Hey guys,
Just thought I'd share this with all those who may be wondering what's required in a rifle/scope combo to make 500 yard shots. There are probably a few individuals looking at getting into this longer-ish shooting and are unsure how to get started, or what a decent starter set up would be. The rifle I am using is a Savage model 12 VLP DBM. I personally like the Savage line up, I like the features they offer for the price point. I'm sure this would also be possible with a decent rifle from any other manufacturer. With regards to my particular rifle, the other Savages in the model 12 line should be just as accurate as this one. I just chose the VLP DBM because it is the only rifle with the exception of the BTCSS (and I don't like thumbhole stocks) that had a 26" barrel, bolt release on the receiver, and a removable a magazine. Some people might not care for the removable magazine, and that's fine. The reason the bolt release being on the receiver was important to me is because some aftermarket stocks will not work properly with the new design which has the bolt release in the trigger guard.
The ammo I used for the 500 yard shots is Hornady 75 grain steel match. This ammo is loaded with the 75 grain BTHP bullet. I bought 150 rounds of this stuff and it has proven to be very accurate and consistent. With the 223 you really want to shoot the heavier grain stuff for better long range performance. This leads to the next point. My rifle has a 1 in 9" twist rate, meaning the rifling inside the barrel will make one complete revolution every 9 inches. This is a faster twist rate than most manufactures use in their varmint rifles, with a 1 in 12" twist rate being more popular. You need the faster twist to stabilize the heavier bullets. Savage also offers this rifle with a 1 in 7" twist rate which will allow anyone that reloads to use the heaviest possible .224 caliber bullets. Since I don't reload (yet) I opted to go with the 9" twist rate.
The scope/mounting set up is a Bushnell Elite Tactical 10x40. This is a fixed power scope so it wouldn't be an ideal scope for hunting. It has proven to have accurate elevation adjustments, I haven't used the windage for anything other than zeroing the scope. More on that in a little bit. The base I am using is a Weaver tactical 0 moa base, and the rings are low Leupold PRW. I had to cut the front portion off of the base in order to get the scope close enough for proper eye relief. It's a relatively budget minded set up, but it works.
For resting the rifle, I have a Caldwell XLA bipod which has notched legs and swivels, its a Harris clone that has proven to work just fine so far. I was also using a champion rear bag.
For determining bullet drop and wind drift, I use am app called "Bullet Drop" on my phone. I have been using the advertised velocity and ballistic coefficient for the ammo from Hornady. In the app, it will display the drop and drift in both mils and MOA. I use the elevation turret to dial the elevation in MOA, and use the mil dots to hold off for wind drift. This is where having a scope with matching reticle and turrets could be beneficial, as it would be a little simpler to use. I use a Caldwell Wind Wizard to get the wind speed, and it does a decent job. My reasoning for dialing elevation and holding for the wind is this, gravity is constant. As long as your ammo is consistent and you are doing your part, your bullet impacts should be very close vertically. The wind is trickier, and it changes fairly often and that makes a bigger difference to your point of impact. I find it easier to use the mil dots and hold off for the wind than to start dialing with the windage turret.
In the two pictures below there is a before and after shot of two Sunny D jugs I shot at 500 yards yesterday. You can see them clearly when they are full, in the second picture the two bottles are roughly below the last mildot to the left and right. I think I hit the first bottle on shot #3, and once I connected with that one the next bottle was taken out with shot #4. The bottles measure about 5.25 inches across, which is almost exactly 1MOA @ 500 yards. I was quite pleased with this.
Hopefully this helps someone who may have an interest in trying their hand at some longer range shooting.
1ShotKing
Just thought I'd share this with all those who may be wondering what's required in a rifle/scope combo to make 500 yard shots. There are probably a few individuals looking at getting into this longer-ish shooting and are unsure how to get started, or what a decent starter set up would be. The rifle I am using is a Savage model 12 VLP DBM. I personally like the Savage line up, I like the features they offer for the price point. I'm sure this would also be possible with a decent rifle from any other manufacturer. With regards to my particular rifle, the other Savages in the model 12 line should be just as accurate as this one. I just chose the VLP DBM because it is the only rifle with the exception of the BTCSS (and I don't like thumbhole stocks) that had a 26" barrel, bolt release on the receiver, and a removable a magazine. Some people might not care for the removable magazine, and that's fine. The reason the bolt release being on the receiver was important to me is because some aftermarket stocks will not work properly with the new design which has the bolt release in the trigger guard.
The ammo I used for the 500 yard shots is Hornady 75 grain steel match. This ammo is loaded with the 75 grain BTHP bullet. I bought 150 rounds of this stuff and it has proven to be very accurate and consistent. With the 223 you really want to shoot the heavier grain stuff for better long range performance. This leads to the next point. My rifle has a 1 in 9" twist rate, meaning the rifling inside the barrel will make one complete revolution every 9 inches. This is a faster twist rate than most manufactures use in their varmint rifles, with a 1 in 12" twist rate being more popular. You need the faster twist to stabilize the heavier bullets. Savage also offers this rifle with a 1 in 7" twist rate which will allow anyone that reloads to use the heaviest possible .224 caliber bullets. Since I don't reload (yet) I opted to go with the 9" twist rate.
The scope/mounting set up is a Bushnell Elite Tactical 10x40. This is a fixed power scope so it wouldn't be an ideal scope for hunting. It has proven to have accurate elevation adjustments, I haven't used the windage for anything other than zeroing the scope. More on that in a little bit. The base I am using is a Weaver tactical 0 moa base, and the rings are low Leupold PRW. I had to cut the front portion off of the base in order to get the scope close enough for proper eye relief. It's a relatively budget minded set up, but it works.
For resting the rifle, I have a Caldwell XLA bipod which has notched legs and swivels, its a Harris clone that has proven to work just fine so far. I was also using a champion rear bag.
For determining bullet drop and wind drift, I use am app called "Bullet Drop" on my phone. I have been using the advertised velocity and ballistic coefficient for the ammo from Hornady. In the app, it will display the drop and drift in both mils and MOA. I use the elevation turret to dial the elevation in MOA, and use the mil dots to hold off for wind drift. This is where having a scope with matching reticle and turrets could be beneficial, as it would be a little simpler to use. I use a Caldwell Wind Wizard to get the wind speed, and it does a decent job. My reasoning for dialing elevation and holding for the wind is this, gravity is constant. As long as your ammo is consistent and you are doing your part, your bullet impacts should be very close vertically. The wind is trickier, and it changes fairly often and that makes a bigger difference to your point of impact. I find it easier to use the mil dots and hold off for the wind than to start dialing with the windage turret.
In the two pictures below there is a before and after shot of two Sunny D jugs I shot at 500 yards yesterday. You can see them clearly when they are full, in the second picture the two bottles are roughly below the last mildot to the left and right. I think I hit the first bottle on shot #3, and once I connected with that one the next bottle was taken out with shot #4. The bottles measure about 5.25 inches across, which is almost exactly 1MOA @ 500 yards. I was quite pleased with this.
Hopefully this helps someone who may have an interest in trying their hand at some longer range shooting.
1ShotKing
