Picked up a .308 from a friend a couple months ago. Long range is never something I've done but I'm familiar enough the the technical part that when I got the deal on the rifle I hit the ground running. It's a Rem 700sa, blueprinted with a Lilja M40 barrel (actual production overrun) on an HS Precision stock. I added an S$B PMII with an H59 reticle.
I booked a private day with Dan Newberry at BangSteel and then started building up a load. Long story short, used once-fired Federal brass, WLR primers and 41.8gr IMR 4064 behind 175gr SMK.
Dan and I met in the morning for classroom stuff. I did a ton of homework ahead of time so we hit the high spots, reviewed some stuff and then headed to the range.
Verified my zero and since I've never done long range let alone shot this setup we started gathering dope. We knew about where it should hit so we went to 200 yards and got to work. We were on the steel in only a couple shots each time (except 800 yards which was a 12" plate and took me a few to hit, or the 600 which I hit dead center first shot). We talked about wind and with my background wind calls came pretty easy. We made hits to 1100 yards then took a break.
Mind you, I've NEVER shot further than 100-200 yards ever. And we just walked to 1100 yards in maybe 30 rounds fired. After a short break we started at 1k and worked back down, adjusting dope as necessary. First shot after break at the 1000 yard target-10.5 mils elevation and close to 2 mils for the wind, first shot...hit.
Worked back down to 400, tweeking as necessary. Then we did some ballistic ranging on two unknown (to me) distance targets. Both over 700 yards.
What an absolute blast. I proved my rifle and my load. The gun is an honest sub-half minute gun. Got some great experience too and really learned a lot. No other way than trigger time for some things. Dan runs a good show and I can't wait to get back. Maybe even attend a match.
Happy to be here. Cheers
I booked a private day with Dan Newberry at BangSteel and then started building up a load. Long story short, used once-fired Federal brass, WLR primers and 41.8gr IMR 4064 behind 175gr SMK.
Dan and I met in the morning for classroom stuff. I did a ton of homework ahead of time so we hit the high spots, reviewed some stuff and then headed to the range.
Verified my zero and since I've never done long range let alone shot this setup we started gathering dope. We knew about where it should hit so we went to 200 yards and got to work. We were on the steel in only a couple shots each time (except 800 yards which was a 12" plate and took me a few to hit, or the 600 which I hit dead center first shot). We talked about wind and with my background wind calls came pretty easy. We made hits to 1100 yards then took a break.
Mind you, I've NEVER shot further than 100-200 yards ever. And we just walked to 1100 yards in maybe 30 rounds fired. After a short break we started at 1k and worked back down, adjusting dope as necessary. First shot after break at the 1000 yard target-10.5 mils elevation and close to 2 mils for the wind, first shot...hit.
Worked back down to 400, tweeking as necessary. Then we did some ballistic ranging on two unknown (to me) distance targets. Both over 700 yards.
What an absolute blast. I proved my rifle and my load. The gun is an honest sub-half minute gun. Got some great experience too and really learned a lot. No other way than trigger time for some things. Dan runs a good show and I can't wait to get back. Maybe even attend a match.
Happy to be here. Cheers
