Recap of the 2022 “URSA 3000 Yard Challenge”

[ELR researcher]

16 May 2022 - Recap of the 2022 “URSA 3000 Yard Challenge” (by RD, Lynn Dragoman; build info and comments from Oscar)

URSA 3K Match Results, Best Shooting Ever!

We held our final qualifier on Saturday and had 3 more shooters get qualified (Mahmoud E., Mitch P., and White Mamba). Congrats to all.Sunday started out with 5 mph + winds blowing over the ridgeline but everyone was set-up and ready to go at 7:30, or there abouts, so we drew numbers. RickyRacer87 got the lucky number one position and set the bar with 3 hits with his .338XC. [4 in 10 are required to move to the next distance, 3260 yards.]

Right after my subsequent, sort-of-sad, performance (I did get our only cold bore hit…), Calguns regular Calshipbuilder engaged at 2586 yards and showed us all how it is done. He missed with his 3 sighter shots but was right near the target. His record group started out with a miss but he got a second round hit then shot at a quick pace and ended up with 9 hits out of 10 record shots!!! That is the best score ever at this distance by 3 hits. Calshipbuilder, I’m very proud of how you did it and the equipment you used to achieve that result!!! He has plenty of guns and high-end equipment and regularly shoots in various ELR-type matches. On Sunday he was shooting a Remington 700, with a 26” barrel, chambered in .300 Norma Magnum, with a McMillan prone stock for the highest 2586-yard score in our 7 year history and, yes, that is a .30 caliber cartridge. To put this into perspective, Calshipbuilder drove many hours to reach our match above Upper Lake before 7:30 AM. He had zero shots the day before as he was already qualified to shoot this match. He took a grand total of 13 shots and hit 9 out of 10 on his record string shooting a custom 700 Remington. Way to go Calshipbuilder! I think your 9/10 is going to last for quite a while. Congrats again to Calshipbuilder on a spectacular win!

And congratulations to Rickyracer87 on his Runner-Up finish! [As good a shooter as he is, getting only 3 in 10 adds even more perspective to Calshipbuilder’s 9 in 10. Would have been great to see how things would have turned out at 3260 yards – the next target.]

A big shout out to those that helped setting this up. Oscar, as always, thank you for everything. And a big thank you to Shaun “chainsaw” Brady for getting us gongs out to 3260 and 3700 yards. June is our last match before the deer season closure.

3K stats:

Almost unbelievably, Calshipbuilder was shooting 250 gr Hornady A-Tips out of his Carlsbad-built .300 Norma Magnum with Remington 700 long action, Bartlein 1 in 8 twist, 26”, heavy Palma barrel, McMillan Anschutz® 1411-derived “Prone” stock (link provided since it’s a long-ago-discontinued model), Leupold 5-25x56 Mark 5HD scope, and Hawkins Precision heavy tactical rings on a Nightforce 40 MOA rail.

RickyRacer was shooting 300 gr Hornady A-Tips out of his Billy Goat Machine/BGM-built .33XC with BGM “OVIS” (Defiance Deviant Tactical) action, Bartlein 31.5” barrel, Manners T5A stock, Nightforce ATACR 7-35x56 SFP scope, and ERATAC 0-70 MOA adjustable base/rings.

Saturday qualification stats (achievement points):

Mahmoud was shooting 400 gr Cutting Edge MTHs out of his Billy Goat Machine/BGM-built .375 CT with Stiller TAC 408 (TAC DRIVER) action, Bartlein 37” barrel, Ashbury Precision SABER chassis, Nightforce ATACR 7-35x56 FFP scope, and Spuhr 20 MOA mount on a 20 MOA unidentified (unmarked) rail.

Mitch was shooting 250 gr Lapua Scenars out of his Surgeon-built 338 LM with Surgeon 1581XL action, Bartlein 30” barrel, Cadex Dual-Strike chassis, Nightforce 8-32x56 NXS scope, and Barrett Zero-Gap rings on the actions integrated 20 MOA rail.

White Mamba declined to release his build info (was already at the Novice level, so would have made no difference).

Pics in the Gallery.