I read this bit by Dave Scovill in the March 2004 issue of Rifle Magazine and have wanted to do it ever since. I may have enough liberty this year to try it. One doesn't need to use an ancient cartridge in a lever gun, either! I'll be banging away with a 223, and just taking one shot per distance to confirm zero with the hunting rifles. But I have no doubt this will make me more confident and competent in the field.
"Here's the drill. Sight the 300 grain bullet in at 175 yards, dead on then move the target back to 200, then 225 and ultimately 250 long paces. At hte greater distances, the target should be at least 8 inches in diameter, or 12 to 20 inches out to 22 an 250 yards, depending on individual eyesight. Hold at the center on the bottom of the round bull, 6 o'clock. Place the target high on a target board, and place another target just below it, so you can track the bullet drop from the 175-yard zero.
"Then, start, shooting. Don't give any shots away. That is, treat each shot as if it were the last. Concentrate, then concentrate some more - no fudging, no excuses and no whining. Take responsibility for every shot.
"If you fire 10 rounds at 175, 10 more at 200, 10 more at 225 and 10 at 250 yards, that's at total of 40 rounds. Just do your best, scope or iron sights, then, move teh target in to 150 adds. Assuming you are a normal/average shot, you will no doubt be amazed at how well you can shoot at 125 to 150 yards.
"This is what I call pushing the envelope. Forget about the short-range, easy stuff out to 100 yards; stretch it to the improbable limits. Go through this exercise three or four times (once per week for a month) and you will be a better shot with the confidence most folks think impossible.
"No, I'm not suggesting you shoot at game at 250 yards, or even 225, but anything inside 200 paces that is the size of a coyote or larger should be an easy target. Even a jackrabbit out between 175 and 200 yards should be in deep trouble.
Dave goes on to discuss antique rifle ballistics - pointing out that these old lever guns can launch a bullet under 2000 fps but still shoot completely through an elk at 200 yards, which isn't something I would have ever guessed. He also makes the point that you can use recoil protection to make the session more enjoyable. Then he continues:
"Of course, at some point in time you will want to get away from the bench and fire 30 to 40 rounds from a variety of shooting positions, with and without shooting sticks, at ranges from 100 to 250 yards. When you do, the recoil that beat you up on the bench won't seem nearly as brutal and you ability to concentrate for each shot will improve tremendously."
I like this story:
"You can push the envelope as far as you want to, or as far as the terrain will allow. Several years ago I was looking forward to an antelope hunt with a Winchester model 17 .348 WCF, so I went through "the drill" three times out to 200 yards. Then the target was moved back to 250 yards, and I paced the distance to a rock on the other side the valley at 540 long steps, pretty close to 550 yards according to my days on a survey crew.
He discusses the load for the .348, and then: "When I felt reasonably competent on the 250 yard target, I switched to the rock. Out of the remaining 78 rounds fired from a padded rest over a tree limb, I hit the rock, about 18 in diameter, 56 times. (In the bright Arizona sun, you can see a 250 grain lead alloy bullet splatter on a rock at that range, and you can hear it, albeit it takes awhile for the sound of drift back across the valley.) And the area immediately below the rock, and a bit left, looked like it had been machine-gunned. in effect, if the target had been an elk, I would have hit it about 80 percent of the time, or about 50 percent on a deer-sized critter. From that experience I learned a great deal mostly that I had a tendency to pull the shot low and left, which also showed up on the 250 yard target.
He concludes: "So push the envelope and run "the drill". It doesn't matter if you use an iron-sighted lever action or a scoped bolt-action sporter. When you can pound an 18-inch rock consistently at 550 years, anything short of 250 yards in the field should be child's play."
With that thought to feast on and the prospect of another good Bama team to drool over, I'm having a grand end of summer, hope you are too.