Favorite long range rig?

[IdahoCTD]

I have a couple that are my favorites right now (that usually changes every few years).
The first is my .30-8mm. It's a Rem. 700 SS action with only the lugs lapped, Bartlein Rem. Varmint contour barrel, Jewell trigger, Leupold Vari X III Tactical 4.5x14 with target knobs in a flat forend laminated stock. It shoots 210 Matrix VLD's @ 3100fps and generally groups in the 1/4"-3/8" range at 100 yds. The best group is 3 into .96" @ 550yds.

The second is my 6.5-300wm. It's a Rem. 700 SS with just the lugs lapped, Bartlein spiral fluted Rem. Varmint contour, Jewell trigger, HS 5R Remington stock, and a Zeiss 4.5x14 with target knobs on a 20 MOA rail. It shoots 140 Amax's @ 3230fps with groups running in the .3" range. Last year it took a deer at 1006yds and a antelope at 520yds.

Both rifles have my 4 port brakes and aren't light but long range accuracy and light weight dont usually go in the same sentence.

 

[tecumseh]

Weatherby Vanguard 300 WSM. Farthest shot I've taken so far with it was 266 yards on a cow elk.

 

[JD338]

Remington 700 LSS 338 RUM with a Mark 4 4.5-14x40mm M1 dials loaded with a 250 gr AB at 3000 fps.



I also love my 700 custom 280 AI, 24" Hart fluted pillar bedded LSS stock with a VX-3 3.5-10x40mm with CDS dials.
Loaded with 140 gr AB's at 3150 fps. WY antelope at 338 yards.

JD338

 

[.300winmag]

JD,

I don't know what it is about your rifles stock (as I am more of a McSwirly fan), but you're rifle hits a sweet spot with me! It's a dream. the caliber is excellent as well! If you ever get the notion to sell that gem, I call first dibs!! :lol:

 

[FOTIS]

LSS's are gorgeous rifles.

 

[longrangehunter]

I have a couple that are my favorites right now (that usually changes every few years).
The first is my .30-8mm. It's a Rem. 700 SS action with only the lugs lapped, Bartlein Rem. Varmint contour barrel, Jewell trigger, Leupold Vari X III Tactical 4.5x14 with target knobs in a flat forend laminated stock. It shoots 210 Matrix VLD's @ 3100fps and generally groups in the 1/4"-3/8" range at 100 yds. The best group is 3 into .96" @ 550yds.

The second is my 6.5-300wm. It's a Rem. 700 SS with just the lugs lapped, Bartlein spiral fluted Rem. Varmint contour, Jewell trigger, HS 5R Remington stock, and a Zeiss 4.5x14 with target knobs on a 20 MOA rail. It shoots 140 Amax's @ 3230fps with groups running in the .3" range. Last year it took a deer at 1006yds and a antelope at 520yds.

Both rifles have my 4 port brakes and aren't light but long range accuracy and light weight dont usually go in the same sentence.

Wow IDCTD,

We both live in the same State and run with very similar calibers!

My Go-To Rifle for my need-for-more-speed hunting big game is my Hunter Bench-rest Nesika Bay 300 Jarrett. It wears a .308 25" 1:12" Jarrett Barrel, McMillian Sako hunter stock, Jewell trigger, HS single stack detachable Magazine Box, Nightforce NSX 3.5-15x50 w/a NP-R2 reticle in Baer Rings and Tapered two Piece bases. Weights right at 10 lbs. with three rounds and a gun sling. My hunting load is a Barns 165 gr. MRX running at 3450 fps averaging .325" groups. My LR Target/Tactical load is the Berger 185 gr. Juggernaut at 3050 fps that shoots in the teens with ease. Longest shot on game, A Woodland Caribou at 447 yards across a lake with white caps, 25-30 mph winds at full value. The first missed, second got hair off the back leg, and dead in four steps on the third shot.

My new Top Shot rifle is my Montana Kimber Shilen four groove ratchet barrel in 6.5/300 WSM w/ a 1:8" twist, factory stock, and trigger, Leupold VXIII 3.5-10x40 30mm M3 Mil Dot in Mark 4 Rings on a Titanium 20 MOA Picatinny Base by Murphy Precision. Sierra 140 MK and GameKing at 3050 and 3000 fps respectively. Both loads shoot bug holes with little recoil in a 8.5 lbs rifle.

