Ultimate long range cartridge

[highdrum]

If I were to do it, I'd build a 375 cheytac, use a structured barrel and have Vestals custom guns do the build. He builds a LOT of elr rifles and shoots the elr league himself. Call Robert Vestal and pick his brain if you're truly interested.

 

[Buck Fever]

Pay attention to the ELRC 2000 yd match. Im not aware of any other match shot in the world at that distance or father for group size. So far the 338 lapua improved has shot the smallest group and agg. Group shooting on paper really drives improvement in accuracy so in 9 years I am sure we will have made a lot of progress. We are really just a few years into trying to get these big guns to shoot with BR level accuracy and theres a lot to be developed still.

Out of convenience most of my load development is going to be done at 200 yards with a little at 1,000 so I'm going to treat it like a relatively short range Benchrest rifle for the purpose of load development.

I'll probably build a sound barricade so the brake noise isn't so bad for the rest of the range but at least it shouldn't be as bad as a real big boomer.

 

[Alex Wheeler]

In my experience you will not be able to tune the rifle to its potential at 200. There is just too much that changes. I have been tuning LR BR rifles for about 10 years at 1000yds and have tried many times to do the work closer in. Its ok for some things but you will need to do some work at distance to get the most from it.
There seems to be 2 paths in ELR, one is raw accuracy the other is ballistics. I do think that the 338 is capable of 1/4 moa groups at 1000 once its really been developed. Its not there yet consistently. I have not seen that potential out of the really large cases yet. But Im not the authority here.

 

[Buck Fever]

Yes, I know it is far less than ideal but the 200 yard range is a 30 minute drive, the 1,000 yard range is a 2.5 hour drive.

Personally, wind is going to cover up most of the mechanical consistency differences when I get much beyond 500 yards so if I'm striving for a 1/4 MOA group at 200 yards, I think that will do ok at 2,000 if I don't screw it up too much.

 

[L.Sherm]

Listen to Alex I will be surprised if your load at 200 is what you think it would be at 2000.

 

[Buck Fever]

Oh, I know it won't be. I am just pretty sure I'll be chasing my bad wind calls if I try to develop it at 500+.

If I win the lottery, I want a tunnel to make a 300+ yard range with no wind...

 

[Alex Wheeler]

Most wind calls at 2000 will be bad, better have it tuned. My experience at 2000 is that a condition big enough to see is big enough to move you clear off target. Best bet is a good tune and fast shooting.
You may be surprised how far a good tune will take you. In my opinion more guys are held back by tune than conditions.

 

[L.Sherm]

Oh, I know it won't be. I am just pretty sure I'll be chasing my bad wind calls if I try to develop it at 500+.

If I win the lottery, I want a tunnel to make a 300+ yard range with no wind...

If you don't want wind go early I was shooting at 6: am in the mourning Saturday got about 2 hrs before breeze starts

 

[Jeff Heeg osoh]

In my experience you will not be able to tune the rifle to its potential at 200. There is just too much that changes. I have been tuning LR BR rifles for about 10 years at 1000yds and have tried many times to do the work closer in. Its ok for some things but you will need to do some work at distance to get the most from it.
There seems to be 2 paths in ELR, one is raw accuracy the other is ballistics. I do think that the 338 is capable of 1/4 moa groups at 1000 once its really been developed. Its not there yet consistently. I have not seen that potential out of the really large cases yet. But Im not the authority here.

I agree I do most of my load development fine tuning at 800 or 1000 yards


I am osoh
JH

 

[Jeff Heeg osoh]

Oh, I know it won't be. I am just pretty sure I'll be chasing my bad wind calls if I try to develop it at 500+.

If I win the lottery, I want a tunnel to make a 300+ yard range with no wind...

spraying left and right a little is ok when shooting with wind I look at the vertical spread when fine tuning at 800 to 1000.

Edit - I pick a day that is overcast so it eliminates and mirage.

I am osoh
JH

 

[Alex Wheeler]

These big rounds seem to shoot horizontal as much as vertical. If you dont think it was wind it was likely the load. Good luck with it!

 

[L.Sherm]

Another reason to shoot early no mirage.

 

[Buck Fever]

If you don't want wind go early I was shooting at 6: am in the mourning Saturday got about 2 hrs before breeze starts

Yes, that's ideal but subtract 30 minutes to set up and get targets ready, then subtract another 2:30 for the drive, then subtract another 15 minutes to get my butt in gear after I wake up at 2:45 AM.

Worse yet, is trying to think rationally and shoot straight after I have done that to myself.

I have a boring occupation so I pretty much live on caffeine but I shoot much better if I'm not drinking caffeine.

It's a rare perfect storm when I get to that range feeling good, shooting good and with good conditions.

Instead I'm going to develop my loads at 200 yards, checking velocity with a Magneto Speed or Lab Radar and not worry about the wind too much. That way when I'm at 1,000+ I can be concentrating more on the wind than my load development.

It's not ideal but it's better than the alternative.

Perfect would be to buy or rent an RV or trailer, go to the range for a week or so to shoot in the morning and load in the afternoon until I'm happy with the load and have a bunch of wind reading experience to go with it.

Sadly, that's not going to happen for me.

 

[L.Sherm]

I guess I'm spoiled, I don't shoot at public ranges.