Up Close and Personal

Knowing Your Rifle Impact at Every Distance is Key to 3-Gun Success

Keith Garcia hammers a quick pair on a close-range rifle course at Superstition Mountain Mystery 3-Gun.

By Bryce M. Towsley (www.brycetowsley.com)

I recently interviewed more than a dozen of the top 3-gun shooters, asking them for the one single best tip they could provide. An amazing number of them said that it’s critical to know your rifle’s point of impact at every single distance you may encounter. 

Most shooters know about bullet drop and long-range compensation, but they forget that with the AR-15 rifles we use, we also need to compensate for close targets. One of the hardest things to train for with an AR-15 rifle is a precision shot at close range, say zero to 30 yards. The design of the rifle keeps the sights high above the bore, which means that the bullet path and line of sight are well separated, particularly at close range. With the average hunting rifle the center of the scope is 1.5 inches above the center of the bore, with an AR-15 rifle it is about 2.7 inches. That means that the bullet’s path will often be much different than the line of sight.

I’ll use my favorite competition load for illustration, the Federal Premium .223 Remington with a 55-grain Nosler Ballistic Tip bullet. With a 200-yard zero the average bolt-action hunting rifle will only strike a quarter-inch low at 30 yards.  But, the AR with the same zero will be more than one and a quarter inches low. At ten yards, where a lot of the close targets are placed in 3-gun competition, it will strike almost two and a quarter inches low.

With this load and a 200-yard zero the bullet’s path will be below the line of sight until about 65 yards. Then it will be above the line of sight until it reaches 200 yards. From 200 yards on it will be below the line of sight. (This is with the factory published muzzle velocity of 3,240 fps and will vary with the velocity from your particular rifle.)

Most shooters know their bullet drop beyond the zero and are aware of how much hold over they need for long shots. But few have memorized the hold overs for the close targets. The close targets are often smaller and inches count. One common 3-gun target is a USPSA-type paper target with all but the head covered with a white “no-shoot.” The “A” zone on the USPSA target is only a couple of inches tall. A lot of shooters aim right at it, thinking they can’t miss, and wind up shooting below. Often that means they hit a “no-shoot” and incur penalties.

It is critical to know exactly where your gun impacts at any range you expect to encounter in a 3-gun match. You cannot rely on computer generated data. You must actually shoot at targets to find the exact deviation from the line of sight at each range.

When doing the walk through on a stage it’s not a bad idea to bring a range finder and measure each target. Then you will know the exact amount you need to hold off to put the bullet where you want it to go.

Below: Federal Premium .223 Remingon 55 Grain Nasler Ballistic Tip

Posted on 9/22/2011