Took my Garand out to 600 yds today !

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Today was just an awesome day, I surpassed my greatest challenge thus far and that was to take vintage military iron sights out to 600 yds. My eyes are HORRIBLY near sighted and shooting irons is a serious challenge for me. I've shot my Garand many times at 200 yds and do reasonably well (not great). I'm handloading a 150gr fmjbt and 48.5 gr of 4064 and this seems to be a great load for my Criterion barrel. I wanted to mimic the M2 ball velocities so my rear sights will work correctly. Today was cold and the wind was blowing hard at full value. Where I shoot at Pelham F&G , our 600 yd range is well known for a brutal multi-directional windy range. The very low sun angle right in your face this time of year in the mornings is an issue , but most of the morning the sun was hidden behind clouds. I dialed "6" on my elevation and my first nervous shot was a miss at 4:00 just outside the 5 ring . actually I was very happy as I was at least well on paper. I was struggling to maintain the target as I wear glasses and I need to work on the exact placement of my glasses relative to my eye distance. I basically need to get a sport retaining strap that goes around your head and help pull my glasses up higher on my nose. This greatly helps me with my long distance acuity. I took another 4 shots and mostly scored 6's and 7's but my last shot I actually scored a 9 at 9:00 ! At the end of the day considering I was shooting irons for the first time , and a rifle know for just "OK" accuracy, and shooting a 150 gr bullet (very light) at 600 yds in the heavy dense wind and shooting old skool military style sling prone , I think I did very respectable. Can't wait to get back out and try and fine tune my sighting so as to feel more comfortable at 600 yds.
 
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Nice man, glad to hear someone else on here is making holes with an iron sighted service rifle without a 20x scope and 6.5wtf lol

Being another hopelessly myopic person, go see an optometrist that understands shooting, or even your regular one, and tell him you shoot and tell him what challenges you're having and he/she can give you glasses specifically for shooting.

Shooting that rifle at 600 will teach you things about shooting a rifle you can't learn any other way, and from the sound of it you had a blast so good on ya, it's what the sport is all about.
 
Nice! How big are your targets and what shooting position?
When we shoot 600 yds we can either shoot NRA 600 yd "MR" (Medium Range) or 600 yd NRA "F Class" targets. MR targets have a "X" ring that is 1 MOA , and the black dia is 6 MOA and 7 ring and greater inscribed within the black . F Class targets have an X ring that's 1/2 MOA , and the black dia is still 36" but 6 and greater scoring rings are inscribed within the black. I was shooting at an "MR" 600 target, and the position I was shooting was High Power rifle sling prone.
 
Nice work!

Did you have pit service for the targets? Electronic?
We do have electronic targets, but for this event i chose to use paper targets and manned pits. Some of my other club buddies bought vintage iron sighted rifles as well and not had any 600 yd experience with them . As a shooter, Its a big help having your target puller spot your missed shots and communicate to the firing line and help get the shooter scoring on paper. The e-targets cant record a shot outside of the calibrated shot grid.
 
Nice! I am trying to plan a trip to CMP Talladega next month. I am a bit nervous about reaching out to 600. I feel I need to spend more time at my local 200y ranch in the next month to make the trip worth it.
If you can hold the black at 200, you should be good to go at 600 assuming you have the right elevation 'come up'. You won't score the same, LOL, but getting on paper should not be a problem. I've had decent scores with only 100 yards to practice, but you'll want to be pretty much within the 10 ring at 100 and have chrony data for your loads.

TMP is a great facility- can't wait to go back and shoot.
 
Nice! I am trying to plan a trip to CMP Talladega next month. I am a bit nervous about reaching out to 600. I feel I need to spend more time at my local 200y ranch in the next month to make the trip worth it.
You’ll be fine, I promise...they ‘make’ you walk out your target points...so once you’re in the black consistently at the 200, then you go to 300, and then 600. Windsor shouldn’t change enough to take you off paper, but having that immediate and accurate feedback from the electronic targets is key in making adjustments with confidence.

I did a write up after each visit to the TMP and it can maybe show you what you can expect. Heaven on Earth - CMP Talladega Marksmanship Park

This far I think I’ve taken the following out to 600yds:

-1934 Swiss K31
-1943 Springfield Garand (since built into a match rifle w/Krieger barrel)
-Commercial ‘5-line’ Match Built M1a
-1918 Winchester M1917
-1944 Winchester Garand (64 Anniston Armory rearsenal with ALL new Springfield parts...so basically a Springfield armory)

My only limit to that was how many rifles I could fly with or convince my ‘fiancée’ to let me carry in her Ford Focus hatchback at the time (the good old days of 2018/2019).

Time to get back out there with some more rifles. Was thinking about a winter run again, but was also hoping the south store would re open so I can find a USMC 1903 for my Marine Corps collection.
 
Hitting paper at 600 isn't tough as long as you have strong eyes. The aiming black is yuuuuuge. Reading wind/mirage and staying in the 10 ring, that took me years to get the hang of.
Fixed it for ya' . And the "black" is not yuuuuuge , it's no different from any standard NRA rifle target. The "black" is based upon 6 moa, a 100 yd target has a 6" black, and a 600 yd target has a 36" black.
 
