I am sure glad that I did not have to carry this one!
Categories
.jpg)
.jpg)
| October 26, 2016
Manly Skills, Outdoors, Self-
When you’re out in the field navigating the land or doing any number of outdoor chores and tasks, you may for a variety of reasons need to measure the heights and widths of objects like trees and rivers. But oftentimes these objects are so large and out-of-reach that trying to measure them with a tape measure would be foolhardy and impractical.
Luckily, there are a few little field-expedient tricks that scouts have used for centuries to estimate the height and width of objects using nothing but sticks and a bit of geometry. While there are smartphone apps out there that can do the same thing, in order to become more antifragile, it’s always good to know how to do this kind of thing sans technology. Plus, it’s fun.
Note: For many of these methods, you’ll need to know the length in feet and inches of a normal pace for you, as pacing is required to determine the measurements. To find the length of your pace, take a normal step and measure from the heel of your back foot to the toe of your front foot.
How to Estimate Height in the Field
If you’re felling trees, you’ll want to know how tall they are beforehand so they won’t come crashing down on your car or campsite. But how do you measure the height of a tree without climbing up to the top with a tape measure?
Here are a few traditional tricks used by lumberjacks and scouts to estimate the height of trees and other tall objects like canyon cliffs and waterfalls.
The Felling Method
- Back far enough away from the object you’re measuring that you can see both the top and the bottom of it. Hold a stick upright at arm’s length, ensuring the top of the stick appears to touch the top of the object.
- Rotate your arm 90 degrees so it’s lined up with the horizon, simulating that the object has fallen, hence the term “felling.”
- Have your buddy stand at the point where it looks to you like the tip of the stick ends. Place a marker there, like a stone or another stick.
- Pace the distance between the marker and the base of the object to estimate its height.
The Stick Method
This method requires relatively flat ground to get a good estimation.
- Find a stick the length of your arm.
- Hold your arm out straight with the stick pointing straight up (90-degree angle to your outstretched arm).
- Walk backwards until you see the tip of the stick line up with the top of the tree. Your feet are now at approximately the same distance from the tree as it is high.
The Proportional Stick Method
This is a variation of the Stick Method and requires a second person.
- Have a buddy (whose height is known) stand beside the object to be measured.
- Stand far enough away from the object that you can see both the top and the bottom of it. Hold a pencil or stick at arm’s length, and with one eye, sight over the stick so that the top of it appears to touch the top of your friend’s head.
- Place your thumbnail on the stick where it seems to touch the base of the tree trunk. Now move the stick up to see roughly how many times this measurement goes into the height of the tree.
- Multiply the number obtained from step 3 with the height of your friend to determine the approximate height of the object.
Shadow Method
This method only works on a sunny day. The ground will need to be relatively flat, as any slope will throw off the measurement.
- Measure the shadow cast by the tree (from the base of the tree to the shadow of its top) and label this length as AB.
- Measure the shadow cast by someone or an object of known height. Label this length as CD.
- Calculate the height of the tree with the following formula (AB x the height of your body)/CD = ~ object’s height.
Estimating Widths in the Field
Let’s say you’re doing some land navigation and you come to a placid river that you need to cross. You know you can swim 100 yards easily, but the river looks wider than that. How can you figure out the width of the river without getting wet and without a tape measure?
Or let’s say you come to a ravine. How do you know how far the other side is so you can lash together a bridge to cross it?
Here are two methods that can solve these dilemmas and give you a rough estimate of widths.
Napoleon/Salute Method
- Stand as close to the shore of the river as you can.
- Bow your head, chin against chest. Hold your hand to your forehead, palm down (like you’re saluting).
- Move your hand down until the front edge of it seems to touch the opposite shore.
- Turn your whole body a quarter turn left or right, “transferring” the distance to the shore you’re standing on. Notice the point at which the edge of your hand seems to touch the shore upon which you’re standing. Pace to it. The distance to the point which the edge of your hand seems to touch is roughly the width of the river.
Stride Method
This method requires a bit of geometry, but can give you a fairly accurate estimation of the width of a river.
- Select an object on the opposite side of the river, such as a tree or rock and mark it as “A.”
- Place a stick on your side of the river exactly opposite of landmark A. Mark that stick as “B.”
