Penguin Posted February 11, 2013 Share Posted February 11, 2013 Is there any feeling so good as unboxing your new toy? and then fiddling with all the mounts and screws and adjustments?? I recently took delivery of a Sako TRG 22 (.308)... topped with a Vortex FFP 4-16, and stretched it out to 650 yards this weekend. Let me tell you, trying to hit a small prarie dog target (12" high and 4" across) at distance is no easy task.... even the slightest breeze has to be taken into account, along with humidity, altitude, muzzle velocity, mirage, etc etc the list goes on. I have found few things as challenging as this. I will say that the folk who shoot this type of competition are SUPER friendly and very helpful. I was a little afraid of looking like a complete idiot but everyone was willing to help me get up and running. (This match was held in Brighton, Colorado) (pics to follow tonight...) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham Smith Posted February 11, 2013 Share Posted February 11, 2013 Ahh, yes... The wonderful world of silhouette shooting. Makes a good shooter humble and leaves a mediocre shooter crying. That's a very nice rifle. Just out of curiosity, why did you go with .308 rather than .260? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Penguin Posted February 11, 2013 Author Share Posted February 11, 2013 Hi Graham - I wanted to be able to walk into any gun store and get premium match ammo (Federal gold medal match) and not HAVE to reload my own... I agree that .260 would be a more competitive cartridge... also not sure what barrel life is on that, though? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Penguin Posted February 11, 2013 Author Share Posted February 11, 2013 ...Ooh and forgot to mention - if get sick of the .308, I can have the gun rebarrelled into .260 fairly easily (all cartridge dimensions are same between .260 and .308 except for the bullet diameter...) I'll most likely do that once this barrel is toast - about 5000 rounds from now?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Penguin Posted February 12, 2013 Author Share Posted February 12, 2013 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Penguin Posted February 12, 2013 Author Share Posted February 12, 2013 I'll post pictures to the gallery section - probably where they belong Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham Smith Posted February 12, 2013 Share Posted February 12, 2013 Hop on over to the Sniper Central forum. That's all long distance shooters and you can pick up a lot of good info. What I have found about long distance in general is that it really pays to load your own. It's not outrageously expensive to start because all you need is a single stage or turret press and the cost payback comes really fast. The real problem with .308 off the shelf is that it's very hard to find match grade ammo. The typical Federal 168gr Match is pretty much at the end of it's useful range at 600yds; beyond that, you want to be looking at 175gr and up. The other thing I have found with .308 is that unless you are going to be shooting a competition that has a separate class for "military calibers" (like F-TR), there's no advantage and several disadvantages to shooting .308. That's why calibers like the .260 and 6.5mm are gaining such popularity - they have better ballistics with less recoil. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Penguin Posted February 12, 2013 Author Share Posted February 12, 2013 Thanks for the info, Graham. I'll check out Sniper Central. Yes i will definately have to get into relaoding... the lapua 155gr Scenars seem to be the best for now... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham Smith Posted February 12, 2013 Share Posted February 12, 2013 (edited) Why the Lapua's? They are just too bloody expensive for me. For 600yd, you may find that Nosler CC 150's will do fine, but if you do want a really high BC middle weight bullet, then the Sierra 155gr Palma (2156) is an excellent choice. The biggest problem with the 155's is that you have to push them fairly fast to get the same ballistics as you can with 175's. But if you are shooting silhouette, then kinetic energy downrange is the deciding factor and I'd have to look at my charts to see which would be better. This long range stuff really comes down to a lot of time spent on ballistics. One combination may give you minimal drop but not be as good bucking the wind, while another may do well against the wind but beat your shoulder up. It's all tradeoffs and time spent with a ballistics calculator and at the range with combinations of powder and bullet and a chronograph and groups etc. You can almost forget all about shooting distance and turn the reloading process into a hobby of it's own - searching for the elusive perfect load. Edited February 12, 2013 by Graham Smith Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Penguin Posted February 13, 2013 Author Share Posted February 13, 2013 I guess that is part of the mystique of long range shooting.... if this were easy everyone would be doing it BTW - i chrono'd the Federal gold medal match 168gr out of the 26" barrel - got 2700 FPS with a 35fps Extreme spread.... (note that this was at 5400 feet elevation). I think the box says 2650 fps. The extra long barrel helps... My charts tell me that at 600 yards this requires 4.2 mils elevation. Not too bad... