New Articles on Practical Long-Range Rifle Shooting

[Zak Smith]

I'm pleased to announce two new articles that go with the "OPTICS FOR PRACTICAL LONG RANGE RIFLE SHOOTING" article I wrote just over a year ago. These are companion articles in the same series, and comprise parts I and III of the sequence. (The original optics article is part II.)

PRACTICAL LONG-RANGE RIFLE SHOOTING -
Part I: The Rifle and Gear - http://demigod.org/articles/practical-long-range-rifle-shooting-equipment
Part III: Shooting - http://demigod.org/articles/practical-long-range-rifle-shooting-shooting

These are in pretty good shape, but I welcome feedback for future changes.

Enjoy!

 

[Khornet]

Nice work, Zak

Not only informative but well-written, with good grammar, puctuation, etc. and a nice spare, clean style.

 

[USSR]

Zak,

Well written, as usual. The only thing I would add, would be an intermediate priced rifle platform; something between the $700 Rem/Savage and the high-end factory/custom rifles. The rifle that I refer to is the FN SPR at about $1400. When you figure in the McMillan stock and chrome-lined barrel that typically provides .5-.75MOA accuracy, it is indeed a credible and affordable selection for a tactical rifle.

Don

 

[quatin]

That's very informative. Good thing this puts me off long range shooting before I get involved. Is there a site that lists the barrel life of different calibers?

 

[rero360]

terrific article once again Zak.

quatin: I may be a little off on this one, but i do believe that there are other factors involved in the barrel life other than caliber, type of loads you use, hotter reloads will wear faster. Also the way you clean the barrel will effect it as well, if you use poor equipment (cheap multipieced rods) you can wear the throat of the chamber faster as well. Also the type of steel used in the barrel can have an effect.

I'm sure there may be other factors as well, but these are the ones that instantly come to mind.

 

[USSR]

Is there a site that lists the barrel life of different calibers?

To add to what rero360 said, continuous firing over a short period of time (hot barrel) will kill a barrel quicker than anything. Just too many variables to come up with a definitive list, however, generally speaking, the more powder that a cartridge uses, the shorter the barrel life.

Don

 

[quatin]

Well there must be some standard. I read that it's based on barrel pressure and amount of powder. There should be at least a list ranking order on barrel life....or is it too pointless to make?

 

[Zak Smith]

USSR,

Good point. I went back and forth on whether or not I wanted to add another option above the basic 700/10FP. I didn't want to make it super-complicated by breaking out all the possible upgrades and the cans of worms that opens. I'll put that in my to-do list.

As far as barrel life goes, I plan to add another page eventually which is a detailed caliber breakdown study, that pits long-range performance against recoil, cost, and barrel life. In short, the more case capacity to bore area, the less barrel life, assuming you shoot full-power loads using the heavier high-BC bullets in the caliber.

rero360 makes a good point about cleaning and barrel steel. Most high-end barrels are made out of about the same material (SS), with a few exceptions (Sako TRG, Winchester SPR). It is possible to screw up a barrel by cleaning it the wrong way, or by just plain doing stupid stuff. It'd probably be a good idea to add a "maintenance" section with some general guidelines. But basically, if you use a boreguide, a coated rod, go from the rear, and do not use abrasives, it's going to be hard to damage it.

Thanks for the feedback
-z

 

[Zak Smith]

rero,

I don't know if there is a list anywhere. For most of the common calibers that people actually shoot enough to wear out barrels in some accuracy context (e.g. usually this means it is used in some competition), it is known more or less how long a barrel should last.

If you just want to know if caliber A will be better or worse than caliber B, you can use the general rules. For example, on the 308 case, as you neck it down to 6.5mm (260) or 6mm (243), the barrel life takes a considerable hit each time.

Likewise, in the approx "300WM" sized cases, 7RM will have less life than 300.

If you keep bore size constant, it's even easier, the one with the larger case will have less barrel life.

Part of what I was trying to get across in the equipment article is that a new LR shooter should get a caliber that is easy to obtain ammunition for and has a long barrel life. 308 is an excellent choice in this regard. With practice and experience under his belt, he can look at what he wants in a better LR caliber.

-z

 

[Zak Smith]

quatin,

Here is a link which has some discussion about calculating barrel life. I played with his formula a bit, and some numbers made sense and some did not. For example, most people are getting way more than 3000 accurate rounds from a 308 (e.g. mine shoots under 1/2 MOA at 5000 rds fired). If I used 8000 for that baseline value, I got numbers for 260, 7RM, 338, and 50BMG that were probably within 30% of being real.

http://yarchive.net/gun/barrel/barrel_life.html

-z

 

[quatin]

I followed that formula until he got 3000 rounds = .30 caliber bore with 45.6 grains of powder. I can see where he got the powder grains, but where did the 3000 come from? What about a .20 caliber bore?

 

[Zak Smith]

He has a rule of thumb which states that a .308 shooting "its bore area in square mm" grains of powder (45.6) should last 3000 rounds with max accuracy. He then has another rule which scales down the 3000 number by the square of the ratio of the actual amount of powder over the "area" grains of powder.

3000 is just a number that he observed for 308. I think that number should be higher based on the real barrel life numbers I have seen people get.