- Walk along the shore at a 90-degree angle from Point B for a certain number of paces. Let’s say 50 steps, for example. Place a stick there. Mark that as point “C.”
- Continue walking for half the distance that you just paced. So in our example, that would be 25 paces. Place a stick here and mark it “D.”
- Turn away from the river and walk until marker C and A line up in a straight line. Place a stick here and mark it as “E.”
- Walk and count your paces from point D to point E. The distance between D and E is ½ the distance across the river. Double that number and you have the distance, in steps, across the river. Multiply the number of steps by the length of your pace to get the distance in feet.
I hope that your Credit Cards are not too bad.
Enjoy!
Grumpy
A very Handsome looking Piece!
It almost looks like it is missing its bolt. Pity that it not do so well in the Trenches of WWI with the Canadian Army. But as a sporting rifle the are pretty good for 100 year old guns.
Top: The Winchester Model 94 XTR Big Bore carbine was the first, and one of the few, guns chambered in the .375 Win.
I’m here to praise the .375 Winchester, not lay it to rest, although over the years a lot of dirt has been shoveled on the cartridge for various reasons.
The .375 Win. cartridge was introduced in 1978 in the Winchester Model 94 XTR Big Bore carbine. Here was a cartridge that fired considerably heavier bullets than the .30-30 Win., and in a rifle that weighed a packable 6.5 lbs.
I bought my .375 Big Bore off the used gun rack at a local sporting goods store and became a fan of the cartridge once I started shooting and hunting with the rifle.
The .375 Win. (left) stands in next to some large competition, such as the .45-70 Gov’t. (center) and .35 Remington (right).
The .375’s maximum average pressure is 52,000 copper units of pressure (CUP), much higher than the .30-30 Win.’s 38,000 CUP. To contain the .375’s relatively high pressure the rear of the Big Bore’s receiver, surrounding the rear vertical locking lugs, is about a quarter of an inch thicker than the receiver of regular Model 94s.
The XTR was an upscale edition of the Model 94 with checkering on its straight grip and forearm, high gloss bluing and a red thin butt pad. In 1983 the Angle Eject feature added so cases ejected out the right side of the receiver to allow mounting a scope over the receiver.
A raised comb and a transfer-bar safety were also added to these Angle Eject carbines. But I was one of the few who liked the cartridge, because it was dropped from the Model 94 line after a short 9-year life in 1986.
The .375 Win. (left) was intended as a modern rendition on the old .38-55 Win. (right). A .38-55 cartridge will fit in a .375 chamber, however, its longer length makes it dangerous to shoot in a .375. The .375’s high pressure makes it dangerous to shoot in a rifle chambered in .38-55.
For an even shorter time, other rifles were chambered in .375. Marlin chambered its 336 lever-action in .375 and called it the Model 375 from 1980 to ’82. Ruger chambered it in its single-shot No. 3 and Savage in its lever-action Model 99 chambered it for a short while.
The .375 Win. resembles the older .38-55 Win. and may have been introduced as a modern form of the old Winchester cartridge. Winchester initially loaded the .375 with 200-gr. Power-Point bullets with a muzzle velocity of 2,200 f.p.s. and 250-gr. Power-Points at 1,900 f.p.s.
Winchester stills lists the 200-gr. load on its website. But availability is sparse. One Internet sites sells Winchesters for $60 a box, plus shipping. Buffalo Arms sells .375 ammo loaded with Barnes Original 255-gr. bullets for $60.89 for a box of 20.
Cases for the .375 Win. are difficult to find and expensive when you do. Necked out .30-30 cases work fine for low-pressure loads. The two cases on the left are .375s and the two on the right are necked out .30-30s.
The closest I came to a box of factory .375 ammunition was at a gun store a few years ago. A box of Winchester cartridges had sat on the shelf so long the print on the face of the box had completely faded. On the end of the box was a price tag of $43.
I asked the clerk, “Is that price correct?”
“Let me check,” he replied.
He returned a minute later. “Nope, that’s not the right price. It should be $58.”
Such expensive ammunition does not bode well for a cartridge’s longevity.
