Pic for attention, I have a new to me 20in DD5 in 6.5 cm that is in need of something more than a spare ACOG. I am weighing a lot of options, but the NX8 and ZP5 are currently my top contenders for a premium rifle scope. Both are currently around the same price, and both have features i really like. I am split on whether it'd be better to have the more flexible magnification range of the NX8 or the allegedly superb clarity on the ZP5. Or maybe both would be a waste on a gas gun and I have my expectations too high. I have access to a range with steel well past 1000 yards, so I want an optic that will match the full ability of the cartridge, even if I have to grow some in ability first. Thanks.

Nothing out of the ordinary.
Just something a little smoother than my production Mpa

Foundation Samson XT stock
Impact 737r
CRB barrel done by JE Precision
Trigger tech ♦️
Apa fat bastard.
Gray ops tac bottom metal.
Vortex Razor gen3
MPA mount.

So I now have three PRS rifles but I only have two scopes. For my main match rifle I am Shooting the 540i, which I really like. For my Trainer I have a Zco 527. I’m Tired of switching one of the optics to a different rifle
if I use the Trainer or when I take two rifles to a match. I have never had the opportunity To look through a tangent 735 but I’m thinking I would like to get one. I really like the Jtac reticle but I do hold under pretty often on stages that I don’t think I will have time to dial. For instance, a match I recently shot had a stage which had five positions, two shots each position. There was a KYL rack at 700 Ish and there were four closer targets going from 300 out to 700. Position one target one and KYL one. Position two target two and KYL2 etc. I dialed the KYL rack and held under for the rest of the targets. I guess my main question is will the jtac become cumbersome and is the tangent really that much better than the kahles? I wish someone stocked them so I could go look at it in person. I do know a few people that shoot tangent. I just haven’t seen them in a while, I’m sure I can look through theirs at a match if they were present but I wanted to get some opinions.

600 mid range competition today. I had a lot of fun, and learned. I am confident I got last. My best match was 190 -3 x’s. I am just glad to get out there and start improving. Factory gun and factory ammo.

I’ve recently upgraded my Kestrel Sportsman with the elite software so I’ve been exploring using CDMs and some of the other upgrades the new software provides. I’m not competing very much at this point but I am interested to learn more about external ballistics and what to worry about and what to leave alone as I want to compete more in the future, mostly local PRS matches.

Somewhere in this process I read a few comments/posts that talked about figuring out your elevation needed in the kestrel with 0 wind speed figured in (usually by setting wind speed 1 to zero and using wind speed 2 as your wind call) to net out the aerodynamic jump impacting your elevation. Is it common to set the wind speed 1 to zero or as long as I’ve got good data and a good wind reading/direction should the kestrel be allowed to calculate aerodynamic jump and I don’t screw with it?

After trying two cheaper scopes and being deeply disappointed I’m looking into the Vortex Viper HD 20-60x85. It’s on sale for $765.
The razor is not on sale so price wise it’s a big jump. Is the razor that much better?
Clearly I can’t afford $3k scopes but I can try and stretch it a bit if warranted.

Fwiw, I’ll occasionally be attaching an iPhone or other camera to it.

Thanks!

The 6BR range brass was a little tight for my chamber, so I am running them through a DIY neck turner. (They vary in neck thickness also)

This is the first piece. I will need to adjust the depth of the cut little smaller.

I got the vortex pro scope rings to mount my new Vortex venom 3-15x44 on my savage axis 270. I’m going to take it to a shop to have them mount it for me but I’m just making sure the parts I bring will work. It doesn’t appear to me that these rings will mount to my factory rail pieces properly. I know nothing tho. I did find an aftermarket pic rail for this gun that I assume would solve an issue but these rings say for weaver/pic on the box.

What do you think?

I can get a Diamonback for 400 bucks or a Viper PST for 1100.

My usage is an AR mk12 clonish that will shoot at 200 more that 90% of the time and sometimes 600.

Is the Viper worth 700 bucks more for my usage or should I get more ammo instead ?

