Friday, April 08, 2011

Andrew Burleson's first shot at 1,000 yards - Bullseye!

You only get one chance at your first first-shot at 1,000 yards, and most folks are happy if they hit the paper, much less the target!

Imagine the challenge of hitting a six inch bullseye at a distance of ten football fields away!!

It's rare, but our Son Andrew Burleson did it on his very first shot!

Janet and I we watching the TV show “Top Shot” where they used a 50 Caliber rifle to hit a huge six foot round target at 1,000 yards.

See the show here, the Top Shot 1,000 yard Challenge

They made it out like it was a big deal, so we decided to see how we did at 1,000 yards.

The target square below is six feet square with a 44 inch black target:


Even at 300 yards, a target looks small


A 50 caliber at 1,000 yards is too easy, we use a 30 caliber rifle at 1,000 yards, and both Janet and my son shot nearly as well a the guys on the "Top Shot" show.

We believe that long distance rifle skills are important and we are studying NRA conventional high-powered rifle competition.

This is Janet with her .308, she affectionately calls “The Beast”.



Janet with her .308 Remington 700 (with a Leupold 6.5-20x 40mm scope)

It works great on our 300 yards range on the ranch, but we need to get out and stretch our legs at longer distances.

We have family in the military and we got access to a 1,000 yard range.

It’s very intimidating on a long target range.

The black targets ring is only 44 inches and it’s barely perceptible to the naked eye!


Fourty Four inch targets can barely be seen at 1,000 yards


Our .308 has a muzzle velocity of twice the speed of sound (2.760 feet per second) which is fine up to 900 yards, but after that, the bullet goes sub-sonic and tumbles into the target!

To get around the trans-sonic airflow, we loaded with a faster powder and 155 grain bullets (a lighter load), and we stayed supersonic at 1,000 yards easily.

After doping the scope, I was shooting 2 MOA, so I gave up and let our son Andy have a crack at 1,000 yards.


Andy Burleson learns proper sniper sighting


On his very first shot at 1,000 yards he hit a bullseye!

A 10-X!

Remember, this is the distance of ten football fields and the bullseye is only six inches wide!



Later, we tried a bigger rifle, a 300 Mag, and the same again, Andy’s first shot was a bullseye!

Andy Burleson is a born sniper, incredible eyesight and superb sense for Kentucky windage . .



Andrew Sean Burleson at the thousand yard line. . .


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