A Winchester Model 94 XTR Big Bore .375 shot this group (left) at 100 yards shooting Barnes Original 255-gr. bullets and Reloder 7 powder. A Winchester Model 94 XTR Big Bore .375 shot this group (right) at 100 yds. shooting Barnes Original 255-gr. bullets and Reloder 7 powder.
That leaves handloading. Cases are ridiculously expensive, if you can even find any. Thankfully, I bought 100 Winchester cases along with my rifle.
But they are reserved for full-power loads because of their thick construction. Necked out .30-30 cases work in a pinch. The resulting cases average 0.05” shorter and 18 grs. lighter than factory .375 cases and work fine for reduced-pressure loads.
A Winchester Model 94 XTR Big Bore .375 shot this group at 100 yards shooting cast bullets and IMR 3031 powder.
Bullets for handloading are somewhat more available. Sierra sells a 200-gr. flat nose and Barnes its Original 255-gr. soft point. Hawk Bullets sells 180, 200 and 250-gr. flat point bullets suitable for the .375. That’s about it.
Bullets are always available when you have a bullet mold in hand. The .375’s velocities top out at about 2,100 f.p.s., which are just right for cast bullets. Lee, Lyman, RCBS and Redding SAECO sell molds that cast flat nose bullets for the .375. My Lyman 375449 mold casts bullets that weigh 267-grs., with the addition of a gas check.
A Winchester Big Bore Model 94 chambered in .375 Win. provides some serious clout in a light rifle.
I’ve shot the cast Lyman and Barnes 255-gr. bullets with 8 powders, Accurate 5744 on the fast side to W748 on the slow end. Reloder 7, by far, provided the best accuracy and highest velocities. For hunting, 30.5 grs. of Reloder 7 fired the Lyman bullet at 1,938 f.p.s. with groups of 2” to 3” at 100 yds.
The .375 and .38-55 are 2 peas in a pod. So the .375 should share the .38-55’s reputation for accurately shooting cast bullets at about 1,400 f.p.s. I loaded the .375 with the Lyman bullet with 26.0 grs. of IMR 3031to attain about that speed. Two, 3-shot groups at 100 yds. averaged 2.35”, which is pretty good for my eyes aiming iron sights.
.375 Plight
The first whitetail I shot with the .375 ran down off the ridge without missing a step. The deer’s tracks stopped after 50 yards with the deer dead next to a log. The Lyman cast bullet had poked a hole about the size of a quarter through both lungs.
My son shot two whitetails with Barnes 255-gr. bullets with the same results. My son, though, looks at the .375 as a relic of an ancient era. He considers the .375’s ballistics feeble and would rather hunt with bolt-action rifle chambered in 7 mm-08 or .300 WSM.
The majority of hunters agree. The 200-gr. bullet still loaded for the .375 by Winchester really offers no better performance on game than a 170-gr. bullet from a .30-30 or 200-gr. bullet from a .35 Remington shot at the same speed. Those cartridges have well-filled the “brush cartridge” niche. Ammunition and handloading components for the .30-30 and .35 are also readily available.
Only when shooting heavier bullets does the .375 offer anything superior to some other short-range hunting cartridges. The heavy-hitter .45-70 Gov’t, though, has staked out that position. And once again, with existing ammunition and handloading components.
So while I praise the .375 Win., except for hunting rifle fanatics, the cartridge is most likely no more.
Velocities were recorded 9’ in front of the Winchester’s muzzle and are the average of 6 shots. Groups are the average of 2, 3-shot groups. *-Winchester .375 cases and **-necked-out Remington .30-30 cases used with Winchester Large Rifle primers. Temperature 55 to 60 degrees.
The .375 Win. is perfect for hunting white-tailed deer in the timber. However, several other cartridges offer the same advantages.
The SIG MPX PSB is a pistol variant of the MPX series and features a “wrist brace” attachment.
SIG Sauer seems poised to take over the world these days. It seems like they have a winner in every market segment except kitchen sinks, and they are probably working on kitchen sinks right now. A huge win for SIG has been the MPX family of pistol caliber carbines (PCC), and this week we got our hands on one to test.
SPECS
- Cartridge: 9mm
- Barrel: 8 in.; 1:10-in. twist
- Overall Length: 16.7 in. (stock folded); 24 in. (stock extended)
- Weight: 6.1 lbs.
