Any Advice for Vortex Long Range Class

Firearm Training
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I have reserved two slots at Vortex’s Long Range shooting classes in August – one session in Michigan and one in Wisconsin. I am bringing a Benelli Lupo in 308 with a Vortex Diamondback 4x16 MRad scope. I’ve spent considerable time (and money) getting an airline worthy case with Kaizen foam ready for the rifle, ammo and gear. I hope I can get it all through the airports at both ends as it weighs a ton and is 52" long.

Has anyone taken one of these Vortex classes? I had a VERY difficult time getting a reservation, so I hope they are popular because they are good. The promise is shooting out to 1,000 yards. I am a raw beginner in long range shooting.

Does anyone have any recommendations as to what they suggest I do, where to stay, gear to bring, gear not to worry about, etc?

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Haven’t been to the class so can’t help you there. One thing I suggest is making sure you have photos of the items you pack and photos of the receipts for any items valued at over $100. You’ll need them to file a claim if/when the airline loses your luggage. The airlines also have a maximum limit on what they will reimburse.

Don’t ask how I know this:(

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Yes do not drink coffee or anything else with caffeine , and get a good night’s rest before you start your ALSOME ,QUEST , GOOD LUCK , and DO NOT GET DISTRACTED WITH ANY OUTHER THEN WHAT YOU CAME TO DO , your BEST , and you will DO JUST FINE , GOOD LUCK BROTHER :100::us::white_check_mark::owl::feather::feather:

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Ryan Cleckner has an excellent beginners guide for long range shooting.

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@Craig6 is who I would ask for long range shooting advise. He’s pretty much the authority here as far as I am concerned. I’ve used his advice on optics for my .308

I would recommend getting numerous boxes of ammo of the same type, and the same manufacturers lot # if you can. Scope, bullet drop, wind, and such can be figured out rather easily on site. But your ammo performance has a good bit to do with accuracy. So get some beforehand, (again use the ammo type you plan to take to your class) and put some rounds downrange, so you know what your ammo’s performance is. Hitting at a 1,000 yards is doable but you need to be precise and different types of ammo can affect you disproportionately.

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I too recommend the Cleckner book. I own it and got a lot out of it.

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This will be short.

DO NOT CLEAN YOUR BORE AFTER YOU GET A ZERO.

Clean your bolt, bolt face and dry mop the CHAMBER. DO NOT PUT ANYTHING down the bore except a bullet. The bore will hold zero for about 1200 rounds (after the first 50 or so).

Your rifle has a 22" 1:11 twisted tube use 175 or 178gr ammo otherwise you will not make it to 1K yards.

You will need a GOOD bipod, a rear bag and unless the comb of the stock is adjustable a stock pack to get your eye in line withe optic REPEATABLY.

I will add more later I’m on a timeline today.

Cheers,

Craig6

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I have a “party mix” of 308 ammo from the M1A I used to own. Mostly lighter weight (145-150 gr) than I know I will need for longer distances. Still deciding what ammo to spring for. Leaning toward Hornady Black ELD.

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Had not thought of photos, but now I’m paranoid.

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Happy Anniversary @Craig6

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Happy Anniversary brother

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And get a decent ground cover to lay down on MABE with a pad made in the end as a little lift for your shoulders well I have one if you are going to be one the ground for awhile :question::question::owl::feather::feather:

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Hornady Never let me down it’s just RIGHT FOR THE LONG TOOLS :hammer_and_pick: HORNADY!! Unless you are reloading your own :question::dizzy::zap::sparkles::fire::100::bangbang::owl::feather::feather:

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Happy Anniversary @Craig6

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Odds are you won’t have any issues. But I was required to send receipts for all the higher value items. Wish I had photos of the receipts so I could have started the claim process sooner. I’m still waiting to hear back if they are going to reimburse me for the losses so wish I had photos of the items I packed in case I need to get a lawyer involved. Fortunately no firearms were involved but we lost some of our best cloths and some irreplaceable sentimental items. Plus I was forced to travel with none of the first aid gear and other items I don’t usually leave home without.

I once had to ship some satellite internet equipment back to a company when we canceled their horrible service. First they tried to claim we didn’t return some of the items. Then when I showed them photos of all the equipment packed in their return box they tried to claim the stuff we supposedly didn’t return to them was broken when we returned it. Had to get the BBB involved to get them to stop trying to charge the no return fee. Think those pictures really helped.

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I bought a Samsung Smart Tag (a disc about 1 1/2" in diameter for about $50 on Amazon) to insert in the case buried in the foam. As I understand how a Smart Tag works, it allows you to locate the tag with your Android smartphone (Apple also makes a version of this) even if the tag is beyond the usual Bluetooth range. It somehow “hijacks” other nearby Android smartphones to locate the tag and relay its location to the registered owner over large distances.

I don’t know whether it works as advertised, but I have time to test it. I’ll leave it at my mom’s house, which is 65 miles away and see whether my Samsung Galaxy can find it. Sounds pretty James Bondish, or even magical, but if the case goes missing, I’d like to have some chance of retrieving it because, as your experience illustrates, it is doubtful that the airline will be less than helpful.

I also have a call into my homeowner’s insurance to see what coverage I have (or need) for potential firearm losses.

Thanks for reminding me that s%$t happens and I need to do what I can to deal with it.

