New long range bench rest record

[Rich1939]

A *tiny* difference in wind at any point along that trajectory and you're way off at the terminal end.

A foot note if I may; I lived in the Tucson area for 9 years. If my memory is still accurate , it is usually windy at that time of year, some times very windy. Speaking of wind, that target took mine away

 

[Trent]

My hats off to all who shoot 1000yrds continuesly.
I tried to shoot 1000yrds with a 30-06, I was shooting at 2x4 steel, I was able to hit a 12" plate at 600yrds but it took 8 rnds to hit steel at 1000, and I couldn't do it repeatedly, maybe set it on its side to help with the wind , I'm looking forward to trying it again and taking notes like I've done for 600yrds. We usually just have a cookout and shooting weekend when we set up our long range rifle targets.

1000 yard competitions aren't the type of shooting you do with an off the shelf rifle.

(digging up pictures....)

While I tried to keep my rifle as "practical" as possible (some benchrest type rifles could be used as a boat anchor on the Battleship Missouri), and it's not ideal for high level competition, it did well enough to keep me in good scoring.





That's with the sinclair bipod for competitions on.

This is actual field use with a Harris ultralight swivel bipod:



The rifle started life as an every day, ordinary Savage 112 in 300 Win Mag.

The only stock part left on it is the receiver, and (most of) the bolt.

Everything else has been replaced. The original Savage barrel was retired after ~1800 or so rounds, due to throat erosion, and replaced with a Krieger barrel. I shipped the rifle to Krieger to have them do the install and true the bolt / receiver to the new barrel. I retained the 300 Win Mag chambering because I was already heavily invested in dies and materials for that cartridge. (Were I starting from scratch, I may have considered other options - better options, something in 7mm or 6.5.)

Krieger used a custom reamer on the barrel and set the throat and dimensions to my specifications. This chamber was designed to match my neck turning setup. The throat / leade specifications match the bullet weight I use (220gr matchking) at a very specific ogive and loading depth.

So I designed it all such that the specific bullet weight and bullet loading depth, and brass dimensions, all work together with the chamber and barrel.

The trigger group was replaced with an adjustable match trigger set so I can control (precisely) the weight of pull.

The stock is a Choate, free float. It's an ugly off the shelf plastic POS but serves the purpose. I was never overly fond of extensively bedded actions (R700, etc), as they can be finicky in wildly varying temperature swings, etc. (The coldest match I have shot in was -22F, the hottest in to the 100-teens). The only concessions to accuracy here was custom shims and cut to length attachment bolts, so that the fit of the stock to the action is as precise and locked in as possible. Otherwise it's a free float trigger/receiver/barrel assembly.

The firing pin spring was replaced, the original failed in the field at about 1200 rounds of service. I have it set so that it reaches a specific penetration depth. (Slightly lighter than factory, as I don't like piercing through primers on custom loads which are close to or over max load data).

The scope rings were (I believe) TRG. Since 1000 yards is within the normal limits of my scope adjustment (Nightforce NXS), I didn't need custom mounts.

The scope is a Nightforce NXS, which probably cost more than the rest of the rifle put together.

And my rifle is cheap and hodge-podge compared to the custom built rigs the serious guys use.