1000yd advice

[Mbarnes72]

So I just joined a gun club with a 1000yd range that you have to go through a safetyy class and then qualify with an instructor to get a key for the gate. The instructions are a full day in class then the next morning start with your rifle zeroed at 300yd and shoot 3-shots to verify zero. We will then move back to 600yd and verify again, with the same process at 800 and 900. At 1000yds you hae to be able to hit paper 7 out of 10 shots without dropping anything short which is a DQ from class. I am under the impression you can shoot as much as needed at the shorter distances to make any adjustments needed. This is a new game for me as I usually shoot hunting rifles out to 300yds normally and have never attempted a shot farther than 400yds. The shots will be taken prone with whatever rest you bring. My plan was to shoot a 116 22-250 varmit barrel with 55gr (.250BC)@3700fps and a 6.5-20 Sightron SII on DNZ mount which is a 1/2MOA gun. I am trying to make sure I have enough adjustment in the scope to get out there. I am zeroed now at 100yds and can go up 240 clicks (1/8") until it runs out. By my math it should be plenty but would like someone else to check that to make sure I am not screwing this up as I can only practice out to 300yds before this test. Also am I spinning my wheels trying to shoot this gun or would it be easier to make this work with a 7mag or 300wm? Should I use bags, bipods or ??? Any other advise would be helpful.

[M.O.A.]

hornadays ballistics claculater says you'll need 35.5 MOA to get to 1000 from a 100 yd zero thats is 372.1" and your scope has 30 noa that it can go up. that being 240/8 to get 30 moa. your going to be short 5.5 moa :-\ i would say you need a +20moa base sorry

[Mbarnes72]

I was afraid of that, I knew it would be close but I guess it's time to go shopping. So am I wasting my time with this caliber and just move on up too something else for the qualification. After that I could keep playing with this 22-250 with a lot more practice from each yardage before moving out. The other problem with it is this scope only has FCH Varmint Dot so there are no other aiming points to work with besides twisting turrets.

[seanhagerty]

You are going to have a huge amount of wind drift at that range. I would look for something with a high BC that may hold true in windy conditions.

Sean

[dcloco]

You might want to qualify with something a little bigger off the shelf.

30/06 with 180 gr Nosler BT's, 7 Rem Mag with 162 AMax's, or 300 Win Mag with 208 Amax's comes to mind.

[M.O.A.]

try a 6.5 of some sorts like the 6.5 creedmoor,6.5-284,6.5-06 or one of that family im going with the creedmoor myself ;D

[Mbarnes72]

I don't have enough time to put together a whole new rig so will have to use what I have and work it out. So I can go to the 7mag but I have shot it with everything and it will not stabilize anything more than 150gr Sierras. So my choice is that or 300WM with 180gr accubonds. The 7 is more accurate on paper but a much shorter barrel so I can't quite get 3000fps with handloads, 300wm shoots just under an inch with a 24" barrel so my load is just over 3100fps, any thoughts?

[dcloco]

Couple of things.

I overlooked the 308 with 168 or heavier bullets.


Speed is not absolute - case in point - 308.


Do NOT call a rifle good or bad based on 100 yard targets. I have a couple rifles that shoot heavy for calibers in the .75 to 1.25" groups at 100....but group VERY well at 300 and further.

Personally, I would go with the 300 WM. Buy a slip on butt pad - shooting prone sucks with most magnums.

[leather5to1]

I wouldn't try it with your 22-250 it won't stay supersonic past 700 yards and there goes all your accuracy out the window. A bullet does unpredictable things when it drops below the the sound barrier.

[Dennis]

I wouldn't try it with your 22-250 it won't stay supersonic past 700 yards and there goes all your accuracy out the window. A bullet does unpredictable things when it drops below the the sound barrier.

I have a 22-250 and would love to shoot it at 1k! But . . . .

A 6.5 should do the trick along with many other calipers. I have a 308 and 338 that will also do the trick!

I don't think I would jepordize my standing with the club. I would definety get a gun well capable of shooting 1k.

[82boy]

Well it is funny that this comes up on the web site, a couple of weeks ago I was at the St Louis Benchrest club, and they was doing a similar test. A lot of ranges are going to such ends to protect them selves from liability, that they are having certifications to prove that a shooter is able to shoot.

Down there, they required a shooter to fire 3 shots at 3 different yardages to get a certification to shoot past 200 yards and out to 600 yards. The shooters had to shoot a 3 Minute of Angle group at 200 then 300 and finally 600 yards. That works out to hitting a paper and having your three shots withen an area of 6 inches at 200 yards, 9 inches at 300 yards, and 18 inches at 600 yards. The sad thing is they had many shooters come out to qualify, and they had over a 80% fail rate.

The main reason why shooters failed was they had the wrong equipment. Most of them brought out big boomer hunting guns, propped over a sand bag without any rear support. The Instructor would allow any equipment the shooter wished to use. You don't need a big boomer to get out to 1000 yards, a 243 win , or a 6mm BR is more than capable of doing such a feat. The other problem was the shooters thought in clicks or mills, and did not understand Minute of angle. Another problem was the shooters did not know what they needed in come ups to be close to on target. last the shooters where all nervous, and seeing 4 or 5 people in front of you fail did not help.

The main thing is to do you homework, know what YOU need to get the gun you have on target. Know what the come ups are. Know what your ammo is capable of.

