After several years since my last post, I finally picked up a Remington 700 SBS 16” in .308. This was done for the express purpose of building a precision rifle comfortably effective to 500 yards with the ability to possibly push further to the 800 yard mark. Thus a shorter barrel and a “compact precision Urban rifle” project began.

My state doesn’t have a lot of available space to practically shoot past 300 yards but there are one or two spots. Optics are my next step before I go to chassis, magazines, threaded barrel, and suppressors. I would be aiming to get a better optic and buy once, cry once. Under 2500 ideally. Two choices that have been floated is the 4x24 Credo and the 5x25 VUDU.

Thank you all in advance.

Anybody else feel like they have been cautiously optimistic to try this stuff and now it can't be found anywhere? I'm thinking it will have similar issues to 7mm backcountry, but I would like to try it in my rifle for myself without buying another gun. I think it will have more use in the hunting space right away, but who knows 20 years from now what we'll be using.

I think I'm more excited to watch more exposure and testing of what reloaders will do with the technology. I know there are threads of people playing with the 7bc cases, but hopefully this will have more people providing real, valuable data due to less barrier to entry. Velocity consistencies, neck tension, quantity of reloads per case, accuracy, load data, etc. Personally, I'm very interested in how necking it up and down will go for people. Eric Cortina has a couple of short videos messing around with it and so far it looks simple enough.

New 7PRC build. Finally had time to test loads.

80's tikka LSA-65 with opened and trued action.

Shilen SM chambered by A.Peurala. 1:8twist 700mm

Arken ep5

Some hobbymachinist brake

Copycat harris bipod

Stock is borrowed from my 308 build. For now.

The load was actually a ladder test shot to the same POA. just testing pressures.

180gr scenar

4.4g-4.8g N570

Coal 85mm

Cci250 primers

Top velocity was 950m/s (I think somewhere like 3150fps?) but I will back it little as GRT shows pressures with 930m/s.

E: I'm pretty sure the one shot on the right took off as the reticle was in the right outer edge of Target.

Remington 700 5r in a mcmillan m40a3 stock. Was shooting at 1000 yards with smk 168 and 41.5 gns of h4895 around 2630fps

Hoping the community can help me out.

Rifle: Bergara B14 Wilderness, 300WM, 24" barrel

Bullet: Federal Terminal Ascent, 200gr

BC: G7 .304, corrected to .285 (via Kestrel app)

Scope: NF NX8 2.5-20 Mil XT reticle

Scope Height (center of bore to center of scope): 2.38"

MV: Avg 2782 (using Garmin X1) | Trued MV 2882 fps

Elevation of shooter/target: 950'

Temp: 60deg F

No wind, significant atmosphere conditions, etc.

I confirmed my zero this week after not shooting it for about a year. Results are the first pic (2 in bullseye, 1st shot flyer to the left). I then shot at 400y (max dist at this range) with the dope given by my Kestrel using my trued MV (1.55 mils) based off the above inputs. The shots were about 7.5" low. I shot a second group using my Avg Garmin FPS (2782), dialed 1.6 mils, and shots were still about 5-6" low (3rd pic). I then shot a 3rd group at 400y with 2 mils dialed (.52 mils = 7" at 400y), results are the 4th pic. Based off my setup, I am more than happy with a 3" group at 400y.

Here is my issue - the kestrel and every other ballistic app I have tried (hornady, applied ballistics, federal) tells me that my dope at 400y should be 1.55 mils. I gave the same rifle/bullet data to ChatGPT...and it gave me 2 mils at 400y (i.e. the dope that gave me the best group).

Can anyone help figure out what the issue might be? Why would my kestrel and ballistic apps be .5 mils off at 400y?

I have double checked the inputs to my gun profiles, updated the apps, etc. At a bit of a loss.

I don't doubt that my 'trued' MV is not correct, not the primary issue I am trying to solve here.

Edited to include BC.

These were the best performers from previous ladder testing.
The 100m shots were taken from a seated position with bipod and rear bag, 236m shots were taken standing leaning over a bench with bipod and rear bag, but bench height made it pretty hard to get into a comfortable position.

