Guy Miner
Master Loader
- Apr 6, 2006
- 17,669
- 5,472
My youngest son and I got a little practice in this afternoon with our deer rifles; he was shooting his 6mm Rem/700 BDL with a 3.5-10x Leupold and 95 grain Nosler ballistic tips moving at about 2900 fps. I had the Green Machine, my .308 with the Krieger barrel, McMillan stock & 4.5-14x Leupold, shooting 165 gr Nosler solid base bullets right at 2800 fps.
We set up targets at 100, 200 and 300 yards. The mirage was brutal through the scopes and there was a variable breeze, about 10 - 15 mph I'd estimate. Significant breeze for any halfway longish range shooting.
John's 6mm Rem was sighted in dead on at 200 yards. At 300 he was a few inches low of course and had to hold off about six inches right to hit centered on the target. At 300 yards the 32 year old rifle still produced decent accuracy for the lad. He had a 4" group going until a wind shift caught him and opened it up to about 6" wide. Interestingly the height of the group was slightly less than 2", showing me that on a less windy day, this load has some real accuracy potential. Today we were shooting from a bench, with the rifles on bipods.
I was shooting a slight variation from my normal hunting load and came away still impressed with the accuracy. Am using Lapua cases, Federal 210 match primers, 46 grains of Varget and 165 gr Nosler solid base bullets. Had one three shot group that measured 1 5/8" and a four shot group that measured 1 1/16" both of them at 300 yards. Under these mirage and wind conditions, I can live with that although I like to see groups of an inch or under at that range with this rifle.
Because of where we hunt, in pretty open country, I like to keep my rifles sighted in at 300 yards, but because my son has less experience we keep his rifle sighted in at 200 yards. In good conditions, he has taken game at nearly 300 yards with his rifle.
It was a nice way to spend the afternoon. Now it's time for a little nap before going to work tonight!
Regards, Guy
We set up targets at 100, 200 and 300 yards. The mirage was brutal through the scopes and there was a variable breeze, about 10 - 15 mph I'd estimate. Significant breeze for any halfway longish range shooting.
John's 6mm Rem was sighted in dead on at 200 yards. At 300 he was a few inches low of course and had to hold off about six inches right to hit centered on the target. At 300 yards the 32 year old rifle still produced decent accuracy for the lad. He had a 4" group going until a wind shift caught him and opened it up to about 6" wide. Interestingly the height of the group was slightly less than 2", showing me that on a less windy day, this load has some real accuracy potential. Today we were shooting from a bench, with the rifles on bipods.
I was shooting a slight variation from my normal hunting load and came away still impressed with the accuracy. Am using Lapua cases, Federal 210 match primers, 46 grains of Varget and 165 gr Nosler solid base bullets. Had one three shot group that measured 1 5/8" and a four shot group that measured 1 1/16" both of them at 300 yards. Under these mirage and wind conditions, I can live with that although I like to see groups of an inch or under at that range with this rifle.
Because of where we hunt, in pretty open country, I like to keep my rifles sighted in at 300 yards, but because my son has less experience we keep his rifle sighted in at 200 yards. In good conditions, he has taken game at nearly 300 yards with his rifle.
It was a nice way to spend the afternoon. Now it's time for a little nap before going to work tonight!
Regards, Guy