A good video to watch is this one, it will explain MOA.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=VA2PZBD5Tjg

I would recamend that you find something else than your 22/250 shooting 55 gr bullets. A 22/250 with a fast twist shooting 75 and 80 gr bullets will do well on a 1000 yard target. A good free program is found on Berger bullets web site.
http://www.bergerbullets.com/
Just punching in the numbers you have finished in your post you need 66.73 inches from a 100 yard zero to be close to on at 600 yards. Now remember you scope clicks are either 4 or 8 click makes an inch. An easier way to think about it is you need roughly about 10.62 MOA to be on at 600 and 35.35 MOA to be one at 1000 yards. Your scope may or may not have enough to get out to the target. Crank it and see what you got.

[sharpshooter]

When you figure out what gun you are going to use, don't be afraid to "cheat". If you come prepared with a notebook with information on trajectories and sight corrections and maybe a Past recoil pad or a leadsled, it will show the range officer that you are serious and have done your home work. They want to see that YOU know your gun and are putting in effort on your part.
I'm sure if you ask, there is someone at that range that would be willing to help you understand trajectories and maybe even chonograph a load for you.

[M.O.A.]

i think i would go with the 300 if i where you what kinda scopes on it and does it have enough to get there.

its going to take 262.9" at 25.1 come ups in MOA

to check this out you can go to hornaday.com and use there ballistics calculater and run your numbers ;D

P.S. you can print out your drop cart off of it to i have one taped to the side of my 223 and as i havent shoot at a 1000 yet i think i might be able to get there with it ;D it well take 37.5 MOA to get there i shoot 68gn match bthp right at 3000 fps

[M.O.A.]

allso if you reload if you change your bullet to lets say the 68gn bthp match like i shoot you can send it at 3130 give or take and only need 34.3 to get there

[Mbarnes72]

OK, so I put the pea-shooter back in the safe and will dig out the 7mag as I have a bunch of brass already prepped for it to get in some practice with and it has a better trigger than the 300. I ordered a EGW 20MOA base today as it doesn't look like either scope I have will make it. So which scope to mount? The only choices for now are a Nikon Monarch 4-16x42 SF with BDC or Sightron SII 6.5-20-44 with FCH and Varmint Dot. I am thinking the extra magnification and finer aiming point of Sightron if I use the turrets I won't need the not so precise other aiming points of the BDC.
Next what should I find for a front rest shooting prone in the dirt? Bi-pod, bags, cheap 3-point type rest or other ideas?

And yes sharpshooter I plan on bringing any info and data that I round up with me ( as well as PAST pad), the worst they can say is you can't use it (but I doubt it). I have a chrono and will have verified this load before the shoot. What else to bring?

[LabRat2k3]

Work on wind reading, that is an invaluable skill for long range shooting. The wind can do a bunch of crazy things between you and the target. A 5mph cross wind pushes your 7mm off by 35 inches at 1000 and in a 10 mph crosswind you would be off by about 71 inches. Once you figure your drop out it will pretty much stay the same, but wind is always changing. Study the wind my friend.

[Mbarnes72]

I am carrying a wind meter around with me as we speak and will be doing so for the next three weeks until this is done. Definitely an area I will be weak in, so I hope to learn a little by then.

[Handloader]

I have shot many a time with a 7mm (.284) at 1000 yards plus. I am not a bench-shooter, but more of a in-the prone with bi-pods kinda guy.
That said, the most stable load you find in you 7MM is the key. A 7mm Mag out performs the 300 Win Mag at the longer distances, and bucks the wind well.

Drop charts are a good tool, but they are only a guideline. Download a good shooting application for your phone that lets you recalibrate trajectory from the real world drop Data that you get from your "work back" DATA that is established from your 100, 300, 600, yard targets. Just remember that at 1000 yards, each MOA is roughly 10inches. Additionally, canting the rifle is BAD at the long ranges....6 degrees of rifle cant can throw your round off by about 20inches at 1000. 1000yards is a benchmark number for many shooters....but it is only just a number!
You'll be fine, and have fun.

[Mbarnes72]

OK so I have a shooting app in iphone and have been studying away and making some written charts for quicker reference. Waiting on scope base before I can mount up the one I am going to use which I think will be Sightron 6.5-20 FCHVD. Still have not decided on a front rest, bags or bipod any help? Going to get some trigger time on this gun tomorrow.

[seanhagerty]

I have shot many a time with a 7mm (.284) at 1000 yards plus. I am not a bench-shooter, but more of a in-the prone with bi-pods kinda guy.
That said, the most stable load you find in you 7MM is the key. A 7mm Mag out performs the 300 Win Mag at the longer distances, and bucks the wind well.

Drop charts are a good tool, but they are only a guideline. Download a good shooting application for your phone that lets you recalibrate trajectory from the real world drop Data that you get from your "work back" DATA that is established from your 100, 300, 600, yard targets. Just remember that at 1000 yards, each MOA is roughly 10inches. Additionally, canting the rifle is BAD at the long ranges....6 degrees of rifle cant can throw your round off by about 20inches at 1000. 1000yards is a benchmark number for many shooters....but it is only just a number!
You'll be fine, and have fun.


Any ideas on the app that lets us provide feedback to adjust trajectory? I shooter for my Android. Anything better out there?