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I do reload, and would do so for this outing, but my progressive press is at Hornady for repairs. Hornady’s lifetime warranty has been really good to me, so I’d like to be brand loyal by buying their bullets when I must.

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Shamrock THATS happening to my self and Debbie ann we sent back every thing the DVR. And they sent it back to us and we went fifty miles to get it sent back DRECTV IS CRAP AND SO IS DISH NETWORK THEY WERE THREATENING DEBBIE ANN I TOLD THE MAN I USED TO COLLECT FOR EVIL MONSTERS DO NOT EVER THREATEN MY WOMAN :bangbang::bangbang::bangbang::100: I WILL BE TAKING WITH YA WE WENT TO HER BANK AND STOP THE CRAP AND GAVE THEM THE TWO THOUSAND DOLLARS TO LEAVE HER ALONE THAT HAD ME SEEING RED. MY LORD JESUS THE THREAT THEY SAY TO LADIES I JUST HAD TO CALM DOWN AND REMEMBER TO BREATHE THEY ALL WILL BE OUT OF BUSINESS SOON ENTERNET HAS TAKEN OVER I FEEL MY TV WATCHING ME HAW HAW MABE HUMOR :question::question:STAY FROSTY :100::us::chile::owl::feather::feather::latin_cross:

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I know someone who uses the Apple version. They work really well as long as there is someone with an iPhone within 30’ or so of the tag.

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Sorry you are having to deal with them. Every year they raise our rates a bunch and I have to call and threaten to cancel their service so they will lower them back to a somewhat more reasonable rate. It is a frustrating waist of time. Now that we have semi reliable internet I may just cancel them for good next time.

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At a more sedate pace today.

I meant what I said about leaving the bore alone.

You will need a “Dope Book” which can mean many things to different folks. For a National Match guy its got 22 squares and circles on it and a picture of the target. For a “precision” guy it looks a lot more like a sniper log. None of the pre-printed ones have the ballistic data for YOUR rifle. You will have to develop that on your own and figure out how to incorporate it into your Dope Book. I Use the 5X7 Rite in the Rain zip binders and paper and make my own. Get you a “Space Pen”, grab a couple golf/lottery pencils as back up and for sharing.

Once you have a dope book practice with it when you dry fire. There is nothing worse than getting back to the hotel and reviewing when you realize that you got tired and progressively forgot more and more things and now you have no idea why that shot went where it did because all you have it a + where you saw the shot break and an X where it hit.

You mentioned you have an MRAD scope. Are the knobs in 1/10 Mil adjustments or 1/4 MOA? If the knobs are different from the reticle you will have to learn MATH and a lot of it. Sometimes you will use both at the same time for holds and movers.

Ballistics: There’s an app for that. Most of them work VERY well when you know TWO things. Actual field and chrono data for your rifle and ammo and a calibrated scope. Since you haven’t bought your ammo yet that is out but you said you reload and like Hornady so you should have a Hornady reloading manual which has ballistic data in it which will get you close.

Calibrated scope: Most folks never do this because its hard and get frustrated when things don’t make sense.

The first thing you want to do is ensure your reticle is what they say it is. MOST important if your scope is Second Focal Plane (SFP) because there is only on point on the power dial where your reticle does what it says it does. If you have a SFP scope you will want to know precisely where that is an make a PERMANENT mark on your scope that you can find. On a First Focal Plane (FFP) scope its is just as important to make sure the reticle is correct and does not change subtension as you dial through the power ring.

The second part is the most time consuming but does not cost you any ammo to do. It will also cause you to think about how to accomplish it.

But first the basics.

1 MIL (Milradian) = 1 Meter(M) @ 1000 M = 10 Centimeters (cm) at 100 M.
1 MIL = 36" @ 1000 yards = 3.6" @ 100 yards.
1Minute of Angle (MOA) = 10.47" @ 1000 yards = 1.047" @ 100yards
1 Inch Per 100 Yards (IPHY) = 10.0" @ 1000 yards and 1" @ 100 yards

So if you have a MIL / MIL (MIL Reticle / MIL Knobs) scope you only need one poster board, If you have a MIL/MOA, MIL/IPHY or MIL/OTHER) scope you need two poster boards.

Get a new sharpie, a sharp pencil and a long straight edge and draw a “+” in the exact middle of the poster board (you find the middle by drawing a line from corner to corner, where they cross is the middle).

Then grab your pencil and as accurately as you can draw your measurements (MIL’s, MOA or IPHY) on the cross. Then through the center of the pencil line where it intersects the “+” and add about 1/2" line.

Now you need an EXACT 100 yard range. Lasers are not good enough, and because the range says so doesn’t work either. Go to Home Depot, Lowes etc and buy a 100 yard tape measure (keep your receipt, you’ll bring it back tomorrow or not) go to the range/back yard/farm wherever and measure from the poster board to where the knobs on your scope are.

This is the hard part. Put your scope in a vice (Preferably in the rings that are mounted to your rifle and onto a spare rail in the vice). Alternately strap your rifle SECURELY to the bench. Then line up the crosshairs with your poster boards. Then it is just a matter of dialing the scope up and down and side to side to verify that the scope is doing what it is supposed to be doing. (If it doesn’t PM me as that is a whole discussion by itself involving math and a friend with a pencil.) More importantly note that it returns to the same spot when you are done.

I could go on about this topic for days. Ask me questions I will give you my thoughts and if I don’t know I know somebody that does.

Cheers,

Craig

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