How to Make Angled Shots — USAMU Pro Tips with Praslick
On its YouTube Channel, the USAMU offers “Pro Tips” videos providing expert instruction on rifle marksmanship. One helpful video covers up/down angle shooting. In the video, SFC Emil Praslick III, one of America’s best long-range shooting coaches, explains how to determine up/down angle, and how to compensate for the angle using scope clicks. Praslick explains how gravity always works as a constant relative to the flat-ground distance to the target (which is distinct from the actual straight-line distance to target.)
The flat-ground distance is the actual distance over which the bullet will be affected by gravity. Use this as the basis for your elevation corrections. As Praslick explains, “this [flat-ground] distance will get less and less as the angle to the target increases [either up or down].” Once you know the straight-line distance to the target AND the exact angle of your shot, simple math lets you calculate the flat-ground distance to the target. Basically, to determine your flat-ground distance to target, you multiply the cosine of the shot angle by the measured straight-line distance to the target.
Application to Long-Range Hunting
Since the effects of angles increase with distance, Praslick explains that: “Unless the angle is extremely severe, [a hunter] really won’t notice these effects at ranges of 200 yards or less.” However, for long shots, hunters definitely need to compensate when taking angled shots. Praslick recommends that hunters print out a small chart with the cosines of common angles (20°, 25°, 30° etc.). In addition, hunters need an accurate ballistic table for their rifle and particular ammo. This should show the elevation corrections (in MOA or clicks), for 200 yards to the maximum range at which you may take a shot.
SFC Emil Praslick III is an instructor/coach with the USAMU. He also has served as a coach and “wind guru” with numerous U.S. Teams in international competition, including the U.S. Palma Team, which recently participated in the World Long-Range Fullbore Rifle Championship in Australia. Praslick has also coached the U.S. F-Open Class Team.
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Tags: Angle Shooting, Elevation, U.S. Palma Team, USAMU, Video
Very Professional , Mitchell
Not just close,it is there, right-in-there. Great instruction on the topic for learning how to do it. It is clear, concise, factual, and actionable.
Good instruction by Emil, as always. He has recently retired from the Army, and the AMU, and I’m sure he will be missed. It was great to shoot with him, and everyone on the AMU speaks highly of him. Maybe we’ll all get lucky and he’ll make more videos.
There is more to angle shooting with accuracy than adjustment of flat ground distance.
Angled shooting changes bullet path, which is affected by varying component of gravity per aspect. That is, a bullet fired downward will shoot a little higher than a bullet fired upward -at the same angles. This, depending on tuned barrel departure, which is again affected by angle shooting, as this changes barrel stress. Load develop +30deg, and then again at -30deg, and you’ll end up with different loads.