2023 Cold Bore Challenge

[Pleathers1]

Seekins Precision Havak PH2
Vortex viper PST 5-25 FFP
300 PRC
1:10 twist out of a 26” barrel
Caldwell Bipod
Exo mountain gear lid for rear bag
610 yards
Wind 4-6 mph swirling SE

Was going to say max effective range was 800 but missed first shot at 610. Shooting at a 10 inch steel gong

 

[Ucsdryder]

7saum
Tikka
Vortex LHT 3-15x42
20” CF barrel
AG COMPOSITE Alpine Hunter
180 eldm
H1000
Adg brass
2750fps

My MER will be 620 for this challenge.

575 yards
Wind right to left at 8mph
Effing rain

I’ll do better next time and get the phonescope and spotter out, but it was raining.

I forgot to take the safety off at the beginning.

My wife and daughter also shot. Mine was the center, low shot.



Had an absolutely awesome camping spot the last 3 days. 606 yards from outside the tent. I got my last 3 shots in and Steph got her 2nd shot. It sure was nice not having to drive 1.5 hours to shoot one shot!!! I’ll get the videos uploaded tonight.

Packing the target up the mountain! A cement filled bucket seemed like a great idea when I was trying to come up with an anchor for my plate.


Day 2.
I let the wind die down in the evening. It was still blowing right to left about 10 mph. I held 7 inches of wind. Shot was 579 yards. I left a smart ass comment from my 11 year old in there for entertainment.

Day 3…more wind
The wind was howling all day today. I shot right before last light and the wind was playing games. I held for 7 inches but should have held for 12. I cut the black, which is just outside the 10 inch target. My first official miss!

The video is giving me issues. I will upload a picture that I took when I went to pick up the target after my day 4 shot. In the day 4 video, you will see the day 3 bullet mark on the left edge. I don’t want anybody thinking I’m pulling any funny business!


Day 4…

I got up before everybody else and walked about 100 yards from camp to not bother everybody while they were sleeping. The angle on the shot made it a little harder but I still had a nice impact.

Clear
65 degrees
Slight tail wind, no hold
Day 4 shot was 616 yards

 

[Stephmae]

7SAUM
COLD AND WINDY…and miserable

I wanted to shoot at 400 but my husband said it was too hard to move the target so I shot at 575.

Then he stopped the video right when you can hear it hit the plate.

 

[kodyshriver]

Day 1: MER 500yd

Shooting a Christensen Arms Mesa 7RM w/ a Vx5 3-15 on top (luckily held zero after a week in the truck). Shooting Federal’s 175 Fusion factory load. Shot prone off my pack with caribou game bags as a rear support.

8” steel. Held left edge for wind; hit on the left edge. Impact is the hole @1030 without the paint. Happy to hit, that was close! Thanks Rokslide for putting together this fun challenge!

Day 2:

Same distance, same position. Wind was blowing quite a bit harder today, 90 degrees from my left. I am terrible about putting numerical value on wind speed, so this challenge has inspired me to improve at that. I decided to put my half mil hash mark on the left edge of the target, so approximately .75 mil wind hold. I was happy to see the target swinging! Impact at 1 o’clock (pardon the cows for muddying yesterday’s fresh paint job. Must be a good scratching post... Also 1/4” steel was a bad choice…) However both shots, today and yesterday, were higher than expected. So I need to do some more digging on how a cold bore shot might affect my dope. Thanks rokslide for inspiring me to become more proficient at the shots that matter, as well as understanding the wind!

 

[Raider4044]

Well, it’s been a crazy week, and we got a ton of rain. The roads were too muddy to get to my normal range where all my steel is set up, so I had to scramble and figure out a new location and target. I’m going to be shooting off my Leofoto SA-324CL tripod I plan to use this year as a glassing/shooting combo this year.

I’m going to set my MER at 750 yards and shoot my first two qualifiers at 615.

Setup

Custom 6 Creed
Defiance Tenacity
18” Brux Barrel
Manners EH1 stock
Hawkins M5 DBM
Vortex Razor LHT 3-15x42
Q Trash Panda Suppressor

Ammo:

108 ELD-Ms over H4350 in Lapua Brass running 3045 fps


Day 1

615 yards. Conditions were great, very little wind which is rare for west Texas. Shot was a little high and right. I held for a 5 mph right to left wind, but think it slowed down a little before the shot.

Day 2

615 yards. Conditions were great once again. 5-7 mph winds. My wind hold was perfect this time, but elevation was high again. I got to looking at my dope, and I was using data for a different load in this rifle. Oh well, at least it was close enough to hit my qualifiers. We’ll see what happens when I stretch it a little further with the correct data.