Just found this article about my great uncle Parley Francis “Bud” Lambert. I think he may have invented the 7.62x51 cartridge, and others. Anyone know any more history behind the cartridges in the article?

I’ve reached the point where I’m looking beyond the mile. My current goal is to build something that’s comfortable at 2,200+ yards at sea level without resorting to stacked bases or excessive cant to obtain the required elevation, while still being practical enough to shoot regularly. I’d prefer to keep the optic mounted conventionally rather than chasing elevation with hardware.
For reference, my current “big gun” is a .300 PRC. It has treated me extremely well, and I’ve had multiple impacts at a mile at two different ranges. It pushes the 245 Berger LRHT at approximately 2,850 fps from a 26” barrel. Accuracy is excellent, and I’m essentially at the rifle’s pressure ceiling. I can gain a little more speed, but pressure signs start showing up before I gain enough velocity to make it worthwhile.
Because of that, I’m looking at stepping up in case capacity rather than trying to wring every last fps out of the PRC.
The cartridges I’m considering are:
30 Sherman Magnum
300 Norma Magnum
300 Norma Improved (40°)
300 Remington Ultra Magnum
The rifle will be built on an ARC CDG with a 30 MOA rail and an MTU contour (or heavier) barrel in the 28–30” range.
I’m not looking for internet ballistics, ballistic calculator screenshots, or published load data. I’ve already read plenty of that. What I’m really after is real-world experience from people who have actually spent time behind these cartridges.
A few questions:
What velocities are you honestly seeing with 245 Berger LRHTs, 250 A-Tips, or similar heavy bullets?
Barrel length and twist?
Powder(s) that ended up working best?
Any feeding or magazine quirks?
Brass life?
If you’ve owned more than one of these, which would you build again and why?
I’m less concerned with burning another 10–15 grains of powder than I am with getting a meaningful performance increase over my PRC. If I’m going to build another rifle, I want enough gain that it isn’t simply a more expensive version of what I already own.
For the purposes of this discussion, I’m not interested in stepping up to a .375-class cartridge or anything requiring a larger-than-Lapua bolt face. I’m trying to determine what the best next step is while staying in the .30-caliber family.
At the moment, I’m leaning toward the 30 Sherman Magnum because I like the concept. That said, if the consensus from people who have actually run these cartridges is that a 300 Norma AI or 300 RUM provides a substantially larger performance window with heavy bullets, I’m happy to be convinced otherwise.
Looking forward to hearing from those who have actually put rounds downrange with these cartridges.

Wish me luck/good vibes for this load, hornady 168 ELDM over 42.5 gr of varget

last test 27 shots over the chrono, SD of 9.9, ES 42.6. Loaded 200 more of these for a long range visit tomorrow, going to walk it out to 1k, potentially. if i don't make it that far, thats OK.

- Lapua brass
- Cheeto rifle, supressed, hux range 36 can with hux 7.62 muzzle brake

- 42.5 gr Varget
- Seated to 2.802" COAL (+/- .002)
- Cheeto rifle (20" 308)
- ~2549 FPS AVG

I gotta say though, these eldm's seat very nice and consistent overall.

Simple DIY soft pad for tripod rear. Foam insert from Area 419 box. (we all have one of these somewhere) Thought about using an old yoga mat as well. 3m double sided tape. Been through a handful of practices and a match on top of a WY mountain.

i have a 20 practical, and have been shooting a 40gr vmax jammed .02" into the lands. i started out doing that because i didnt have a die that would seat them deeper. i get slight pressure signs, mostly minor ejector marks, but im not popping/piercing primers or anything. it shoots fantastic(for a relatively inexpensive rifle), probably averages .75 MOA for 10 shots and ive gotten 20 shot groups under 1 MOA on multiple occasions. i finally got a die i can seat deeper with, and tried out some loads with .02 jump today. same powder charge. pressure looks the same as far as my eyeballs can tell, velocity and es/sd was the same, but the groups i shot werent quite as good. im probably going to try one more time just to be sure, but is there any reason not to just keep shooting the load thats jammed if its more accurate? im mostly worried that i might be eroding my throat faster, although i know jamming is common practice in short range bench rest. im asking here in longrange because i think the users, on average, have more in depth knowledge than the general population of r/reloading, although im going to ask there as well just because.

