Thread: Shooting moving targets at 600

Short version: It works ok.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJsriiRpO9Y

That's a lot of effort, looks like fun to!

Good stuff

It was!

Rigging the 400 meter line was both inexpensive, fast and a general success - took about 40 minutes and used 4mm coated wire.
Rigging the 600 meter line was both expensive, slow and not at all that good - took about 3 hours and used 8mm uncoated wire.

At 400 the assistant is in a concrete grave especially constructed for people with shots passing overhead.
At 600 there was no constructed grave, so I had to displace the assistant 200 meters via rope and pulleys to get him into a natural grave. And I didn't by ball bearing pulleys so there is a LOT of resistance between the wire and pulley.

But the job is done and the cost is sunk, so future shootings is just a matter of safety & coordination procedures.

In time, I will replace this with some sort of remote controlled motor system.

Originally Posted by Dr. Watson

That's a lot of effort, looks like fun to!

Good stuff

Worth the effort tho.



Sent from the swamp

Great vid, nice shooting, brr looks cold

@Norway, watched the video - looks like a lot of fun! Having a portable moving target setup is something I really want to add to our current set of field targets. I haven't come up with a good, reliable, portable, easy to set up and operate system yet though!

Are you tracking the target when you shoot i.e. like a shotgun? Or are you "ambushing" the target when it gets to a point i.e. rifle stays still and target moves into the bullet?

Personally, I have had a lot more success and consistency with moving targets at distance by ambushing them when I am using a solid shooting position i.e. prone or sitting. Competitions like 10m running target and 50m running boar in NZ are shot standing and it that case I will track the target as my shooting position is not as stable. Obviously, you will also dial in the windage first and so the target lead doesn't change depending on direction.

Originally Posted by Gillie

@Norway, watched the video - looks like a lot of fun! Having a portable moving target setup is something I really want to add to our current set of field targets. I haven't come up with a good, reliable, portable, easy to set up and operate system yet though!.

Just sit tight, I've had muh the same problems/requirements and might have just the thing once prototyping is finished.

Originally Posted by Gillie

Are you tracking the target when you shoot i.e. like a shotgun? Or are you "ambushing" the target when it gets to a point i.e. rifle stays still and target moves into the bullet?

I track. Simply because "real" targets don't run as predictable as a motorized range. When the assistant is instructed to just go even, the percentage jumps to over 80%. When the assistant is instructed to "avoid me" (as far as that is possible for a target on a fixed track...), it drops dramatically. I hit it on the pass, but I might use 2, 3 or 4 shots. A 600 I find that my speed estimate needs to be within 0,5 msec to hit and in changes are near impossible to perceive once committed to the target.

Thomas you are a bloody legend...it was great to meet you at Graham's.....it's been raining non stop since you were here last....the deer at Eskdalemuir are not looking forward to your next visit....love your videos, keep up the good work !!!

Not sure if I am right but it looked like you missed more targets that were moving left to right?
Targets right to left, it appeared that you shot in front of, if missed?

I always track my movers like yourself but due to being a right hand shot I required at least half again more lead on a target moving from left to right when shooting prone, no matter what my data said.
Less lead than what data said by a little when shooting right to left.
I am the same with a shotgun.

Push vs pull and all that. And a lot to do with how we manipulate the trigger. It will break quicker for us when tracking right to left as we are pulling or tracking aiding our pressure on the trigger. It is the reverse left to right as we are tracking or pushing the trigger into ourselves.

Most of the targets we engaged moved at approx 6-7m in 4 secs.(average walking speed of a biped) But sometimes ya got a sasquatch of a bloke or a midget in the butts doing your targets so speeds were varied.

Give it a go if you are in fact missing more left to right.

It is really evident in my case at a 1000 how much difference there is.


Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk

That's cool, the only moving target I have shot at was balloons on water.

Originally Posted by Mangle

Thomas you are a bloody legend...it was great to meet you at Graham's.....it's been raining non stop since you were here last....the deer at Eskdalemuir are not looking forward to your next visit....love your videos, keep up the good work !!!

But I'm not dead yet...

It's actually nothing special, all the shooting techniques I use is proven to be very transferable to other people. The most difficult thing about longrange shooting is finding a suitable place to try it.
I heard about the rain, the family I usually stay with was house-locked for 2 days as the river flooded into their driveway. It was nice to catch up at Graham's, but I certainly felt the drive home & late bed when the alarm clock rang next day. I'm certainly not 20 anymore...

Originally Posted by R93

Not sure if I am right but it looked like you missed more targets that were moving left to right?
Targets right to left, it appeared that you shot in front of, if missed?

Yes I think the rate is something like 3 misses L-R for every 1 R-L. I could miss a full pass L-R and hammer it 2-3 times R-L.
I'm not sure what exactly is going on, still experimenting a little with moving targets (it was my first two sessions in many years) and there is definitively something going on with the recoil as it comes closer to the neck and the swing degrades.
I'll go through the video material once more and try to see a pattern in the trace, if not, I'll just try your technique.

Missing more in one direction could be to do with master eye and hand. At sporting clays most people i shoot with struggle with l-r birds but theyre "easy" for me, r-l gets me but are "easy" for them. Im left handed and left eye dominant but shoot right hand. Two guys are right handed left eye dominant and they both find left to right easier. Just a thought.