Mini Range Report: .308 NDM-86 & 1P21 @ 1,200m

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Tomac

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A couple of days ago I found a nice piece of BLM land to really stretch the legs of my NDM-86/1P21 combo. I picked out a likely-looking light-colored spot (appx 4' wide & 3' tall) on a hillside and ranged it w/my LRF by walking most of the way out and ranging to both the hillside and back to my car (which is an excellent laser reflector). Range came to be 1,280m from my car to the spot I picked out so I set up 80m closer towards the target to make my range 1,200m.
Now, previous experience w/the 1P21 & Georgia Arms 168gr match sighted in at 500m showed a need to hold low at longer ranges due to the trajectory difference between the 1P21's 7.62x54 BDC & .308 168gr match ammo. I guesstimated I'd need to back off appx 50m to hit dead-on with the extreme range chevron's on the 1P21's reticle (meant for 1,000m, 1,100m, 1,200m & 1,300m shooting). So, instead of setting the reticle to 900m/9x I set it to 850m/8.5x and held dead-on.
I hit low, a few feet below my aiming point (?). I reset the reticle to 900m/9x and tried again and hit dead-on at 1,200m! I fired another 8rds and all either hit or missed slightly to the left (very slight breeze but at 1,200m it has lots of time to work on a bullet in flight).
I'm very pleased that the NDM-86/1P21 combo can hit that far out (right at 3/4 of a mile, furthest distance I've ever shot at) but that's pushing the reticle to its limit as at 9x magnification I can barely make out & use the 1,200m chevron, the 1,300m chevron can't be seen at all. At 1,200m I'd say the NDM-86/1P21 combo is definitely a threat but not deadly (further practice/testing at that range may change that impression).
As for why the 1,200m chevron is dead-on when I was expecting it to be off by 50m or so I don't have an exact answer. Perhaps the trajectories re-coincide at 1,200m or perhaps my removing then remounting the 1P21 has thrown my elevation off just a bit (I'll have to re-test the 500m sight-in at the range later this week).
Regardless, I'm very pleased w/the performance of the .308 NDM-86/1P21 combo at all ranges.
Tomac
 
It's Georgia Arms "Canned Heat" .308 match ammo, 168gr Sierra BTHP Match @ 2,600fps IIRC. I'm sure it goes subsonic long before it reaches 1,200m.
Tomac
 
Hm. That's the same stat as for Federal GM Match, the 168 gr. MatchKing at 2600.

I chrono'd some Fed GM recently, at 2650 to 2675.

Any differences in the OAL, cases, etc?
 
Sorry, I'm not sure I can answer all your questions. I can measure the OAL of some of my Canned Heat cartridges if you wish but I don't reload and am more of a "minute of torso" DM shooter than a "minute of angle" sniper. Here's shot of the 1P21 military scope on one of my NDM-86 Dragunovs plus an admittedly poor shot of the 1P21 reticle aiming close to the 750m gong at my local range. For being a 20 yr-old semi-auto rifle w/chromed bbl/bore the NDM-86 is capable of surprising accuracy.
Tomac

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Please send me your NDM immediately for inspection. I will return it eventually after the inspection is complete.

Think of the children.

Which NDM-86 do you want me to send? I own several... ;)
Besides, I *do* think of the children: I gave my son an NDM-86 of his own last year... :neener:
Tomac
 
There's no BLM around where I live (the great majority is in the west).
Do the feds let you go out to BLM land and just shoot stuff?

I checked w/my local LRTR shooters and apparently it's okay to shoot (I heard other rifle shots in the distance as I was shooting) as long as you use common sense safety, pick up after yourself & have a hunting license if you're actually hunting anything.
Tomac
 
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