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham Smith Posted February 13, 2013 Share Posted February 13, 2013 The 168's are really good at 600yd but start to drop off past 700yd. I shot SMK 155gr Palma's out to 1100yd without a problem. I was getting as good a result in both drop and windage as 175gr match. But I was really pushing them - 20" barrel and fast powder. My shoulder really knew it after 2 days of shooting. That's the main reason I'm switching. The new Hornady 178gr BTHP have a BC around .530, which is really amazing. I loaded up some and took them to the range and found the load that would give me the best combination of velocity and group size then spent some time on the ballistics. If they do as well this spring at 1000yd as the calculations say they should, I'll be one happy lad. They certainly are easier on the shoulder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Penguin Posted February 14, 2013 Author Share Posted February 14, 2013 I'll have to check out those Hornady 178gr BTHP's.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham Smith Posted February 14, 2013 Share Posted February 14, 2013 If you are getting into silhouette shooting, you should definitely check with those guys. Kinetic energy at the target is important to ensure a clean knock down. Some bullets may work better for that than others. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lee blackman Posted February 14, 2013 Share Posted February 14, 2013 I tried going the expensive route with the 155gr Berger Hybrid VLD and 45.~ gr of Varget. But then I realized not only am I trying to push it out of a 20" barrel (which is really short), it was really really expensive per shot, and the farthest range I have access to is 600 yards. I figured out I could push a Noslter 175gr BTHP with 43.1gr RL15 alot cheaper, and I was getting better results. I just recently moved over to IMR4064 (41.8gr) because I was having trouble finding RL-15 in stock during my last bulk order, so far I'm even more impressed. Funny thing is, I have a 1 in 12 twist rate barrel, and my gun like's 175's a whole lot better than 168's...and even more so than 155's. I haven't yet tried the 155gr Scenar, but I hear wonderful things about it. But then again I have a 1 in 7 twist AR barrel that likes 46gr Winchesters better than 69gr Matchkings...makes no sense... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aaron M Posted February 20, 2013 Share Posted February 20, 2013 (edited) I tried going the expensive route with the 155gr Berger Hybrid VLD and 45.~ gr of Varget. But then I realized not only am I trying to push it out of a 20" barrel (which is really short), it was really really expensive per shot, and the farthest range I have access to is 600 yards. I figured out I could push a Noslter 175gr BTHP with 43.1gr RL15 alot cheaper, and I was getting better results. I just recently moved over to IMR4064 (41.8gr) because I was having trouble finding RL-15 in stock during my last bulk order, so far I'm even more impressed. Funny thing is, I have a 1 in 12 twist rate barrel, and my gun like's 175's a whole lot better than 168's...and even more so than 155's. I haven't yet tried the 155gr Scenar, but I hear wonderful things about it. But then again I have a 1 in 7 twist AR barrel that likes 46gr Winchesters better than 69gr Matchkings...makes no sense... 175gr pills is probably a good choice for the rifle that you are describing. With your barrel length there is no reason to run the lighter bullets faster because you will probably not show any downrange advantage and you will burn your barrel out faster. A 1:12 twist barrel is pretty much standard for most of the 30 cal 175gr bullets but the majority of them will also stabilize out of a 1:13 twist barrel if you believe that the slowest twist that will stabilize a bullet is the most accurate. @the OP, Nice rifle! Unless your looking to shoot our past 1K a 308 is about all you will ever need. Edited February 20, 2013 by Aaron M Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Penguin Posted February 20, 2013 Author Share Posted February 20, 2013 Thanks Aaron - yes I figured I can get it rebarrelled into .260 if I feel the need. But right now I am still learning this game. It would be nice to have something that cheats wind better, but for now this will do Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now