Range Report Use one of these? Or wait?

[gstaylorg]

My question is for the 1000 yd F-Class shooters here. Having recently relocated to S. California, I now have the opportunity to shoot regularly in competitions out to 1000 yd. My previous range in Nebraska went to 600 yd, so midrange comps were the max. distance. I have been using a GAP Crusader (.308 w 22" 11-twist barrel) and GAP Hospitaller (.308 w 24" 11-twist barrel) for midrange comps with Bryan Litz' Applied Ballistics 175 Tactical Bullet load and had very good results. I have also shot this ammo against steel out to ~890 yd from both rifles at my current range here, also with good results. However, I have not yet had the opportunity to try anything out to 1000 yd and the ballistics seem to be right at (or slightly below) the minimum necessary for that distance. I currently have another GAP in the works with a longer barrel that will be a dedicated F-Class rifle and I'd really rather not be the douchebag that puts a bunch of rounds into the berm, or hits the next target over at my first 1000 yd comp.

From the following ballistic data I have gathered with the Hospitaller and plugged into JBM Ballistics (for 1000 yd), can I get by using one of these loads? Or should I just wait for the new rifle to be completed? I know these loads are suboptimal and I'm not expecting to be at the top of any scoring list, but if the performance of any of these loads is going to be so far below optimal that even hitting the target is questionable, I'll probably just shoot midrange matches until the new rifle arrives. Thanks for any input you may have.

 

[phoneman]

Re: Use one of these? Or wait?

Any of those should do fine--and don't forget about the 185 Bergers. I shot a match a while back and shot with an AMU shooter who was shooting what looked like 185 Bergers and he smoked our tails.

 

[gstaylorg]

Re: Use one of these? Or wait?

I'm actually having some of the Berger 185 Hybrids loaded right now, but I won't have a chance to try them out until well after the 1st 1000 yd comp. My main concern is that the velocities are getting pretty close to trans-sonic for all three of those loads. However, right now that's all I have. So it's one of those, or stick with midrange until the new rifle comes in. Even though the ballistics of the SMK 190s are closest to the marginal edge of the three, they really fly well from the Hospitaller at 600 yd and I was hoping they might do. I actually meant to post this thread in the F-Class forum, but it should be ok here.