Zoom is the range of magnification that a scope might have. The figure is how many time’s ‘closer’ the image will appear in the scope than it actually is.
For example – a 3-9 scope (a common range) starts at the low end having a three times magnification, and at the ‘long’ end – nine times.
How much magnification do you need? Depends on your intended use and target size. However, distance is not always the determining factor here.
While many people assume that you need more zoom the further you get out, more zoom comes with its own downsides.
Look at it this way – a rabbit and a deer are very different in size, but sometimes engaged at similar distances. While shooters have often put a smaller scope (2-7) on a 22LR (the bunny buster) than the deer huntingrifle (3-9) – wouldn’t the extra magnification actually make more sense on the bunny gun – where you are going to have a smaller target?
However
Conversely, too much zoom comes with more weight, with a narrower field of view, and with the temptation to zoom in too far – resulting in losing the target in the scope or having to deal with the amount of movement, mirage and general finickiness that a high mag zoom can induce. I have watched1 many field shooting competitors loose a piece of steel at 800 meters, then spend way too much time trying to scope the countryside in the scope – before finally realising they should power down, find the target again, and power back up. In fact, for a lot of 600-1k shooting – 15x power seems to be a sweet spot – on steel targets that is. Start shooting tiny little groups on paper, and a massive 40x or more can become useful.
Some suggestions
While everyone develops their own preferences, and there are some caveats, some common ranges would include –
1-4 – short-range engagement – often found on AR platforms for a run-n-gun style shoot
2-7 – the traditional bush gun mag range
3-9 – common for bush – but also suited to many 22LR rifles
3-15 – the crossover – a rifle that is hunted and competed with
5-25 – the ‘standard’ long-range rifle scope
5-40, 5-50, 4-80 and more – the realm of benchrest, F-Class and tiny holes in targets
Performing optimally while out hunting or shooting
Making the best decisions when pulling that trigger
Feeling better out the other side (i.e. recovering faster)
It’s not like we don’t actually all know how important the food we consume is to our wellbeing anymore. To deny that in modern times, is simply put, right up there with suggesting cigarettes cause no harm, or, alcohol doesn’t affect me anymore. Sure – comforting to tell yourself, but simple, intuitively, and factually wrong.
When I was younger1 – I could basically get away with eating a copious amount of any kind of food and be fine. These days, I find a late-night binge on sugar, can create nearly the same hangover a glass too many of Pinot used too. I find myself getting up slower in the morning, healing slower and just being more sluggish. If I pay, just the smallest amount of attention to my ‘inputs’ through – the ‘output’ is noticeably better.
But, I’m not a super athlete!
True. Neither am I – and while shooting and hunting can be considered strenuous activities – it’s hardly a Triathalon. Though it can involve mountaineering, long walks under heavy load, oh, and we have to often make a decision that literally is the difference between life and death.
In ‘The Hunters Tale’ – a publication from the Mountain Safety Council on Hunter Participation and Incidents – 54% per cent of all hunter injuries involve a firearm. A big part of that is due to poor decision making. Focusing on a subset of those incidents, Karl Bridges from hfex is currently working on a PhD on the subject of Hunter Safety – focusing on the causal factors that result in a hunter misidentifying and potentially shooting another hunter.
Karl Bridges of University of Auckland has found that pupil dilation, hydration and even personality type could influence a hunter’s decision-making at the point of firing.
Do you think nutrition could play a part as well? Do you think what we are eating, on top of everything else is compounding the issue?
Good nutrition – the food we eat – is part about performing well in the field, and part about safety.
Performance Considerations
There is a diet fad a minute at a moment – Paleo, Keto being a couple of current faves. So, without heading too far down any particular rabbit hole – let’s talk about a couple of things that we need to consider when it comes to ensuring we are performing our best behind the trigger and in the field. Again, don’t take this as nutritional gospel – but rather as an overreaching framework to consider when planning your eating.
When performing, much like our shooting, we are striving for consistency. We want a constant, reliable and long-lasting run of energy. The other way of looking at it – is that we shouldn’t run out or feel a dip. This consistency means we get less distracted (safety) and the body works like it optimally should (performance).
Carbohydrates – fuel the machine
Carbohydrates are essentially the fuel that your body burns (or more-so converts into glucose which is then used as fuel). Carb’s come in several different forms – so it’s not just a case of ‘carb-loading’ – it’s also about thinking about what kind and importantly, quality of carbs you are putting in to get the best result out.
But how do you know what is good for you? Now, this is a gross, gross oversimplification2 – but the closer the carbohydrate to the way it was grown, the better – this then, excludes processed foods and instead focuses on unprocessed or minimally processed whole grains, vegetables, fruits and beans. These will3 break down slower, meaning the fuel ‘lasts longer’ and is a smoother, consistent delivery. By comparison, many refined carbs are quickly digested – in turn causing blood sugar spikes, hunger pangs and a rollercoaster ride of energy.
It’s time to move beyond instant noodles.
A product that has been through several levels of refinement and likely also then had a pile of stuff added back into it (like sodium, stabilisers and preservatives) should not be your first choice. Sorry, but that cheap, reliable packet of instant noodles just isn’t very good for you to rely on as a primary source of nutrition. Not if you expect your body to perform well, at least. This also includes other kiwi standards of white rice, white bread, and well, anything that has had the colour and therefore natural goodness stripped out of it in the name of consistency, nice presentation and good shelf life.