For example, if I plug in number for 7RM, I get an expected life of 989 from his formula. I have several friends who shoot 7RM, and they are getting over 2000. Likewise, the guys shooting the heavy bullets in 243 with full-power loads are getting more like 1800-2000 rounds, not 1100 that his formula predicts using 3000 as the baseline. (Also, 338 Lapuas are getting a lot more than 1200 rounds)

Keep in mind that this is just a rule of thumb which takes into account the factors we already know affect bbl life, and applies them from a baseline we know. It's not exact.. just a back of the envelope calculation.

 

[Katigroszek]

What about Hensoldt?

I like the articles, but You say only two scope manufacturers are OK for a long range shooting - what about Hensoldt 3-12x56 SSG? It's expensive, that is for sure, but is it any good?

 

[Zak Smith]

As far as I can tell, the HensoldtZF 3-12x56 SSG (and SSG-P) is basically impossible to get in this country, and there are some "interesting" export requirements imposed by the Bundeswehr. I base this on information user "Mace" posted on SnipersParadise. Since I can't use them, I can't recommend them.

 

[Katigroszek]

Hensoldt can be had form european exporters:

http://www.i-e-a.de/productssimple25.html
http://www.amp-ts.com
http://www.scanarms.com/

or canadian:
http://www.theshootingedge.com/gallery/album08 ($3400)

 

[taliv]

i've always wanted a DSR1. I'd probably trade most of the guns I own for one. I ALMOST bought one back when they were about $9k or so but the exchange rates went the wrong way and suddenly they cost twice as much. suck.

 

[Zak Smith]

Good info, thanks. I'll try to get my hands on a Hensoldt sometime. In the meantime, I would be appreciative of anyone who has used the aforementioned models who could provide me with a description of exactly how they work, in terms of knob mechanics, mounting geometry, available reticles, etc.

But let's not get hung up on gear. You don't need a $10,000 exotic rifle or $3000 scope to do this stuff. An off the shelf PSS with a Leupold M1 can get the job done.

Equipment choices are important, but not something to obsess over. It is more important to get some quality gear and get shooting, than it is to get paralyzed with indecision due to too many choices, or change equipment too often to get good.

Remember, long-range practical shooting is about making hits in the field. Practice and skill are more important than equipment.

 

[Wes Janson]

What about us screwed-up southpaws? In your experience, what options do we really have for a good bolt-action .308?

 

[Zak Smith]

Well, you can shoot a right-handed action and work the bolt with your weak hand. In most positions, this is as fast or faster than breaking the firing grip with your strong hand. It's only a real drag when you're slung up, and then you're basically stuck. I know a disproportionate number of lefty shooters and more than half of them do that.

Otherwise, you can get a left-handed Remington 700, and have it worked over for accuracy if it needs it.

 

[JNewell]

A question (which is not a suggestion in the form of a question): is it worth referring to the moly/no-moly points of view? You'll never solve them, but it might be worth mentioning that there are different opinions on this?

 

[Zak Smith]

Not something I'm real excited about getting into, and I don't shoot it in my guns because of its side-effects.

 

[Katigroszek]

Zak,

A gear question (If You do not mind):

I'm newbie into rifles and want a not too expensive setup for mid range shooting (lets say 600 +/- 100 m max) of a good B-grade.

My plans:

Montana 1999 short action stainless .308 Win + heavy target contour ss 26 inch barrel on a Richards microfit black/grey laminate marksman stock + Bushnell Elite 3200 10x40 mil dot scope on a Badger Ordnance Win 70 picatinny rail base and Badger Ordnance rings (with reducers to 1") + zhummel marine 7x50 compass binoculars.

(probably would have the action&barell matte black finished)

Your opinion?

links:

barreled action- http://www.montanarifleman.com/shortaction.htm

stock- http://rifle-stocks.com/marksman.htm

 

[JNewell]

Not something I'm real excited about getting into, and I don't shoot it in my guns because of its side-effects.

Understood. I reached the same conclusion, but lots of people seem to disagree.

 

[Dave Markowitz]

What about us screwed-up southpaws? In your experience, what options do we really have for a good bolt-action .308?

Aside from the Remington Zak mentioned, Savage makes the Model 10FLP for us southpaws.

 

[USSR]

My plans:

Montana 1999 short action stainless .308 Win + heavy target contour ss 26 inch barrel on a Richards microfit black/grey laminate marksman stock + Bushnell Elite 3200 10x40 mil dot scope on a Badger Ordnance Win 70 picatinny rail base and Badger Ordnance rings

Katigroszek,

Not Zak, but all my builds are on Winchester actions. Save yourself alot of money and find a used Winchester short action Classic model rifle for a donor action, which is essentially what the Montana 1999 action is. Unless things have changed, people who have built on the Montana 1999 action have been less than pleased with the quality of the product in regards to the amount of money they charge for it. My FN SPR uses the Winchester action, and has the Badger Ordnance rail and rings (top shelf products) mounted on it. When I first bought the rifle, I didn't have enough money left over to get the scope I wanted (Leupold 3.5-10x40 M3 w/Premier Reticle's Gen II mil dot), so I bought the Bushnell Elite 3200 10x40 mil dot scope. I hold this scope in high regard, and still have it held in reserve for backup use. Hope that helps.

Don