50-90 paper?

[Kurt]

Well you have a couple options.
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[Gunner500]

LOL, that's funny Kurt, I have five each reloaded for a razors edge shoot off between the powders using the large grease cookies, will use more time this go around.

[Gunner500]

Fired two groups of 5 with the 9lb paper, OE 2F and Swiss 1F, we'll need to find a better shooter to find the more accurate powder in my rifle, Kurt, you were right again, the, or mine I should say, 22 twist 50-90 plainly likes 1.500 inch bullets and around 1280-1300 fps.

With the edge going to OE powder in less, as well as softer fouling, I also found in 30 degree higher temps I needed a near full 2 MOA less elevation at 500 yards, as well as MUCH less sharp clarity on the bulls eye due to the sun drying the grass after 3 days of precipitation, I averaged around 7.5 inch groups as opposed to 5x6.5 inch groups earlier in the week, LIGHT is king!

I need to get the chainsaw up on the mountain and fall a couple small trees that will leave later in the year obstructing a clear view of the 700 yard gong after it's installed, more mathematical fun awaits at that range.

[Kurt]

It's not only light, it's also air density as the day progresses and the ground warms up.
I seen elevation changes, especially at the Quigley shoots or Alliance NE. were my morning sight settings will change a much as 3 MOA sometimes especially when the ground is wet from the morning dew and the sun starts to evaporate the moisture changing the elevations.
What is really frustrating to me is when I can cover 5-10 shots with a silver dollar one day and the next time out with the same loads loaded at the same time the groups are patterns.

[Don McDowell]

You can read the mirage to be your enemy, or you can read it to be your friend. A good spotting scope and a keen eye can catch the changes and not just at ground level.

[Kurt]

There is a lot of truth in that Don.

At Lodi, the trees are low, below 50' before you get to the back stop berm behind the pit. You can see the mirage going in one direction raise your scope to the top of the trees you will see the direction slow down before you see it at ground level. It will start to change to a boil but on the ground it's still moving. Most of the bullet flight is still above the trees that will catch the changes. But most of the deflection is in the first 300 yards that will decide where the bullet will land.
I think the shock wave is the strongest with in this range and that will catch a lot of the wind that will effect the drift.

[Don McDowell]

A boil generally indicates the wind switching to either a head or a tail wind. Even at that a person has to look close to see if it still has right or left component. May times a boil will also tell you if the wind is going to reverses.
At Byers it's not unusual to see what I call the windshield wiper affect, in that it looks like your windshield wipers on low or medium speed. That crap is almost impossible to shoot thru. The safety berms on the west side of the range can really raise cain with the shooters on the west end of the line due to the vortex's that can develop in full value left right winds.
Phoenix gets an El Diablo mirage that can really screw with even the most seasoned shooters on that range.
Raton is a very complex place to shoot until you can figure things out due to the buttes on either side of the firing lines, the ridge that runs down the firing line left to right, and the mouths of those two canyons on the west side.. Things can really get interesting and going from 2 left to 26 or more right between shots with a 3-5 minute elevation change can be a common thing.
Alliance with that deep draw that cuts down from the 650 yard target can do some interesting things , not to mention those wind break trees they planted all those years ago along the left side,, some of them died and there's some big gaping holes that allow a full value wind to come jetting thru.
Multiple layers of mirage isn't unusual, and when shooting distance if think that the direction and velocity of the wind as the bullet reaches it's apex and starts down, probably has more affect than at 300 yards. I try to evaluate the wind and mirage at the firing line and then start looking half way down range..
Aging eyes need a big hole in the rear sight and a big to large hole in the front if there's a bunch of mirage present.

[Gunner500]

Lordy Mercy Kurt and Don, that much figuring has to entail very large log books with records on conditions kept, i used to get paid for that, just want to have fun with my Sharps rifles, that said, i'll only drag out the tang sighted rifle on nice cool overcast days when the mirage, boils, shockwaves and vortexs' are in hell where they belong.

[Gunner500]

As soon as the fog lifts, will fire the last of the new brass, 14 rounds of fun on the way, will be interesting to see what moa and sight picture looks like today!
As frustrating as this can/may be, it's still a hell of a lot of fun shooting Sharps rifles with paper patch ammo you put up yourself and burning black powder, beats the dog out of ANY day at work.

[Kurt]

Well gunner it's the getting out and doing what you like and having fun.
I loaded up some ladder loads for the new CPA .40-65 last night, well it's not new anymore but I haven't worked with it a lot since I got it a couple years ago for the silhouette matches that I might take to the range today. It warmed up to 32 degrees so it's a go.