Applying Ballistics To Your Shooting
Gravity and the shooter
Imagine a belly flopper, or what we call "the TR boys", shooting at 1000 yards. These chaps and ladies lie down on the green grasses of Bisley Camp (or other ranges around the globe), tie themselves up in tight jackets, strap spaceship-looking rifles to their arms and shoot, quite accurately, at black circles on white paper. They have no telescopic sights, no optics, only their eyes. Their peep sights with twiddle knobs can be wound up to allow for accurate shooting at 100 to 1000 yards. They are happy to chat on the range and have tea and medals, but woe betide anyone caught talking on the firing point next to them. They seem alien to all who are not in the TR tribe.
Contrast this with a Lee Enfield Marksman. An Australian who drinks beer has a barbeque and then, the next morning, lays down on the ant-infested mound. Using a 100-year-old rifle at 300/700/1000 yards, he sends 50-year-old bullets into the black at 1000 yards. Using only a sling and a large hat for the sun, this person seems to be the antithesis of the TR tribe.
What do these people have in common with the CSR shooter? The F-Class expert, the hunter, or the long-range gong ringer? The simple reality is that these two groups, tribes if you like, of the shooting community, are doing what we do, using technology. Their technology raises the rear sight to compensate for gravity's effect on the bullet as it flies through the air. The TR chaps have their drop tables and only use 7.62 bullets. The Enfield shooters have scaled sights that clearly state settings to 2000 yards using Mk7 ball ammunition. Scientists duly worked out the ballistic curve and then notched it onto the metal in 1916. This gets the marksman close enough with his two sighters to shoot a 10 rounds string and win a competition.
So assuming that a shooter has mastered the basic principles of marksmanship (and this cannot be underestimated), the shooter can hit the target using his metal sights. When we add a telescopic sight to our rifles, matters become more difficult. We zero our rifles at 100 yards but then rely upon a ballistic table or calculator to know what adjustments to make to the scope to hit the target at a distance. This is often combined with actual data based on previous shooting experience. Very few ballistic calculators actually worked consistently at all distances. You might have been on at 100 and 300 yards, but at 1000, the difference was up to 10 MOA. I would make my own drop tables based on experience, but what worked in Wales in the wet would be different at Bisley when the sun came out. So "first shot, first hit" was impossible. You always needed the sighters, and this was before considering the wind. Indeed my fastest long-range shots were using a 7.62 Lee Enfield, popping a tracer out to 1100 yards, seeing where the shot fell, rapid reloading and deviating and hitting the target on the second shot. This is fine and dandy if you happen to have a box of 300 FN sniper tracer rounds, but this is not good enough for long-range hunters and precision target shooters.
Until recently, I had given up on first-round hits on a small target, except for 7.62 at a maximum of 300 yards. This changed when Andy, our scientific member of the politburo, suggested a visit to Sharp-Shooting UK, the domain of Richard Utting.
Cue Richard Utting
It is spring, it should be sunny, and it is most definitely not. The wind is coming in sideways, and it is drizzling. A Japanese 4×4 car appears, and a man of middle height jumps out with a large felt hat. Hailing from Norfolk, he is quiet and polite.
"Right, chaps, it's going to be cold and wet, so put on everything you own". I am already cold, so this does not bode well. We drive to the range and find it is even more windy and cold now, and the rain starts in earnest. I put on two fleeces, a ridgeline smock and an Arktis waterproof jacket. This just about keeps the wind out… Just. Richard's classroom is the back of my Discovery. He is a charismatic teacher, and as we sit on the bumper, he expounds on the subject of ballistics. Firstly he asks that we have Strelok Pro on our iPad or iPhone. Then he sets up the app on your phone with certain settings.
Entering the right data into your ballistic application "A ballistic app is like an electronic accounting spreadsheet. It is only as good as the information you put into it. But the bullet does not lie. Synchronising the bullet's drop with the application is the key. "Richard explains. The first step we take is to chronograph the speed of the cartridge we use. Andy often tells me, "This means choosing an ammunition (or making one) and sticking to it."