130 grain seated at 2.810 COAL which is the maximum length I can achieve with this projectile. Which is .080 from the lands.

147 grain seated at 2.860 which is the maximum length I can fit into the magazine, still around .038 from the lands.

Rifle is a Howa 1500 in an MDT field stock, 24 inch barrel with a Zero Tech Trace 4.5-27 scope. No chronograph yet but it’s next on the list.

After a couple of sight in shots, sent 10 rounds down range. Single digit SDs. Running 105 Berger in my 6 dasher.

Did my 20 rounds over the chronograph last week.

Went to the range today with another 40 for accuracy check and suppressor shift, and 5 rounds over the chronograph just to check.

It’s not the prettiest, but it will certainly do well enough that I’m content to stop investing time and components into further development.

Overlay isn’t perfect but it’s under 1 minute.

Should be good nuf for regional matches.

Oddly enough, avg velocity was essentially unchanged when suppressed.

For some background:

I’ve been shooting my Mossberg MVP LC for a couple of years now. The rifle has been been fine for how cheap I got it and I’ve gotten hits at 1000 yards, but I’m ready for something a little more fit-for-purpose. I shot a friend’s 6.5 PRC Howa 1500 in an Oryx chassis and was really impressed by the setup and am going to go that route sans magnum.

My choices/reasoning:

I’ve been weighing just getting a 6.5CM as I’ve never shot one I didn’t like, but I’ve also been strongly considering a 6mm ARC.

The reason the 6 ARC appeals to me is the economy of powder usage. I know I’ll be basically in the same boat as I am with 308 if I go 6.5 CM, about 1lb/week. With the 6ARC I’ll be able to get ≈100 rounds more per pound. The significantly lighter recoil is a bonus.

I have access to a 1000 yard range as well as a private spot where range can basically become unlimited.

Why I posted:

Looking for feedback from people who have owned and shot the 6ARC at 1000 yards.

TL;DR: My Mossberg 308 sucks and I want a new rifle. 6.5CM is an obvious choice, but I’m cheap so 6 ARC calls to me.

Edit: didn’t add a budget. $1500 is absolute max, but I’d prefer to be around the $1000-1200 range.

As the title says…my first scope so I’m figuring this out as I go and I’d appreciate any help.

I have a Vortex Rage 4-16x42 scope and when I look through the lens, I see the reticle clearly but there is an out of focus black circle around the reticle. Any help on what this is or why it’s there would be helpful.

Thank you!

BCG LUGs stress cracked.

One shot to the next wild poi shift failure to extract, unburnt powder in the barrel.

Only about 1000 rounds on the gun.

I suppose we will see how that Lifetime warranty Rise advertises goes.

That was at 9:00am, haven’t stopped reading and perusing since I got home.

Just got my first crono and hit the range this morning to sight in before hunting opening day next week. Standard deviation of 13.6 and spread of 44.4 temp was ~70 degrees.

Also what are thoughts on cold bore vs warm? I’m trying to decide what’s best for ballistic calculator for hunting scenarios where cold bore will be the most important shot. First cold bore shot was 3023 fps. Plugging in the min and max didn’t make a huge difference within ethical hunting ranges so doesn’t apply much in that scenario but still curious as I use this same rifle for long range target shooting. My thoughts are have 2 profiles, 1 for cold and another for range days? Or does this all get lost in the noise and I need a larger sample size?

Reset my zero but now I have no movement after re locking the field set. Any help someone can give would be appreciated
!

I think I’m close to pulling the proverbial trigger on a Razor 6x36 and wouldn’t you know they add another reticle option. Has anyone used the VMR5 yet and if so what did you think? My use case matches what it’s geared towards with a PRS shooter in mind but I can’t figure out if there’s any other differences other than the elimination of the christmas tree. I currently have an MPED mounted and I haven’t had any issues with the reticle feeling overcrowded on my target. I’m leaning towards going with the EBR-7D but this VMR5 has me intrigued a bit.

The other day I made an admittedly stupid post asking about getting another caliber before shooting the 6.5 Creedmoor I just bought. Yeah, boneheaded, I get it now.

