|
|
Post by schoolmaster on Dec 31, 2016 11:07:00 GMT -5
I have killed the majority of my deer at under 100 yards. The last 5 years using a PCR wildcat, I have been hunting an agricultural field that has presented shot opportunities out to 600 yards. This year I hunted with a Savage long range hunter in 300 Win mag topped by a Leupold VX 111 4.5 x 14 with B&C reticule. Now I am pretty comfortable out to 400 yards. My load is a 110 grain Barnes TTSX sitting on top of 80 grains of Rl-17 estimated muzzle velocity 3750 fs. Shoots pretty flat to 400. For me 600 is pretty intimidating. So how do I get in the mind set that 600 yards is not to far? I have a range finder and shoot from sand bags in an elevated ground blind.
|
|
|
|
Post by davers on Dec 31, 2016 11:50:29 GMT -5
I have killed the majority of my deer at under 100 yards. The last 5 years using a PCR wildcat, I have been hunting an agricultural field that has presented shot opportunities out to 600 yards. This year I hunted with a Savage long range hunter in 300 Win mag topped by a Leupold VX 111 4.5 x 14 with B&C reticule. Now I am pretty comfortable out to 400 yards. My load is a 110 grain Barnes TTSX sitting on top of 80 grains of Rl-17 estimated muzzle velocity 3750 fs. Shoots pretty flat to 400. For me 600 is pretty intimidating. So how do I get in the mind set that 600 yards is not to far? I have a range finder and shoot from sand bags in an elevated ground blind. My definition of "Long Range" is any distance over 200 yards. As for your .300 Win. Mag. you might want to consider using a 150 to 180 grain bullet for Deer. Your 110 grain bullet is really intended for varmints, thus too explosive at 3,750 FPS. |
|
|
|
Post by Jamie Brooks 1John5:13 on Dec 31, 2016 12:00:21 GMT -5
I can't imagine wanting to shoot anything over 400yds in Indiana. Calling them in and getting them closer is the fun part. However, 400yds out west might be as common as 100yds here.
I'm just not thinking that I'd worry about that 600yd shot for hunting.
|
|
|
|
Post by HuntMeister on Dec 31, 2016 12:23:25 GMT -5
[/quote]As for your .300 Win. Mag. you might want to consider using a 150 to 180 grain bullet for Deer. Your 110 grain bullet is really intended for varmints, thus too explosive at 3,750 FPS.[/quote]
The Barnes all copper TTSX 110 grain is for varmints??
I always thought the solid coppers were for big game?
|
|
|
|
Post by duff on Dec 31, 2016 12:32:53 GMT -5
300 at this point in my shooting is out there. I tried to shoot 400 and no way would I take that shot at this point.
I like 200 and in but will see how well I do with more range time
|
|
|
|
Post by Jamie Brooks 1John5:13 on Dec 31, 2016 12:36:21 GMT -5
It's cool to hear the shot with a pause before the DING on the metal target.
|
|
|
|
Post by dbd870 on Dec 31, 2016 17:03:26 GMT -5
For hunting once you get past 300 that's getting out there for me
|
|
|
|
Post by schoolmaster on Dec 31, 2016 17:03:43 GMT -5
With my .358 wssm short, I was sighted on the money at 200 yards. I killed 8 deer at 200 with the farthest at 275. My 300 mag is sighted on at 300 yards with a 6 or 7 inch drop at 400. I have killed many ground hogs at or just over 400 yards and a deers vitals are close to the same size. The Barnes 110 grain TTSX is recommended by Barnes for deer and antelope. My 300 shoots this load just under 1/2 in at 100 yards. Thus a high confidence factor out to 400 yards. But 5 or 600 is not for me at this time.
|
|
|
|
Post by medic22 on Dec 31, 2016 17:28:48 GMT -5
Im pretty confident out to 400.  I think we just found some land that we can shoot 1000 yards. I have access to 1400 yards but its only when crops are out and the guy feels like shooting. |
|
|
|
Post by davers on Jan 1, 2017 5:38:24 GMT -5
As for your .300 Win. Mag. you might want to consider using a 150 to 180 grain bullet for Deer. Your 110 grain bullet is really intended for varmints, thus too explosive at 3,750 FPS.[/quote] The Barnes all copper TTSX 110 grain is for varmints??
I always thought the solid coppers were for big game?[/quote] I am not all that familiar with Barnes copper TTSX bullets. Wouldn't a solid copper bullet be a FMJ type bullet? |
|
|
|
Post by squirrelhunter on Jan 1, 2017 16:16:07 GMT -5
I haven't really shot farther than 100 yards,don't know if I could do any good further or not.
|
|
|
|
Post by deadeer on Jan 1, 2017 19:01:06 GMT -5
As for your .300 Win. Mag. you might want to consider using a 150 to 180 grain bullet for Deer. Your 110 grain bullet is really intended for varmints, thus too explosive at 3,750 FPS.
