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PBR

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longcruise

70 Cal.
Joined
Feb 28, 2005
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No No No... not that one

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Dang it, not that one either 😕 where's this stuff coming from??

Talking about your own personal PBR (point blank range).

Have you ever played around and established your own pbr under hunting conditions with your hunting rifle?

That distance at which you can take a center hold on the animals vitals and be sure to a high degree of certainty that you will make a good shot.
 
With my 50 cal with a patched round ball I'm good to 100 yards but like to keep it closer to 75 or 80. My trajectory is roughly something like +1.5" at 25, +2" at 50 +1.5" at 75, -2.5" at 100. If I remember correctly.

This is with 80 gr. 3F , .490 rb, and .018" pillow ticking out of a 34" barrel.
 
Well, all kidding aside, PBR, point blank range, (almost went off the tracks again) is one of my own favorite considerations when making shot decisions. I like to have the decisions made in advance.

Most ballistic calculators will calculate a PBR for any specific size group that you may be interested in. And, it's entertaining to play with the calculations as long as we don't take them too seriously.

For myself, my two favorite big game rifles, both 54s, are easily capable of putting 8 or 10 shots into one ragged hole benched at 25 yards. Very nice "internet groups". But by the time either of those guns are brought to bear at 50 yards, under typical field conditions they, and my eyes and shooting ability, are clearly at their limits at 50 in an offhand situation. That's with wind not being a major consideration. Wind is a gamechanger and increasingly so as wind velocity goes up.

Things improve with a field style rest when possible but not by much.

When looking at 100 yards it's hard to imagine a scenario where either of those rifles in my hands and with my eyes under field conditions could reliably make a well placed shot on a deer or elk.
 
Well, all kidding aside, PBR, point blank range, (almost went off the tracks again) is one of my own favorite considerations when making shot decisions. I like to have the decisions made in advance.

Most ballistic calculators will calculate a PBR for any specific size group that you may be interested in. And, it's entertaining to play with the calculations as long as we don't take them too seriously.

For myself, my two favorite big game rifles, both 54s, are easily capable of putting 8 or 10 shots into one ragged hole benched at 25 yards. Very nice "internet groups". But by the time either of those guns are brought to bear at 50 yards, under typical field conditions they, and my eyes and shooting ability, are clearly at their limits at 50 in an offhand situation. That's with wind not being a major consideration. Wind is a gamechanger and increasingly so as wind velocity goes up.

Things improve with a field style rest when possible but not by much.

When looking at 100 yards it's hard to imagine a scenario where either of those rifles in my hands and with my eyes under field conditions could reliably make a well placed shot on a deer or elk.
Yup.

I just do the best I can do. So many different scenarios while hunting. A rest is just about mandatory for anything except closer shots. Fortunately, my GPR holds as steady as can be offhanded. But I still have some practicing to do with it.
 
I use a 3 inch PBR out to about 150 yards. I can't remember the exact numbers, but I plugged them into a ballistic calculator and the bullet will not deviate more than 3 in high or low up to 150 yards. Too much past that and it drops like a rock.

It also makes sighting in really easy, you can plug your information into a ballistic calculator, and then shoot from any distance and it will tell you exactly how far away from the bullseye will be. I sight in at 20 yards, knowing that the bullet will be about 2 in high, I can measure from the bullseye, and as long as the bullets are where they're supposed to be, I know my gun is accurate at longer ranges.

Please don't quote me on the exact numbers, they're close, but I'm sure they're not dead on without me running it through the calculator again.
 
Well, all kidding aside, PBR, point blank range, (almost went off the tracks again) is one of my own favorite considerations when making shot decisions. I like to have the decisions made in advance.

Most ballistic calculators will calculate a PBR for any specific size group that you may be interested in. And, it's entertaining to play with the calculations as long as we don't take them too seriously.

For myself, my two favorite big game rifles, both 54s, are easily capable of putting 8 or 10 shots into one ragged hole benched at 25 yards. Very nice "internet groups". But by the time either of those guns are brought to bear at 50 yards, under typical field conditions they, and my eyes and shooting ability, are clearly at their limits at 50 in an offhand situation. That's with wind not being a major consideration. Wind is a gamechanger and increasingly so as wind velocity goes up.

Things improve with a field style rest when possible but not by much.

When looking at 100 yards it's hard to imagine a scenario where either of those rifles in my hands and with my eyes under field conditions could reliably make a well placed shot on a deer or elk.
Unfortunately, just like you my eyes are the problem now. It’s impossible for me to judge the actual performance of my rifles at 100 yrds, just can’t see the target well enough. But I’m deadly at 25 yrds and not to bad at 50. So 50 yards is what I strive for as PBR.
 
Yup.

I just do the best I can do. So many different scenarios while hunting. A rest is just about mandatory for anything except closer shots. Fortunately, my GPR holds as steady as can be offhanded. But I still have some practicing to do with it.
Yup, I agree, my GPR is one of the two. Usually both go with me in case I need a backup on overnight trips. The other is a TC Hawken with a Hoyt 54 re bore.

Yes, it's so much about the eyes any more. Eye doctor says I’m 3 - 5 years from cataract surgery.

In competitions I do pretty good at 25 and not too bad at 50. Usually snatch a bottom 10% overall after the 100. 🤣
 
That's a more complicated question than it seems, lots of variables.

With my deer rifle, in my normal hunting situation.

PBR is 125 yards.

IronHand
 
I’ll take a 100 yard shot if I feel the need and I’m completely confident I’ll make it. My preference is to get them as close as possible though. I don’t have to kill a deer to eat, so I’m pretty picky about the shots I take.
 
At longer distances, knowing the exact range (range finder) and an accurate windspeed is a must. A lot of new roundballs hunters don't realize how much a 7 to 10 mph cross wind can push a ball of off center at 75 yards and beyond.

I always recommend shooting in all conditions( windy days, cloudy days, bright sunny days, high/low humidity, etc.) to know your rifle and load . Shooting from a bench on a perfect 72* overcast day with no wind can skew your results in the field. It's all about the variables.
 
You can not expect consistency if you only shoot every now and again. I believe suppository guns are more forgiving than MLs because the suppository cartridge lends a degree of consistency harder to achieve with MLs.
 
My eyes both near and far are bad. Had a stroke so my PBR is now a pistol in the left hand at a 15 to 20 yard target. When I was pre stroke and ten years younger and right handed it was different.
 
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