Hello Everyone

S

Scenar

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Hi folks, I am brand new to this forum, making my first post, and know exactly zero about benchrest shooting. But I do like seeing how small I can make groups. I am a member at The Sacramento Valley Shooting Center, non-voting, but I am hoping to change that.

I bought a rifle to learn on and it is a Remington 700 R5 MilSpec in .308. Nightforce 20 MOA base and rings with an NXS 5.5-22x50. I have found that it loves 175 SMK's over 43.6 of Varget with BR-2's.

I bought a Bartlein blank 27" in 6.5MM 5R rifling, 1:8.5 twist because I thought I wanted/needed to build a flatter shooting round to get to 1K.

http://www.grizzly.com/products/6-5mm-264-5R-1-8-5-Twist-26-Finished-14-Barrel/T10475

I plan on reading a lot more than posting.

So, to kick this off and get feedback: Would you stick with the .308 and learn from it, or build something in 6.5, like the Creedmoor to shoot 600 and ultimately 1k?

Thank you for your time.
 
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Sac is always windy. You'll find a Creedmoor a lot easier to shoot but there's nothing wrong learning to read the wind with a 308. In the long run it will probably make you a better shooter but it can be frustrating to learn on. Stay with the 175's, 168's make really cool looking key holes in the targets at 1K. Are you looking at Tactical or F class?
 
Thanks for the feedback. Can you tell me more about F class?
 
Scenar,
The second weekend of each month we shoot highpower prone matches on range 12 at Sac. Valley. Usually a mix of sling, F-class and tactical. Sunday Sept. 13 would be a good day to learn about F-class as we will be shooting a 600 yard match ( 3 strings of 20 shots plus sighters) Load up about 75 rounds and come shoot. If you have a 100 or 200 yd. zero, there will be no problem getting you on paper at 600 if you have no data. There will be plenty of experienced shooters to help with the format. Course of fire is unlimited sighters for the first string and 20 for record, followed by 2 sighters and 20 record for the last 2 strings. Don't be intimidated, most everyone started the same way. Getting your feet wet right off the bat is the best way to learn and see if this is something you like. Watching and thinking you are not good enough, and need some more practice ( at 100 or 200 yds?) will never work. No greater satisfaction than hitting the X-ring at mid & long range.
Pete
 
prwhite said:
Scenar,
The second weekend of each month we shoot highpower prone matches on range 12 at Sac. Valley. Usually a mix of sling, F-class and tactical. Sunday Sept. 13 would be a good day to learn about F-class as we will be shooting a 600 yard match ( 3 strings of 20 shots plus sighters) Load up about 75 rounds and come shoot. If you have a 100 or 200 yd. zero, there will be no problem getting you on paper at 600 if you have no data. There will be plenty of experienced shooters to help with the format. Course of fire is unlimited sighters for the first string and 20 for record, followed by 2 sighters and 20 record for the last 2 strings. Don't be intimidated, most everyone started the same way. Getting your feet wet right off the bat is the best way to learn and see if this is something you like. Watching and thinking you are not good enough, and need some more practice ( at 100 or 200 yds?) will never work. No greater satisfaction than hitting the X-ring at mid & long range.
Pete
Click to expand...

Thanks for the invite Pete, I am there, putting it on the calendar as we speak.

I have a good 100 YD zero, but no other data. I am still learning my scope and not sure how to get more or what I need to do. Any help is appreciated. I have a bipod that I use but no sling, and I have never shot prone. I usually shoot on the 100 yard range, but am cleared to shoot on the 300 as well, and can shoot moa there.

What time do I need to be there?

John
 
John,
Squadding will be from 7:00 to 7:30 am, safety brief about 7:45. Match will begin shortly after 8:00 am.
Pete
 
Hi Pete, any thoughts on how to acquire range data for my scope if I have not shot that far?

John
 
John,
If you have a chronograph and a ballistics app, you can plug in the data(bullet, muzzle velocity, sight height) and get a real close number. Plugging in the info about your .308 load and rifle into quickload, It looks like about 15 moa come-up from 100 yards will put you on paper at 600. Again, with unlimited sighters if you're off, we will coach you on paper. Then you can adjust for center (x ring) and you will have the exact number for that days conditions. With the same load and distance, even a day with very different conditions (except wind) will result in the first shot being on paper.
Pete
 
I don't know anything about long range shooting but I'll offer some advice anyway.

First thing - attend a match so you'll know what you're up against! If you can't come close to winning, your rifle may not be good enough. That's not a quick assessment at that range but will give you something to go on. If it were a 100 yd group match you would know after one target. You might not move on it but you would know down deep! Depends on how much cash you're willing to spend to win and this never ends. Had to say that....because I know the difference in winning and just attending. It ain't much difference come Wednesday but it's a ton of difference on Sunday. A slap A$$ ton of difference!
 
Thanks for the good advice. I plan on attending the match tomorrow at Sac Valley. Pete see ya early tomorrow.
 
How did the shoot go and how was the smoke from the fire? It's not all that far from the Sac Range. The smoke blew up here into Auburn about 6:30 Saturday and by this morning you couldn't see 500 yards. The air quality is extremely poor.
 
Great advice so far.

The .308 will serve for the indoctrination period, getting your act together for 600/1000yd. A lot of people stop right there, keeping the .308. I have come to see the chambering as marginal for much beyond 600yd. But..., a marginal chambering can get somewhat critical as distances stretch, and are really good for wind skill refinement when the margin gets thinnest.

My experience transitioned to the .260, giving very good satisfaction at 1000yd after the .308. But the 6.5-.284's teach the harder lessons to the .260 shooters. I don't like short barrel life chamberings, so I skipped past the 6.5-.284. I ran hard into health issues, and had to hang up my LR spurs just when I was getting up to speed with the .280 Rem and things were finally getting really interesting. Judging from the short experience, I think I would have rested my case with the .280 Rem. It seems like a roughly ideal compromise between recoil and LR ballistic performance.

Go to a match and watch one from behind the line. It will teach you some of the requisite lessons, like what things to bring and how other shooters use their things. It will also teach you the progression of a match; what comes first, and what follows that. But once and done, don't procrastinate about jumping in. There has to be a first time, when all the fumbles get found and performed. Sooner; better. Putting the see together with the do is what that first match is for. Forget about going home with the trophy that time and a few matches after, too. What you'll be doing is getting into the groove, setting up the ability to anticipate the next step. Until that's established, shooting for the high scores is not especially realistic, too much newbie fumble gets in the way of that.

Once you can relax into the flow, it's time to call shots, pay attention to the actual strike, and get some insight into how the conditions make such things so dissimilar. From this will grow wind skills. No wind skills, no trophies.

Greg
 
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