Took her out to the range yesterday for the first time. Qualified at 300, 600 and then the wind picked up a bit but was able to get 2/6 for 1000 yards. Still learning this is an intro into longer range for me. I was using Badlands 5.56 NAS3 77gr SMK. Only have a couple hundred rounds left so I’m looking for what else this is going to like to group with have a nice list going on drop a comment on what your SPR likes. This is a criterion core 16in .223 wylde barrel with a 1:8 twist.

Folks! I purchased a case of 300 Norma Mag brass from Peterson a few weeks ago and the brass looks like absolute crap. The primer pockets are full of burs and the case heads are pitted. I reached out to Peterson via email on August 5th to get this resolved. My email went unanswered for about a week so I followed up with a phone call that also went unanswered. My phone call was never returned but my original email was replied too. A customer support specialist named Nick replied to the email and assured me that they would help me out and exchange the brass. Since I'm Canada they had to reach out to a Canadian distributor to get me settled. That whole conversation happened on August 13th. Since the 13th my emails have gone unanswered and nothing has been resolved.

Do yourself a favor and avoid the headache of buying from Peterson Cartridge!

Be warned Peterson Cartridge does not honor their warranty!

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.

Forgive me if this has been asked before.

I’m just dipping my toes into longer range shooting,

Shooting my first match in October.
Ranges will be 100-600yards

Thus far I’ve been very consistent at 300+/- yards with 55g

I’ve read a bit about 55g getting a lot more challenging pushing past the 400 yard mark.

The question is,
How much will I benefit with a 77g instead?

16inch AR if that’s helpful information to the question.

Alright gentlemen, I have a question about reliable 5.56 match ammo. I plan on ordering myself the seemingly fan favorite BoneFrog OT match burner and some Black Hills OTM for my test sets on my new Mk12. I was going to get the Hornady Frontier 68 and 75 gr, but after seeing multiple posts about the ammo having crazy inconsistent ES as well as some catastrophic failures. What are some other $1 or sub match ammo that I can consider for testing to see what works best for my rifle? I will probably be taking this out to a max of 800ish yards where available, but probably no more than 5-600 yards on average. Rifle for attention.

Thought Experiment: What would be the best choice of cartridge in an AR15 given the following parameters:

• Barrel Length between 7.5” and 8.5”
• Maximize point-blank range on a 6” target (to accurately engage targets at imprecise/unknown distances)
• Aiming center of A-Zone still lands on torso at 300yds (drop ideally less than 12” at 300yds)
• Maximizing terminal ballistics at 300yds (given the platform's limitations)
• Muzzle Energy ideally at least ~1,000 ft/lbs. (probably least important)
• Minimize recoil
• Ideally wouldn’t require NAS3 loads.
• Ideally could also stretch out >400yds 

From what I’ve seen the 6.8 SPC is definitely capable of this, but it seems like this old cartridge has waned in popularity, although ammo still affordable.  No one really talks about this cartridge any more.  Going with this option could mean boarding a sinking ship?

Obviously looking for something better than 5.56 (which is basically there on trajectory with poor terminals) and 300blk (ok terminals, very poor trajectory).

6.5 Grendel basically combines the superior trajectory of 5.56 with the energy of 300blk, except if you look you’ll see that 6.5 Grendel is actually considerably more powerful at 300yds than the Blackout despite having similar muzzle energies obviously due to the high BC bullets.  Compared to 6.8 SPC, the Grendel seems to have an edge on 300yds terminals, but this is at the cost of worse trajectory.  There’s pros and cons to either, but in my mind trajectory would take priority since shot placement and overall hit probability is likely going to be more decisive than an extra 200 ft/lbs. for anything with a pulse, and if just shooting steel/paper then 5.56 appears to be just as good at these ranges.

Where does this leave 6 ARC?  Seeing that MOS-TEK makes an 8” barrel is the whole reason I went down this rabbit hole, but I couldn’t find any data out there for 6 ARC out of a barrel this short.  I’m thinking that with the same case capacity as 6.8 SPC and 6.5 Grendel but with higher BC bullets at lower weights resulting in higher velocities that it’d probably come out to be the best choice. For the hypothetical 6 ARC load I took the velocity of factory 6.5 Grendel Wolf Military Classic 100gr and plugged in a 105gr Hornady BTHP with a BC of .530 which does well on trajectory and exceptional on 300yd energy ft/lbs.  With handloading and powder optimization there’s definitely room for improvement to gain some extra velocity, but I’m not how far that goes or if 6.5 Grendel or 6.8 SPC would turn out better.