Don’t skimp on breakfast!
It’s also important (and I am guilty of doing this myself) to not base early morning performance on stimulants. Namely – that cup of coffee or can or energy drink that forms your entire breakfast. Instead, as well know4 – we should have a decent breakfast to set ourselves right for the day. Especially when the early part of that day is going to consist of trying to outwit an animal, and potentially make the decision to shoot one.
While the old standard of instant porridge is a start, refer back up to my comments about Instant Noodles, and instead, consider something closer to muesli – a combination of dried fruit and with good fats from nuts and seeds is going to provide a much more solid base.
What about Fibre?
Fibre isn’t nutrition as such. But it helps you poop. You do like to poop occasionally, don’t you? Then make sure you get a bit of fibre in there. Reality is, if you are eating whole foods, then the fibre is pretty much already sorted. Refining food often pulls a lot of that fibre out. So then you need to worry about putting it back in. How about we just don’t eat stripped foods in the first place?
Lack of fibre, or, more correctly mild constipation is one of two main issues in the bush – the other is the freeze-dry runs – which is right at the other end of issues to have. Either way, not ideal when you are trying to focus on stalking, hunting and making important decisions in the field.
Keeping going through the day; break up those meals
Notice you get dips in energy during the day? A couple of reasons – likely, the fuel you are using isn’t lasting the distance, and, you also are potentially running out here and there. While us Kiwi’s are used to the three meals a day mantra, which often means maybe one (dinner) when out hunting – it’s not a way to properly look after the system and keep it running optimally.
Instead, consider reducing the size of dinner, making sure you also get breakfast and lunch and, bridging those gaps with decent snacks at morning and afternoon ‘tea’ time. No. A cup of tea and a biscuit doesn’t count.
Also, by paying more attention to what you are eating at those meals, and making sure it’s not quickly digesting (i.e simple) carbohydrates, you won’t also end up riding the wave of insulin spikes – the rollercoaster up and down of hunger pangs.
Protein – Rebuild the damage
Now, despite what every bodybuilding magazine5 – you probably don’t need to be pounding back protein powder. However – you do also want to ensure that you get enough protein into you to help the body repair the muscle ‘damage’ that you have done during the days work. Though we aren’t talking squat/deadlift/clean territory here either6. Now, it’s quite possible that you have a nice clean source of protein available to you while out hunting anyhow, though, I prefer to hang meat before eating it. So, ensuring that there is something high in protein incorporated into at least your last meal of the day, is a good plan.
Where does fat fit into this?
While fat has been blamed for many health problems, fat is actually pretty essential to a healthy body. Stored fat (Adipose tissue) serves many uses within the human body – providing a bit of insulation and protection for internal organs, protecting nerves, transporting vitamins and, can be one of the largest reserves of energy we have available. However, when the optimal level of body fat is exceeded, yes, we can have issues.
Calories mean energy, and one gram of fat equals nine calories – so – ‘pound for pound’ fat is a great source. However, fat generally isn’t a quick fix – that is, if you need short, quick bursts of energy (i.e. sprints) – fat isn’t going to convert fast enough to be of any help. But. We don’t – tramping, shooting, hunting is a slower sport – so we have the ability to tap into this reservoir as well. But – again, fat is slow – slow to digest, slow to convert and, requires oxygen – which, also requires a slowing down of intensity.
Takeaway? Don’t panic about have the body fat ratio of Bruce Lee. Eat some healthy fats – but don’t drink a jar of Olive Oil in the bush – unless you are trying to keep warm. But that’s for another article.
Don’t change it up!
Here’s a big one – and this also ties into another great myth when it comes to shooting – that you need to avoid caffeine to avoid the jitters. Now, if you have ever seen me without caffeine – you know it’s not helping with jitters – it’s causing them – and in a similar vein, I wouldn’t suggest you completely alter your diet when trying to perform. This brings its own issues (covered more under practical considerations) – but the issue of the ‘jelly belly’ when on some freeze-dried foods is a result of this. Though, the amount of sodium in some is also likely to blame a bit. You likely want to be trying to eat around the same amount of food you normally do – though, maybe a little extra relative to the extra physical output your undergoing.
Safety Considerations
Oh, now the interesting part.
More and more studies and information is coming out that also shows that nutrition affects your decision making.
Food intake is essential for maintaining homeostasis, which is necessary for survival in all species. However, food intake also impacts multiple biochemical processes that influence our behavior.7
It’s only logical, that if the food we are putting into ourselves affects how our body works, that our brain is included in that equation as well.
We are also undergoing a much higher level of exertion than normal – both physical and mental, we are likely getting less sleep (getting up early, not sleeping as well during the night) – the fact our diet is often significantly different, and often worse than normal only adds to a situation where we are well outside our normal state of being. If this isn’t something we are used to, then our decisions, and certainly those made under levels of stress and excitement are going to take a turn. Often, for the worse.
This is something that is still being researched – and I would think that we are going to hear more and more over the next few years. In the meantime though, it’s just another reason to make sure we are paying attention to what we are putting into our systems – both before, and during our trips. When we are hunting, we have to make literally, life or death decisions. Let’s make sure we are in the right ‘state of mind’ to make them.
Practical Considerations
Now, it’s all very well stating that we should be eating well, and eating as we do at home. But the simple fact is that in the bush, or in the field, we don’t have all the same resources that we might in the kitchen – i.e. refrigeration and stovetop ovens. Often, weight is another consideration that plays heavily on our decisions on what to take out in regards to food.