Day 3

750 yards. Finally got around to shooting again. Winds were about 20 mph, so definitely not ideal shooting conditions. My shot was just off the edge a little low and left. I had the correct data this time, so I have no excuses. Lol. I’m going to try to shoot again tomorrow morning so hopefully I can redeem myself for the final shot.

Day 4

750 yards. Shot this the other day, but forgot to post it. Wind was about 10 mph. Was able to redeem myself for the final shot. A little low and left, but I’m happy with it.

 

[Brandon.miller.4]

Day 1:

Gun setup:
Tikka 25-284
Preferred barrel blanks
Tbac ultra 5
Berger 133
MDT hnt26
Harris bipod
SWFA 5-20
Used a gun case to simulate pack

Weather:
87 degrees
Sunny
11mph wind at 4 o clock


Time to swallow some pride! In the spirit of the challenge, I pushed my MER out to 690, went for qualifying shot today at 618 yards...missed by an inch, oh well.



Day 2:

Weather:
70 degrees
Wind 21mph quartering

MISSED! Accounted for too little of wind hold, quartering to where I was at and almost straight 90 degrees at target. Missed just off the left edge of target.

 

[BritlynMiller]

I was shooting with @Brandon.miller.4 further than I’ve shot before at 496.

Day 1:

Gun setup:
Tikka 6.5 creed
Tbac ultra 7
140 eld
Harris bipod
SWFA 3-9

Weather:
87 degrees
Sunny
11mph wind at 4 o clock


Clean miss!

Day 2:

Weather:
70 degrees
Wind 21mph quartering
Little man says it was a hit!

 

[Hoggetter]

Phil Keck Day 1, 604 yards with 8mph cross wind and 94 degrees in temp. with lots of mirage. Held 8.75moa and 1 1/4 moa for wind.

Kecks_Kustoms 7 PRC
Tikka action
26” Proof barrel
NightForce NX8
Rugged Ridge Carbon Bipod
Rugged Ridge Aluminum Rear support
180gr VLD hunting at 3015 fps
70gr Retumbo, Fed match 215 primer
Foothill range is 600ft elevation.
40 min. Drive to the range.

Day 2, waited till sun set to take the shot and the wind was calm 1 - 3 mph so I held just off center of plate and sense I hit a little high yesterday I only dial 8.5 moa and it worked out good.

Note, here in cencal I shoot year round almost every weekend and 600yds is a good poke, So my MER will be either 820 or 915yds, but that will depend on the range conditions next weekend.

Day 3, Went to the range and it was 80 degrees with thunder storm clouds passing over and a 7:30 wind @ 8-12 mph so I decided to go with the 917 yard plate (which is an 24”x24” plate that is nice for seeing your wind calls if you miss the center) I drew a 10” circle with a black sharpy pen. My buddy who is not doing this challenge watched me set up for the shot, I was actually a-bit tense for the long 917yd MER shot. I dialed 18 moa and held 1.5 moa for wind. I went thru my mental pre-shot check downs and sent-it, the bullet hit 2” high of center, perfect for day 3 so we shall see what day four brings.

Day 4, it was hot and sticky with 8mph wind and 20mph gusts, blowing at 10 to11 o’clock. Dialed up 18 moa for 917 yards and held for 1.5 moa wind. At the last second I felt the wind pause, so I took a half minute off and went with 1 moa, sent-it and hit on the upper left side of the line drawn of the ten inch circle. Should’ve stayed with a 1 1/2 wind hold, but knowing that the VLD Berger bullet would go in and blow a devastating softball size hole inside a animal. It was more than enough to seal the deal and have fresh back straps for dinner.

 

[WBrim]

Shooting a Savage AxisII 270
Vortex Viper 6.5-20x44
I’m am very much entry level at best on shooting distance. I thought I had a decent grasp on things for an MER 375.

Day 1
No good. Miss.
Slight uphill shot, resting on a stuffed pack, as would have on a hunt.
Wind had all but stopped

Life took a few unexpected turns, between work and one of my boys spending a few days in the hospital. It took a little longer than I expected, but got to get out for Shot 2. I left this steel out, and it looks like some other folks found it and shot a few hand gun rounds at it.

Clear, hot day. Almost no wind, left to right.
Hit, a touch high and right.

 

[rifletuner]

Shot today at the Little River rifle range in Victoria, Australia.