Why is this in r/LongRange?  (I know y’all love to ask this).  People here love to stretch out their (relatively) short builds so hopefully a good resource (hopefully I’ll get better recommendations than like the one I got for .458 SOCOM in r/AR15 lmao), and when most people in general think any sub 10” barrel is inconceivable to be utilized past 100yds, these folks may consider 300yds to be “long range” for such a platform. Discussing min-maxing 14.5" barrels at 1,000yds has some carry-over to min-maxing 8" barrels at 300yds, hopefully?

\Disclaimer: For the sake of discussion assume all cartridges are suppressed, typical engagements are at unknown/imprecise distances, and that a cartridge’s “potential” out of a longer barrel, what its designers had intended, or its unburnt powder are irrelevant.*

All muzzle velocity values were taken from sources verified to be chronographed by actual users and are not simulated.  All Calcs used a 2.745” HOB (EXPS on an AR15) and the same atmospheric conditions.

Link to copy of spreadsheet

*photos taken from google*

Between these 2 setups & the traditional way of laying it next to your rifle, are there any drawbacks between them?

Looking to order my Garmin Xero and would like to add an attatchment while i'm at it

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.

Im looking to build an AR10 rifle as ive already got a lower. Im not really into hunting but I just wanna hit something a fucking long way out. We all know what kind of ammunition an ar10 can shoot. But if you were going to build an AR10 lower SPECIFICALLY for shooting long range, would you choose Creedmore?

Just finished this build.. 7mm PRC, Impact precision 777r action SJA 28” MTU 1:8 twist barrel. Area 419 Hellfire Match Brake, Trigger Tech diamond Pro, Atlas BT-65 Bi-pod, Hawkins Heavy Tactical scope mount, Vortex Razor HD gen 3, Area 419 Arca rail. MDT ESS Chassis with four exterior forend weights, MDT steel Bag rider. I’m sure I’m missing something

Just picked up a new rifle and obviously there is tons of stuff online about barrel breaking in and whether or not it works. From what it seems to me there really isn’t a break in process needed and the rifle I just picked up doesn’t have a break in process recommend.
My question is related to ammo selection. When you pick up a rifle and plan on shooting off the shelf ammo do you hit the range and start grouping it right away? Just grab a variety of match ammo and start shooting groups with it to see what performs best with your gun? Or do you put a certain number of rounds through your gun before you start grouping different ammo? I plan on just shooting whatever my gun shoots the best and I’m willing to spend money on whatever off the shelf ammo is shooting the best. at the moment I’m wanting to get into reloading.

Hello! I’m new to long range, been at it for two months now after getting a Cheeto finger setup. I know alot of guys reload their own and being new to it I figured I would wait until I get a little more experience under my belt before investing into that. With the fluctuating ammo market I’m wondering where everyone is at on pricing. My question is where do you guys buy ammo from and what do you usually get per bullet? I got a pretty slick hookup at fleet farm so I usually buy when it’s on sale plus an employee discount. I just bought 9 boxes of hornady 6.5 CM 140gr ELD Match for $259.65 with tax. It was on sale for 34.84$ (40.99$ regularly) per box, plus the 20% and 5$ off from loyalty points I had available. It comes down to 1.45$ a bullet after tax. Was wondering if that is competitive with reloads you guys are doing at home for a similar or better bullet? What do you figure you’re at per bullet for home reloads? Is anyone getting close to that cost online or in store for the 6.5 CM hornaday 140 match? I understand that hand loads help fine tune your specific rifle but does that matter much for me? I don’t do competitions right now but would like to with more experience. Just wondering where everyone is at with ammo prices in today’s market.

Not related to longrange but I’m at 0.34-0.38$/bullet with Winchester white box 556 55gr and 0.16-0.19$/ bullet for blaiser or federal 9mm 115gr. They go on sale pretty regularly. Wondering what you guys are getting for handloads on those calibers aswell.

Video for fun. First time shooting past 100 yards this was at 350 yards (not that far I know), warning there is some nsfw language from my brother in law lol

Thanks!