As a result, food often gets very simplified, especially for those without the time or inclination to purchase a dehydrator and start planning meals out weeks in advance. This often means, either, a block of salami, some cheese, instant noodles and the like, or, reaching for the pre-packaged, ready to go meals. Which, as I have found over the years, really do vary quite a lot in regards to quality.
However, things are improving, a lot – more info on that soon.
Hydration
Well, that’s really the subject of another article – but I will just leave this here…
Fatigue toward the end of a prolonged sporting event may result as much from dehydration as from fuel substrate depletion. Exercise performance is impaired when an individual is dehydrated by as little as 2% of body weight. Losses in excess of 5% of body weight can decrease the capacity for work by about 30%8.
I think that’s the first time I have ever actually written that ↩
I feel I should start this article by highlighting how hunting in NZ is a little different to many parts of the world. Many people don’t realise this until they either come into New Zealand or, head out to other parts of the world. I should also point out that all my experience is based around Central North Island Bush hunting, and shooting on ranges, in the range. Oh. And holding shooting competitions during Tropical Cyclones.
In NZ, while there is certainly plenty of tops and mountain hunting to be had, a large amount of Kiwi hunting is done in the bush and scrub – under the tree canopies. This creates a situation that means a lot of our local garments have evolved in their own way. Namely, wool and fleece.
Originally, heavy wool shirts and coats were the name of the day. These were heavy, particularly after getting wet. So NZ developed a bit of a taste for fleece. Fleece is cheap, but, like wool, it also has another couple of benefits – primarily, it’s quiet – pushing through undergrowth can mean noise – particularly if you have a technical garment on without some kind of facing on it – Goretex and eVent fabrics are notorious for making you sound like you are walking around in a chip packet – and that isn’t generally conducive to stalking animals.
Fleece (and wool) however, removes that issue – it’s near-silent most the time. Sure, it’s traditionally hasn’t meant a high level of waterproofness, but fleece (not so much wool) is quick to dry out, so it was a case of getting wet and battling on.
However, over time, this will wear away at your – and, if you have ever done a couple of hours tramping with wet boots, wet feet, the long term results aren’t always that pleasant.
Thankfully, this has changed a bit in the last couple of years – but our hunting coats, while introducing waterproof membranes, have continued to have a ‘fleece’ outer layer – in the form of a brushed tricot. Modern technology combining the best of both worlds.
Dry means comfortable, and comfortable means efficiency, and ultimately, better performance.
Long coats, short shorts.
New Zealand developed its own style in regards to waterproofing – or, I sometimes wonder, adapted more to the point, due to the amount of wet and rain, and lack of good waterproofing options.
It is hard to pinpoint where the idea of tights, shorts and a coat developed – but it became somewhat of the norm to tramp and hunt in thermals, shorts and a coat. As a result, peoples started to favour the longer, anorak style of the waterproof jacket – as the legs were essentially assumed to be going to end up wet.
However, once you end up wearing tights, shorts and potentially gaiters as well – it gets to the point where a pair of trousers just becomes and simpler option. However, the trend for the longer jacket has persisted, and I think, for the better.
Understanding Waterproofing, and breathability.
Most technical garments these days come with a couple of ratings assigned to them – waterproof rating – in the form of hydrostatic pressure and breathability. This are generally a figure like – 15,000mm / 10,000gm m2 / 24hr.
Without going too far into the science of it, more is better. These are lab tests though – and it’s important when comparing products, to ensure they have been tested to the same standards.
Sometimes, it doesn’t matter if you get a little wet.
The reality is if it’s the middle of summer, a bit of rain can be a welcome way to cool off. If you have dry kit packed away, just in case the weather turns and you suddenly need to get warm, then maybe you don’t even need to take the heavy jacket out – this is the ideal situation for a lightweight, thin jacket that might be enough to keep you dry if it really starts to bucket down, but won’t just turn your body into a hotbox of sweat and clamminess. This is one of the main reasons I prefer jackets without any insulation in them. I can always add that myself as part of my layering system.
Don’t sweat it.
We talk more about this in our layering article – but the key to a lot of successful technical garment use is correct layering in order to manage the temperature from the inside out. In a nutshell – you want to be pushing the heat outwards from yourself, into your base layer, through your mid and insulation layers, through the outer layer and into the atmosphere. The outer layers job is to keep any of the wet getting back in, but it also needs to allow the internal moisture, in the form of sweat, to get out.
While you want to ensure that your core temperature is slightly warmer than the outside air (to keep the ‘pressure’ positive) even the most breathable of fabrics can only do so much – and that’s why the notion of having to continuously monitor and manage your layers is critical to the overall system working as well as it could.
Once you are already a sweaty mess, it’s too late – you are now wet, and guess what. That’s not the rainjacket letting water in.
Take the insulation layer off before heading up that mountain. Start off a little cool in the morning. You will quickly warm up as you get moving, and it will stop you overloading the system with excessive heat. Once that happens, all you can do is dump heat – which can cause issues with the sweat evaporating on your skin, doing its job and cooling you down.
Keep it clean
For some reason, people seem to think that a high-end technical jacket is going to require less maintenance and looking after than a cheap rubber raincoat, this idea couldn’t be more wrong.
