Syncerus1
Active Member
The habits of age and life experience are challenging. I have been a .30 caliber guy for over 50 years. My first experience was with a .30-06 in the early '60's. At the age of 14, or thereabouts, I shouldered the rifle, a scoped Remington bolt action, and fired one round at a can some yards away. The sound, recoil, and visual effect of that experience left a lasting mark on my being, not to mention the scope cut over my right eye.
In the late '60's I bought a new Ruger 77 chambered in 6mm Rem., topped with a Tasco 3-9 scope. It was the most accurate rifle I had ever fired. Sub ½ MOA with Remington Core-Lokt 100 gr. green box ammo, and it still is. It took lots of coyotes, 2 pronghorn, and a few deer.
In the early '70's my uncle welcomed me into the .30 club. I took the training to heart and purchased my first .30, a pre '64 model 70 in .30-06., topped with a Leupold Vari-X III 3-9 duplex reticle. Using all the knowledge gained and applied with other .30's this became my primary rifle. It has accounted for more animals than I will quatify. I made a post on another Forum about half the number of big game taken and was severely mocked, North American hunters are NA biased and most have little real world hunting experience. I will not herein repeat that lesson. That same rifle was rechambered by RCBS in the mid '80's to its present form, .300 Win. Mag. It wears a Swarovski Z5 in 3.5-18x44 glass. It is lethal to silly ranges of plus 700 yards.
Fast forward to 2023. After 4 plus decades I drew a NV Desert Bighorn tag. Many friends of mine have a variety of "over the horizon" guns from the best out of the box makers to truly custom rifles. They are, in each incarnation I have fired, a true ballistic wonder, long range abilities still required. I took my ram on day 25 with one of these rifles. A Proof Research 6.5 PRC and a 147 gr. ELD-M bullet. 580 yards, prone. I was now focused on the PRC family, bolstered by the carrying of a borrowed 300 PRC for elk less than a month earlier.
Today's tech is sci-fi to this old experienced shooter, of constrained ability and financial means. My wife has the ability to enjoy some truly wonderful hunts in the coming years and so using that excuse, I undertook to buy/assemble a suitable rifle for her, to replace her semi -custom 7mm-08. It is the only rifle she has known for over 28 years, and she has taken nearly triple digits of game with it, shooting only 140 gr. Nosler partitions. She was not thrilled with the idea, but gave her tentative approval to proceed.
I did my due diligence, and waffled mightily between the 6.5 and 7 PRC. The 6.5 won out. I know, I know, the 7 PRC does everything better. The recoil and cost per round of the 6.5 PRC sealed the deal. Top end guns are financially out of reach at my age/income, but a variant of one could be assembled. I looked at Fierce, Gunwerks, Proof, and a handful of others. I chose the Proof Elevation. It is thin wristed, and a classically shaped rifle. 24" light Sendero barrel, Zermatt medium action with all the flexibility built in, 7.5:1 twist for the truly long-range Berger 156 EOL's, and to my hands and eyes, a quality product. It wears a Swaro X5i 5-25x56 glass, supported with Warne Mountain Tech low rings, a SRS 2 Ti Pro brake, and until a few weeks ago an MDT electronic vertical level, until a range guy snapped it off, replacement being looked for at a deal price. It weighs 8 lbs. 11 ounces. Not as light as I wanted, but the glass is worth the extra pound.
Please let ne know your thoughts and ideas on the parts, and what I did less than well. I'm familiar with the FFP vs. SFP issues glass issues, barrel length discussions, etc… we shoot off sticks when required from being African centric, and bags prone when possible courtesy of my uncle. The gun is being broken in with 147 ELD-M's, and a well-practiced routine until it achieves speed and accuracy. What are your thoughts on the 156 Bergers, and Hammers? Primarily a hunting gun with some range work out to a thousand yards. We have range capabilities to 1650 yards.
This is a really great Forum and fellow members, thanks all!
In the late '60's I bought a new Ruger 77 chambered in 6mm Rem., topped with a Tasco 3-9 scope. It was the most accurate rifle I had ever fired. Sub ½ MOA with Remington Core-Lokt 100 gr. green box ammo, and it still is. It took lots of coyotes, 2 pronghorn, and a few deer.
In the early '70's my uncle welcomed me into the .30 club. I took the training to heart and purchased my first .30, a pre '64 model 70 in .30-06., topped with a Leupold Vari-X III 3-9 duplex reticle. Using all the knowledge gained and applied with other .30's this became my primary rifle. It has accounted for more animals than I will quatify. I made a post on another Forum about half the number of big game taken and was severely mocked, North American hunters are NA biased and most have little real world hunting experience. I will not herein repeat that lesson. That same rifle was rechambered by RCBS in the mid '80's to its present form, .300 Win. Mag. It wears a Swarovski Z5 in 3.5-18x44 glass. It is lethal to silly ranges of plus 700 yards.
Fast forward to 2023. After 4 plus decades I drew a NV Desert Bighorn tag. Many friends of mine have a variety of "over the horizon" guns from the best out of the box makers to truly custom rifles. They are, in each incarnation I have fired, a true ballistic wonder, long range abilities still required. I took my ram on day 25 with one of these rifles. A Proof Research 6.5 PRC and a 147 gr. ELD-M bullet. 580 yards, prone. I was now focused on the PRC family, bolstered by the carrying of a borrowed 300 PRC for elk less than a month earlier.
Today's tech is sci-fi to this old experienced shooter, of constrained ability and financial means. My wife has the ability to enjoy some truly wonderful hunts in the coming years and so using that excuse, I undertook to buy/assemble a suitable rifle for her, to replace her semi -custom 7mm-08. It is the only rifle she has known for over 28 years, and she has taken nearly triple digits of game with it, shooting only 140 gr. Nosler partitions. She was not thrilled with the idea, but gave her tentative approval to proceed.
I did my due diligence, and waffled mightily between the 6.5 and 7 PRC. The 6.5 won out. I know, I know, the 7 PRC does everything better. The recoil and cost per round of the 6.5 PRC sealed the deal. Top end guns are financially out of reach at my age/income, but a variant of one could be assembled. I looked at Fierce, Gunwerks, Proof, and a handful of others. I chose the Proof Elevation. It is thin wristed, and a classically shaped rifle. 24" light Sendero barrel, Zermatt medium action with all the flexibility built in, 7.5:1 twist for the truly long-range Berger 156 EOL's, and to my hands and eyes, a quality product. It wears a Swaro X5i 5-25x56 glass, supported with Warne Mountain Tech low rings, a SRS 2 Ti Pro brake, and until a few weeks ago an MDT electronic vertical level, until a range guy snapped it off, replacement being looked for at a deal price. It weighs 8 lbs. 11 ounces. Not as light as I wanted, but the glass is worth the extra pound.
Please let ne know your thoughts and ideas on the parts, and what I did less than well. I'm familiar with the FFP vs. SFP issues glass issues, barrel length discussions, etc… we shoot off sticks when required from being African centric, and bags prone when possible courtesy of my uncle. The gun is being broken in with 147 ELD-M's, and a well-practiced routine until it achieves speed and accuracy. What are your thoughts on the 156 Bergers, and Hammers? Primarily a hunting gun with some range work out to a thousand yards. We have range capabilities to 1650 yards.
This is a really great Forum and fellow members, thanks all!