Both of those rifles don't wear muzzle breaks though, can't handle the blown ear drums while in the field hunting.

My newest rig is a SAKO TRG-42 338 LM. I haven't had more then two days using it, yet the 300 gr. SMK's I think will really get me to the next zip code. It wears a Premier Heritage Tactical 3-15x50 CCW Dbl. turn Gen 2 Mil Dot Mil/Mil FFP in a three ring Sako detachable 30 MOA base. But yes this one has a muzzle break weights almost 15 lbs. fully loaded and a Sako bipod but it still pushes pretty hard after fifteen rounds. Working up a load they were all under an inch, the first load of 77.9 grains of IMR 4350 put the first two cold bore shots into one hole, and the third went right a half inch. The next two were touching at .321". So I think a my have a real winner with a factory Sako.

 

[nvbroncrider]

Mine has to be my 280AI.

Rem 700 SS Blueprinted
Pac-Nor 1-9" 28" SS SuperMatch fluted
Jewell trigger
Accublock Thumbhole laminate
Leupy DD
Z6i 2.5-15X44 BT

Load is 160 AB @3162 WLR primers 62.5 gr of 7828 SSC loaded at 3.435"

Best group is .096" @ 100 yards.

Farthest shot 350 yards on a coyote. My internal rangefinder was working good that day.

 

[Elkman]

IdahoCDT
The best group is 3 into .96" @ 550yds.

I can only dream, that is fantastic, outstanding !!!

 

[shoots_5]

Mine is a 260 Rem built on a Stiller TAC 30 A/W action, Jewell trigger with bottom safety, 24" Muellerworks barrel, Manners T5A stock with their mini chassis bedded in the stock, ATLAS bipod. Topped off with a Leupold Mark 4 6.5-20x50 FFP with TMR reticle and M5 knobs. My current load is using R-P brass, 140 Amax over 44.2gr of H4350, Fed 210M. It runs them at 2771 fps and for the most part stacks them in the same hole.









It'll be getting sent off to get cerakoted and the stock hydrodipped just as soon as I get a free minute to get it to the guys that are going to do it for me. I've also got a suppressor inbound that will be screwed on in place of the muzzle break once the ATF gets off their lazy ass and gets my tax stamp approved.....

 

[IdahoCTD]

Wow IDCTD,

We both live in the same State and run with very similar calibers!

My Go-To Rifle for my need-for-more-speed hunting big game is my Hunter Bench-rest Nesika Bay 300 Jarrett. It wears a .308 25" 1:12" Jarrett Barrel, McMillian Sako hunter stock, Jewell trigger, HS single stack detachable Magazine Box, Nightforce NSX 3.5-15x50 w/a NP-R2 reticle in Baer Rings and Tapered two Piece bases. Weights right at 10 lbs. with three rounds and a gun sling. My hunting load is a Barns 165 gr. MRX running at 3450 fps averaging .325" groups. My LR Target/Tactical load is the Berger 185 gr. Juggernaut at 3050 fps that shoots in the teens with ease. Longest shot on game, A Woodland Caribou at 447 yards across a lake with white caps, 25-30 mph winds at full value. The first missed, second got hair off the back leg, and dead in four steps on the third shot.

My new Top Shot rifle is my Montana Kimber Shilen four groove ratchet barrel in 6.5/300 WSM w/ a 1:8" twist, factory stock, and trigger, Leupold VXIII 3.5-10x40 30mm M3 Mil Dot in Mark 4 Rings on a Titanium 20 MOA Picatinny Base by Murphy Precision. Sierra 140 MK and GameKing at 3050 and 3000 fps respectively. Both loads shoot bug holes with little recoil in a 8.5 lbs rifle.

Both of those rifles don't wear muzzle breaks though, can't handle the blown ear drums while in the field hunting.