For my 7.62 rifles, I have chosen Sierra Match King 7.62 175grain GGG. It is widely available and very accurate while also being cheap. For me, this means lying in a muddy puddle to get out of the wind and shooting at 300 yards. It is hard to explain how utterly horrid the weather is.
Richard then adds more data to my iPad. He synchronises Andy's Kestrel weather station with the iPad, providing wind data and drop. Then various factors are added to the equation: powder temperature, humidity, barrel twist rate, bullet weight, and ballistic coefficient. "Right, now we shoot at 375 yards", he pronounces while giving me an exact sight adjustment. The splash of the shot confirms the data is almost perfect. We adjust and note the precise correction.
"Now, let's shoot out to 423 yards", Richard gives me the setting from Strelok, which is very close. At that point, he shows us how to true the data between the actual fall of the shot and the application.
Putting the data into practice.
The wind and weather are taking their toll on us. We are shooting into the wind and rain. I repeatedly clean my Kahles scope with a roll of kitchen towel. Richard decides that we have achieved enough and moves us to a more sheltered valley within his range complex. We drive across wet fields and hills to get to our next firing point. The ground is so saturated that we elect to shoot from a lower position to minimise damage to the moorland. Here Richard tests us. He chooses random, hidden targets at various distances, and we shoot based purely on the data given by Strelok. The results are incredible, except for the wind, we are on at every distance within inches, even at 600 yards. The only difficulty is the wind, it swirls around the valley, and while the Kestrel will read wind at the muzzle, it cannot consider the wind 500 metres away.
We spend the rest of the afternoon shooting across the valley at random targets. Thankfully the sun finally comes out, and the light changes dramatically. The views over the hills are spectacular. I use Richards Swarovski Binoculars and find that I can see the east coast of Britain. Andy is banging away with his DTA at a 6-inch target at 600 yards. I can barely see it, but with his data, he is on with every shot.
The essentials – was it all worth it?
Richard winds the day up. "The key to all this is to allow the gamekeeper or long-range hunter to make his shot the first time. I have shown you how to accurise your rifles permanently. You can take this information away and apply it to any rifle and cartridge. You must remember to add the correct information to the app every time. Your curve on the app must match the actual curve of the fall of your bullet. You now know how to make the curves match. You have the ballistic zero. The relationship between speed and accuracy has to be perfect." And with that, we pile our sodden kit back into the cars and start the drive home. I have plenty of time to mull the day's experiences over and come to a conclusion.
As an experienced shooter who uses science and drop charts, my knowledge is just like a jigsaw. I know what I am looking at, I am 80% of the way there, but I need help to complete the picture. Richard has given me the tools to finish the jigsaw and start and finish another. I have been to a few private training facilities, and all of them are excellent and have their specialities. None of them offers the scientific hands-on training that Richard Utting does. His training days are unique in the UK.
He can take any shooter with any experience and build on it. Still, there is finally a training facility that challenges experienced shooters and adds to their knowledge. The TR Tribe, the Enfield marksmen, the F-class experts and the hunters could all learn something from his unique training sessions.
Know & Go
Richard Utting offers training days that start at £210 a day in the winter. His RV point is in the village of Bowes. The sharpshooter can find accommodation at the Ancient Unicorn Pub (£60) in Bowes. Which is very friendly. Andy, the owner, welcomes competent shooters as well as hillwalkers. The food is excellent, and the rooms are spotlessly clean. https://ancientunicorn.com/
You will need a tablet (£150-800) and Strelok Pro (£12). You should arrive with the ammunition you always use. You can chronograph it before you arrive or do so with Richard. Ranges vary from 200 to 1600 yards, with a lot of shooting between 300-700.
After your first visit, a repeat client rate is applicable, which is very reasonable.
Contact Richard at: https://www.sharpshootinguk.com/