A waterproof, breathable membrane is essentially a hi-tech piece of fabric with thousands of really, really small holes in it (big enough to let vapour through, but small enough stop liquid). If those holes get blocked up with dirt from the environment, oils from you or blood (hopefully not from you) – then it can transport that water vapour away from you (see the trend here) and stop you getting wet from the inside.
Some garment manufacturers will even recommend you wash your technical kit every time you head out – and most are tested to outlast any amount of washing you are likely every to do.
So next time you get back from a hunt, instead of just dumping your still wet jacket in the boot until next time, get it out, get it clean, and get the most out of it!
Durability Issues
It’s also worth noting, that much of the modern technical garments don’t like heavy bush bashing – certainly not those without some kind of protective layer on them.
We see a bit of a hybrid layering system – where a brushed tricot or form of fleece is layered on the outside of the waterproof layer. This serves two purposes – to quieten down the rustle that a waterproof material tends to have, and, to provide some additional durability to the product.
However, on the flip side, this fleece/tricot can wet out – that is, absorb enough water that the material is no longer breathable. It’s important to note here – this normally doesn’t mean it’s no longer waterproof – but it can mean, you guessed it – water vapour can’t escape and you end up wet from the inside.
Once your gear is wetted out, saturated to the point of holding water, it’s not going to breathe anymore. This doesn’t mean it’s not longer waterproof, but it does mean that you face the real issue of ending up swimming in your own sweat. Instead of the water vapour coming off your body being able to get to the outside world and away from you – it basically condenses on the inside of your jacket. You know that feeling sometimes after a hard tramp in the rain where you feel soaked, sorry bud – that’s not rain.
It’s not magic – it’s science.
And as such, it has its limitations. The more you can help it, meaning, the more you can stay out of the rain, the better. Staying in one area glassing for a long time? Consider putting up a tarp shelter. Maybe sitting right on the edge of that ridgeline, in the wind in rain (and silhouetting yourself) isn’t the best idea. Slide down a bit into the gut or valley and use the terrain to shelter you a bit.
I do like my stovetop espresso. A little more robust than the plunger, the stovetop has long been the go-to when I wanted my ‘fix’ of coffee. However, I recently learnt a couple of things I would like to share with you. You might like to try them out as well.
See what you are doing.
I have used the Bialetti Moko Crystal for some time now. The best feature? You can see how much coffee has come up and get it off the heat before it boils over. To me, boiling over (all the water is out of the reservoir and into the pot) also means a bit of bitterness and ‘over extraction’. Instead – I know how much water to put into the base and when to take the pot off the heat to ensure it just gets to the line on the top half.
Use boiling water in your stovetop espresso
This is probably the big one. It was only recently suggested to me, and makes a big difference! The stovetop can be known as a strong, syrupy coffee. Which is why many like it. However, if you boil the jug, then use that piping how water in the base, put it on a hot element, you get a quicker extraction. The quicker extraction means less bitterness and acidity and more subtle flavours coming through from the coffee. Try it. Like me, you might just prefer it!
Fine, fine grind.
All of this is, of course, personal preference – you can play with the amount of water, the heat of the water and the amount and grind of the beans to get your personal taste. At the moment, I am grinding as fine as possible. You still won’t get much in the way of residue in the bottom of the cup and I find that’s how I get the best results.
Experiment, experiment, experiment.
There is no ‘right’ way. Just your preferred way. Have fun, try it different ways. You can always go back to how you were making it if you don’t like it!
Another incident and the MSC once again rolls out the standard press release reminding us to follow the seven basic rules of firearm safety. Number 1. Treat every Firearm as Loaded
We should all know the rules and their meaning. But apart from the initial license test – do we ever go back and examine the rules. Do we review their importance and implementation? Or do we get comfortable with the way we do things and start to develop a survivorship bias?
Survivorship bias is taking the attitude that because you haven’t had an incident up to this point, you are not going to in the future. This is often independent of the attitudes and practise in use. People will often start to reinforce bad habits – rather than best practise.
Even worse, people become flippant when dealing with firearms. They make light of safety concerns. We all know someone who responds with a comment about trigger control with ‘chill – it’s unloaded!’
Best practise is a term used a lot within the health and safety community. It is a set of principles and systems that have developed over time that form the basis of safe practice. Through using them, we reduce the likelihood of an incident occurring.
In this series of articles, we are going to break down the seven rules and throw in a couple of extra, best practise checks.
1. Treat every Firearm as Loaded
The first rule identifies the proper attitude to have towards firearms. This attitude is one of respect towards a tool, much like you should have towards a sharp knife. Like most tools, they are not inherently dangerous – it is how they are used (or misused) that causes an issue.
Treating a firearm like it is loaded means you will be warier of trigger discipline. It means you will maintain muzzle control. It means you will handle the firearm will a little more care. Even if we ‘know’ it is unloaded, treating as if it is still loaded creates a buffer of safety when handling the firearm.
Checking a firearm
It also encourages a literal requirement to check the state of a firearm when handling it.
Pick a firearm up – check its state
Put a firearm down – check its state
Hand a firearm to someone – check its state
Receive a firearm from someone – check its state
Before shooting – check its state
Finished shooting (or not shooting) – check its state
It encourages you to be sure 100% of the time of the actual state of a firearm. Not in a purely intellectual (I believe it to be unloaded) way – but in a literal, physical way. Treat every Firearm as Loaded
Giving a firearm
If you want to hand someone a firearm – first show them it’s state – normally this means unloaded. Open up the action, tilt the action forward so they can see and ask for them to confirm the state of the firearm.
