Long range rifle advice

[Chris-NZ]

...

 

A few years ago here (cz) a comp was held at 1000m - top 2 places went to 6.5x55 with a few 338 Laps and 300WM behind that, top 308 was 9th place.

 

 

 

David.

 

Near identical Open Shoot held in Auckland a few years back with anything up to 8mm allowed- basically F-Class.

Shot on a proper fullbore range with flags, the day being rather tricky for wind.

Much to the disgust of the "serious toys" boys, the day was won by a guy using his .308 NRA rifle -off his elbows-

 

Chris-NZ

[ds1]

Hi Chris,

 

I wish I had that blokes ability.

 

I read also of a 600 yard BR record being set recently by 308 Win.......but its a question of repeatable results over a one off.

 

I do have a soft spot for 6.5x55, an old round that is still capable of excellent performance ( just less versitile than say 260 Rem with a 308 bolt head and short action).

 

David

[njc110381]

Just out of interest and as a short term idea, how far can a .223 be pushed? 600 yards or so? I'd like to have a go at the longer range stuff with my CZ Varmint if I can, just until I have a bit more money. It would be a shame to skimp on a long term gun, so maybe I should just wait for a bit and get something really decent and with a good scope. The only problem with my CZ is I think it is a 1/12 twist, so can't do the heavy stuff too well?

[Streeker59]

If your CZ has a 1 in 12" twist, it will handle 60 grain flat based pills with aplomb.

My T3 has a 12 twist and pushes 60 grainers to 600 yards no prob.

I found the following bullets excellent. All are flat based.

 

Berger 60 grn match grade. COL = 2.296"

 

JLK 60 grn SD LD. COL 2.298"

 

Sierra 60 grn HP cat numb 1375. COL 2.270"

 

Hornady 60 grn HP cat numb 2275. COL 2.270"

 

Hornady 60 grn "V" max cat numb 22281 ( untried )

 

My fave load for any of these ( except V-max ) is 26 grns Varget using RG cases, pressures are on the limit as these cases are milspec and have thicker case walls.

Or 24.6 grans Benchmark using commercial brass.

Cross winds can be tricky with the little bullet but it will def shoot to 600 yards..

[grahamfarmer]

hi guys,

 

just as an aside to this thread i recently plumped for a remmy 700 p in 308 as was looking to replace a light weight 308 with something a bit heavier as my intrest in homeloading was leading me to see how far and accurately i could shoot .now my remmy is very accurate out of the box but the furthest i can get to shoot on the farm is round about 400 yds what i would love to know is how can i get to practise on longer ranges or even have a go at f class for the experience without the problems of joining a club and the assicoated problems at renewal times as my work load is unpredictable and regular shooting may not be possible but would like to try if the oppertunity is there . any answers would be appreciated or prehaps some one in the know would post something as i am sure i am not the only person in this situation. yours

 

graham.

[eldon]

Graham put a location in your profile and somebody local might give you an opportunity for more distance.

[Guest varmartin]

Graham...what is your definition of `accurate` ?

 

If you practice hitting say a 8 inch kill zone @400 yards and want to stretch to 800 yards .....

It may sound obvious, but you can always practice with a reduced size kill of 4 inch @ 800 or even a 2 inch @400.

 

Its all about range estimation and wind dope..keeping all rounds under MOA is one hell of a challenge !!

[1967spud]

hi guys,

 

just as an aside to this thread i recently plumped for a remmy 700 p in 308 as was looking to replace a light weight 308 with something a bit heavier as my intrest in homeloading was leading me to see how far and accurately i could shoot .now my remmy is very accurate out of the box but the furthest i can get to shoot on the farm is round about 400 yds what i would love to know is how can i get to practise on longer ranges or even have a go at f class for the experience without the problems of joining a club and the assicoated problems at renewal times as my work load is unpredictable and regular shooting may not be possible but would like to try if the oppertunity is there . any answers would be appreciated or prehaps some one in the know would post something as i am sure i am not the only person in this situation. yours

 

graham.

 

 

me to , i would love to have a go at longer ranges but i am limited in norfolk for a safe 600-800 yrds range shot .

[njc110381]

What sort of performance can I expect from my current .223 load at longer range? It's the load silent often hands out to newbies asking for a good starter. 52grn A-Max, 25grn Benchmark, 2.200oal, Lapua cases. It's not the fastest by any means, but somehow he was right and it's very accurate in my rifle at shorter ranges. I mess about at 50 yards a lot which I know isn't far, but often the target looks like only one round has gone through it with this load.

 

I know I need to travel a bit more distance and shoot at a longer range more often, but the 50 yard one allows members to have the alarm codes etc so we can open up and shoot whenever we want to!

[grahamfarmer]

hi guys,

 

well my definition of accurate is ragged hole at 100 yds under load development which is sub 1"at 200 yds and at my 400 yd limit under 2" groups or base of coke tin size at 400 yds these are with hunting or varmint type bullets ie soft points or nosler balistic tips or vmaxs have loaded up a few sierra match king 155 palmas to ladder test a target load with so should the match bullets group tighter or will it depend on wheather they suit the gun.

 

also all my shooting is done off a bipod off the 4x4 bonnet as not yet built a shooting bench but a site has been identified to put a permant bench in the side of a old chicken shed with a concrete floor.

 

have also updated profile with location so if anyone wants to contact me they can . am also thinking of organiseing a bit of a get together after the shooting season for a bit of an informal shoot so that we can get together and prehaps see what others are shooting and how they shoot as have the space . yours graham.