- Trigger: 5 lbs., 8 0z. – 9 lbs.
- Sights: N/A
- Finish: Matte Black
- Capacity: 30+1 rds.
- MSRP: $2,084
- Manufacturer: SIG Sauer
The SIG Sauer MPX PSB ran reliably and functioned flawlessly with the SIG Elite Performance ammo. Photo Courtesy: SIG Sauer
Our version of the MPX was actually the MPX PSB (pistol stabiliizng brace) pistol version, which I guess makes it the pistol caliber pistol? The not an SBR but totally a semiautomatic 9mm sub gun? What the MPX represents is a leap forward in real sub-machine guns, with many flavors of semiauto, civilian-legal variations. The controls are all AR-15 in style, but this isn’t just another AR scaled to fit pistol bullets. The MPX was designed from the ground up as a new platform, with a retention of the design characteristics from an AR that it made sense to steal. This cuts the learning curve to zero, and also fits the MPX nicely into applications where a rifle is too much, but a pistol is too little.
Anyone familiar with the AR’s manual of arms will be right at home with the MPX series.
The firearm features ambidextrous controls for ease of use with either hand.
The pistol version ships with the ubiquitous SIG “Arm Brace”, with a slightly extended length from other versions I have seen. It is about 3 inches longer that the AR versions, classic SIG sticking it to the man every chance they get. Because the MPX doesn’t require a buffer, this brace isn’t also a buffer tube. More on that in a minute. The brace is attached to a folding hinge, which mounts on the MPX via a Picatinny rail on the back of the receiver. The folding hinge bolts to the Picatinny for a rock-solid joint. When you shoot the MPX with, uh, the arm brace velcroed in place, there is no movement in the stock, which is awesome. The hinge is a little tight, it takes some force to unlock, but it works great.
Article Continued Below:
The receiver set looks very similar to an AR, and it is fully ambidextrous including the charging handle. Your welcome, wrong handers. The magazine release button has gotten a little redesign, it is about twice the size of a normal AR-15 on the right side, and the paddle on the left is about the size of a regulation normal one.
The safety selector is AR similar on the left, and little shorter that your old familiar controls on the right. The left side bolt release has an added bit of length to the bottom, making it ¾ inches wide, very easy to press for locking the bolt back. The right side bolt release is absolutely massive, and you can easily reach it with your trigger finger. Only the left side will lock the bolt to the rear, but both sides release it with ease.
The magazine well is slightly flared, which really helps facilitate quick reloads. The MPX runs on a proprietary Sig magazine, which gave me zero problems. The magazine is clear plastic with steel feed lips, and runs buttery smooth. Loading the magazine is easy, no Uzi magazine problems for this little guy.
We only had one magazine for testing, the factory standard 30 rounder. I was very happy with how easy the magazine came apart for the installation of my Taran Tactical Innovations +10 extension. TTI had just shipped the new aluminum extension in Coyote Bronze, and it ran like a champ.
This extension does not require a new spring, which also tells me SIG was serious on spring tension. Adding 10 rounds is no small feat, so the factory 30 round was absolutely meant to work in all conditions, for a very long time.
The MPX PSB is a compact and capable firearm and feeds from a proprietary magazine system.
The author equipped the magazine with a Taran Tactical Innovations (TTI) magazine extension to bring total capacity to 40-plus-one capacity.
The upper and lower come apart with just like an AR, with a takedown pin front and rear of the receiver. This is where the similarities end though. The MPX doesn’t use a scaled-down AR bolt, though both are cam based locking with rotating lugs. The MPX has two springs on top of the bolt that recoil against the receiver, and push the bolt back into the chamber. This cuts down on the overall size of the bolt, and also means the MPX works normally with the stock folded or taken off in the pistol variant. No nubby buffer tube required. At the back of the receiver is a large polymer ring, which absorbs the impact of the bolt, and keeps your steel bolt from smacking the aluminum receiver.