You’ll be fine, I promise...they ‘make’ you walk out your target points...so once you’re in the black consistently at the 200, then you go to 300, and then 600. Windsor shouldn’t change enough to take you off paper, but having that immediate and accurate feedback from the electronic targets is key in making adjustments with confidence.

I did a write up after each visit to the TMP and it can maybe show you what you can expect. Heaven on Earth - CMP Talladega Marksmanship Park

This far I think I’ve taken the following out to 600yds:

-1934 Swiss K31
-1943 Springfield Garand (since built into a match rifle w/Krieger barrel)
-Commercial ‘5-line’ Match Built M1a
-1918 Winchester M1917
-1944 Winchester Garand (64 Anniston Armory rearsenal with ALL new Springfield parts...so basically a Springfield armory)

My only limit to that was how many rifles I could fly with or convince my ‘fiancée’ to let me carry in her Ford Focus hatchback at the time (the good old days of 2018/2019).

Time to get back out there with some more rifles. Was thinking about a winter run again, but was also hoping the south store would re open so I can find a USMC 1903 for my Marine Corps collection.
Great advice. I RSO all the member practice 600 yd shoots at Pelham F&G and in my experiences 90% of the problems that new shooters have is NOT a lack of rifle shooting skill, but a lack of equipment knowledge, lack of a good rifle rest or bipod, and not fully understanding the concept of MOA or MILLS . A consistient problem I observe is guys accidentaly dialing the OPPOSITE dope on their optics. Average shooters can easily hold 3 MOA at 100 yds (iron sights) , but your not going to see the same outcome at 600 yds. Probably more like 4.5 MOA (comparatively).
 
This was my basic prone setup , nothing super fancy, just some good quality accesories to help me feel comfortable and focus on the shooting

Creedmoore extra padded shooting mat
Creedmoore textured shooting glove
Creedmoore basic codura shooting jacket
Millsurp cotton web sling

IMG_20211130_090316098.jpg
 
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Great advice. I RSO all the member practice 600 yd shoots at Pelham F&G and in my experiences 90% of the problems that new shooters have is NOT a lack of rifle shooting skill, but a lack of equipment knowledge, lack of a good rifle rest or bipod, and not fully understanding the concept of MOA or MILLS . A consistient problem I observe is guys accidentaly dialing the OPPOSITE dope on their optics. Average shooters can easily hold 3 MOA at 100 yds (iron sights) , but your not going to see the same outcome at 600 yds. Probably more like 4.5 MOA (comparatively).

This was my basic prone setup , nothing super fancy, just some good quality accesories to help me feel comfortable and focus on the shooting

Creedmoore extra padded shooting mat
Creedmoore textured shooting glove
Creedmoore basic codura shooting jacketView attachment 547284
Millsurp cotton web sling
Perfect set up for high scores!

You make any Garand matches? Y'all have any at Pelham?
 
Perfect set up for high scores!

You make any Garand matches? Y'all have any at Pelham?
I don't do Garand matches. I'm pretty thin build at 160# and I don't feel completely comfortable shooting the M1 offhand. It rocks me pretty good. Pelham has a Garand / Springfiled match every year usually the first weeken in November.
 
Today was just an awesome day, I surpassed my greatest challenge thus far and that was to take vintage military iron sights out to 600 yds. My eyes are HORRIBLY near sighted and shooting irons is a serious challenge for me. I've shot my Garand many times at 200 yds and do reasonably well (not great). I'm handloading a 150gr fmjbt and 48.5 gr of 4064 and this seems to be a great load for my Criterion barrel. I wanted to mimic the M2 ball velocities so my rear sights will work correctly. Today was cold and the wind was blowing hard at full value. Where I shoot at Pelham F&G , our 600 yd range is well known for a brutal multi-directional windy range. The very low sun angle right in your face this time of year in the mornings is an issue , but most of the morning the sun was hidden behind clouds. I dialed "6" on my elevation and my first nervous shot was a miss at 4:00 just outside the 5 ring . actually I was very happy as I was at least well on paper. I was struggling to maintain the target as I wear glasses and I need to work on the exact placement of my glasses relative to my eye distance. I basically need to get a sport retaining strap that goes around your head and help pull my glasses up higher on my nose. This greatly helps me with my long distance acuity. I took another 4 shots and mostly scored 6's and 7's but my last shot I actually scored a 9 at 9:00 ! At the end of the day considering I was shooting irons for the first time , and a rifle know for just "OK" accuracy, and shooting a 150 gr bullet (very light) at 600 yds in the heavy dense wind and shooting old skool military style sling prone , I think I did very respectable. Can't wait to get back out and try and fine tune my sighting so as to feel more comfortable at 600 yds.
On paper is a good start, love to get all my old iron out to 600.
Sun in your face and or bright days will add elevation to your sights.
I would not worry about M2 specs
IIRC its 2750fps at 75 feet from the muzzle. Find a load that runs well and produces down range
Theres some basic wind corrections that will get you close. Poke around. I know they are in one of my log books
150gn 10mph full value is something like 4-5min at 600 yards . Im not good with the wind
 
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Fixed it for ya' . And the "black" is not yuuuuuge , it's no different from any standard NRA rifle target. The "black" is based upon 6 moa, a 100 yd target has a 6" black, and a 600 yd target has a 36" black.
The black is 36 and the “white” is 72” iirc
 
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