Getting into long range hunting

[MudRunner2005]

VSSF= Varmit short action,stainless flutted if not rite i'm close Great shooting regardless of Caliber or Cartridge!!! Bravo ! Remington!!! and GET the Heck Back on your Feet We need You Back!!!

Very close... VSSF = Varmint Synthetic Stainless Fluted

And yes, they were awesome rifles back it the day, when they were basically short-action Senderos. Built to the same exact specs, just on a short-action receiver.

 

[jjmp]

thks Couldn't get the ss version got a lippsy's flutted cm 26 inch 308 , first 40 reloads shot n clean after every shot, she never copper/powder fouled took her to 1,ooo yds easy . Great rifles and mine was stock,ZERO....mods, !!!

 

[Blackdirt Cowboy]

So I got curious and got the 7 mag out and shot a couple of three shot groups. Here is the results.

The shot to the far right was my fouling shot. Group 1 is the cold bore group. It measured at .51 moa. The bottom hole is actually two holes nearly on top of each other. I let the barrel cool for just about 5 minutes and shot group 2. It's .47 moa. I immediately shot the other three rounds, but the barrel was hot enough that it was uncomfortable to touch and the group started opening up. Gun is 3" high at 100 yards for a 300 yard zero. This is all with factory weatherby ammunition. 160 grain Nosler partitions.

 

[Barrelnut]

Well that's nice! I would move on to getting the RZ reticle calibrated to your load. You really need to zero at 200 for that. Then use the Zeiss online calculator to figure the scopes zoom setting at 300. Use that zoom and shoot at 300. Adjust the zoom so the scope is dead on at the reticle 300 mark at 300 yards. Mark that zoom power on the scope. (Manual discusses how to do this.) Then try 400 and 500. Bet it works.

 

[entoptics]

Looks like it shoots great with the Partition factory ammo!

Unfortunately, the 160 partition is not a "long range" hunting bullet. I'm guessing 160 class bullets will go about 3050 fps, and JBM indicates the partition drops below 1500 ftlbs at ~550 yds. A 162 ELDX will still carry 1500 ftlbs at ~720 yds. Bullets in the 170 class will take that to ~800. More importantly, reliable expansion (~1900 fps) is gone at 660 yds for the Partition vs ~850 with a 175 ELDX.

Wind drift is substantially more with the Partition vs the "low drag" bullets also. At 1000 yds, if you miss your wind call by 2 mph, the Partition is an additional 5 inches of drift (~15" total) vs a "VLD" type bullet (~10" total). Doesn't sound like much, but with a "VLD", you can miss your wind call by 2 mph and still hit a 16" circle at ~850 yds. With a Partition, you're outside the vitals at <750 yds.

Drop is also more critical with the Partition. 10 yds off on range at 1000 yds is ~8". Only 6" with VLD types.

All that being said, I'd take a 1/2 MOA partition over a 1 MOA "VLD", as long as you stay inside "killing power" ranges.

 

[Blackdirt Cowboy]

Thanks for all of that info! I'm only shooting the partitions until I get set up for reloading. Then I plan on experimenting and seeing what the biggest bullet the 1:10 twist barrel can handle. I'm hoping I can use at least a 168 grain, but will have to play with it and see. I also hope I can find a longer range load that will shoot 1/2 moa.

 

[MudRunner2005]

168 VLD's should work fine. They shot well in my old early 90's Ruger M77 MKII 7mmRM, it also has a 1:10" twist.

 

[jjmp]

Back in the late 90's ,I reloaded 160 nosler partitions in my 7stw ,their speed was 3220 at 1200 ft sea level, only took 22moa to reach 1,000 yds and they shot Fantastic , 10 shot groups easy inside 1 moa with the majority less then 1/2 moa. now run them at 7,000/8,000 ft above sea level and tell me they don't work , they did and can again,and did't throw flyers! just saying, gd shooting OP!!!

 

[Almondgrower]

There is a new craze on the Horizon, it's the ( factory rifles shoot well craze ) Use your rifle!! ( as long as barrel is not shot out of course ) Start with a G7 range finder and preferably moa turrets on your scope that way the range finder can compensate for atmospheric conditions and shot angle and then you just dial the moa on the scope turret. DO NOT get caught up in this custom rifle craze ..... most costom builders can charge as much as they want and they will still be 6 months out ! It is not nesacary to buy a 3-10,000$ gun to shoot .5 moa groups , it's insane ! The thing costom gun builders don't want you to know is......MOST factory rifles WILL shoot 1/2" groups with FACTORY Ammo !! The work is on the gun owner to find THE Ammo that shoots in THAT rifle !! ( not factory Ammo that shoots in a buddies rifle or a rifle like yours ..... find one that shoots in YOUR rifle ) Start with Nosler Ammo with L.R.acubond Bullets or barns TTSX and start testing . Find a load that YOUR gun likes and use that until you are able to load the sometimes several houndred rounds needed to find a handload of your own to keep cost down ! I have been sticking to this process for over 25 years and I am happy to see that FFL's are starting to catch on and sell these rifles all set up very reasonable ! If you don't want to do the work to set all that up then you can buy a rifle where all the validation is done for you but it DOES NOT need to be a high dollar custom gun , you CAN buy a gun with all this done for you starting at 2000$ , gun, scope & mounting , turrets , and verification

 

[huntintoo]

1st rifle i ever bought totally myself, is my winchester model 70 in .300 Weatherby Mag. The next month I got a reloader and, with the help of some friends, learned how to make .300 weatherby brass out of, then cheaper, .300 H&H brass by annealing and using a pistol load and gas checked lead bullets to blow out the brass chamber size them. It made my shooting a Weatherby affordable.

I had a Bushnell $39.00 scope on it that held a zero but the variable 3-9 was jammed immovable at 6 power. I then saved up and got a good scope Leupold Vari X3 3.5-10.
Then I got a muzzle break fitted for it. Then I learned how (Reading) to "Glass Bed" the action relieve the barrel, and do a trigger job on it.

My rifle went from 1" to .27" at 100 yards.
I bought a Turetted (Vortex - Viper) scope for it a few years ago. But when I went to put it on I couldn't mess with .27" shot groups.

After 32 Years and her being my only rifle for half of those years, I had to have her rebarreled with a Shilin match barrel, and bought a Boyds stock.

She's still a shooter and I have taken many critters with her. With a turreted scope I'm confident I could make a LR gun out of her, but I scratched that itch with a .338 Edge, now that I don't financially have to limit myself to 1 rifle!

The attached pic is a my 300 wby chambered rifle with a cow elk shot at 545 Yards. A very capable rifle, not a lot of money into her but a lot of time.

 

[jpope02]

Ok, I'm working on setting my range up. I'm going to use 1/2" AR500 plate. My backstop will show me my missed well, so should I go with 1 moa targets(6"@600 yards, 8" at 800 yards, etc.)?

Get a 1 mil square plate(36"x36'') 3/8" AR500 and a Sig 2200 range finder and practice shooting from different distances. Your next purchase will probably be a good 30 or 34mm scope with lots of elevation adjustment and a 30 moa rail to get out to 1 to2K.