How It Works
The action is neither direct impingement or blowback, it is a short stroke piston system. This keeps most of the filth from pistol rounds out of the receiver and has proved to be very reliable. The barrel on the pistol version is 8 inches, but has the new MPX quick barrel change system just like the carbine. If you push out the front takedown pin, the handguard pulls straight off. This exposes two hex screws, pull those out, and the barrel comes right off. This makes barrel changes a snap, and in the future caliber conversions will be easy as the day is long. One of my only complaints, SIG put a 13.5×1 metric thread pitch on the barrel. If you use direct thread suppressors, better make sure you can get an adaptor.
The MPX doesn’t ship with iron sights, but this is a pretty easy fix. We are talking about SIG after all. For testing, we were also provided a Romeo5 1x20mm compact red dot sight. This optic features a 2 MOA red dot with 10 illumination settings, 8 for daylight and 2 for night vision. This sight also features MOTAC, motion activated illumination system, which powers up when it senses motion, and powers down when it doesn’t.
The dot is very bright; I had no trouble finding a setting for broad daylight. The controls are a bit different, but it worked just like an Aimpoint. In the box are mounts for both low and 1.41 inch co-witness bases, which is a nice touch. I liked the high mount for the MPX pistol, and will try the low mount next week on a rifle 45-degree offset.
The author also had an opportunity to try out Sig’s air gun variant of the MPX as well.
A Little Extra
In keeping with the SIG complete package, what could possibly make this any better? How about a training tool to go with it? Also available from SIG, we received an MPX airgun and target system. SIG has really come out swinging on this front; they have introduced several airgun systems over the last year.
The MPX air comes with a real buttstock since it isn’t a firearm, but is otherwise identical to the MPX pistol. The airgun runs off of CO2 cartridges and fires .177 caliber steel pellets. This is no child’s toy, as the pellets reach up to 600 feet per second (fps). It even comes with an incredibly similar red dot sight.
Big applause to SIG Sauer on this one, replica airsoft or pellet guns are a fantastic training tool to round out a system. The savings in ammunition cost are staggering, and it isn’t hard to set up an airsoft range in your garage. Can’t say the same for 9mm, that is a certainty.
Note the ambidextrous AR-style safety lever and the enlarged trigger guard.
Conclusion
This is the first time I have ever had optics, gun, and ammo all made by the same manufacturer, which is pretty wild to consider. If I had a better license, I could have gone ahead with a suppressor as well. A training replica gun is pretty awesome as well, and pellets are arguably a better option than a .22 LR conversion. Have you tried to buy .22 recently? The MPX ran like a sewing machine and had zero malfunctions. Magazines aren’t cheap, but they are available, and it’s nice to have aftermarket support already from places like Taran Tactical Innovations. A 40 round sub gun magazine is pretty hard to argue with. There was a lot of winning with this system. The SIG 115 grain ran like a champ.
The SIG Sauer pistol stabilizing base allowed the author to accurately engage steel targets and allowed for fast follow-up shots. Photo Courtesy: SIG Sauer
So what was the bad? I only have a couple of complaints. One is the trigger, which is less than good. To be fair, it is about like a Mil-Spec AR. The big problem is a replacement. I don’t believe in bad triggers, especially after I pay $2,000 for a gun. AR-15 triggers fit the MPX, but SIG says the new gun is very hard on fire control systems.
Secondly, I would have much rather had this gun for testing in the carbine variant. I understand why SIG makes a pistol version, some people are really in love with this and don’t want to SBR. But for a shake out of a weapon, it is a lot easier with a real stock and a grown up barrel. A 16-inch carbine version is on the market right now, and that is a much better choice for most consumers. Even in the pistol version though, I would have preferred to see an 11-inch barrel. This has nothing to do with velocity, and everything to do with the hand stop. On the 8-inch barrel, even with the hand stop installed, it is entirely too easy to get a finger near the muzzlebrake. I have seen this happen with an MP5, and the result isn’t pretty. If you buy the pistol version, be extremely careful.
Although the author found the 8-inch barrel a little too short for his taste, the barrels are user changeable for in-field adaptability. Simply remove the barrel and A2 muzzle device and swap for the desired length. Photo Courtesy: SIG Sauer
For more information, visit https://www.sigsauer.com/store/sig-mpx-psb.html .
To purchase an MPX on GunsAmerica.com, click this link: https://www.gunsamerica.com/Search.aspx?Keyword=MPX.
One hell of good looking rifle! Grumpy
