Best caliber / cartridge for 1,000 to 1,500 yards
- Thread starter bodhisafa
- Start date
Couldn't leave well enough alone now could you? Just had to up and poke the bear.
300 WM.......... Your options are endless and it won't break the bank. Take your extra $$$ and invest in optics.
.300 PRC will be easy at those ranges.
Or .300WM if you want old school
Or .300WM if you want old school
Lots of options for that distance. 6.5 prc on up. 7 saum, 7prc, 300 prc. Even 6.5 Creedmoor is a reasonable choice if you have it already. 140 gr going 2800 only takes 15 mils at 1500 and just going subsonic.
Which one is best? Dunno. They'll all get the job done.
If I was building something for those distances, I'd probably build a 7 saum loaded long.
Which one is best? Dunno. They'll all get the job done.
If I was building something for those distances, I'd probably build a 7 saum loaded long.
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" Best " don't exist...
At the moment / cause im a lil old school..
Id say 300 win mag.
Tunes easy! Versatile! Kills stuff Deaded!!
At the moment / cause im a lil old school..
Id say 300 win mag.
Tunes easy! Versatile! Kills stuff Deaded!!
And if putting the rifle together don't be stupid and get a 22" or 24" barrel. People talk about "I want long range" and then cry and say they need it "handy". Get free velocity with a 28-30" barrel. It will help at those ranges to make your job easier. Be smart. That goes for whatever cartridge you choose.
a 406 mm
you should be able to easily spot your misses lol
you should be able to easily spot your misses lol
Kind of like when you see folks running around with .338LM rifles that have 20" barrels...
Ok Ok, I will chime in again.
7mm Mag. with a 26" barrel twist in 10, 168gr Sierra HPBT Match King pushed by 66.5 grains of IMR4350.
.300 H&H Mag. with a 26" barrel twist in 10, 200gr Sierra HPBT Match King pushed by 70 grains of H4831.
.30-338 with a 28" barrel twist in 12, 190 gr Sierra HPBT Match King pushed by 66 grains of IMR4350.
.300 Win. Mag. with 26" barrel twist in 10, 190gr Sierra HPBT Match King pushed by 66.7 grains of IMR 4350.
.308 Norma Mag. 26" barrel twist in 10, 190gr Sierra HPBT Match King pushed by 66 grains IMR4350.
The above were used by both civilian and military shooters to win the Wimbledon Cup Match at Camp Perry in the past. The information was shared freely by the military shooters during the seminars that were put on during the High Power Matches so in addition to taking notes you could buy a copy of a synopsis of the seminars to use as a reference.
Of interest there was a shooter that had won in the past using a .30-06 with 26" barrel twist in 10, 200gr Sierra HPBT Match King pushed by 54 grains of IMR4831.
So there you go.
7mm Mag. with a 26" barrel twist in 10, 168gr Sierra HPBT Match King pushed by 66.5 grains of IMR4350.
.300 H&H Mag. with a 26" barrel twist in 10, 200gr Sierra HPBT Match King pushed by 70 grains of H4831.
.30-338 with a 28" barrel twist in 12, 190 gr Sierra HPBT Match King pushed by 66 grains of IMR4350.
.300 Win. Mag. with 26" barrel twist in 10, 190gr Sierra HPBT Match King pushed by 66.7 grains of IMR 4350.
.308 Norma Mag. 26" barrel twist in 10, 190gr Sierra HPBT Match King pushed by 66 grains IMR4350.
The above were used by both civilian and military shooters to win the Wimbledon Cup Match at Camp Perry in the past. The information was shared freely by the military shooters during the seminars that were put on during the High Power Matches so in addition to taking notes you could buy a copy of a synopsis of the seminars to use as a reference.
Of interest there was a shooter that had won in the past using a .30-06 with 26" barrel twist in 10, 200gr Sierra HPBT Match King pushed by 54 grains of IMR4831.
So there you go.
What I gather from that is I need to load 66 grains of IMR4350...
Those loads and bullets are from the way "past". LOL So many better bullet options now.
Exactly.
I haven't shot the Wimbledon Cup Match, or for that matter the Leech Cup Match in a long time so the only notes I have are from the "past' as you have so rightly noted.
I almost shudder to think of how antiquated and old school my stuff is as well as the knowledge I bring to the table. Guess I'll have to sit at the kiddie table at Thanksgiving from now on.
If only Mr. Peabody could fire up the 'Way Back Machine' I would have a ball at Camp Perry with what I know now.
The best of anything is mostly speculation unless something can be proven to be the best. A better title would be "what would you use for 1000-1500 yard paper punching and why".
I would use a 7mm pushing 190s 2950fps. I would expect barrel life to be short. The reason I would use what ever cartridge that could get me there is it would have a great balance of wind drift vs recoil.
That is if 338 Lap is offthe table, your wife's a blond and you drive a Honda Ridgeline.
I would use a 7mm pushing 190s 2950fps. I would expect barrel life to be short. The reason I would use what ever cartridge that could get me there is it would have a great balance of wind drift vs recoil.