Even if you are just walking up to someone, it’s a courtesy to show them the state of your firearm. By checking each others firearms we double check each other and prove a backup for our own checks.
Receiving a firearm
While it is the responsibility of someone handing you a firearm to show it is clear, it is also the obligation of the receiver to check it is clear before they take it. Even to the point of rechecking once you have taken it off them. This double-checking is simply maintaining a high safety buffer. It takes minimal time and prevents incidents happening before they can even begin.
It isn’t unreasonable to expect any firearm that is being handed from one person to another to be in a state of action open. Meaning – bolt back or auction opened so that you can see down into the breech.
Developing habits
Checking at multiple points during a firearms use creates a habit. It means that you won’t develop competency in handling. Develop a habit of checking and double checking.
The state of a firearm shouldn’t be an assumption. Just because you ‘think’ it is unloaded, doesn’t mean it is. Malfunctions can lead to a misunderstanding of the state of a firearm, as can multiple people handling a firearm. Just because the last time you checked it the firearm was ok, doesn’t mean it is when you come back to it. Be safe. Be sure.
Get to the range
People like to give range officers and shooting ranges a bad time. Normally the same people who have a way to go to learn proper firearm handling basics. However, one of the best ways to be taught and practise good firearms handling techniques is to head along to your local shooting range.
Not only will you get to practise your shooting, but you will also be reminded of the fundamentals – showing your rifle as clear after a round of shooting, clearing the firearm before taking it off the range and so on. RO’s are there to keep people safe. And the standards need to be high when you have twenty or more people with firearms shooting.
Get to the range, get competing. It is simply the best and quickest way I know of to develop high safety standards around firearms.
Avoid complacency
Don’t become complacent in the checking either. It requires more than a glance to look for a bullet. Stop, open the action fully, look down into the action, into the magazine, into the chamber. In the case of a Range Officer. You may also see them physically checking with a finger. Or getting a torch out to make sure they aren’t missing anything.
This is also a great moment to check the state of the action and chamber. You should be aware of the maintenance of your firearm anyhow. Again, make sure there isn’t something sitting in there that shouldn’t be.
By treating a firearm as loaded all the time, we set a level of expectations for the handling of the firearm. A level of awareness of what is happening with the gun, where it is pointed, what is happening around it.
Firearms aren’t inherently dangerous. They are, after all, simply a mechanical device that requires a specific series of manipulations to fire. Treating every firearm as loaded becomes the first principle that the follows rules build upon.
What scares me and annoys me, is the flippant attitude of some gun handlers. ‘Don’t worry mate, it’s unloaded’ – while swinging the muzzle of the firearm around all over the place. Excusing poor trigger discipline because they proclaim it is unloaded. All part of an attitude that can start us down a path towards a firearm incident. Remember, once the bullet leaves the end of a barrel, it cant be pulled back! Treat every Firearm as Loaded
Regardless of how many shots you put through it, the outside of the rifle has been exposed to the elements. Especially when you consider the heavy moisture areas a NZ hunter is likely to be in, it’s probably a good idea to at the minimum, give it a wipe down.
The point also being – that it isn’t just about your bore. You will often need to strip and clean the rifle as well. Debris can (and will) get down under the barrel and sit between it and the stock. Slowly rusting and pitting away your investment.
Question for you – if you pull your rifle out of its stock and then put it back in – does your POI shift? That’s probably something worth knowing. More than likely it does. But good bedding (some pillar block setups) can minimise this. Still, it’s good practice to re-verify your zero whenever you do something like this to a gun.
WHEN I ORIGINALLY WROTE THIS ARTICLE, I MANAGED TO TRANSPOSE SOME FIGURES, which, in hindsight, gave some seriously messed up results and caused me to draw some incorrect conclusions. I have updated the figures now, and corrected observations.
Doing a comparison requires quite a bit of framing and context. It’s important to remember this is all purely theoretical – mental masturbation at it’s best – and I am sure the wild west of the internet will be more than happy to pick it to bits.
I was interested to have a bit of a comparison of a few of the common cartridges out there, in order to see how they really stack up against each other on paper.
I often get asked – what’s the best cartridge for ‘x’ – x often being a vaguely construed idea of ‘long’ range hunting. Once you get a couple of question marks in a sentence, I start to get nervous.
Anyhow, I ran some numbers in Coldbore, and while most things were expected, there are a few interesting observations.
The Ammunition
For the purposes of the comparison, I decided to use Hornady Precision Hunter as a base. They have a decent range of ammunition spanning most of the most common cartridge options available in factory rifles.
Factory ammo, factory rifles – sure, custom builds running hand loads are going to get different results. However, if you are already that far down the rabbit hole – there is also a good chance you have already run the numbers yourself. You may even be comparing different projectiles within the one calibre as well. I know of more than a couple of firearms that have been built from the projectile backwards – and ultimately, this is the best way. However, for us mear mortals still running factory rifles – this gives us a good base to work from.
The Drop.
I originally, and would normally compare everything in MILs – but considering who might be reading this, and the context of the intent – I decided to present them in CM measurements at distance. It makes it a bit easier to understand the real-world context of the figures.
Let’s start with the obvious – drop at distance.
