I'll preface this by saying that I never had a huge interest in ELR. I live on the coast and it took me long enough to find a good spot nearby where I could hang targets out to about 1000 yards. I was perfectly happy shooting at that kind of distance with my .308 and 6.5 and 6mm comp guns. I didn't really see the need for a "boomer". Then I realized that with a bit of work, I could hang a couple targets out at 1500 and 1600 yards... Although in good conditions making hits at those distances with 6s and 6.5s was do-able, you really didn't get much energy on target and being in cut blocks, spotting your splash was often impossible. Being that my spot is in the mountains and over very complex terrain, I wanted something that would both buck the wind better and carry more energy, mostly to help in spotting splash. I thought my hybrid ELR/long range hunter in 7SAUM would scratch that itch but then I got to thinking... I could shoot ELR every day if I wanted to and it would be a pity to so quickly burn out a carbon barrel.
So that's how I decided to build a .30cal magnum. Originally, I was going to do it on more of a budget and and just re-barrel a Rem 700 .300WM with either a long .300WM or .300PRC barrel. As things often do when it comes to firearms, the build snowballed a bit and this is what I ended up with:
-Stiller Tac .338 with a 29.5" Krieger 9tw spun up in .300 Norma Magnum and cerakoted by the wizards at Insite Arms and sporting their 5-port brake
-MDT ESS (with folding stock and vertical grip) with 15" full pic rail handguard and MDT high 20moa scope rail for a continuous pic rail, as well as a full length RRS dovetail under the handguard
-MDT CIP length .338LM mags
-Trigger Tech 2-stage Special with black PVD flat trigger
-Bushnell XRS2 in a MDT One-Piece mount with a Burris FastFire3 mounted on an accessory cap
-either a MDT standard height or triple-pull Ckyepod, depending on my intentions/mood that day
-happily sits (with stock folded) in an Armageddon Gear M2010 soft case
[/IMG]
[/IMG]
[/IMG]
[/IMG]
[/IMG]
[/IMG]
It didn't take long for this rifle to pretty much become one of my favourites! The 5-port brake and heavy weight (21lbs with bipod and empty mag) make for surprisingly tame recoil and the performance of a Berger 220gr LRHT going 3200fps is pretty awe-inspiring. The rifle consistently shoots sub-1/2moa and I've routinely taken it out as far as I can right now (1665 yards). I was surprised to find myself spotting my own trace with it (something I've worked hard to do routinely with "PRS-type match" calibers but never expected out of a big .30cal magnum) and when shooting it standing/kneeling/seated off a tripod it's not an issue to spot hits/misses though I'll grant that other than load dev, I've never shot it inside of 830 yards. Unlike with a 6 or 6.5mm, there's really no question whether or not you've hit the plate at 1500+ as it's still packing 1000 ft-lbs of energy at 1600 yards! I enjoyed shooting it so much that when my long range spot got snowed in this fall, I found myself putting on snowshoes and slinging it up to hike in. Helps that at 21lbs it's still lighter than my match rifles and I'm used to carrying them around all day for field matches, haha.
So that's how I decided to build a .30cal magnum. Originally, I was going to do it on more of a budget and and just re-barrel a Rem 700 .300WM with either a long .300WM or .300PRC barrel. As things often do when it comes to firearms, the build snowballed a bit and this is what I ended up with:
-Stiller Tac .338 with a 29.5" Krieger 9tw spun up in .300 Norma Magnum and cerakoted by the wizards at Insite Arms and sporting their 5-port brake
-MDT ESS (with folding stock and vertical grip) with 15" full pic rail handguard and MDT high 20moa scope rail for a continuous pic rail, as well as a full length RRS dovetail under the handguard
-MDT CIP length .338LM mags
-Trigger Tech 2-stage Special with black PVD flat trigger
-Bushnell XRS2 in a MDT One-Piece mount with a Burris FastFire3 mounted on an accessory cap
-either a MDT standard height or triple-pull Ckyepod, depending on my intentions/mood that day
-happily sits (with stock folded) in an Armageddon Gear M2010 soft case
It didn't take long for this rifle to pretty much become one of my favourites! The 5-port brake and heavy weight (21lbs with bipod and empty mag) make for surprisingly tame recoil and the performance of a Berger 220gr LRHT going 3200fps is pretty awe-inspiring. The rifle consistently shoots sub-1/2moa and I've routinely taken it out as far as I can right now (1665 yards). I was surprised to find myself spotting my own trace with it (something I've worked hard to do routinely with "PRS-type match" calibers but never expected out of a big .30cal magnum) and when shooting it standing/kneeling/seated off a tripod it's not an issue to spot hits/misses though I'll grant that other than load dev, I've never shot it inside of 830 yards. Unlike with a 6 or 6.5mm, there's really no question whether or not you've hit the plate at 1500+ as it's still packing 1000 ft-lbs of energy at 1600 yards! I enjoyed shooting it so much that when my long range spot got snowed in this fall, I found myself putting on snowshoes and slinging it up to hike in. Helps that at 21lbs it's still lighter than my match rifles and I'm used to carrying them around all day for field matches, haha.
Last edited:
