We shoot a 200 yard gong at our club shoot just for fun,and you would be surprised at how many guys hit that thing. I just use my regular hunting load 80grs. 3ff with a 500 patched rb.

 

[MikeChapin]

One of the clubs in the state shoot 200 yard paper at their shoots. I use my 100 yard load and bring up the front sight until the rear sight is even with the base. That usually will put me on at 200 yards. Your rifle may be different but it is a place to start.

I do the same thing when shooting silloettes. I use the same sight picture when shooting at the 200 yard bears.

 

[Zonie]

You didn't say what your gun is, or what the powder load you use for your 100 yard shooting but if your using 80 grains of FFg and your rifle is sighted for 100 yards, aim 46 inches high on the 200 yard target. That should drop them right in there. :grin:

zonie

 

[Frank Briggs]

I went to an entirely different range today for the first time.

Turns out they have a 100,200,300, 400, and a 500 yard range! Nice!

It's a nice place with sturdy concrete shooting benches and it's covered.

Man, let me tell you... Those targets are WAY OUT THERE at 200 yards!

The walk out there looked like too much for me, so I just cruised out there in my pickup...

My point of impact turned out to be about 20 or 22 inches low (Sights set for 100) I was aiming about four inches above the top of the paper and hitting pretty regularly.

I shot several groups with Triple Seven, and several with Black Powder, and couldn't really tell a whole lot of difference.

The first target shown is 777 and the second is BP. If anything, the BP target is a little better.

All shots were .495 speer round ball, .018 TC pre-lubed patches, and CCI #11 caps.

I shot 65 grains of 777 and 80 grains of Goex 2f.

I went out there and found some patches, but I don't know what powder these are. Could be one, the other, or both.

All things considered, I think the trip was a sucess. I killed all my targets stone cold dead and just had a great time doing it.

Can't wait for next weekend so I can make some more smoke!

 

[Frank Briggs]

OOPS!

Duplicate post... :shake:

 

[cayugad]

Let me just say, that is impressive. I would hardly be able to see the target at that distance let alone figure out where to set my sights.. nice shooting. It just goes to show that with practice these rifles can do some amazing things..

 

The 1000 yard, mid-range trajectory of a 500 gr., 45 cal. bullet launched at around 1100 fps is 44 ft. above line of sight.

When I'm shooting my 40-70SS, a considerably flatter shooting round than the 45-70, my cheek weld is on the bottom of my chin at 800 yards.

Round balls are vastly less efficient.....can't imagine what the mid range trajectoy must be, even on the the bigger calibers. Still, if you know your rifle and the load you can lob a round accurately to considerable distance. That's essentially what we do in BPCR. It's also essentially what artillery does....except their rounds explode!

Vic

 

[MikeChapin]

You didn't say what your gun is, or what the powder load you use for your 100 yard shooting but if your using 80 grains of FFg and your rifle is sighted for 100 yards, aim 46 inches high on the 200 yard target. That should drop them right in there. :grin:

zonie

Ahh! That information would help

The one I usually shoot is a Santa Fe .53. I use 80 gr. KIK 2F with a .515 ball. That load is dead on at 100 yards. Pulling the sight up that high gives a strange sight picture but it does put me on at 200 yard. That load will knock the 200 yard bear over if I hit it more than halfway up.

I have a .50 flinter that will also shoot 200 yards with the same weird sight picture. I use 70 grains to put it on at 100 yards. I don't use it for sillouttes because all it does is make noise on those bears and doesn't move them a bit. I've never tried it on paper at that range.

 

[faw3]

I must of took to much off my front sight on the Santa Fe and the Ithaca Hawken I have to aim at something above the target at 200 but set all mine for 125, also use 520 in the SF. Great shooting 50 Cal Frank. for a first try :bow: Fred :hatsoff:

 

[reddogge]

The trajectory I had was more in line with .50 Frank's. I held about 4-6" over the ram's back and hit it. Where I don't know but hit it nevertheless. When I held a couple of feet over it I shot over its back. The ball was going flatter than I had imagined. I like a 6:00 hold at 100 yards anyway so maybe that was the difference. That and 100 grains of powder.