Range Report 338 Lapua solids

[Dark Horse]

So is any data at 300 yards reliable to use as a reference at ranges to 1000 yards and beyond? Or do solids have a mind of their own? I know we don't judge accuracy with 3 rd groups but I acquired some HSM loaded with 230 gr T50 solid brass bullets and did some quick testing at 300. Three 3 shot groups averaged 1.4" but that was as far as I could shoot today. Will take it out to 600 in the coming weeks but I've heard some negative info about solids at longer ranges. Just wondering what to expect.

Rifle is a TRG-42 with a Broughton 9.3 twist.

 

[Tactical]

My use with solids is around 408 and 375 Chey Tacs. If barrel is set up for them they work great. If not good luck. Never ran them in 338 Lapua. I stick with 300 grain Scenars and they work very well for me

 

[Lowlight]

See our Gunsite test, we shot a whole bunch of solids out to 1500m on paper ... In my opinion, the majority of them are not worth the effort. The best I saw were the Dynamic Research Predator Solids. I also shot an entire GunSite XLR class with them and they held their own.

http://www.snipershide.com/[email protected]

Gunsite XLR & 338 Bullet Test

 

[bhart89]

Is penetration the benefit of going to a solid brass bullet over a lead/copper jacketed bullet?

 

[Dark Horse]

See our Gunsite test, we shot a whole bunch of solids out to 1500m on paper ... In my opinion, the majority of them are not worth the effort. The best I saw were the Dynamic Research Predator Solids. I also shot an entire GunSite XLR class with them and they held their own.

http://www.snipershide.com/[email protected]

Gunsite XLR & 338 Bullet Test

I did see the article Frank, which was one of the reasons why I've stayed away from them. Didn't remember seeing the HSM load/bullet tested so I was wondering if we were progressing in the area or if it was still a crapshoot. I thought their performance at 300 was comparable to anything else I've fed through the gun but if they go to shit beyond 1000 then I'm probably done with them.

 

[Dogtown]

I tried pushing the 245gr Lehigh solids pretty fast in hopes that the predicted BC would match real world performance, but didn't get the results I'd hoped for. Solids can sometimes have improved penetration over jacketed lead bullets (depending on material composition), but the main reason people tend to shoot them is that they tend to have higher BCs than jacketed lead bullets. My first exposure to shooting solids was some .50BMG ammo we shot with the IDF back in the early 90s and later the LRBT solids with my .408CT - in both cases there really weren't any high BC bullets available, so solids were a natural choice. Times have changed a bit and I think people also consider how finicky solids can be, so they are less popular with cartridges that have a wide variety of high performance bullets available. For that reason, we'll still see them common with .375CT and .408CT but less with .50BMG and .338LM. I've even shot some .308WIN solids, but they didn't give an edge over a Scenar or SMK that I noticed.