Even at 200 meters – we can start seeing the difference between calibres. The drop on a .308 is nearly 10 centimetres more than the .270 or 300WSM. Now, I get it. We dial or hold for the drop, it’s a constant, etc, etc – but – that difference is enough to significantly alter your MPBR is you use a ‘walking zero’ and would also show up in wind deflection. Both drop and wind are reliant on accurate ranging or wind calls – both of which are fallible and ‘flatter/straighter’ shooting calibres1 gives us ‘more’ margin for error.
Yes, there is also the old wives tale that a .308 with buck bushes better – but we can debunk that in another article.
Now sure, gravity is a constant, and most ballistic calculators are able to give us pretty good solutions on the fly these days – but the other consideration is this – a flatter shooting bullet is going to give you a better margin for error when it comes to both rangefinding and shooting. If a round drops less it’s deviating less from point of aim – though this is maybe more relevant with the next chart. Windage deflection.
Winding on the windage
Here, again, the good’ol .308 is pushed around the most, with the 6.5 PRC, and it’s slippery bullet flying the truest. Interestingly, the 300WSM fares better than the 270 here – potentially due to the heavier projectile not being pushed2 as much as the light .270 pill.
A 10 mph wind is considered a ‘gentle breeze’ on the Beaufort Scale – so something plenty of us will be hunting and shooting in. In fact, it’s also more likely to be the big unknown for us. Many shooting to this distance will be utilising a rangefinder. If you are not, you seriously need to be questioning what you are actually up to. But even with a Wind Meter (like a Kestrel) – wind can be a challenge to read at the best of times.
I recently spent the afternoon on a bank with a client – we were shooting to 700 meters and ended up holding over 4 MOA of wind to hit centre mass. From where we were though, there were NO visible wind indicators. The wind was still, the tree tips not moving. Nothing. But the projectile was being pushed. A lot.
In the end, the conclusion was there was a decent wind funnelling through the valley we were shooting over – we couldn’t see the effect, because it was likely 100 meters or so above the ground – so didn’t push the foliage around at all. Shooting a round that was less likely to be ‘bucked’ by the wind is certainly more helpful in this situation.
Velocity and energy – terminal ballistic considerations
Hitting the animal is only the first (though very important) consideration. Even just hitting it isn’t really enough – a couple of centimetres can mean the difference between a ‘kill’ shot – that ensures a quick efficient death, and a gutshot, leg shot, or worse.
However, even assuming you hit a good, solid, well-placed hit, what happens then is still vitally important to the outcome of the hunt. What bullets do when they hit flesh is often referred to as their terminal ballistics – and a lot of thought also needs to go into how the projectile of choice will perform at this point.
The evolution of projectile design is what allows us to do a lot of what we do. Originally, the main things we had to work with were mass and velocity – heavy projectiles moving fast – hence the rise of families of cartridges like the Weatherbys. However, with modern knowledge and design, we are able to start at maximising efficiency in both BC, or ballistic coefficient (how the bullet flys) and expansion capacity (what happens when it hits something).
Ideally, we want a bullet to transfer all it’s remaining kinetic energy into the target when it hits. This will generally result in the most efficient killing power. One primary way that a bullet can do this, is through expansion – expansion is the opening up of the round during impact – think of it as putting on the air brakes while passing through the animal. This process opens up the surface area of the projectile, thus braking the velocity more inside the wound channel – and the transfer of energy into the animal is maximised. It’s often suggested that the perfect round would dump all the kinetic energy into the animal, and just pop out the other side (to open up a blood path).
Retained energy has long been a standard method of assessing the suitability of a projectile when it comes to terminal ballistics. It’s essentially a function of the weight and size (sectional density) of a bullet, with how much speed it’s still carrying. This is how much ‘energy’ is available to dump into the animal.
While this related to hydrostatic and hydraulic shock, we are not going too much into those two subjects right now. If you want some more phenomenal reading on that subject – pop over to Nathan Fosters invaluable resource – Terminal Ballistics Research – and have a read up. But, short version – hydrostatic shock is the animal’s nervous system taking a hit, causing the ‘poleax’ effect – essentially the animal just shuts down, while the hydraulic shock is fluid compressing under pressure, causing large ‘temporary’ wound channels.
However, another of the key elements of this working properly is the projectile having enough remaining velocity when it hits the target to expand fully.
Hornady state that the minimum expansion velocity for the ELD-X projectile is 1600 fps. I have heard some people suggest it’s higher, some lower – for this comparison, we are using the 1600fps recommendation as the ‘cut-off-point’ for the projectile design to work as intended – full expansion transferring all energy from the round into the animal.
As an aside – Nathan’s work has shown that 2600fps seems to be the magic figure for effective Hydrostatic shock – something none of the above have beyond 250 meters. That’s not to say it should just be a race for more velocity (the Weatherby effect) – because super fast and small projectiles can lead to rounds essentially shattering/splattering on impact – meaning low penetration and a failure to effectively transfer energy into the animal. Large projectiles (meaning bigger that .338) can help with the shock factor – but this certainly doesn’t mean I am suggesting you carry a .50 call around with you.
It does hover give some credence to the South African hunter’s preference3 for things like the H&H monster rounds. On the flip side though – too much weight in the bullet – and it simply might not stop fast enough – passing through a smaller animal before transferring all its energy. You can be both over and undersized and powered when hunting. Anyhow, I digress.
If we look at the above chart – we can basically start seeing some ‘recommended’ limits for the cartridges we are looking at. For a .308 – we no longer have enough velocity beyond 600 meters. Realistically, this is a longer shot than probably 90% of hunters should ever take anyhow. I personally include myself in that percentage.
