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Now that's wat I'm talkin' bout (long range shooting)

TBK

TBK

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The 1400-yard range opened up last week at my club. What a day I had yesterday. It was a stormy morning. I went after lunch when it was just misting. I was surprised that I had the place to myself. Beautiful weather by the end of the session. There are 40 steel targets placed from 100 to 1400 yards on both sides of the road, in the valley and on the hills. Sorry for the crappy iPhone photo. There are large core targets with LED shot markers at 600, 800, 1000, 1200 and 1400 yards. It is the first time I took the rifle I built out to that distance and I am thrilled with the success that I had hitting the targets. The training and work on load development paid off. It was the first of many good days to come.

range.jpg
 
TBK said:
The 1400-yard range opened up last week at my club. What a day I had yesterday. It was a stormy morning. I went after lunch when it was just misting. I was surprised that I had the place to myself. Beautiful weather by the end of the session. There are 40 steel targets placed from 100 to 1400 yards on both sides of the road, in the valley and on the hills. Sorry for the crappy iPhone photo. There are large core targets with LED shot markers at 600, 800, 1000, 1200 and 1400 yards. It is the first time I took the rifle I built out to that distance and I am thrilled with the success that I had hitting the targets. The training and work on load development paid off. It was the first of many good days to come.

View attachment 1003669
Click to expand...
Man... that is beautiful. Shit starts to get real out that far.
Soooo jealous.
 
Fritz the Cat said:
nice! you left out all the juicy details!
what caliber?
what rifle platform?
what optic?
tell us about the load development.
Click to expand...
6.5Creedmoor. This has been a present to me after all these years of supporting the better half's hobby (horses). :D

The rifle is built off an Impact 737, 26in CRB (competition profile) barrel, 1:8 twist spun up by Southern Precision, trigger tech diamond 2 stage trigger in a Vision Pro chassis. I have a TBAC Magnus SR suppressor on it. At 100 yd, I had no no change in impact with this setup. The scope is a Vortex gen3, 6-36.

The ammo is Lapua large primer brass, Berger 144gr Hybrid Long Range Target bullets, Federal Gold Match large rifle primers and 41.6 gr of H4340 H4350. That day, 30 rounds came in at 2765 fps avg, 8.6 SD and 34 fps spread. I was getting 0.473 MOA at 100 yds with 10 shots when I did my first round of load development. I did another test after putting 270 rounds down the tube and it looks like 41.5 grains is the sweet spot. I got 0.314 MOA with 10 shots @100 yards (with 2725 fps, SD 2.8, Spread 6.3). That is what the next batch will be.

I go a little nuts with my reloading process. I find it relaxing. I use Redding Comp bushing dies. I recently upgraded my tried and true (well, little sloppy now) single stage press with an Area419 Zero press. I anneal with a Mark II induction annealer. The biggest impact for reducing the SD was adding a Wilson neck mandrel and neolube to my process to get more consistent neck tension. My next investment will be a better powder dropper. I have an older RCBS Chargemaster that overshoots too many times.
 
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fencer said:
Man... that is beautiful. Shit starts to get real out that far.
Soooo jealous.
Click to expand...
So true. I did not get a chance to shoot for six years after I moved to Alabama. I just had no time and no range nearby. Last summer I took a course in Graham, Alabama at the Rifle Range (a private range). I had my 7yo but yet unfired Savage10 in 6.5CR with Berger commercial ammo. Berger uses Lapua brass so I figured it would give me a leg up for reloading. By the end of the course, I was hitting at 1100 yds.

The rifle I put together is stable. It weighs in at 21-22lbs. I am able to stay on target with the scope through impact so I can easily view and adjust after a miss.

My challenge now is ballistics apps. I like iStrelok and was able to get it back on my iPhone but it needs an update. I am struggling with AB Quantum. I've started experimenting with Geoballistics. With these ranges, I can begin to validate the profiles. For example, at 1200 yards, my first shot went about half a target height over the 3'x3' core target. I aimed just under the target with my second shot and scored. I added the correction to the app and was on target after that (recommended elevation) and for the 1400 yard target. I am still grinning.
 
paul73 said:
very nice!

stay with what works, of course, but i can tell - i tried comparing those bergers in my bergara with those eldms, and latter were grouping better.
www.hornady.com

6.5mm .264 140 gr ELD® Match - Hornady Manufacturing, Inc

...
www.hornady.com www.hornady.com

and eld m/x did not work well not for a single other caliber i own, btw, only for 6.5cm they somehow do their magic.
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I have a box of 500 and will try them someday. But, I am not going to complain about the 1/3 moa group from the Bergers.

I also picked up some Reloader16 which I hear is very good for the 6.5CR. I like having options to avoid availability issues. After a six year drought, I am shooting a lot again. :D
 
TBK said:
I have a box of 500 and will try them someday. But, I am not going to complain about the 1/3 moa group from the Bergers.

I also picked up some Reloader16 which I hear is very good for the 6.5CR. I like having options to avoid availability issues. After a six year drought, I am shooting a lot again. :D
Click to expand...
i used both r16 and h4350 (not sure of h4340) with comparable results. at a time R16 was cheaper and more available than h4350, so i stocked on R16 enough for LONG time. :)
now the tables turned an exact opposite, i think, and prices wise h4350 is better. do not think it matters much which powder to use.

R16 is only very slightly slower than h4350, so loads wise you can go with same grains. i load 140gr bullet on 41.8gr R16 for bolt guns. 2751 fps out of 26" bergara barrel.
it is not a max pressure at all, but works the best.
for gas guns i can load hotter, but accuracy is bit worse. for hunting it would not matter, though.
 
TBK said:
Central Alabama.

Yeah, I lucked out in many ways moving from the PRM to the free south.
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The coolest thing about shooting at 1000+ is that the bullet is in flight long enough that you have time to get your eye back behind the scope and see the steel target swing... then a second or two later you hear the "DING"
Then...the giant grin! So f***in cool.
My Brother in Law has a "spot" in North Georgia on the power lines that is nearly perfect. Top of a gentle hill that goes for miles through the pines.
 

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