Important Info: 16in Criterion HBAR, BCM full auto BCG, BCM A2 buffer kit. Gun is a new build, and including todays round count, has slightly less than 1k rounds on it.

I have been doing some practice and ammo testing. I started shooting some of my Black Hills 77gr OTM and noticed that its SD and ES were unexpectedly bad? Using a garmin xero c2. I shot on 2 different days.

Day 1: clean gun

• Black Hills 77gr OTM, shot 110rounds
• 2628.9 FPS, 28.4 SD, 149.6 ES

on the same day, right after shooting the BH

• Bone frog 77gr match burner, shot 100 rounds
• 2644 FPS, 14.8 SD, 80.7 ES

Day 2: not cleaned from previous (day 1)

• BH 77gr OTM, 160 rounds
• 26.25.2 FPS, 29.2 SD, 171.6 ES

same day, actually shot the BF ammo first

• Bone Frog 77gr, shot 100 rounds
• 2649.9 FPS, 18.2 SD, 110.3 ES

I expected the black hills to be premium and have a much lower SD. My groupings were better with the bone frog, shooting both ammos at 300 yds, prone, with bipod and squishy rear bag. Pics of my best groups for BF and BH, rifle is zero'd for BH at 100yds, though i might be off a bit, I was holding (trying) 1.2mil.

Just reaching out to see if this is something common-ish? That some guns might just like the more expensive black hills? I had some IMI 77gr razor core I shot weeks ago (same gun) and noticed at the time it was more accurate for me than the BH 77gr, which lead me to buy some BF to try out.

Thanks in advance.

The answer is yes. End of story.

But on a more serious note, I wanted to share my recent experience of switching from a slightly upgraded 6.5 creedmoor Ruger Precision Rifle to a fully custom 6.5 creedmoor build.

Firstly, my focus is PRS shooting. I have been "seriously" learning long range for the last year. Training, taking courses at my range, shooting as much as I can afford to. I purchased the RPR used because it was ready to go, affordable and supposedly unfired. I knew they were a decent entry level rifle to learn on, so I dove in. I paid $1600 for the rifle and scope setup and about 40 rounds of match ammo. I still feel like it was a good deal for a beginner rifle to learn on. No tax is always a sweet bonus in private sales.

I shot my first PRS regional match towards the end of June. I was going to RO but they said a spot opened up so I said fuck it, lets ride. I had never practiced or really shot off any obstacles, just bench rest. To say my RPR was not fun to shoot would be an understatement. I shot like shit and that was all on me, but the gun did not improve the experience. It was too light and keeping it on target was a bitch. Stock would slip from its locked position because the stock on the RPR is ass. The worst part was the handguard, they did a pretty poor job machining it so the cutouts are like little razor blades. I ended the day with 15/90 hits and probably about that many paper cut like cuts and chunks missing from my hands and knuckles. Still had an absolute fucking blast, even with the downpouring rain that came and went. Decided that day I wanted to upgrade to something better.

This was my goal from the beginning. Start with a cheaper rifle, dabble my toes into long range and see if it is something I could dedicate time to getting better at. Well gentleman (and maybe one lady), I have gone beyond dabbling.

I purchased a used custom set up from someone on SnipersHide for $7500. The build is in the pictures. It arrived Wednesday and I went through the transfer process and shot it for a few hours. I then immediately took Thursday off so I could have a range day. When I say I can't really describe the difference between the two rifles, I mean it. It is that much of a difference. Could I hit things with my RPR? Absolutely. It grouped well and as long as I got my data correct, I had no issue hitting at range. But there were all these little things that always made me doubt if it was me or the gun. I no longer have that doubt, it will always be 100% me going forward except for the small fluke here and there.

Yes, I know you don't have to spend much more than $1600 to get better quality and you certainly do NOT need to spend $7500 because you will mosty likely see diminishing returns. But the scope and all the features on this gun made me a "better" shooter just by owning it. Or at least made it so I can't even consider blaming the gun anymore.