What I find interesting to mull over though, is even though that 300WSM is showing less velocity than the 6.5PRC at distance, the WSM has significantly more retained energy. However, this could be said to be related to the amount of felt recoil between the two cartridges. Felt recoil can relate to how we shoot our guns – and more, how well we can manage recoil and see the results of our shots. Not everything goes 100% to plan every time – so seeing our impact (or miss) becomes even more important at distance. Not everyone has a spotter with them to call their shots – for solo hunters, we need to be able to stay on target once the shot has broken.
Conclusions / Summary
Don’t really have many. This really is only a small part of the considerations that come into play when it comes to cartridge selection.
Availability of firearms and ammo, components if you reload, system weight, recoil, noise – all factor into your choice. Is it a bush/tops/mountain/estate gun?
However, looking at things impartially on ‘paper’ is often enlightening. Though, raises more questions than answers sometimes.
I am also interested to look into the use of the ELD-M projectiles more – I have read several reports of guys using them to distance with a great deal of success. being the M actually has roots in the A-MAX projectile – certainly a valid hunting round – it’s quite possible that the higher BC scoring M might be a better choice than the X.
While nothing beats real-world experience in the matter – the impartial maths of external ballistics can get us a long way there. More soon!
meaning a combination of a projectile and the velocity it gets launched at ↩
Long Range Hunting, whether you agree with it or not, has grown massively in popularity in the last couple of years. Alongside that, the development of long range hunting bullets to meet with the new, unique demands of shooting at an animal that far away.
Alongside the trend of reaching out further has come more of an understanding and demand for projectiles with high BC’s (ballistic coefficient) – projectiles need to be ‘slippery’ in the wind and have less drop, hold more energy and remain more accurate than the heavier projectiles used for hunting at shorter distances.
A long range hunting bullet also needs to retain it’s killing power. It’s all very well to have a high BC, laserbeam of a projectile – but if it just pencil holes the animal, wounding but not killing, then we have an inhumane and simply wasteful hunting projectile. Yet at the same time, we want to minimise meat damage where possible.
Furthermore, a modern long range hunting bullet needs to have a massively wide performance window. A long range, it needs to retain enough energy to properly penetrate and expand at lower downrange energy (the further the go, the less terminal velocity you are going to get) – yet not simple explode and fragment at close-range, high-velocity encounters.
So, we want a match grade, high BC, well expanding, penetration, yet non-fragmenting long range hunting bullet. Simple!
It’s placed high demands on the manufacturers – yet recently, we have seen a range of new projectiles on the market claiming to do exactly this.
Is there a compromise, can they really all do what they claim? Maybe. Let’s have a look at the options.
Barnes LRX
The Barnes LRX is homogeneous bullet – which means, it is a solid piece of copper, not lead with a copper jacket. This brings good and bad to the design.
On the good side of things, the LRX will expand reliably down to 1,600 fps and most importantly, on the flip side, will still expand no matter hard it hits. Suddenly have a deer pop up at close range while you are stalking to your glassing spot? This the projectile you want in the rifle. This projectile is going to expand deep and still transfer all it’s energy from the impact to the animal.
On the flip side, the Barnes isn’t considered the ultimate in accuracy –Â but, they are considered consistent across a range of firearms.
[fvplayer src=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxIuaX-xgWU” splash=”https://i.ytimg.com/vi/hxIuaX-xgWU/hqdefault.jpg” caption=”Barnes’ Long-Range X Bullet”]
Berger VLD Hunting
The Berger VLD Hunting bullet boasts very good BC’s and the potential for phenomenal accuracy. Its is also one of the most forgiving projectiles when it comes to seating depth – making it an easy bullet to tune.
Interestingly, its past was of a match bullet – hence the accuracy. However, people also found, upon hunting with them, that the projectile has a knack of transferring all it’s kinetic energy into the target. It turns to floor animals and can cause massive internal damage. When you need to put something down, the VLD does it. However, it is also known to lack penetration on the bigger animals. Expansion is reported consistent down to 1500 fps.
The VLD seems to be the one to choose for easy tuning, smaller animals – but for the big Deer – there could be better options.
It might be hard to accept the notion that a match bullet is a real killer, but Berger VLD Hunting bullets—the ones in the orange box—are unlike any other match bullet, even yellow box VLDs.
Important note: Do not use yellow box VLDs for hunting. The Hunting VLD is the perfect assemblage of jacket structure, shape and thickness, combined with a soft pure lead core. On contact with an animal, it acts like no other bullet ever made.
The Hornady ELD-X is the new kid on the block and already getting rave reviews. Most reloaders, at some point have shot the A-Max’s – and the ELD-X is considered a direct lineage.
One of Hornady’s big selling points is the new thermally resistant ‘Heat Shield’ tip – one designed not to melt like many of the other polymer tips are said to do. By maintaining the integrity longer, the BC’s stay higher, further out. So, great accuracy, great BC’s – what about the terminal performance?
Well, the ELD-X utilises Hornady’s traditional Interlock system –Â the core is of a relatively strong lead/antimony alloy to prevent excess fragmentation, and it is mechanically locked to the jacket.
I have been hearing very positive reports about the damage these are doing – to the point I have been questioning if they are a little too effective – i.e. fragmentation, multiple exit wounds and so on. However, the fact seems to remain – you hit an animal at long range with one of these, and it is going down!