Rifle and ammo:
Curtis Custom short action
Triggertech diamond trigger
IBI MTU contour carbon wrapped barrel. 22", 1/10 twist
MDT HNT26 chassis
Bushnell Elite Tactical 3.5-21x50 ERS MIL/MIL
Cartridge - 308 Win
Ammo - 168gn Hornady ZMax (an AMax with a green tip) in S&B brass, CCI250 primer with 42gn of 8208 XBR

Weather:
45 degrees
foggy
light switching winds

Below photo shows the range when we arrived. The range officers delayed opening the firing line for 45 minutes due to visibility only going to around 250 meters down range.

Shot distance - target placed at 450 meters (492 yards). Ranged with my Delta Optical RF binoculars. Shot was a slight uphill incline, although its pretty inconsequential and I didnt allow for the incline in my data.

Result - impact within the 10" circle drawn on the gong (apologies for the very crap outline of the 10" circle on the target - I only had a black marker to work with. The small gong impact that killed the target strap was from my son making his own cold bore impact with his 6 Creed).

Day 2

Weather:
50 degrees
Light right to left wind


Result - impact on the 12" gong, but outside the 10" circle drawn on the gong, so a miss for the second shot. I definitely killed the target this shot. Watch the video to see what I am talking about.

Also, a photo of the rifle:

 

[h2so4]

Kimber Adirondack, Zeiss V4 4-16, TBAC Ultra 5, 6.5cm
400 yard Range. Prone with backpack support.
This rifle was new to me and I fired it for the first time on Saturday the 3rd to get the scope dialed in. I Used mostly Federal Match 130gr OTM for that exercise. On the last two shots of the day, I swapped to Black Hills 130gr Dual Performance (controlled chaos copper bullet) as that is what I’d like to hunt with this year. It was right on at 200 yards and seemed good at 300, too.
The first cold bore shot at 400 was about 8” low. I’ll contribute half that to the swap in ammo and half to the shooter. I couldn’t get as steady as I was the day before on the pack.


June 4th- got the first shot off this morning. I made some silly choices and understood the risk. Missed a few inches low- I nailed the bolt holding the steel!
400 yards, 50F, 8k elevation



The Range is Beautiful:

Don’t worry, the pic below is through a bino and not a scope.

 

[CRJR45]

Savage Ultralight 28 Nosler and SHV 5x20x56 , 160 Partition's at 422 yards , clean miss !

I'm shocked , I drove 45 minutes and walked a mile into this WMU to find a spot to shoot .
Driving home going over it in my head I realized what I did . When I entered my yardage on Strelok either I didn't hit calculate or it just didn't do it . It showed 7.74 , from the last time at the range shooting at 500 yards , when the correct dial should've been 5.76 . I should've caught it .
Thought about going back but figured this is a hunting simulation and I should just own my mistake , so I am .
I don't want to talk about it , don't look at me !

LOL

I'll do better tomorrow .

Ok , for my second attempt it was more of the same . I had to hike further in due to too many people at my first spot .
I set up at 420 yards planning to shoot prone , but the grass had grown too high and I had to shoot sitting up off the tripod , and even then half the target was half obscured .
My aim point was the bottom left hand side of the circle . Slight wind from right to left .
Even though it was a total failure of my part this was a lot of fun and really opened my eyes . Up till now I've only practiced at 500 yards off of a bench twice . I've shot a lot at 200 yards of a bench . But now I know I've got to get out more and practice real hunting type shooting .





Missed the target two inches low . I was shooting off a Slick tripod that I mounted a Spartan tripod mount on and resting the butt on my pack . Hiking 1.5 miles in 89 degree heat was brutal
Thanks for doing this Challenge , it was fun .

 

[Maidenfan539]

Humbling experience for sure.
MER=550 1st shot was a miss.
6.5PRC w/156 eol at 2840.
Proof 22" barrel
TL3 SA
XLR Magnesium chassis
VX5HD
It was warm at 75° and humid at 73%. Light wind at about 3 mph to target.

Plenty of time to practice this summer.

After watching the video, I saw my trace and noticed I was WAY right. Better check zero. Yep 2.4mil right. Hard lesson learned, but always check your zero before hunting.

2nd shot was just a bit outside. Bad wind call. 7-10 mph left to right.

 

[id_jon]

Well I missed my 600 yard shot. This rifle has had me scratching my head the last few weeks, so I guess I shouldn't be shocked.

Tikka t3x lite with a 16" Preferred Barrels 22CM in a ctr stock.
Alpha brass, 88gr ELD-m
SWFA 3-9 in a Spuhr tikka mount
Griffin gp7 suppressor.
AG pint size with git-lite, leofoto tripod for rear support.