I always thought the solid coppers were for big game?[/quote] I am not all that familiar with Barnes copper TTSX bullets. Wouldn't a solid copper bullet be a FMJ type bullet? [/quote] No, these have a ballistic tip and hollow cavity to expand. FMJ are solid to the tip. |
|
|
|
Post by featherduster on Jan 1, 2017 19:31:57 GMT -5
Not into long range shooting,animals I hunt I shoot at 40 yards or less.
|
|
|
|
Post by davers on Jan 2, 2017 5:18:05 GMT -5
I haven't really shot farther than 100 yards,don't know if I could do any good further or not. Most of my shots are around 75 to 100 yards. Out in Colorado shots at Deer are normally around 200 yards with a few reaching out to 350 +. Personally, the longest shot on a Deer was 378 yards, I made in 1995 in Western Kentucky. Closest shot was under 25 yards. |
|
|
|
Post by esshup on Jan 2, 2017 10:13:40 GMT -5
I think the answer to the question all depends on what you are shooting. Long range for a .30-30 is different than for a 7mm Rem Mag.
As for the .300 Win Mag with the 110g Barnes, it all depends on the distance you are shooting. With a 100 yd zero, it drops 16" at 400 which is pretty flat. At 600, with that bullet, you are maxed out in regards to retained energy at slightly over 1,000 fpe and the bullet drops 52" and wind drift in a 10 mph crosswind is 30.3".
Using a more aerodynamic bullet, you can shoot further and still have the energy to do the job i.e. at 600 yds a 180g Berger still has almost double the fpe that the 110g Barnes does, and that is only running 2750 fps at the muzzle). The bullet will drop more (18" more) but the wind drift is 7" less (23") using the better bc bullet.
I have a wildcat 7mm shooting 180g Berger VLD's (verified bc is 0.77) and zero it at 300. With that zero, it's 3.15" high at 175 yds and 7" low at 400. At 600 it is 34" low and still has 2661 fpe. Wind drift at 600 is 13".
|
|
|
|
Post by steiny on Jan 3, 2017 9:26:42 GMT -5
Most decent centerfires; 308, 30-06, 270, 280, 7mm, 300 mags, etc. can be set up and sighted in so all you have to do is hold center of a deer or elks kill zone and provided your hold and squeeze is good, you will hit the kill zone out to 350-400 yards. Might be a few inches high at shorter ranges and a few inches low at longer ranges, but it doesn't matter, still in the kill zone and still a dead animal.
The problem with shooting much beyond 400 yards is you are dealing with too much bullet drop, so you have to utilize a range finder and really understand how much your particular round drops. You compensate for the drop with an adjustable target turret on your scope or by holding high. This requires a whole lot of bench and trigger time to know what your gun is doing at these longer ranges, and any imperfection in your form, flinch, trigger jerk etc. will throw a 600 yard off wildly compared to 100 yard shooting. Wind drift also comes int play, but no need to get into that.
I'm not a fan of these long range hunting TV shows that show dudes shooting elk and deer across a canyon 6-800 yards away. Too much can go wrong at those distances and chances of wounding and losing game go up dramatically.
|
|
|
|
Post by dbd870 on Jan 3, 2017 14:52:51 GMT -5
With a 200yd zero my 30-06 drops about 7.5" at 300yds. What are using for a zero to hold center of mass at 400 - 300yds?
|
|
|
|
Post by steiny on Jan 3, 2017 15:50:10 GMT -5
Wish there was a simple black & white answer for you question dbd870, but there isn't. It depends on many variables; powder charge, powder type, bullet weight, bullet type, barrel length to some extent, etc. Only thing I can tell you is play around with it. Try zeroing your rifle at 250, then see where it hits at 50/100/150/200 ... 300/350/400? A lighter bullet will also help flatten the trajectory somewhat, but it may not group as well as a heavy bullet?
When it's all said and done, the load that groups best in your gun may only be good for 300 or 350yds using that "center of kill zone" hold? But that's OK for the majority of hunting situations. I shot a moose once at 400 yards (big target) and an elk at 340, both with .300 Weatherby mag. Those are the longest shots I've ever had to make in 40+ years of big game hunting. I'd say most shots have been 150-250 yards.
|
|
|
|
Post by oldhoyt on Jan 6, 2017 7:44:35 GMT -5
I don't know if anyone mentioned this, but I recall reading somewhere that by definition, long range means anything past maximum point blank range (MPBR). MPBR varies with the cartridge. Going by my somewhat sketchy memory, the gun is sighted so the bullet crests at 3" above the line of sight, and MPBR is the distance at which the bullet falls to 3" below line of sight. For a 30/06, MPBR is about 275 yds, so anything past that is "long range'.
|
|
|
|
Post by Jamie Brooks 1John5:13 on Jan 6, 2017 10:46:30 GMT -5
I don't know if anyone mentioned this, but I recall reading somewhere that by definition, long range means anything past maximum point blank range (MPBR). MPBR varies with the cartridge. Going by my somewhat sketchy memory, the gun is sighted so the bullet crests at 3" above the line of sight, and MPBR is the distance at which the bullet falls to 3" below line of sight. For a 30/06, MPBR is about 275 yds, so anything past that is "long range'. Sounds interesting to me. Thanks for posting this. |
|
