2000+ yard cals

We will likely see a bunch more 300gr MK's heading to the horizon in April. MK's are a mixed bag for going subsonic. Sometimes they work, other times nope.

I am pretty sure the 300gr MK has gone subsonic given its use in extreme distance hunting so it might just depend on the barrel and how much spin is given????????

Biggest problem with these monster 338's, besides cost, huge barrel wear. I bet the 338 AM gets 800rds of accurate fire, maybe less if shot fast.

Through my scope, I spot my 6.5 139gr bullets. On my dusty hillside, kicks up enough dust to spot. Even the 80gr 22cal Amax kicks up enough dust to see at 1 mile. Watch the video.

I think you mean, you can spot without optics :)

When the BMG's roar, there is no guessing where that slug lands. Very impressive downrange horsepower.

Jerry
 
Last year at Mystics shoot I was routinely hitting a large dog sized target at 1780yards with my 300wm. I had the elevation adjustment on my scope tapped out and was holding on the very bottom hash mark on my scope (which has a pile of internal elevation).

These distances certainly can be done with the heavy 30's and up without to much trouble.

The guys shooting 338 Lapuas, 408 Cheytacs and 50 bmgs were slamming targets at that distance and way beyond with ease.

Just depends on how much ca$h you want to sink into this game.


The big issue is scope elevation. There is nothing that you can legally shoulder fire that isn't going to need some serious scope base adjustment to reach those distances.

I have a mechanical scope base that gives me around 225 mins of up. I am working on getting a bit more. Then you have whatever the scope will give you.

I have shot my 6.5 mystic pushing 139gr Lapuas to 2300yds accurately. With the extra elevation, I am hoping to get out to 2600yds or thereabouts.

Yes, it gets bounced around alot but if you can get steady conditions, accuracy is decent. Will try some 140gr Bergers this spring.

The biggest hurdle you are going to run into is bullets. Some bullets will go subsonic and stay accurate/stable, others will not.

There isn't a single sub 50cal bullet that will not go subsonic at 2000+ yds. So all the paper numbers in the world will not help if your bullet tumbles. Unfortunately, there are precious few shooters who are ACTUALLY shooting that far to give feedback on stability and accuracy.

At the Summerland LR shooting this spring, we will be pushing a variety of large and small cals out to 2500yds, maybe a bit further (I think we run out of dirt at 2700yds). We will know in graphic terms what will make the trip and what will not.

The 223 and 308 will make the trip, given the right bullet, but the amount of up required is so high, it becomes more a mechanical issue then ballistic.

To answer your question directly, 6.5 Mystic or 260AI is the smallest I have used. The 7mm 180gr Bergers would be interesting to see if it works. Pretty sure the 162gr Amax can be made to work.

Then the various 30's and 338's.

We know that many of the heavies in the 30 (220, 240gr MK) and 338 cal (250gr Lapua, 300gr MK) WILL make the trip. Would think the 208gr Amax and 210gr Berger will make the trip.

Hopefully, the guys from ABC bullets will be able to push their 408's and BMG bullets out that far.

The Amax 50cal has no issue going that far and can do so quite accurately.

Just remember that when shooting that far AND if you have enough up, initial muzzle velocity is not that big a deal. It's all going to slow down. Accuracy, consistency and little vertical dispersion is more important.

Hope this helps.

Jerry
 
I was spotting for him, it was fun. Only got the 308 out to 1500, ran out of elevation in my nightforce, and was holding over another 8 MOA in the scope.
 
last year at summerland

I was 2000+ (I think jerry figured it 23-2400 yrds) And I had 20MOA base, had my 5.5x22 nightforce on 10 power, and all the hashmarks to get there...

40MOA bases this year cept work has buttonhooked me for the shoot this year.....:mad:
 
i want to know more for the event in summer land i wont be goin this year however ill try and go for next year but the .338 Lapuas zeroed at a grand is what ill be looking at getting
 
i want to know more for the event in summer land i wont be goin this year however ill try and go for next year but the .338 Lapuas zeroed at a grand is what ill be looking at getting

I'm sorry but "zeroed at 1000 yards" makes no sense at all to me.
The 300 gr SMKs are effective to 2700 yards for hiiting stuff, but they are subsonic at about 2300 yards depending on initial velocity.
I can zero my 338LAI at 300 yards which bottoms out my NF8x32s elevation turret, sitting on a plus 40moa rail, I am still able to use the secondary reticle markings to shoot at 100 yards and with maxing out the turret and using the bottom reticle marking hit 2700 yards last year at Summerland.
How much further than 2700 yards do you think you can get a bullet to travel repeatably?
 
Extreme distance zero is not unusual, just not very practical.

For my 223 out to a mile, I had to zero at 1450yds (46" high at 100yds) and I used up my elevation in my scope (50mins) and another 4 mildots. Got lucky cause if there was a headwind, I would have landed short.

But this is an extreme case. The more common choices from 6.5 to 338 are far easier to dial in.

I would suggest you look at the 7mm 180gr Berger as a more affordable LR shooter. The 6.5 is of course, the least expensive.

Scopes with at least 75mins of travel help as do hash mark/mil dot reticles. Then you use a canted base and Burris rings to get a decent LR zero.

With the average reticle, there is enough above the center that you can zero at 500 to 600yds and still be able to hit at 100yds.

You can also have an elevated 100yd zero. It is easy to hit say 10" high at 100yds which broadens your LR options. In Summerland, the closest you can shoot is 500 yds, so may as well set up for that as your zero.

Rick, we never did get out to 2700yds. Most of the accurate fire was around the 2300/2400yds mark.

Still pretty darn far. Hopefully, we will get out beyond 2500yds this year.

Jerry
 
How many KM do you intend to put on your vehicle for the sole purpose of checking targets?

Just bring a friend. :p

TargetPractice.jpg
 
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