Had a light 4-6mph wind from 1oclock, held just right of center, and missed high and right. Previously my load had been around 2995, but yesterday I shot 18 rounds over the chrono with an average of 2916 and sd of 8, so I adjusted my data in AB, I know it's unlikely that the next round happened to be 2995, but that would explain the high part of the miss. Definitely interested to shoot over the chrono on paper again after the challenge is over.

Edit for day one: After some thought and watching the video again, I think my elevation was fine, and that I just misread the wind. Those head winds are tough.

Day two:
Found a nice area to set up off an old logging road. I had to fudge my range a little bit, 629 yards, any closer and I either could not see my target, or could not find a suitable position. Shot was a 5 degree downhill shot, on a 30ish degree hill. Found a nice stump and setup my tripod for front with git lite pint size for rear, super stable, low kneel behind the stump.

DA: 8200
71*F
Wind: I was getting blocked by trees, so my kestrel was only picking up 3-5mph, but the bush 20 yards away in the open was moving way more, and I could hear it in the trees, so I knew it had to be more. Plus accounting for my bullet being way higher off the ground shooting across a draw, I estimated 9mph from the 10:30.
I should have put my .5 hash on the left edge, but I thought maybe the wind was dying a bit, so I put my .5 on center for a low end bracket.

Missed just off the right edge! I should have stuck by my .7 call
Since the challenge was officially over for me, I had to send a few more. Put 1.0 on center and missed off the left side , proceeded to put 5 on plate with .5 favoring the left side of center on the plate (which was about .4 wide). I have been trying to take a cold bore shot at between 6 and 700 yards for the last month or so, and been about 50%, definitely going to stick with that, but maybe between 5 and 600 for a while until my percentage is higher.

 

[willfrye027]

Did the first shot of the CBC this morning with @DeerJohn he had a spot set up and made an extra target for me to shoot while we’re on vacation. Will be finishing the challenge somewhere else closer to come.

This is my tikka 25creedmoor PBB prefit in an alterra stock with sportsmatch rings and bushnell LRHS 4.5-18. Bipod is Altas, rear bag is LRO hunters wedge mini. It’s been a reliable setup for a handful of longe and short range kills over the past few seasons.

MER I am going to do 720 yards. Trying to shoot in places I’ve never been to simulate the difficulty of making a good wind call.

Day 1 601 yards, shooting a plywood board with 10” circle painted on. Cross canyon shot in the morning with a light wind coming up the canyon. I held for .2mil of wind and ended up needing more like .3, but still within the circle(edit—I don’t typically use a kestrel but essentially this was a 3mph full value wind hold. More like 4mph but not perfectly perpendicular). The other two spots on the targets are screws coming through from the back.




Day two came home from vacation and a storm front was blowing in so I decided to shoot at my “home” range in some more difficult conditions. There was quite a bit of tall grass and tough to find an open lane, target ended up at 585 yards. The wind would quickly go from calm to 12-15mph gusts. Mostly straight at my back but I could see a little bit of crosswind component from left to right. I was going to hold .3 mils but at the last minute it felt more straight 180 degrees so I only held .1 and…

Barely snuck it inside of the 10” circle


Day three went up to the mountains and found a new spot to shoot. Someone stole my white spray paint can so I had to use pink. 720 yards. Light mist, about 4000ft elevation. There was a variable 1-2 mph wind, mostly calm but arc of shot was going to be across a canyon so I held for about .2 mils. Hit!!

Day 4 went up this morning before work. Same target but chose a different shooting position at 730 yards. It was fairly calm about 2-3 mph from about 5oclock, but a slight thermal at the target. Held for .2mil of wind which was perfect. I dialed for 4.0mils same as yesterday but didn’t re-range. Hit was within the circle but low…re-ranged and should have dialed 4.1 which would have been a better shot!


Day 3 is just left of center, day 4 is low and right of center

Huge thanks to the moderators for putting this on. Had a blast and showed me all the practice is starting to pay off. With the exception of day 2 the winds were “easy”…different conditions and I probably would not have done as well. Thankful for being forced to simulate realistic hunting shots and already looking forward to next year!

 

[Clarktar]

Remington 700 Alaskan Ti
30-06
Leupold 2.5-8, hash marks only
Set-up weighs about 7lb 6oz
Lapua Scenar 155 grain
61g RL 17
3045 fps
Shooting off of spartan bipod and jacket for rear bag
No rear bag.

