I was over to our family homestead the middle of August doing some long range shooting at my steel buffalo target at 1000+ yards.  This was with my CPA 44 1/2 in 38 55.

Here's a link to a page with a youtube video of the shooting.  I edited the 16 minute tape to about 6 1/2 minutes.  Listen carefully and you can hear the bullet strikes when the target is hit about 6 seconds after the shot.

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There is more information on the webpage.

Bobduck

marlinguy wrote on Sep 3^rd, 2014 at 11:13am:


That was some great shooting!

B'duckie

Mine will easily push a 360 grain bullet to 1375 fps and go 1000 yards with smokeless powder.  Takes a 12 or 13 twist barrel, though for the heavy bullet.  Ballistics are identical to the 540 grain 45-90.  Doesn't take a calm day, the 375 goes through the wind same as a 458 of the same ballistic coefficient.

Misses are harder to see with the smaller bullet, don't raise as much dust.

dave

Bob,

I've shot .38's (.38-72 and .38-55) alongside .45-90 and .45-70 at Quigley and Alliance for several years with my wife and son shooting the .38's, and with that reversed one year with me shooting the .38-55 and my son the .45-90.  I see absolutely no difference in them ballistically from the .45-70 at long range, or wind wise, except that the .38 seems to be slightly less affected by wind.  That could be because of the overstabilization with a 12 twist .38, if I went to a 17 or 16 twist .458 might be identical.  We've shot in winds up to 30 mph effectively with them.

The .38's are better than the lighter bullet .45-70 that we use; that's a direct result of a better ballistic coefficient on the bullet.  The light bullet .45-70 isn't good past 600 yards, it is very marginal at 800 especially if the wind gets over 10 mph.   


However, there is a distinct disadvantage to spotting with a .38.  Especially in muddy conditions or shot up targets.  That disadvantage is enough to keep top shooters from using them.

dave

really cool stuff, indeed!

ballistics and techo-speak aside, that's about more fun than one can just about handle.  if i had a 35-55, i'd go for long, too.  why not? 

SgtDog0311 wrote on Sep 13^th, 2014 at 12:13pm:


The bullet weight has no effect.  If a 45 caliber bullet and a 38 caliber bullet of different weights have the  same muzzle velocity and B.C. they will have the same drop and wind drift.  The advantage for the 38 is the reduced recoil.

B'duckie [/quote]

Discovered this myself not long ago in Cheyenne.   I thought the 500grainers would carry better in the wind out beyond 650 but actually found I was more consistent with some lighter bullets.   

This group was at 600yds I think it was and with a 350gr bullet.

dducky, your target is way cooler and your system for feedback is brilliant.    I envy your facilities     [/quote]

That is a very nice group for 600 yards.

I'm headed over to the homestead on September 27th and will be there until October 5th.  Most of us have campers to stay in. 

I'm putting up an 8 x 10 building for some people to sleep in and storage.  I'm also going to put up an 8 ft x 8 ft plywood frame so we can shoot groups on paper at 750 yards.   I'm also putting a two way radio behind the buffalo so we can hear the hits better in windy conditions.

You should come and play with us some year.  We are a mile and a half from Canada and 37 miles from the nearest town in north central Montana.  The closest neighbor in the direction we shoot is three miles away.  Temperatures that time of year is a low of 39 and a high of 69.

I do this informal shoot each year at this time.  It's not a match but just a chance for people to do a LOT of shooting.  I have 600 rounds loaded.  300 for my 38 55 and 300 for my 45 70.    I'm also set up so I can reload on the range.

I'm also shooting a 32 20 and 180 grain bullets about 1300 fps with good results although spotting misses is more difficult but I hit the buffalo several times with it at the time the video was shot.   

B'duckie

b'duckie,

I couldn't shoot that group again if I had to.  But I'm glad my spotter asked me to stand there for the picture afterwards.   But for that gentlemen I couldn't have told you I even had a group, just glad to hear the ding each time.
   
That sounds like a lot of fun.   But I'd have to use building wrap for my paper targets.    

Are you doing that every year - same time?  The fellah that marlinguy mentioned, "Wind" is doing something similar and next year will be year "five".    I've attended twice and been out to his place several other times.   Another fellah down in Cheyenne is working on his third year.    Really great fun with nothing but a bunch of long range enthusiasts enjoying each other's shooting and ribbing.   Its a good thing they (and you) do - going to the trouble of creating that opportunity.   I need to get a camper!!    

March, the problem is finding a place that you can shoot that far in Eastern PA. There just aren't all that many ranges around that have facilities to 1000 yards. Now if your willing to travel a few hours, Read Range goes to 1000 but it is a bulls eye range, and a very nice one at that. Ridgway has steel targets to 1000 plus and is also a good range. I don't know if any other ranges in the state offer this distance other than perhaps the Original 1000 yard range in the Williamsport area, a range I have never been to. 
I would think that if you wanted a fun weekend shoot out to 1000 yards on steel, Ridgway would be the place to go. It can accommodate some campers, is only a few miles from town, and has several other ranges on the property other than the silhouette range. ( (You need to Login or Register to view media files and links)). The big problem I see with Ridgway would be finding a free weekend on their schedule, its a pretty busy place.
Sam