Long range rifles

Eh, its fun for the 70 year old men that do it I guess. I did it once then never went back. Ill stick to the Garand matches. More fun imo.

 

I’ve never shot one of the Garand matches. I was passing through and stopped at the north store for a couple Kimber 82s. Just happened to be right about in tune with the NRA matches. I tried to talk/learn, was treated like shit by the vendors and people there. Left a bad taste for anything CMP match related.

Honestly, if they wanted to mimic something more historic and deserving of the history of those rifles... they should go more of the PRS type shooting positions and tables.

Maybe those match directors should open a vintage sniper class with the same courses of fire. I think that would be a blast.

 

The majority of the people who shoot those matches are old guys who think their better then everyone else. If you wanna talk to somebody, find a young guy. Its a fun course of fire that came from the US Army marksmanship training course from WW1 and WW2, similar to NRA Highpower. If you go to one, bring a friend. Cause if you get squadded up with one of those old guys it will make for an akward day.

 

I’d tend to agree, but all matches have those way too serious types. Then again, I don’t care about points, or winning, or all that. I’m there to have a great time and shoot some fun stages. Luckily for me, there’s a few dudes locally that are there to have fun, so it makes a good squad. I’ve noticed the other squads giving stink eyes because we are laughing, joking, and you know, enjoying the experience.

One of the bass tournament looking sponsor-wear dudes asked me to tone it down a bit, it’s placing undue stress on him while shooting.

I laughed and said... “stress?!? You should try it when they are shooting back, this is a silly game”.

My squad laughed, he was unamused.

 

Lol. I enjoy showing up with Mausers and other foreign military rifles. Makes it more fun and adds a whole new challenge. Ive already medaled with the Garand so Im just in it for fun these days. Got an Arisaka I may take out this year.

 

I picked up one of the SG H&Rs that gauged at Muzzle +1, throat +2.

I’ll shoot her one of these days. Wife has been pushing for me to do some of the local CMP shoots, but I’m more interested in their Mini Palma.

I think she’ll lay off since I enjoy the PRS stuff way more than positional shooting.

 

The local sanctioned matches can be way more fun then the Nationals or Eastern games in my case. Way more down to earth people with a more relaxed atmosphere.

 

A friend of mine would show up at IDPA matches with odd guns, P38, Luger, Tokarev, Colt 1903

 

I'm lucky, our club has a great group of guys, and gals. Our NRL22 is awesome, and every month experienced shooters are reminded to help new shooters, of course we all do anyway. I did shoot a KYL, and I could see some of the visitors were dead serious, despite it being an unofficial match, and specially to help newbies (setup in ProAm).
Some people just can't help themselves.

 

Yeah, for the most part my experience has been very positive being a new shooter In the world. My first shoot had a 1050yrd, or 1070 or something, target, and one of the guys asked if I’d ever shot that far. I joked that “yeah, the last time was with a mk19.” While this was the truth, I do have extensive training and experience shooting long range. But I t'd been 11yrs since I last Shot over 500yrd, and this skill fades without practice. Plus, shake a bit more than my younger days. I didn’t want to talk a big game, plus nobody wants that “back in my day” dude in their squad.

Although, Bass-pro dude didn’t like getting schooled on the KYL by the joker shooting a box-stock savage with mediocre glass. I had more left in my mag then he had hits.

 

Spent an hour tonight getting my seating die set so the micrometer is calibrated to actual measurements.

 

Oh fork, I didn't even try! I just set up my first micrometer seating die Friday evening, and it was easy, but I'm not ready for that!
Since I didn't have a reliable/repeatable way to fine tune insertion depth, I had my old die set the typical starting point, 0.02 off lands. I've only shot my new rifle 3-4 times, including break in, so I got my speeds (nodes), using the Satterlee method. Maybe I got lucky on the lengths, and adjustments may open groups. Right now, I only had time and loads for 3 shot groups, but I'm at 0.33 MOA. I'd prefer to shoot a 5 shot group before I declare I'm really shooting 0.33" MOA
I can't wait for a break in the weather, to start my next step.

 

my 708 isn’t all that particular about the jump so I press the bullets to be about 1/32” short of overall max length for the magazine, I was bushing sizing the necks but have switched to full length sizing

 

I full length size with a neck bushing (Redding type-s) with about .002 neck tension. I then seat with a Redding comp that does so from the ogive. The Lapua 139 scenars don’t care for exact jumps, and the new 136s are even less touchy.

I just figured it was time to set the die and tune to actual values because I have a 5 and 3yo that like to turn knobs and push my buttons. Easier to get back where I want if I’m not thinking, okay where do I need to be again? Now it’s just spin the knob to a 2.139 depth and done and I’m jumping .020. Bonus points for the loaded round fitting in my MDT mags.

 

Been looking into getting a remington 700 in .308. My buddy told me to look into buying an MDT chassis and building from there. Not sure if it's worth the money compared to buying a prebuilt rifle with nice scope. Any suggestions?

 

Consider a Bergara HMR, Tikka T3x, or Howa 1500 as alternatives. The Bergara is a straight-up product improved R700 that is more accurate with better QC and a fantastic stock/chassis from factory while retaining full R700 parts compatibility, the Tikka rifles have excellent actions on their own with good aftermarket support, and the Howa 1500 is the same action and QC as the Weatherby Vanguard rifle line, just less pretty and less money. All 3 are in the space of being near-universally better buys than most any Remington-built 700, cheaper than custom rifles, and have good shooting characteristics with excellent reputations for reliability, QC, and customer service. You can get the Tikka in Chassis systems from factory, plus I believe the Howa as well. Additionally, the Howa 1500 can be had as a barreled action so you just throw your own stock/chassis underneath and start shooting.

Of all of those, the Howa and Bergara are my two choices. The Bergara is very capable out of the box and has a really nice stock system that takes inspiration from the McMillan M40 series stocks, while the Howa HACT trigger is my favorite rifle trigger I've ever had the pleasure of touching off, being a 2 stage with a dead-smooth first stage and near-glass-rod-break 2nd stage. If action smoothness and refinement are your jam, the Tikka has all of them beat by a country mile, those rifles feel phenomenally smooth to throw the bolt on.

Edit: All I'll say about the scope is that it matters more than the rifle in a great many ways. I'd rather have an unmodified Savage Axis II with a Vortex Razor on it than any of the above with a Vortex Viper PST, because the Axis will still likely put sub-1 inch groups together and the Razor will give a massive bump in optical capabilities which determine the majority of how well you can see and therefore shoot at extended ranges when conditions aren't perfect.

 

^^^ all that and maybe consider something in a 6.5mm, .308 is super common, but .264 is better at extended ranges.

 

I forgot to mention that too. .308 is good, great even. For most people 6.5 Creedmoor is a better cartridge. Consider what you want from a cartridge and what you want to do with the rifle, then run with that.

 

I'm with you guys, I don't want to get in to a cartridge pissing contest, but 6.5 CR is so commonly available, and the price is competitive, even new shooters that are not yet reloading can join in on the fun. I'm Not down on the 308, but for a bolt action, and now even semis, I'll just stick with 6.5 CR,,,,,, unless ii venture down the 6.00 xx rabbit hole

 

I love the 139 Scenars for my Savage LRP. The comp 6.5 I built seems to like the Sierra 142gr Match Kings. I'm going to buy some in bulk, when I get the cash, stupid medical testing is killing me, I think my Dr must be anti gun