1176 yard bull

[zach_destroys]

Great job and great shooting! I saw your post on Facebook, what a dumpster fire that turned into

 

[Doc's Forge]

Congratulations! And thank you! I'm in the process of moving to Colorado now and was going to have to find a good gunsmith to work with. Pretty sure I just found it!

 

[HeadedWest]

There's a canyon I hunt in every fall, but with the brush the options are sitting in the timber patches or long range across the canyon. One shot from my .300 WSM did the job on this bull. Rifle was built specifically for hunting this canyon by West Elk Precision in Grand Junction Colorado. Defiance Deviant Hunter XM action, Trigger Tech, Bartlien 3b barrel, Manners EH1 stock, Nightforce atacr 5-25x56 scope. Load is Berger 215 grain Hybrid over 65 grains RL26 amd Federal 215 primers. 2817 FPS. Last two 3-shot groups fired before the hunt to confirm ballistic inputs measured just under .5 MOA at 1317 yards. Kestrel 5700 AB says 1675 FPS and 1340 remaining energy. Shot was quartering and bullet entered behind the ribs traveling length-wise, going up through a rib and coming to rest in the forward end of a backstrap. Weight is 152.9 grains. The bullets are very accurate but I'm going to look for a similarly accurate load with a bullet rated for a lower impact velocity. Thinking 210 grain Nosler ABLR or 210 gr Berger HVLD
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Hec of a shot.Never thought a berger would stand up.I agree with the thought of the nosler long range Accubond of what I search. and hec of a nice Bull. That might be pressure cooker bull.

 

[COBrad]

Great job and great shooting! I saw your post on Facebook, what a dumpster fire that turned into

I posted that on Facebook knowing it would be a dumpster fire. probably not a good idea but it sure was interesting how most respondents couldn't even conceive of the possibility.

 

[COBrad]

Congrats, COBrad! Do you recall how much wind and/or spin drift you held on the shot?

I have been running the Berger 210 HVLD's out of a stock Seekins Havak PH2 300WM with 75.5 grains of N565 at a velocity avg. of 2976 FPS. Holds about a 1/2 MOA out to 1000 yds. They were more than deadly on elk and mule deer this year, but I never got to test on an animal beyond 370 yards.

I took that shot about 7:45 am. Where I was hunting the breeze dies down just after daylight then picks up again around 10:30 when the thermals starts back up the canyon. Kestrel called for 31.1 moa elevation and 1 moa left windage for spin drift.

 

[COBrad]

I'm curious, how far did he go after being hit?

Or perhaps a bang flop?

He made it maybe 50 yards.

 

[Priley]

There's a canyon I hunt in every fall, but with the brush the options are sitting in the timber patches or long range across the canyon. One shot from my .300 WSM did the job on this bull. Rifle was built specifically for hunting this canyon by West Elk Precision in Grand Junction Colorado. Defiance Deviant Hunter XM action, Trigger Tech, Bartlien 3b barrel, Manners EH1 stock, Nightforce atacr 5-25x56 scope. Load is Berger 215 grain Hybrid over 65 grains RL26 amd Federal 215 primers. 2817 FPS. Last two 3-shot groups fired before the hunt to confirm ballistic inputs measured just under .5 MOA at 1317 yards. Kestrel 5700 AB says 1675 FPS and 1340 remaining energy. Shot was quartering and bullet entered behind the ribs traveling length-wise, going up through a rib and coming to rest in the forward end of a backstrap. Weight is 152.9 grains. The bullets are very accurate but I'm going to look for a similarly accurate load with a bullet rated for a lower impact velocity. Thinking 210 grain Nosler ABLR or 210 gr Berger HVLD
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Very nice bull. I would stick with the Berger. I have had some bad experiences with the Nosler ABLR not opening at long range. Bergers are my go to bullet for everything.

 

[Bravo 4]

Thank you all for your kind comments. I have a 1300 yard range on the ranch and spend a lot of time dialing everything in. Still, conditions have to be just right.

Congratulations Brad, success is what happens when preparation meets opportunity. This is how it's done, lots of practice and knowing your equipment. Your last comment about conditions being just right is spot on, knowing when not to pull the trigger is just as important and one of the hardest aspects to teach or overcome.

 

[CNY Yote Hunter]

Nice bull and nice rifle!!! Congrats

 

[richhymas]

Sounds like an awesome rifle and I personally love the 300 WSM, but if your goal is greater than 1000 yards with consistent bullet performance I would choose one of the 338 or bigger boomers with a 250-300+ grain bullet and a very high BC. No matter the bullet selection I prefer 2000 FPS or at least 1800 FPS impact velocity and over 1500 ft lbs energy. Otherwise just stick what you have.

 

[Barrelnut]

Impressive! Way to Git-R-Done!

 

[Molon Labe 18]

Nice shot and a beautiful bull! I've been using the Berger VLD Hunters 185gr for quite a few years in my 300 WBY mag. Last year I bought a Browning Hells Canyon long range in 30 Nosler. I've been using the VLDH 210gr and they've been awesome! I've considered changing to the 205gr elite hunters just for the higher BC but haven't made the switch yet. I'm not sure if it will make that much of a difference.

Shane- How tight is your Browning shooting? I'm starting to BR handload for an X Bolt LR Pro because it's a 1.5MOA gun with Hornady and other premium loads... love the ergonomics, but it's not anywhere near a sub MOA gun. Thx-

 

[chav0_12]

Shane- How tight is your Browning shooting? I'm starting to BR handload for an X Bolt LR Pro because it's a 1.5MOA gun with Hornady and other premium loads... love the ergonomics, but it's not anywhere near a sub MOA gun. Thx-

I've had a few different Brownings, only one X-Bolt. I got rid of it because there were just some things I didn't like about it. Never spent much time with it but it was almost brand new still and would shoot about the same. My A-Bolts, however, shoot lights out. I've also added timney trigger springs to them and that seemed to help quite a bit. The trigger on the X-Bolt is crisp but the one I had was heavier than I liked and even adjusting it, I couldn't get it where I wanted it. I know, for me anyway, trigger weight makes a huge difference. I would consider trying the JARD or Timney trigger in your X-Bolt. I would also then inspect the bedding and stock to ensure it's properly free-floated and an adjustment in bedding can sometimes fix a ton of issues. Sometimes a chamber/throat/barrel doesn't care too much for the amount of jump factory ammo gives it. Browning still makes great factory guns, lots of guys use them and love them, so if you continue to have issues with it it might not be a bad idea to get ahold of them to see what they say about it.

 

[Hubby45]

Thanks for the share, great shot and Bull.