[fvplayer src=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQi4_KZ3wt8″ splash=”https://i.ytimg.com/vi/rQi4_KZ3wt8/hqdefault.jpg” caption=”New Hornady ELD-X Bullet! A More Accurate Bullet”]
Nosler AccuBond Long Range
Nosler Accubonds seem to either work or not. Certainly, when they do, they can provide phenomenal results – but can be a bit finicky to get running right.
The Accubond, unsurprisingly, is a bonded bullet. Nosler is one of the kings when it comes to bonding technology. However, a bonded bullet doesn’t come without its challenges. Firstly, the core of the round needs to generally be softer than others to ensure proper bonding – this means the expansion may not be as ‘clean’ as others – though this is not to say that people are noticing separation from the jacket.
Nosler suggests that the ABLR will perform all the way from 1,300 fps up to 3,200 fps. It will kill anywhere in this range – but seems to really want to be over 1,600 fps to expanded fully.
The key, I would suggest, to successful (i.e. recovery) when it comes to long range hunting bullets – is ensuring that the projectile still has enough velocity to expand as desired, but not so much that the bullet is just going to explode on contact.
Any of the modern bullets, when in their sweet spot (2,000 – 2,800 fps) will expand and cause plenty of internal damage and haemorrhaging. But, will still be able to penetrate the large animals shoulder/bones.
All are good choices – maybe, the Berger will be the best option if you don’t want to have to play around with too much seating depth experimentation, or, if you are willing to put the effort in, that extra bit of accuracy the Nosler may provide could be worth it.
Regardless, the key to successful long range hunting is having a good understanding of your setup, and the genuine, honest appraisal of your shooting. If in doubt, don’t pull the trigger on a live animal. It’s unethical and immoral.
If however, you spend the time and effort in ensuring your skills and gear are up to the task, then enjoy the challenge and reward of a long range hunt.
A quick way to cook steak – resulting in extremely tender meat!
I have to be honest, when I first read about this method, I was a little dubious. Particularly when I looked at the recommended heats. I was concerned with both not cooking the meat and causing the Cast Iron pan to get so hot the seasoning started to burn on it.
A tea-towel isn’t enough to protect you from how hot the pan is going to get
Big one – dry your meat – paper towels are fine – I personally; dry, salt, leave, then dab the moisture salting it beings out.
The method is simple enough.
Pop the pan into the oven
Turn the oven up to 250 C.
Wait for the oven to come up to temperature
As it does, turn on the element up to high
Transfer the pan from oven to element
30 seconds each side
Transfer back to oven (still on)
2 minutes each side
Take out, wrap in foil, let sit for 2 minutes
This, with an ‘average’ eye fillet, results in a juicy, rare steak.
Just leave the steak in the oven for a little bit longer if you like it cooked more, or shorten time if the steak is thin. You are going to have to have a bit of a play (eat more meat) – until you get to know exactly how your pan is going to cook.
Enjoy! This method has always resulted in great, tender meat. I think the short cook time means you can get away with a short rest time.
Because of a torches relatively high current draw, rechargeable batteries are often the better choice. A rechargable has the obvious advantage of being able to be re-used multiple times. Saving both money and reducing environmental waste. Why wouldn’t you?
Battery Voltages
Battery voltage seems be be a point of confusion for many people. It is also a big difference between the traditional alkaline battery and rechargeables. Generally, an alkaline is rated to 1.5V, but will drop down to 1.V (or lower) when only 50% used – resulting in a dropoff in performance which speeds up as the battery discharges. This can mean a dimmer flashlight or less responsive piece of equipment. not so with Rechargeable Batteries.
Rechargeable NiCad or NiMH batteries are rate to 1.2v – but this is a constant output that will last right until the end of the batter. This means more constant performance and is a major reason that many people utilise Rechargeable Batteries for torch applications.
Rechargeable Battery Types
Though there are other systems available – mainly variations on Lithium – these are the options you are most likely to come across in NZ stores.
Nickel-Cadmium (NiCad) – 1.2V/cell
The first commonly available consumer rechargeable battery. Retains charge, but highly toxic.
NiCad will tolerate a trickle or overcharge better than NiMH. But also suffer from memory problems – meaning they may not fully charge and discharge.
Nickel-Metal Hydride (NiMH) – 1.2V/cell
A much better option for rechargeable – easier to recycle, high capacity but will lose their charge faster than the NiCads. So much better options for a torch you regularly use, rather than the emergency once you keep stashed in the truck.
However, there is a newer generation called Low Self-Discharge that are able to hold charge for a longer time, but have lower capacity in total. A great example of these being the Eneloop Batteries from Panasonic (formerly Sanyo). These hold their charge much longer – making them suitable for those items where you want it to still work those rare times you pick them up to use them.
Lithium Ion (Li-ion) – 3.7V/cell
Li-ion really warrant’s its own article. However –
Important: These are not the Lithium batteries you are likely used to. Put them in the wrong device and you will damage it.
Summary
So, Rechargeable Batteries make sense for torches. They generally keep a more constant output, and for the LSD options, will keep their charge longer when not in use.
I am also looking into the newer, higher output Lithium Ion rechargeables – these may be the best bet for the times where you are putting in a fresh set of batteries before heading out, every time. That’s the standard LandSAR drill – now to confirm the torches will deal with the extra power!