MER 625.
Was going to go out to 700yds BUT, missed first shot at 625. Felt good on target. I'm guessing the wind got me. I estimated the wind at 7 mph coming from 4 o'clock.

Full disclosure this rifle has not been shot since last November. I call it really cold bore.

Day 2: Miss. Wind estimate was 8 mph from 1:30 o'clock.

I left the target up. Going to reel in to 300 yds and work back out.

The bonus is I really like my new shooting spot!!

 

[cmeadors13]

Bulverde Tx 6/4/23 80 degrees no wind

600 yds

.280 rem 160gr accubond
————————————————-

Day2 second qualifying shot. 6/11/23​

600 yds
Bulverde Tx 84 degrees no wind
.280 rem browning abolt
Leupold vx5 3-15
.160gr accubond choice Ammo

700 is probably going to be my MER I’ll shoot that next weekend..

Pro tip. i practice with empty milk jugs filled with water. It’s my favorite thing to shoot. It helps train your brain/eye to stay on target to see impact… and we drink a lot of milk.
———-

Remember- there’s a lot more room around em than there is through em.. -Curt Olsen




Day 3: 6/18 (fathers day) 0800 82degrees no wind - perfect shooting conditions in the beautiful Texas hill county.

I know this isn’t a competition but I decided to push the envelope and shoot 800yds. Glad I did because it was a confidence booster and I was honestly in a great mood after my shot. Wish I would have taken more pictures but I was in a rush to get back to the family.

I hope all the dads had a wonderful weekend. I’d say it’s safe to assume we’re all blessed to have had a father or grandfather teach us how to shoot when we were kids.. one of our most valued avocation


21.22 moa
Held middle of middle…. And smoked it!

 

[Tcmo-33]

MER: 505
Day 1

Gun:
Savage model 11 factory rifle in .243
95 g. Berger classic hunter at 3050 fps
Basic bipod
Rear bag
upgraded trigger spring around 2 lbs
Triad tactical stock pack
Swfa 3-15x42

Weather:
90 degrees
7-14 mph variable wind at 10 o’clock
Sunny

Clean miss today just off the right edge should have waited for the peak of the gust but with all the farmers in the fields it was a now or never sort of thing….. I guess you could say it was as realistic as it could be while not actually hunting


Day 2.

Weather:
72 degrees
5 mph straight crosswind
Mostly sunny

Hit the gong but just outside of my circle. I believe that some of my info on my dope chart to be incorrect as the 3 guys who used the chrono while developing a load after me have all had faster muzzle velocity then what the chrono had posted….. lesson learned today is that you NEED to verify your dope on the range instead of trusting the chrono… the chrono numbers are a starting point to get you close.

 

[Lawnboi]

MER: 500 yards.

Position/equipment: 500 yards I’m only shooting if I’m prone, and have zero wobble with my hunting rifle. With the range above I chose to shoot prone with bipod, and my git lite schmedium, which will be strapped to the upside of my pack this fall.

Shooting my 16.5” 22 creedmoor with 88 eldm. 2772 fps. Rifle is a tikka with a PVA prefit. Eh1 stock, NX8 for the optic. Ultra 7 on the muzzle.


Range: I have never shot at before day 1. Found it online, loaded up my daughter, and arrived and shot.


Day 1: calm wind, 3-5mph. Shooting a square range the wind didn’t seem to be doing anything in the lane. Dialed for spin drift and shot it straight. Took my daughter along for the long walk.



Day 2: Same location. Light rain, headwind 5-7 funneling down the range. Pissed off baby in the truck. Ran to put out the target, ran back. Had a tenth of heartbeat in the reticle during the shot.




Takeaway: it’s not too hard when you have all the time in the world and little or predictable wind. Iv never shot an animal at the above range but it gives me a bit more confidence in a little farther shot than I’m used to, in ideal conditions. I know how quickly those 2 hits above can turn into 2 misses.

 

[cody21peterson]

I’ve been strictly a bowhunter for the last 9 years but this year I decided to dive back into rifle hunting! I will have rifle tags for elk and mule deer this season in my home state of Utah. Here’s my setup so far.

Tikka T3X 7mm rem mag
Sig sauer sierra 4-15 scope
Harvester Evo suppressor
Magpul bipod
Shooting hornady precision hunter 162 grain ELD-X ammo

10 inch steel target set at 500 yards. Sorry for the poor video quality. I’m filming with a phone skope and vortex diamondback spotter.

Day 1 miss low. There was about a 10 mph wind.

Shot #2

Another miss low. Gonna have to adjust my scope. Wind was a little more gutsy, around 15 mph.

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