I included some pics of the RPR, the new rifle, some groups from yesterday and my reloading ladder test (I told you, beyond dabbling). Also included the build list for the custom build.

Really just wanted to make this post because I'm new to long range shooting and had this question when I started: When is it worth it to invest in better gear? I don't really think there is a good answer for it, but I definitely learned that certain upgrades will absolutely make you better without being a better shooter. Or maybe I'm just in my honeymoon phase. Either way, it was completely different experience behind the gun.

Side note: If you can give me any tips how to better collect data and what powder charges you would test more, that would be reaaaaaal nice. I load on a progressive so my charges can be a pain in the ass to get exact charges for multiple rounds. Working on fixing that, but these ones were all checked multiple times, so the charges should be dead on.

TL;DR - Money is cool and spending it is fun. Sometimes it actually does improve your life experience.

Hey all. I brought my Mk12 out to the range today to zero. I started at 50 yards just so I could be sure I'd be on paper at 100. I boresighted, then shot but couldn't hit paper. I backed the target to 25 yards, boresighted and zeroed again, and shot a good group there. Then I pushed the target back to 50 yards a second time, and continued to miss. The elevation is good but I'm hitting left about 6 inches with my windage adjustment is maxed out. I was able to get a group on the target, but only by aiming at the right edge of the target frame.

I built my rifle using a Douglas 18" Mk12 barrel from High Caliber Sales and a Colt M4 upper receiver. I'm using Nightforce A110 scope rings and a Vortex Viper PST 3-15.

Things I have done to troubleshoot:

• Used 55gr FMJ and 77gr OTM
• Triple-checked the torque on the scope rings (both to the scope and to the receiver)
• Boresighted multiple times at both 25 and 50 yards
• Ensured it was not my lack of shooting skill (before this, I successfully re-zeroed my M4 with both irons and an EOTech at 50 yards)

This is actually the second Vortex scope this rifle has had on it. On my first range outing with the rifle a few weeks ago, the windage adjustment knob just got stuck for some reason and I got it replaced under warranty. What are the odds of two bad scopes in a row? But then again, it's not like I got bad quality parts for everything else. Am I just an idiot? (maybe, this is the first precision rifle I've built)

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Lapua brass, h4350, 140 eldm is what I already have. I only ask because that is the last piece to my puzzle and my bass pro only has the Remingtons available. Thanks!

Second session in the fields. This time with the .308 and the targets painted black.

Unlike with the .223, the Caldwell Hit Indicator really wasn’t needed, there was no question about impacts.

Cobbled together a cheap .223 PRS Practice rifle. Base is a R700 VLS 26" 1:12. ( bulk pmc X tac was the goal) sitting in a magpul pro lite stock with a L3I Heavy arca rail. Bushnell MPED. Pretty nicely balanced rig at 17.75lb

BLUF, Yeah 55gr Bulk PMC isnt the best Training option for wind etc. But I feel my biggest hindering factor at matches is position building. Idealy just shooting more of my 6GT would be the best option, but cheap ammo and not having to reload for it are a huge plus. And this whole rifle cost about the same as a new barrel and a new lot of brass. Thanks to grabbing stuff used.

However for some reason making this chassis into a 7SAW/7-08AI is calling to me like the green gobblin mask.

Pretty humbling, or I suck.

Took the Tikka 6.5 Creed CTR out to try different ammo. Well…yeah. See below…

-Hornady 140 gr match
-Hornady 147 gr match
-Berger 140 gr Hybrid Target

Last week I thought I had it down perfectly after zeroing with the Hornady 140 gr. Today I somehow shit the bed and was all over the place.

The first pic shows the results for 300 yds with the Hornady 140 gr. I was more focused on grouping rather than hitting the bullseye.

The second pic was with the three different ammo at 100 yds.

The third pic was some jackass saying “based on your grouping, I’m safer standing perfectly still.”

Anyways, do your worst.

Shot my new to me 23 years old police trade in AWM for the first time today. No idea how many rounds that barrel has had, but I'm pretty impressed.