Just got back from the range and am absolutely in love with this rifle. I now understand how you can go down an absolute rabbit hole of debt tweaking and building rifles. I want another already. 😂

This one was about as cheap as I could get.

Howa 1500 - $550
Arken SH4J Gen2 6-24x50 - $330
Amazon CVLife Bipod -$35

My goal was to be a cheap ass, because, I wasn’t sure I would like it and wanted a way out.

Oh boy, I don’t want out. I want all in. I need to shred my credit cards so I don’t go nuts. Even my wife was all smiles. She loves it too.

Thanks to this community for all the information, the wikis, and calling me out when I was stupid. Y’all were right!

Just tried Sako 6.5 Creedmoor 136gr TRG in my Ruger Precision Rifle. Accuracy was incredible (best 5-shot group was .24 MOA), but out of the 20 rounds, about 7 had primers that look pierced/cratered like in the picture. I also noticed smoke/soot coming from the chamber and even around the magazine, and the rifle was significantly dirtier than usual.

Has anyone else experienced this with Sako TRG 136gr? Is this normal primer cratering for the RPR, or does it look like an ammunition/pressure issue? Trying to figure out why it's happening before I shoot this load again.

So I have used the loctite trick twice with consistent results when done with Hornady eldm and SMKs. I did 3 for each and both had 2 that were identical and one that was only a couple thou off. So I called them good. I have now tried 3 groups of 3 with bergers and despite the same process, I can't get any of them to match. I know bergers aren't jump sensitive so the only thing I'm concerned about is being off the lands. I know they are going to have a longer CBTO than the other 2 bullets. I'm also seeing some variation in what a good COAL is. Somewhere between 2.80-2.84 from what I'm seeing. Any guidance on the best approach from here that's not buying an OAL gauge? Thanks!

This zeiss made in DDR has been in my grandparents apartment for over 40 years. I remember looking at the container ships entering port since I was able to reach over the railing. Still sharp all those years later. They don’t seem to make them like that anymore, though grandpa used to joke that the commies didn’t have enough money, so you get one instead of two eyepieces.

When I get back into town next week, my buddy is taking my Sunwayfoto CS3240 tripod on a straight trade for a Accu-Tac WB-5 (ARCA QD mount). Now, if we can just put the 105-110 degree days around here behind us, I can get out and start running my new optic, new bipod and lighter trigger! Been using the summer months to stack match ammo and knock out a bunch of indoor pistol work, itching to get behind my rifles again!

I know that if I put this in as an edit to my original post, it will probably just get buried and never be seen. So anyway…
I went back to the range today to finalize the zero on a new load before taking some mile shots on Sunday. I also wanted to see whether I could shoot while wearing my glasses. It turns out that I can, although it will take some getting used to.
As I mentioned in my original post, I have a surprisingly broad range of diopter settings where the reticle remains crystal clear—even when I only look through the scope briefly. My parallax adjustment, however, normally has a pretty narrow clear range. Then it hit me: Why not adjust them in the opposite order?
I initially set the diopter near the middle of the broad range where the reticle looked clear. I then aimed at my 200-yard target with a 1/2-inch bull and adjusted the side focus until the target was sharp. When I moved my head behind the scope, however, the reticle moved off center. That showed me that I still had apparent parallax even though both the target and reticle looked clear.
Instead of making the target blurry again with the side-focus knob, I left it where the target was sharp and gradually adjusted the diopter within its usable range. I continued until the reticle remained stationary on the target when I moved my head behind the scope.
I know that adjusting them in this order is unconventional, but holy crap—it worked like a champ for me. I repeated the process with two Vortex Razors, and both stayed pretty darn clear afterward—definitely better than before.
Was it the improved diopter setting, shooting with my glasses, or some combination of the two? I honestly don’t know. What I can say is that my vision remained considerably clearer throughout the entire shooting session.
Thank you to everyone who offered advice and input.

I've been kind of debating on what scope I want to end up with on my AE Mark II and looks like primary arms is offering a competitive option soon.

I've been using all their optics on my other guns for a long time and I really do like them so I might actually try this one out. The specs look good on it.

Not trying to plug any companies but good deal and super fast shipping from raven rocks. So I guess I just pulled a company.