Flbt - Thank you for your inputs. With respect, I would like to offer a couple of suggestions which may or may not be of help with your 7/08. I would do these more or less in this order:
- Try a different ammo source. In my experience, Winchester has gotten a bit sloppy with their factory ammo in recent years and I have not had much luck with it in most calibers. If your are shooting to 2" groups at 100y you are already so handicapped that 300y shots are mostly dependent on luck instead of skill. If you are shooting 1/2" groups at 100y, you have increased your odds exponentially. Not every rifle can do this but it is important to find out early on.
- Borrow a friend's chronograph and check the actual muzzle velocity in your rifle with your chosen ammo. It is rare for the actual MV with your rifle to be as fast as the stated MV on the box. Why? in part the test rifle bbls are often a few inches longer than most production rifles that we buy. This enables marketing minions to truthfully state higher MV numbers than real world results. Plus they often round up the numbers to make them a bit bigger. If you do not test this you are guessing on the actual drop.
- Get a good ballistic app and use it to calculate ballistic drop. Then verify it at the range and record the results and ambient temps at that time.
- Use the verified dope to adjust your ballistic app so it is able to predict your actual drops within an inch or so and use that data when hunting.
- If you do not have one get a laser range finder. They are cheap and accurate now. Use it to train yourself to rapidly estimate distances in various terrain. I am good at this and still struggle to estimate within 40-50y most of the time. I was with an African PH who consistently estimated distance 50y shorter than actuals. And he is a very good trained professional.
- Know that as distance increases the apparent range as perceived by your eyes looks closer than it actually is. Your eye will deceive you unless you train yourself. My point is if you look at targets at 200y and then 300 and 400y, the further the distance the less your eye can perceive the change. 300y and 400y look almost the same where 100 and 200y are clearly different. I think this is due to the distance between your eyes staying the same as the range increases? This makes it very easy to underestimate distance as it increases. This surprises me often when I hunt on open ranges. If I am hunting a fixed hide like with coyotes, I Laser the distance to landmarks all around me at the start before I begin calling or sitting so that I am not surprised.
- Again if not already using one, get a decent FFP optic with a MIL dot reticle or a 2FP scope with same and learn to use it to hold over for longer shots out past 250y. Either will work but the FFP is more effective in the field at various ranges since you can hold over at any magnification and be accurate with 2FP it is only accurate at maximum magnification. Just something to consider.
Armed with this approach, for short shots out to 250y or so, if zeroed at 200y based on my Swift 150g ammo, The 7/08 out of a 22" bbl is 2 in high at 100y, dead on at 200y and 3 in low at 250y. So for any game inside that window it is a fast point and shoot with only minor adjustment in your POA.
At 300y it is 8 in low. My 140g ammo hits to the same POI out to 400y as the 150's. They do fall off fast out past 250y and if you are off in your distance calcs or fail to adjust the ballistic calcs for ambient temps and elevations it is really easy to miss a shot. Usually, if a game animal is out past 300y or so, it is not going to be very aware of you unless you are being careless. Take the time to glass the prey, range the distance and calculate the correct hold over (or dial if you are confident doing so) and then decide if you want to stalk closer or send the shot. I am able to consistently hit a 6" steel plate with my 7/08 at 400y but it is dropping about 23" at that range. It sounds like a lot but with my 1-8x FFP optic, it is an easy 1.6 mil hold over. Without me knowing the actual range to the tgt accurately, I could never hit it even once. I will grant that my rifle is very accurate but even a 1 MOA rifle can do this to a degree.
The pic below is at my 200/300/400y range. I marked the 200y berm on the right, the 300y berm on the left and the 400y berm is in the middle. 100y is not marked but is approximately the little ditch in the foreground. It is deceiving. BTW, I was shooting the steel plates at 400y with my 22lr that day. It is great practice for later using centerfires at ELR's.
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