Going Ballistic With Ryan Cleckner

In this episode, Jason shares a story about how he almost killed Ryan as a kid and Ryan and Jason revisit some of the topics already explored in previous podcasts - spin drift and 1st vs 2nd focal plane scopes.  The Cleckners then explore what headspace is, how it is measured, and the implications of incorrect headspace and then they dive into proper trigger control.  They both share their techniques and ideas on what good trigger control is and there's a good bit of discussion about dry firing for good feedback on trigger control.  Last, they answer a question relating to a topic from last podcast about whether a shooter could reload .30-06 Sprg to be more forgiving instead of converting a rifle into a long-action 308 Win and they introduce an idea for a project and a series of future podcasts - follow along in future episodes as they build an AR-15 and explore the different parts and steps as they go!

For the first time, Jason Cleckner (Ryan's cousin) joins us for the discussion.  Jason is an avid outdoorsman and hunter (he is a Cleckner, after all) but he is just getting started in the world of long range precision shooting.  By having Jason join us, we hope to have a break from Ryan talking the entire time and also have a buffer where Jason may ask the questions that your thinking as we explore each episode's topics.  Please give us feedback on the format. In this episode we discuss whether you should customize and/or convert an old hunting rifle into a precision target rifle or whether you should sell the old rifle and start new.  While discussing this, Jason and Ryan explore the pros and cons of different barrel mounting systems and their costs.  The Cleckner boys also discuss what spin drift is and briefly how to compensate for it.  A deeper discussion will be had in future episodes. After the podcast, Jason and I discussed these sights some more and we talked about the gradual shift left that can be

Ryan Cleckner explains what minutes of angle (MOA) and milliradians (mils) are and how to use them when shooting.  Ryan discusses how both of these units of measurement are angular measurements - an important distinction when learning how to use them (and even understand them).  It gets a bit numbers-heavy in the middle but stick with it and it'll make sense!  This is an episode that you may want to refer back to.

Ryan Cleckner explores the differences between first focal plane (FFP) and second focal plane (SFP) scopes.  The pros and cons (including cost) of each scope are explored so that you can might the right decision about which scope is right for you! Links: Sua Sponte Foundation Special Operations Warrior Foundation Long Range Shooting Handbook Leupold Mk4 scopes

This live Q+A session was hosted on Facebook where viewers were asking Ryan questions live during the podcast. THE AUDIO IS LESS THAN DESIRABLE - I WILL FIX IT IN THE FUTURE. Ryan explains what rifling is, different methods used to create rifling and the pros and cons of each, and then discusses other user submitted topics such as barrel break-in and bullet weights. SKIP THE FIRST MINUTE OF THE VIDEO

Ryan Cleckner introduces the first episode in his new podcast!  In this episode, Ryan explains how gravity is a constant, how it is an accelerative force, and how objects react to gravity.  These topics are applied to understand how the bullet fall the moment it leaves the barrel - even though it travels in an arc on the way to the target - and how bullet speed can affect how much a bullet drops.  But, don't confuse how much a bullet drops with how fast it drops.  Confused?  You shouldn't be!  Ryan breaks down this seemingly complex concept into plain language that anyone can understand.   Links: Sua Sponte Foundation Special Operations Warrior Foundation Long Range Shooting Handbook Transcript: When a bullet leaves your barrel it doesn’t travel in a straight line - no matter how fast it is.  There are external forces which immediately start to bring the bullet off of its original path.  The study of how a bullet behaves while in flight is called external ballistics.  Internal ballistics refers to what happ