SWAG

Sophisticated Wild Ass Guess

I almost can't believe I'm going to write this article. This will be, by far, the least professional and least accurate thing I'm going to tell you about. I talk so much about precision, accuracy and making adjustments for things so small, they most likely get lost in a less than perfect wind call (like adjusting for coriolis). Now, I'm going to say forget all that, and teach you how to cheat. Kind of.

Sometimes, you just want to shoot, and don't feel like taking temperature readings and doing calculations. Or, it was an impromptu range trip, and you don't have your equipment. Thats ok. It's nice to just shoot and have fun. S.W.A.G. also works well with new shooters who are learning a new topic, but can't yet apply it to their skillset. Just be careful not to learn bad habits from this. This in no way replaces the accuracy and precision you get from taking your time to work out calculations and take environmental readings.

Cheating; thats right. We are going to cheat. If you are not cheating, you're not trying hard enough. Let me just say that cheating is wrong. You should never cheat unless you should. Just as an example, I don't fight, and I'm not going to unless forced to (meaning I have to defend myself or family). In the rare case I'm not carrying a gun, and punches are being thrown, just know I tried to get away and you came at me. You will get your nuts, eyes and knees kicked, gouged, strached, and bitten. Yes, I will bite any and everything I can. Some people call this cheating or dirty. I call it you will never forget to leave me and my family alone again. Ok, let's get back on topic.

Bullet Drop

Hopefully, you know about how many inches your bullet drops within a few hundred yards. Most supersonic bullets will follow the same path within a few inches for the first few hundred yards. So, if you don't know how much to dial, or the reticle doesn't have mil marks, then you will have to SWAG it. It's quit simple; if the target is around 200 yards, you will hit about 3 inchs low. Well, that's close enough, or at least reasonable. At 300 yards, you'll have about a 10 to 12 inch drop, so just aim at the top of the target. At about 400 yards, the differences between bullets and caliber really show . You'll have somewhere between about 20 and 30 inches of drop. Now, you're really in that SWAG field. Let's take a quick look at some popular cartridge drop tables. .223 .308 and 6.5., out to 400 yards.

.223

200 - 1"

300 - 9"

400 - 24"

.308

200 - 4"

300 - 15"

400 - 33"

6.5

200 - 2"

300 - 10"

400 - 24"

WIND

It works the same way as above. But, if you're shooting a larger target with supersonic ammo, you really don't have to worry. Maybe you're shooting coke cans or golf balls. Well, then you will probably miss with a strong wind. If the wind is blowing from the left, it's going to push your bullet to the right. So just aim at the left side of the target. You can always make a quick correction by using a hold to where you saw the bullet hit in relation to the reticle. Easy, right? See, cheating isn't bad in this case. As far as everything else, like spindrift and temperature, just forget about it. This is what is referred to as SWAG (or as I call it Full Send Mode). As always, have fun, be safe and keep shooting.

The Overwatch