My newest rig is a SAKO TRG-42 338 LM. I haven't had more then two days using it, yet the 300 gr. SMK's I think will really get me to the next zip code. It wears a Premier Heritage Tactical 3-15x50 CCW Dbl. turn Gen 2 Mil Dot Mil/Mil FFP in a three ring Sako detachable 30 MOA base. But yes this one has a muzzle break weights almost 15 lbs. fully loaded and a Sako bipod but it still pushes pretty hard after fifteen rounds. Working up a load they were all under an inch, the first load of 77.9 grains of IMR 4350 put the first two cold bore shots into one hole, and the third went right a half inch. The next two were touching at .321". So I think a my have a real winner with a factory Sako.

The funny thing is a buddy and I built .30-358STA's (.300 Jarrett) well before Kenny Jarrett claimed it as his own. There really isn't enough gain from it or the .308 Baer to justify the fireforming. The .30-8mm can be loaded with a cheap Hornady neck die and a 8mm Rem. Mag FL die. I have seen some mighty fine rockchuck explosions from a .30-358STA though.

I also have a .338 Edge that weighs about 16lbs with a Nightforce 5.5x22, Kreiger barrel and Jewell trigger. I've been too busy working on my shop at home to run the new Bertram brass I got for it a couple months ago. It's pretty scary accurate. I also have a couple .375 barrels to make into something to shoot the 350SMK's.

 

[Guy Miner]

This was the finest purpose-built long-range rifle I ever owned. Built by Jim Cloward on a push-feed Model 70 action, with a Medesha two-stage trigger, one of Jim's prone/palma stocks, and barreled over the years with several different tubes, usually a 30" cut-rifle Krieger, 1:13 twist, tight bore, with .308 Win Palma chambers. As it had a magazine (unlike many Palma rifles) I was also able to use it in NRA across-the-course competition. Mostly I used it in 600 yard prone events, and mostly with 155 gr Nosler bullets. This rifle took me to "high master" in long-range prone, and taught me a lot about long-range shooting. I wasn't the first owner, and it's moved on now. Great competition rifle:

With a scope, 600 yard line, North Central Washington gun club:


Shooting with sights, on a 600 yard line match:


Rear sight, a Swenson, adjustable aperture & enough adjustment for 1000 yards:


Front sight, a "Tiger" sight with different apertures that can be selected for different conditions:


The rifle:


It really was/is quite a rifle. The Cloward built stock was superb for long range shooting from prone, supported by a sling. I let it go when I ran out of time to do much competition shooting. A fellow bought it for his son, who was getting into target shooting. He wrote me later, telling me the young man was doing quite well with it. It's quite a rifle, well known and well respected here and abroad. I was fortunate to be the caretaker for a few years.

Regards, Guy

 

[HOGWILD338-378]

:mrgreen:


On the left would be my 338-378 Weatherby Accumark and atop it would be a Mark 4 Tactical 6.5-20x50 Mil Dot with M1 Turrets and to the right would be my 300 Weatherby Vanguard and atop it sets a Swarovski Z5 5-25x52 Plex Reticle with the BT, and the one on the left is way more accurate !

 

[ScreaminEagle]

Mine is my 22-250. Vortex Viper 6.5-20, Timney trigger at 1lb, Action fully bedded into a Richard's stock, and free-floated barrel. Shoots 52gr Sierra Matchkings over IMR4320 and CCI 200. Longest kill on a chuck was 634yds.

 

[FOTIS]

All hammers, no doubt. What is your long-range rig, Fotis?

Sako TRG-s in 30-378 with 2.5x16x44 Bushnell 6500.



230 Bergers at 3050 fps



or 200 AB's at 3280 fps




My Light LR rig is

6mm-284 Rem 700 Shilen select SS barrel McSwirly stock and Viper 6x20x44mm scope







107 bergers at 3380 fps with RL 25

The ultimate will soon be here.

 

[SJB358]

Very nice rig's right there! Wow, some awesome examples of the sport.

Fotis, I just noticed the 230's you shot out of the 30-378. Man, that is a truckload of power right there. Are you going to try the 210 AB's when you can find them?

 

[DrMike]

Quite a nice rig, Fotis. That will haul some freight!

 

[yellow dog]

IdahoCDT
The best group is 3 into .96" @ 550yds.

I can only dream, that is fantastic, outstanding !!!

isn't that close to the record? nice shooting

 

[IdahoCTD]

A guy just shot .391" 5 shots at 600yds if I remember right. There is a post about it here and on 6mmBR.com. Mine is almost 3X as big of a group and only 3 shots. In the world of benchrest I'd miss a record by miles.