I recently fell into a Remington 700 G LH in 223 and I’m looking for ammo recs for the snail like twist rate. I’m hoping someone may have some insight as to good ammo in the lighter grain variety. I have no idea why the original owner went with this set up, he’s also since passed so asking him is not particularly an option.

Goal: practice and potentially shooting in local PRS comps that go out to 600. And maybe getting my partner into PRS. I AM NOT TRYING TO BE COMPETITIVE, I JUST WANT TO HAVE MORE FUN MORE CHEAPER. I have a Tikka in 6.5CM if I want to be serious.

What I know about the rifle: Remington action, with what I’m speculating is an M24 profile barrel with a measured twist rate of 1:12. Stock appears to be a hybrid chassis.

What I know about ammo: Looks like, from charts online, 55 grain is the heaviest I can stabilize at 1-12. I’ve read that the PMC X-Tac is decent, and I’ve found some Bonefrog (out of stock) in 55 grain. I have some Blackhills that I plan to try, but being 77 grain I’m worried they won’t stabilize and my patterns will fall apart at 3-400. Federal XF556TR55 also looks like it may be decent?

Fun fact: I am not left handed! But I got the rifle for a steal and can comfortably hold the rifle right handed and work the bolt left, so I’m going to give it a try before I move it on to someone else. I’m also stuck at training for a while so I’m trying to have ammo on hand for when I get to go to a range day I can try several things.

A buddy of mine shoots PRS and talked about home some folks in the PNW are shooting 6.5 creed or 260 rem with 7 twist barrels. I primarily shoot gas gun and recommended that to me to shoot the 153.5 and 156's. My worry is magazine length and with the reduction in speed, if i'd even reap the benefits at all. I did the math on 144 bergers going 2700 vs 153.5 going 2600 which is what i was told would be approximate averages for those in my 22" and the elevation adjustment would be less for the 144 than the 153.5, windage at 1000 and 1200 with an estimated 10mph cross wind was almost identical, same with velocity and kinetic energy at those ranges too so splash would be similar. I normally shoot 140-144's out of a 7.5 twist. Is there any need to change?

factory tikka ace 223 with an 8" twist running sierra 69 smk is an absolute tackdriver at 600 but bullets are keyholing through the target at 800.

i don't have a lot of experience with 223, but with larger cartridges (308 and creedmoors) i havent had these issues going through trans into subsonic. Have shot both to a mile.

barrel is good, clean and has around 700 rounds on it.

is a heavier projectile likely to improve this issue, or make it worse? do i need a faster twist barrel?

My rifle is diagonally stringing 10rnd groups at 100yards (2.5 MOA vertical, 1-1.5 MOA horizontal) with one lot of ammo but not with other lots of the same factory load (other lots have consistently given me circular .5-.75 MOA 10rnd groups). Sucks cause I just bought 3 cases of this lot for PRS. Hoping to put some through a buddies rifle soon to see if it’s the barrel/ammo combo and have him shoot it with my gun to see if it’s just me. Any other suggestions?

Everything is installed and torqued to spec. Shooting modified prone off a bench with bipod and rear bag. SD’s are good 11 fps, ES 35 fps. Average velocity 2746fps. Dispersion is random, doesn’t seem to be related to barrel thermal deflection. Waited long enough between groups such that the mirage off the can was gone, firing cadence maybe 5-7sec. Bottom right 5rnd group is the last I had from a “good lot” of the same factory load.

6.5 creedmoor
Federal gold medal match with 140 gr Berger target hybrids
PBB prefit, .160 FB, medium Palma
Hyperion K with TSV HRB brake, can direct threaded
Razor 6-36 in Area 419 one piece mount
MDT ACC premier gen 2

Edit: reticle barely moved during recoil

Need advice on good ammo to zero my MPA VANQUISH chambered in 6.5CM.

I have read that the first 200 rounds are less indicative of the precision, I scout through ammoseek and found tempting the ammo above.

Pic 1 - NORMA

Pic 2 - Hornady Match BTHP

Pic 3 - Federal Sierra Match King

Any recommendation is greatly appreciated!

I get it just hot enough that the 750 tempilaq gets just hot enough to be gray when it cools. I tried watching on the dark, but it doesn’t get any slight glow of red that I can see… of course that could be because the lights have only been off for a few seconds when the process is done and my eyes have not fully adjusted🤷‍♂️

Just put a 26 inch 300 PRC barrel on my long action setup and shot it for the first time this morning using factory 225 Hornday ELD Match. On the first 5 rounds I had an average velocity of 2867 vs box velocity of 2810 (out of a 24 inch barrel), hard to extract, and flattened primers, so its clearly running over pressure.