That is if 338 Lap is offthe table, your wife's a blond and you drive a Honda Ridgeline.
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That Mr Peabody reference probably went over some heads too. Lol
LOL... that was pretty much the go to powder several decades ago for the larger capacity cases and/or heavier bullets. It was not unusual to buy a 20 pound keg of IMR 4895 for .308 or .30-06 for everything out to 600 yards and then have a keg of IMR 4350 for 600 yards and beyond. Of course the .308 was getting a bit tuckered out past 800 yards though.
IMR 4064 also had its fair share of aficionados but I just used what was available and/or affordable. Unfortunately neither seems to be the case now.
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6.5 CM is the easy button to 1k but not to 1.5k especially not with wind.
Something in the .300 PRC or .300 WM or similar class would be the easy button for 1.5k
6.5 PRC would be interesting, but I see .300 PRC ammo a lot more than the 6.5 version and for cheaper prices.
Yup I have shot my Creedmoor to a mile but it sure wasn’t as easy as doing it with my 7mmRM with 180 ELDs. Lol
OP- what do you have now?
6.5 creed maybe common and usable, but far from the "best". The best would honestly probably be something that starts with a .4, be going Mach Jesus and pushing a bullet that looks like the penetrator out of a 120 round. Just because it's usually used at 3000 yards doesn't mean that it's not applicable at 1500.
Reason dictates a round thats not $7 a shot, doesn't take a 2 man crew to move and doesn't cost as much as a used corvette. Unless all that is cool with you, then go full mongo.
6.5 creed maybe common and usable, but far from the "best". The best would honestly probably be something that starts with a .4, be going Mach Jesus and pushing a bullet that looks like the penetrator out of a 120 round. Just because it's usually used at 3000 yards doesn't mean that it's not applicable at 1500.
Reason dictates a round thats not $7 a shot, doesn't take a 2 man crew to move and doesn't cost as much as a used corvette. Unless all that is cool with you, then go full mongo.
I actually liked 4064 as it had good load density in .308 and .30-06 but sometimes it was not easy to get ahold of so would go with whatever was on hand. Also I found that 4064 was best measured as opposed to 'thrown' due to it being kind of a longer stick powder.
Yes. But a big difference between 1000 yards and 1500. F class shooters us what is tolerable for 3-4 relays a day, with good accuracy. Another also use 300 wsm, especially at the 1000 yard line. If it wasn't for the weight limit I imagine more shooters would shoot bigger cartridges.
I still wouldn't object to 284/284 Sheehan at 1500 yards. Better than a creed....
If you are shooting for precision at 1000-1500 then you better be weighing each charge and not just tossing powder into a case like a blasting AR. LOL
Nah, just shoot with your mouth open like Frank.
Dude. You are all set. Another cartridge is just money spend. If all you have to do is touch it, and your wind reading doesn’t SUCK, another cartridge is not going to gain you anything over that assemblage.
How accurate is the 6.5x284? Cause if it's a fast twist and you shoot heavies it should be gtg.
That is a very nice cartridge to play around with.
But it's not one you are going to commonly find ammo and brass for, so it's best for folks that are into loading.
Also it does eat the barrels a bit faster than some others.
It’s strictly my deer gun, it’s a build on a 106 year old Mauser 98 action.
No argument there. Any time I loaded for 600 yds. or beyond (out to 1,000 yards) charges are weighed. Sure you can throw a charge light but then bring it up to the target weight on a scale. I say 'out to 1,000 yards' as that is the limit of ranges in my geographical area. Also it is the limit of my humbleness as shooting a 1,000 yards can bring a person down a peg or two.
Or three.
300 prc or 300 win mag. 338 is too expensive for a marginal performance increase at that distance. Anything bigger is ridiculous. You can do well with 6.5 PRC or a 7mm rem mag, but you will have more options with a 300 win mag. I think 300 PRC has to catch on, but it's definitely popular.
For factory options, looks like the 7 PRC is the easy button.
Heavy for caliber high BC bullets in factory ammo, SAAMI specs are specifically set with that in mind, no special reamer, like what is required for the 300 WM.
300 PRC is another off the shelf option specifically designed for the heavies, but you're mainly increasing recoil and blast for minimal, if any gains in external ballistics.
The limiting factor to those choices is the Hornady brass. There are options for the 300 PRC though.
Heavy for caliber high BC bullets in factory ammo, SAAMI specs are specifically set with that in mind, no special reamer, like what is required for the 300 WM.
300 PRC is another off the shelf option specifically designed for the heavies, but you're mainly increasing recoil and blast for minimal, if any gains in external ballistics.
The limiting factor to those choices is the Hornady brass. There are options for the 300 PRC though.
7 PRC is a myth. No proof it actually exist. 300 PRC is almost as bad. 300 wm offers almost nothing over 6.5/284 unless custom build or handmade.
7 prc would be about perfect if Horn had actually made ammo for it. Like browning, fucking BROWNING, was smart enough to do with 6.8 western....
7 prc would be about perfect if Horn had actually made ammo for it. Like browning, fucking BROWNING, was smart enough to do with 6.8 western....