 

[Elkman]

Nathan

In the world of hunting you would kill most anything on the planet. I am really happy if I am under 3 inches at 300 yards.

 

[longrangehunter]

The funny thing is a buddy and I built .30-358STA's (.300 Jarrett) well before Kenny Jarrett claimed it as his own. There really isn't enough gain from it or the .308 Baer to justify the fireforming. The .30-8mm can be loaded with a cheap Hornady neck die and a 8mm Rem. Mag FL die. I have seen some mighty fine rockchuck explosions from a .30-358STA though.

I also have a .338 Edge that weighs about 16lbs with a Nightforce 5.5x22, Kreiger barrel and Jewell trigger. I've been too busy working on my shop at home to run the new Bertram brass I got for it a couple months ago. It's pretty scary accurate. I also have a couple .375 barrels to make into something to shoot the 350SMK's.

I'm not going to say you and your friend did or didn't develop a round similar to the 300 Jarrett, many have. But considering Kenny made the first two guns in 358 STA, and helped Layne with the development of the cartridge as well as a few other cartridges. Kenny's is a blown out improved configuration, has a 35 degree shoulder angle, and a different lead angle in the throat area of the chamber (classified information according to Kenny). I’m sure similar cartridges have been developed and used, but Kenny Jarrett chambered more then any other gunsmith I've ever heard and/or read about in the last twenty years.

This is quoted from Guns and Ammo:

CARTRIDGE, .358 STA
A cartridge Layne Simpson from Shooting Times magazine introduced to hunters in 1992 and called the .358 Shooting Times Alaskan. Like the much older .350 G&H Magnum, it is on the full-length Holland & Holland belted case, but rather than necking down the .375 H&H Simpson necked up the 8mm Remington Magnum case.

Simpson's case has less body taper and a sharper shoulder angle than the case designed by Howe back in the 1920s, so its powder capacity is slightly larger, but when both are loaded with bullets of the same weight there is not two cents' worth of practical difference in their performance on game. Some would say the .358 STA has a more modern look, but that doesn't make it kill a moose or elk any deader.

Simpson's timing on introduction was better than Howe's. Back when the .350 G&H was introduced--and for well over half a century thereafter--all bullets of .35 caliber were intended for use in smaller cartridges. When loaded in larger cartridges and subjected to impact velocities higher than they were designed to handle, penetration on the larger game animals sometimes left a bit to be desired.

By the time Simpson got around to designing the .358 STA, a variety of bullets capable of handling its velocities were available. And the options kept increasing in number. Anyone who wishes to load the .358 STA or any other big cartridge of its caliber won't go wrong with the 225- and 250-grain Nosler Partitions, Swift A-Frame bullets of those two weights and Barnes X-Bullets weighing from 180 to 250 grains. Barnes also offers a 250-grain solid.

Softer designs such as the Nosler 225-grain AccuBond and the 250-grain spitzers from Hornady and Speer are great choices for lung shots on game up to the size of elk, but at .358 STA impact velocities, tougher jobs call for tougher bullets.

One of the most accurate bullets Simpson tried in this cartridge is the Sierra 225-grain spitzer boattail. The .358 STA is far too much cartridge for deer, but if Simpson should someday decide to use it to bring home the venison, the Sierra bullet is what Simpson reports he will use.

The first two rifles in .358 STA were built by Kenny Jarrett; Simpson got the first one, and the second one went to Bob Nosler. Both were built on Remington Model 700 actions.

Nosler used his rifle to bag the first Alaskan moose taken with the cartridge, and Simpson's accounted for the first brown bear. Both used the same handload, 89.0 grains of H4350 behind the Nosler 250-grain Partition for close to 3,000 fps.

Chub Eastman, who worked for Nosler Bullets back in those days, used Simpson's rifle and a handload with the Nosler 225-grain Partition to take a nice elk.

So if you had used the 358 STA as your parent case then the 300 Jarrett as well as the 300 Arnold Magnum had been already been developed? But I can't remember off the top of my head when either had been done?

So don't take this the wrong way, but I know Kenny and his family personally and his design off the 8 mm Remington Magnum was already in the works at the time the 358 STA and 7 STW were being developed.