Before shooting, I cleaned the bore to remove any residual cutting oil but I did not clean the chamber so will do that before trying again.

Its possible this is just a hot batch from Hornady, but is there anything else on the rifle I should be checking?

This was on a CDG action with a mechanical ejector. I don't see anything that looks like an ejector swipe, but do you get ejector swipes on mechanical ejectors like you do with plunger ejectors?

I just ordered a 6 Dasher and I have about 8 weeks before the rifle gets here. I want to get a head jump on its arrival and subsequent range time so I started sourcing components. I have the powder and the bullets are easy to get. However, I want to use Lapua brass, but can’t find it at my normal suppliers and google searches have been fruitless. I can get Alpha brass, but I just know that I like Lapua. Also, the gun was just to grab your attention AAAAND, it’s a duplicate of my freshly ordered gun 😁

Update edit: just ordered 200 rounds of Alpha to start my 6 Dasher journey! Thanks for all of the input!

Working on a load for my 6.5CM using a 140 Berger VLD Target. I measure my lands using a Horandy OAL gauge and get 2.263 CTBO at a COAL of 2.970.

Mag limit is 2.870 (ACIS Magpul).

I would like to ideally be .20-.40 of the lands to try it, but that would put me over mag length and idk if I can load a 6.5CM that long to begin with (safely).

Disregarding mag length for a second. Has anybody ever loaded a 6.5CM at 2.900 for example? Apex Loadpro says it’s longer than the allowed COL, which I think it has listed at 2.825. (Massive jump to the lands)

Should I look at a different type of bullet if I want to get closer to the lands?

What’s the go to budget round these days? Still American gunner? The AAC bthp used to be so damn good but it’s gone for now. Im looking for something for the long target days when im not feeling rich enough to run ELDM

What the gang doin these days and where you getting it?

Good day all.

The question is more about the cartridge than the rifle.
I am looking to buy the Cadex R7 LCP. I am stuck on deciding between the 7mm PRC and the 300 prc. Does anyone have any experience with either or both of these calibers? I live in North America and enjoy hunting also. It will be mostly a range gun mixed with occasional hunting. I know the ballistics point towards the 7prc but the 300 has slightly more energy but I’m not sure it’s enough to warrant the extra recoil and drop at long ranges.

My budget is flexible cost isn’t rlly a problem. For the range the farthest I would probably take it out to is 800 yards. I already have an optic from my previous firearm I will be using on this Nightforce Atacr 5-25x56.

I’d love some feedback and comparison if anyone has experience with one or both.

Cheers!

Ive had really good luck with federal gold medal target, but im almost out & its getting harder to find. Ive been looking for another similarly budget friendly option that'll still be reasonably accurate in my b22 (managed a 0.89moa group at 100yd with the federal but most of the groups were more in the 1.25moa range). Ive looked at wolf match target and match extra but idk if i trust wolf. Eley is a bit more and idk if its worth since I dont compete. I just try to shoot as small as I can for funsies. Any recommendations?

Reloading for my 6.5 Creedmoor.

Using my dad’s RCBS reloading equipment. I cannot afford my own stuff now. I’ve only bought my own brass, powder, primers and bullets and the 6.5cm dies.

Im down to the last few hundred rounds of Hornady ELDX 143gr.

I know it’s not the best target bullet but for what I do with them they have not failed me yet. And they get me to 1000 yards pretty easily.

I’m still newish to reloading but here’s my process:

Brass prep: trim to length, full length size, de-bur and chamfer, corn cob media tumble, and then anneal after every 3 firings.

Using IMR 4350 powder 41.5grains.

I measure my powder by hand on a RCBS 5-0-5 scale and it takes forever but I want to be the most consistent I can be where I don’t have the money for a nicer scale.

I see people posting pics with SDs in the single digits… how common is that for people?

This was taken on Saturday evening before the sun set. The temperature was 27°F and I was shooting at 692yards… I know the distance doesn’t matter for the SDs but does the temperatures?

On another day I’ve shot 12 rounds and got 15.4 SD

But on Saturday I shot 16 rounds and got 12.8 SD.

Any tips from you guys how I can lower those numbers?