G'day from Australia!

[JPHunter]

Gday all,
My name is Jack and I'm from Australia. I hunt a fair few varmints but my passion is big game hunting, mostly deer hunting.
I've been a bit hesitant to join this forum as I spend way too much money on guns and hunting as it is but alas here I am.
I'm 22 and live in southern Australia and have grown up shooting. My dad is a cracking shot off hand for bush stalking deer and varmints but because of this style only ever took shots out to 100 m. Being his sons my brother and I were taught the same way and it wasn't until I was 19 that I really wanted to push passed this. I know it sounds crazy but that's how long I was stuck there!
Since then I've bought better rifles and better scopes and got myself a harris bipod and all that jazz. I've now got my highest confirmed kill distance as a New Zealand Tahr at 550 m and my furthest target shot at 750 m. I know this is only "Medium" range though and I really want to get into the long range side of things and my goal is to be comfortable at 1000 m.
I currently have a Remington 700 BDL in .270 with a Leupold VX-3 4.5-14x40mm and my baby a Sako 85 Bavarian in 300WM with a Leupold VX-R 4-12x50mm which is what I run as my medium range rifle rifle. I run Barnes TTSX through both, 130's through the .270 and 180's through the 300WM.
I'm currently paying off a Thompson/Center 50 cal Bone collector muzzleloader and a $1500 hunting GSP pup. After that my next goal is to get either Leica 10x42 HD Geovids or Leica 10x42 HD-B's. Once all that money is spent I want badly to get a proper long range rig.
I'm in the very early stages but at this stage I've been looking at a Savage 110 FCP 26-inch in 338 Lapua Magnum and to run a Nightforce 8-32x56mm BR. Havent considered the projectiles yet or anything else.
Realistically this project will be 12 months away but I want to join this forum to meet some likeminded people to talk about all things guns, make a few mates and talk a bit of crap as well.
My mind is open with the setup I'll eventually go with and I'm happy for any advice you guys can give.
In addition to this for the long range hunting I'm interested to know if you guys use anything to calculate the atmospheric pressure, Coriolis Effect, exact air temp and elevation etc. I've just been using guesses for this with reasonable success. But I don't want to be reasonable I want to be exact! I know I need a Chronograph badly, my brother and I will be getting one very soon because at the moment I'm just going off theoretical data from the powder website that I use to reload.
Cheers,

JP

 

[MMERSS]

Welcome! In the upper right hand corner of the page there is a Google custom search. For many of your questions you can use the search as a start.

Enjoy!

 

[JPHunter]

That's awesome, I've never seen that before. cheers mate

 

[varmintH8R]

Welcome! There's a ton of knowledge here - I have learned a ton just asking questions and reading through the forums. I am guessing from your first post you are going to fit right in! Look forward to seeing you around.

There are a bunch of different ballistics programs guys are using for LR and ELR shooting. You should research (sorry as I am going to forget some)

Applied Ballistics
Coldbore 1.0
Bulletflight
Shooter
Field firing solutions delta V

And JB is a fun (and free) one to play with. JBM - Calculations - Trajectory

Welcome again and good luck with your build (and your bills - you are right that they will be going up!)

 

[JPHunter]

Welcome! There's a ton of knowledge here - I have learned a ton just asking questions and reading through the forums. I am guessing from your first post you are going to fit right in! Look forward to seeing you around.

There are a bunch of different ballistics programs guys are using for LR and ELR shooting. You should research (sorry as I am going to forget some)

Applied Ballistics
Coldbore 1.0
Bulletflight
Shooter
Field firing solutions delta V

And JB is a fun (and free) one to play with. JBM - Calculations - Trajectory

Welcome again and good luck with your build (and your bills - you are right that they will be going up!)

Cheers mate, seems like a really good place. At the moment I run the shooter app. Did a print out of distances and laminated it for the 300WM that sits in my cheek pad zip up compartment. But I've just been running that off averaged atmospheric conditions and I'd like to be more precise with it down the track.

JP

 

[dogbuster0006]

Welcome to the forum!!! There's a ton of knowledge to be had here. I run sterlok on my android and love it, I've only got the free version but multiple guns and all the info I need I can find there. I run a caldwell wind meter it was $20-$25 and works just fine. It's good to have a reference for what you're calling the wind and I still struggle with it some days. I've shot my guns to about 1k and others out to 1600m, 338 lapua is fun in every department but buying ammo!!! Congrats on your pup too we have two of them and they're some smart hard hunting dogs for sure. Most of my game is ground hogs, coyotes, and deer it's blast stretching your legs on game after much much practice on steel.
I would hold off a little longer on the rifle upgrade and shoot the heck out of what you got for now. Once you're comfortable at longer ranges with your 300win then step up to the big boy 338, this is just the older guy coming out in me. I'm still trying to justify a 338 for myself and then figure out a place to shoot it at the ranges it's capable of. Your 300 will be sufficient for most shooting out to around 1200m a bit further is the wind is calm and you aren't shooting really big tough game.
I've spent a metric s**t ton of money on guns, ammo and optics over the yrs and figured out the hard way what does and doesn't work. Read every bit of info you can find, and read reviews I mean real reviews before you buy any gear or guns. Just because it's 'supposed to be' the coolest thing since sliced bread doesn't make it so. You seem to have a solid plan for spending your coin too, good binos are a must. I need to upgrade my spotting scope badly I've got an older leupold that's just not up to snuff now and I definitely got the short end of the stick on that deal, just one example of money that could've been better spent.
Anything past 1k is some serious business and will bring out every flaw in your shooting it's fun and frustrating all at the same time. My 308win wears a 3-12x scope with the horus h59 and will hang in there with the big boys at 1k if i read the wind right. Just keep your chin up and practice practice practice!!! You'll have your good days and bad but, once you can reliably hit targets at a given range move to game and have yourself a ball, being able to out shoot your brother and dad is always a plus too...lol
Good luck and Happy hunting

 

[azsugarbear]

Welcome to LRH. I'll offer up some opinions on the direction you are headed, but please keep in mind that my opinions are usually worth no more than what you paid for them.

1) The big 338's don't add much to the equation until you get out past 1,200 yds. That is where the really begin to shine and leave the smaller calibers behind. If most of your shots will be 1000 yds or less, your 300 WM will do just fine.

2) 8-32x50mm or 56mm is a lot of magnification. Most find the 5.5-22 more than sufficient.

3) For a long time, I ran a Swarovski rangefinder with a Kestrel 3500 and JBM Ballistic software before switching to the Shooter app. Last year I purchased a G7 BR2 rangefinder to simplify things and cut out a few steps (precious time) in getting a firing solution. I'm still learning the "ins & outs" with the BR2, but overall I am pleased. I still use the Kestrel for wind readings and Shooter as a backup when time permits.

Good luck in your pursuit.