LONG RANGE RIFLE ACCURACY MADE EASY

OUTDOOR LIFE

During the course of a year, readers of this column read about me shooting and hunting with all sorts of sporting arms. Part of the outdoor experience, at least for me, is learning about new methods and new tools for hunting. I thoroughly enjoy hunting with my bows but also muzzleloaders, centerfires, occasionally handguns and even big bore air rifles. Like most rifle hunters, I considered 300 yards a long shot at deer so for many years, I simply sight in my flat shooting calibers about an inch high at 100 yards knowing that I can hold center of shoulder on deer size game out to 300 yards and collect my venison. Until last week down in Houston County near Crockett, I never considered shooting much past 300 yards and shooting at yardages out to 1,200 yards with any accuracy was something accomplished at shooting matches by highly skilled shooters using very specialized rifles and scopes. Was I in for an eye opener!

Dr. John McCall is a noted eye surgeon and traveled big game hunter from Crockett that developed a line of state of the art rifle scopes a few years ago and formed a company called Stealth Vision. The good doctor and one of his partners, Joe Cunningham invited me to join a group of friends for the day and learn that any average shooter (me) with basic rifle shooting skills can, with a quality rifle, shoot accurately out to a thousand yards and a bit beyond. Describing the internal workings of the scope is way beyond my pay grade but I did learn how simple long range shooting can be with one of these scopes. The technology built into these scopes make them very easy to operate and use by the average shooter.

We met at the doctors hunting camp where targets are set at various yardages out to 1,200 yards. A shooting bench was constructed on the back porch of the lodge and even during a recent hot Texas summer morning we were shooting in comfort with a couple of shop fans keeping the air moving. My goal, other than to do some very long range shooting, was to have a new rifle scoped with one of the Stealth Vision scopes. Cunningham understands everything about long range shooting and gave us an introduction to what we could expect when we took our turn at the bench. At the start, he mounted one of the Stealth Vision scopes on my new CVA Cascade rifle chambered in 6.5 PRC, a very flat shooting round. It took only three shots to get the new rifle dead on at 100 yards and he set the rifle aside and informed me that he would need to ‘break it in’ with a bit of shooting the next few days. I was invited to come back when he had worked his magic on the rifle/scope combination.

In essence, he would shoot groups at various yardages out to 1,000 yards, record the data and then have a turret ‘burned’ to match the various distances. When I come back for a test shooting session, all I would need to do is dial in the yardage I wished to shoot steady the rifle and squeeze the trigger.

Our group set in the shade of the porch and one by one, each of us took our turn shooting various yardages with scopes mounted on quality precision rifles. I learned that Stealth Vision not only offers scopes but also rifle/scope combos that have guaranteed precision built in. Our group was shooting a 7mm PRC topped with a scope that had already been zeroed. I watched as each shooter shot targets ranging from 400 yards all the way out to 1,200 yards. All were veteran shooters and hunters and without exception, shooting from a good rest at the bench, all hit every target at all the yardages. Canting a scope affects accuracy, especially on longer shots. Each scope has a green light that comes on when the scope is level or very close to level. Green light on, you’re ready to begin your trigger squeeze knowing your rifle is very close to level.

I had a bit of an advantage as the last one to shoot. I had watched each shooter shooting the ‘closer’ targets and then on out to 1,200 yards. In past years, I had shot out to 600 yards in what was then a long range shooting class but never twice that range. The sun was beginning to warm the ground by mid morning and I didn’t want to miss the opportunity to shoot at the very long range target. Heat waves were just beginning to form which makes shooting long range accuracy challenging. I opted to bypass the closer targets and shoot long before heat waves made the most distant target impossible to sight accurately.

With a spotter using a spotting scope trained on the 1,200 yard target, I made my first shot and was happy to learn that my first and the next few shots were hitting the bull’s eye, in a group about the size of a basketball. Granted, my CVA is a stock rifle and not a custom rig like we were shooting. I am anxious to see what kind of accuracy Cunningham can get out of it. To be honest, if my ‘stock’ rifle consistently shoots a 10 or 12 inch group at a thousand yards, I will be overjoyed. I plan to use it mostly for hunting and regardless the long range capabilities, I can’t see myself shooting game out much past five or six hundred yards. Target shooting is an entirely different proposition. It’s a great deal of fun and very satisfying to know your rig can reach out to a thousand yards and beyond with accurate shot placement.

I wrapped up my morning of really long range shooting with a totally new prospective. Do I plan to harvest deer at a thousand yards this coming deer season? Probably not, in the majority of country I hunt, I won’t be able to see a deer at half that distance but I did learn that I absolutely love shooting very long range. Now, if I’m out west on a mule deer or elk rifle hunt and the buck or bull of a lifetime appears on a hillside across a big canyon, I will have a rifle/scope that is up to the task, assuming I do my part. I’m counting the days until I return to Houston County and take delivery of my new rig after Cunningham works his magic. From now on, ‘long range’ shooting will have an entirely new meaning to me! This happens after you have punched a few holes into a relatively small target at almost three quarters mile away! Learn more about Stealth Vision at the website www.stealthvision. com Email outdoors writer Luke Clayton through his website www.catfishradio.org.