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Long Range Gun That Shoots 105-109gr Bullets

Sig Marine

Sergeant - USMC 1968-1970
Full Member
Minuteman
Dec 29, 2013
669
502
So Cal
One of our local ranges has a varmint shoot that limits bullet weight to 105-109 grains, depending on bullet, where they shoot distances out to 600 yards. I don't know enough about the various small calibers and/or the 6mm or 6.5mm calibers to know which ones would perform and which ones wouldn't when shooting bullets of this weight. I thought about the 6.5x47 but don't know enough about its abilities with lighter bullets. Also, it would be nice to have a gun capable of going 1000 yards with a heavier bullet to fulfill two needs.

So, do I have many options for building a gun that does well up to 600 yards with light bullets and can go long with heavier pills or would it be best to build a dedicated gun for the light bullets and intermediate ranges?

Any help is appreciated.

Semper Fi...Sig Marine
 
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Any of the 6mms shooting the 105 hybrids would be a great choice. I also like the thought of a fast twist 22-250 shooting the 90 vlds. Is there a speed limit for your match?
 
Just checked and there is NO speed limit or weight limit. Caliber must be 6.5 or smaller.
 
Sig,
If you do a search on SH, you'll find enough info on the 6XC, 6CM, 6X47 and other version of the 6mm to fill a library. They are all very close in overall ballistics.
 
243 Winchester. Barrel needs to be 8 twist or faster (I recommend 7.5). Otherwise, check out 6.5mm Creedmoor.
 
Get one of GAP's rifles in their new 6.5 SAUM 4S chambering, probably one of the best all around rounds ever made if you want a dual purpose gun that can hit out to 1000+

That being said, a .243 with a fast twist barrel and some heavy projectiles / hot loads would work really well, at the expense of using barrels quicker.
 
for 600 yds max a 6MM BR is the caliber to get.
30 gr of varget with a 105 and if you are not in the money, it is your fault.
cheers.
 
Do you have a speed limit? Because I have a wildcat caliber that will get you to 1k in about 4.4 mils and it should have decent barrel life given its parameters. :D
 
6 Crusader is a beast with 105gr Berger Hybrids. Make sure and run the 6mm bullets thru a Widden Pointing die!
 
The Berger .22 cal 90 grain pills have a G1 of .551
The Berger 6mm 105 hybrids have a G1 of .547

It is sort of a take your pick on which heavy you want there, but I would take a look at both. Lots of calibers based around sending .22 cal bullets at light speed. The hybrids should be a little less seating sensitive. Either way, if this is just going to be a fun gun to send them screaming down range and you are limited to those weights, it looks like those should be the bullets to focus on. Just thinking if a wildcat is cool with you, 22-243 ai or 22 creedmoor would be sweet with a long barrel and fast twist. Push them till they start blowing up, then back off just a little. Haha. Seriously be safe with the reloading and post some plans/results. Sounds like a fun build.
 
I thought about the 6.5x47 but don't know enough about its abilities with lighter bullets.
Semper Fi...Sig Marine

Hey Marine - thanks for your Service!

In 6.5mm, Sierra and Lapua both make good bullets in your weight range: 107gr SMK and 108gr Scenar. Both are in the mid-0.40's BC's - so not as good as the 6mm offerings. You can point them up and get the BCs into the high 0.40's, or very close to the 6mm's. You can easily drive them at 3200fps from a 26", or 3000 from a 20" barrel. You are only going 600yds, so they are great choices for that range - although not as good if you go out to 1000 and beyond. I have shot the 107gr SMK from my 6.5x47 and it shoots very well at 600yds.

If you have a 6.5mm and you shoot it at another range that offers longer distances, you could alway develop a 130gr or 140gr bullet load.

Best of luck - there are really no wrong choices as 6mm and 6.5mm offer great options all around.
 
A 105 berger hybrid from a 243 or SLR would be hard to beat in a match requiring a max bullet weight 105-109 grains and no speed limit.
 
6BR. 1 in 8" twist. Just had a Cooper re-barreled with the same purpose in mind.
 
for 600 yds max a 6MM BR is the caliber to get.
30 gr of varget with a 105 and if you are not in the money, it is your fault.
cheers.
+1. I have 2 br 8 twist that are stupid accurate out past 600 yards
cheap to shoot, not picky, great barrel life.
 
A 6BR, BRX or Dasher shooting 105's .... There's a reason most every serious 600 yd benchrest shooter is shooting one of these calibers ... and the record books show it. No need to handicap yourself right off the bat. You will be shooting against them if this match is of any size. Also don't count them out at 1000 yds, they hold records there as well.
 
Any of the usual suspects in 6mm would do quite well.

For a one gun to do it all, I would favor the 6.5 Creedmoor, though it will have a hard time hanging with the 6mm's shooting the same weight bullets in your 600yd match. Barrel life would be pretty decent, which is an important quality for a primary rifle to have.

I've owned and toasted several barrels in 6br, but I don't care to use it in a dick in the dirt repeater. It's wonderful in a single shot, though. My preference for the 700 is probably a factor.
 
A 6BR, BRX or Dasher shooting 105's .... There's a reason most every serious 600 yd benchrest shooter is shooting one of these calibers ... and the record books show it. No need to handicap yourself right off the bat. You will be shooting against them if this match is of any size. Also don't count them out at 1000 yds, they hold records there as well.

Nuff said!
 
Everyone pretty much covered it. In that weight bullet a 6mm will be better than a 6.5mm.
105 Bergers or A-max are pretty easily pushed over 3k fps in the 6mm offerings. Pick one and run with it. You'll get to 1000yds with that.
Lots of wildcats and such to choose from but dont discount a good old 6mm Remington or 243 Winchester
 
If bullet weight was limited to 105 to 107, there was no speed limit, I wasn't shooting a really large volume, I was relatively new to LR precision, and I wanted to spend as little time prepping brass as possible, I'd probably go with the 6SLR
 

22CM does not shoot a 105gr Berger Hybrid.

Im talking about the 6mm SAUM that was developed after the 6.5 SAUM came out. It was the end result of me wanting to use the same brass and get a speed demon in the process. It just happened to work out nicely.
 
6x284 would be another good one, I'm running 105's at 3250 and another load at 3350


My 6-284 is one of my favorite rifles. Who doesn't love 107's at 3500fps?! But that is a little more horsepower than needed for 600yds in relation to bore life.



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Thank you for the replies. I took majohnson2's advice and after doing a little research here on the Hide, I'm leaning towards the 6mm BR with the .243 a second choice. I see that brass is available for both from Lapua which is attractive as well. What about feeding the 6mm BR rounds from a magazine. Any issues?
 
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