Newbie

[JF7mmRUM]

hey everyone, i'm new to the site, and just getting into long range shooting. the longest i've ever shot with any success up until now was roughly 450-500 yards with my a-bolt .204, but it was a very calm day, and i was using a ballistic reticle to judge holdover. lately i've been wanting to learn the proper way to dial in for different ranges. can anyone recommended any good books on ballistics and long range shooting? i currently have a browning a-bolt medallion 7mm win mag, and i just bought a used (less than 20 rounds) Savage 112BVSS 7mm RUM with the following: 30" Schneider fluted stainless match barrel 1-12" twist, muzzle brake, sharpshooter trigger, not sure what kind of stock but its definitely not factory, pillar bedded. it was supposedly built by John Lewis at Carolina Precision Rifles, and included Redding dies. I topped it off with a Burris Signature Select 6-24x44 that I already had on hand. sorry for rambling on so long, i've been spending a lot of time reading the forums and i'm sure i will learn a lot. thanks in advance!

 

[LewisH]

Are you sure that 7 rum's barrel twist is 1-12? I believe 7mm barrels usually have a 1-9 twist.

 

[JF7mmRUM]

thats what the previous owner said it is. i know my browning is around 1-9.5" or so

 

[JF7mmRUM]

talked to john lewis at carolina precision today, he said he doesn't remember the gun so he couldn't say what the twist is, but i did confirm that the engraving on the barrel is his. just have to check it myself. shot it for the first time, shot a few 1 moa groups after sighting in, still have some fine tuning to do

 

[JF7mmRUM]

well i determined it to be 1-10, not 1-12. i got a new cleaning brush, started the brush into the barrel on a rod, marked a spot on the rod, and pushed it through the barrel until it made one complete revolution, then measured the distance it traveled and came up with 10". tried it 3 times and got the same thing everytime. not quite the 1-9 i was hoping i would come up with but better than 1-12

 

[Bravo 4]

He man, welcome aboard. You won't find a better bunch of guys. You can get most of what you need right here on this site....the just starting out forum would be a good read. You can also go online and download the Army Sniper handbook.
As far as long range shooting in concerned, reading about it will only show you how others do it. Good for basics. Nothing is gonna take the place of getting out and sending rounds down range...a lot of rounds. Shooting is just like anything else, the more you do it the better you get.
The first thing I would do is try to get those group sizes down by half. You didn't say if those were 100yd or 600yd moa groups so I'ma assume 100. I don't know your experience level, but if you don't have a lot of experience behind a rifle(especially one that size) let somebody else shoot it. Someone who knows what they are doing. Make sure you aren't the limiting factor in trying to find that sweet shooting load for your rifle. Do you handload? If not you are limiting yourself IMO. Most people can't shoot as good as their rifles are capable, you want to be the exception.
I would also do a box test on the scope and make sure it is repeatable mechanically. You want to eliminate every fault from your equipment as possible. An accurate rifle and scope will give you a lot of confidence, then if you miss you know the problem is the turd pulling the trigger. Not that I'm calling you a turd...or am I.

 

[Bravo 4]

Also, if the scope isn't very repeatable, you need to learn to use the ballistic plex you have and learn hold over. Or use the ballistic plex and make small turret adjustments. Or send the scope back. For longer shots I like dialing myself, it's more precise. I also will see where my mil-dots are shooting for quick shots that may present themselves.

 

[JF7mmRUM]

bravo4, yes, i was shooting at 100 yards. i've been shooting for quite awhile, but i've only been shooting out to about 300 until the past few months. i have a browning a-bolt 7mm rem mag that i usually shoot quite a bit so i'm used to at least a little bit of recoil. i have the dies for the 7rum so i plan on getting into hand loading. used to a little bit, but it was about 15 years ago and all i really did was press out primers and help my dad so thats all pretty much new to me. luckily, my dad still has 2 presses. i'm starting to think about going with a different scope, maybe a fixed 10x, not sure what brand yet. i used up quite a bit of elevation on the burris while sighting in, took a good 120 clicks up to sight in at 100 yrds.

 

[Bravo 4]

If you like the scope keep it and get a 20moa base or the Burris zee rings with inserts. You can customise your own moa adjustments that way without touching the scope. Turn the elevation turret a couple moa from bottoming out and adjust the inserts till you are close to sight in and then fine tune with turret. Save you a lot of money. If you want a good reliable fixed 10X look at the Super Sniper. Best bang for the buck.

 

[JF7mmRUM]

yeah thats actually one of the ones i was lookin at

 

[Bravo 4]

The Super Sniper is a great fixed power scope. I took mine top to bottom about a dozen times on the elevation turret and set it back on my zero and it was spot on. The glass is pretty good too. If you plan on hunting anything under a couple hundred yards or during low light a 10X is all the power you want. I have the 16X model and it has a small exit pupil to let light in. When the sun is up, it is awsome. I made the mistake of hunting with it last year. It almost cost me. The Burris would be a good choice. I would see how repeatable it is and go from there.

 

[JF7mmRUM]

i'm thinkin about the 16x super sniper, i'd imagine it would work a little better than the 10x for longer ranges. i won't be hunting with it at all, just some long range (for me) target shooting and the occasional groundhog on my uncles farm