Hello everyone, im a long time lurker and have learned a ton of things from the posts on this forum. I decided to finally make an account. Ive got an embarrassing story and some questions to accompany it.
Im admittedly pretty green when it comes to long range shooting and bolt action rifles. Ive been a firearms enthusiast for 15+ years but it was mostly fullsize combat pistols and gas guns (ARs, AKs, Mp5 variants) for target shooting and collecting. in the last 6 months or so ive become interested in hunting game and then eventually bolt action rifles and long range shooting after purchasing my first home on my own rural property with enough area for a nice range.
My first bolt rifle was a Bergara HMR in 6.5 creedmoor. I put a Trijicon Credo HX 4-16x50 scope on it, mounted with a Nightforce 20moa pic base and Seekins Precision lows. Later i did an Atlas PSR bipod on an ADR mount. Its been a fun rifle to read Litz's material, try to learn the basics of long range ballistics, how to use dope cards/calculators, and try to develope the basic marksmanship skills to shoot consistently. Ive learned a ton and have been able to shoot sub 1/2MOA groups @100yds with factory ammo (143gr Precision Hunter ELD-X, 140gr Precision Match, and 130gr Sierra TGK) most range days now.
As id like to hunt elk and bear this coming season i decided to get a second rifle for bear and elk and use my 6.5 for the local black tail and nuisance coyotes on my property. I found a very nice mid-late 80's manufactured Remington 700 BDL in .270 Win. I put a Leupold VX-3HD 4-14x40 on it in leupold rings/base. It shoots well, sub 1MOA the first time i shot it after 2x 3rd groups to zero.
After a couple more groups off of a front and rear bag seated on a bench, apparently I got a bit too comfortable as I scoped the shit out of myself. I had the classic crescent shaped cut on my forehead. I was a bit embarrassed as I was with a group of buddies all of whom have been shooting/hunting most of their lives. Turned out most of them had stories of doing the same thing at some point, but many of them were childhood era stories haha.
My question is about ideal eye relief for my .270 R700. The only baseline comparison i have is my HMR/Credo HX setup, but it seems the VX-3HD is much more picky on my head placement and eye relief than the Trijicon. It does have more recoil than the 6.5 HMR does, so thats definitely a contributing factor but moreso is that i have to get much closer to the eye piece than im used to and am now admittedly a bit 'gun-shy' finding my cheek weld/eye relief for a clear sight picture at max magnification. What is ideal for long actions? does my grip just suck? Any tips or info that may help me out, like rules of thumb, rifle setup, etc, id greatly appreciate.
thanks in advance!
Im admittedly pretty green when it comes to long range shooting and bolt action rifles. Ive been a firearms enthusiast for 15+ years but it was mostly fullsize combat pistols and gas guns (ARs, AKs, Mp5 variants) for target shooting and collecting. in the last 6 months or so ive become interested in hunting game and then eventually bolt action rifles and long range shooting after purchasing my first home on my own rural property with enough area for a nice range.
My first bolt rifle was a Bergara HMR in 6.5 creedmoor. I put a Trijicon Credo HX 4-16x50 scope on it, mounted with a Nightforce 20moa pic base and Seekins Precision lows. Later i did an Atlas PSR bipod on an ADR mount. Its been a fun rifle to read Litz's material, try to learn the basics of long range ballistics, how to use dope cards/calculators, and try to develope the basic marksmanship skills to shoot consistently. Ive learned a ton and have been able to shoot sub 1/2MOA groups @100yds with factory ammo (143gr Precision Hunter ELD-X, 140gr Precision Match, and 130gr Sierra TGK) most range days now.
As id like to hunt elk and bear this coming season i decided to get a second rifle for bear and elk and use my 6.5 for the local black tail and nuisance coyotes on my property. I found a very nice mid-late 80's manufactured Remington 700 BDL in .270 Win. I put a Leupold VX-3HD 4-14x40 on it in leupold rings/base. It shoots well, sub 1MOA the first time i shot it after 2x 3rd groups to zero.
After a couple more groups off of a front and rear bag seated on a bench, apparently I got a bit too comfortable as I scoped the shit out of myself. I had the classic crescent shaped cut on my forehead. I was a bit embarrassed as I was with a group of buddies all of whom have been shooting/hunting most of their lives. Turned out most of them had stories of doing the same thing at some point, but many of them were childhood era stories haha.
My question is about ideal eye relief for my .270 R700. The only baseline comparison i have is my HMR/Credo HX setup, but it seems the VX-3HD is much more picky on my head placement and eye relief than the Trijicon. It does have more recoil than the 6.5 HMR does, so thats definitely a contributing factor but moreso is that i have to get much closer to the eye piece than im used to and am now admittedly a bit 'gun-shy' finding my cheek weld/eye relief for a clear sight picture at max magnification. What is ideal for long actions? does my grip just suck? Any tips or info that may help me out, like rules of thumb, rifle setup, etc, id greatly appreciate.
thanks in advance!
