2024 Cold Bore Challenge

[Zork]

Mer: 675

T3x 6.5 cm, krg bravo (dremeled out to be a lefty)
Swfa 10x
Spartan bipod
tag ultralight rear bag with a bunch of material removed and re-sewed to fit my hand
Norma 143 gr at 2615 fps

I'd hoped to shoot this earlier but a family vacation stood in the way and then we all came home with covid. So I impatiently shot last night in a really tough, swirling wind which was a shot I wouldn't have taken at an animal but it was a great challenge anyway.


I wasn't ready for the CBC last year but it inspired my practice routine over the past year. I'm lucky enough to be able to shoot behind my house but it's a 1k climb to get there. So at least a couple times a week I make the climb and shoot 1-3 shots from different field positions.

This one still ****** me and I made a mess of things. I put my steel too low across the canyon, combined with a lot of recent grass growth and then I found my view blocked without enough time to go move the steel again. So I improvised a rest with by spartan bipod on top of my pack and both my bino harness and lightweight rear bag for the rear. I was really uncomfortable and awkward in this position but eventually decided to send it after a bunch of fidgeting. In hindsight, I have no clue why I didn't just use my poles in the front and pack in the rear, sitting like I practice a lot out to 500 -- my mind was stuck on prone.

Shot 1: 584 yards

Held right edge, 1 moa, of the plate for a 3/4 value 6 mph wind. Seems like it was more like an 8mph full value wind at the time of the shot.

For now, I'm calling it a miss. I can't see the trace. It looks to me like I grazed the left edge of the plate but it also looks like there could be a fresh bullet hole in the circle. it's a scrap piece of steel so the bullets pass through but usually the impacts have been pretty clear. (the previous holes are from the backside and then I painted it, so it will be clear if I did end up making a hit ... I'm going to have to go check after shot 2.)

Honestly, I was pretty relieved to catch the steel at all. Wasn't feeling confident in this shot and like I said, wouldn't have taken it at an animal but I did enjoy challenging myself. Constantly humbled by the wind in these mountains.

This is a lot of fun and I was definitely feeling a ton more pressure than my normal practice.
Thanks to RS and the sponsors for putting it on.

Shot 2: MISS

same 584 yds. Wind 3-4 mph but starting to gust from 6-8 o'clock.

I shot high. Not a good effort in this challenge, especially since ive been practicing these scenarios all year, but I confirmed/learned plenty with these two shots. I'm comfortable to 450ish off trekking poles with the pack for rear support but at this yardage my wobble zone covered most of the target and I didn't feel confident. Missing high for me is strongly suggestive of poor rear control of the gun. My misses are pretty much narrowed down to that and wind.

Takeaways: pressure added something from my normal practice and caused mental errors. I didn't get to really test my prone mer due to my errors in spot selection but did get to establish what I feel to be my sitting mer right now -- will definitely not take a shot over 500 off the poles but I've been pretty consistent under that for the last 6 months.

Even though I didn't qualify, I'm going to try to test my prone mer a bit more soon, just need to find a way to add that pressure scenario.

 

[king402]

MER: 600 yards

Fierce Rogue 6.5 PRC
Leica Amplus 6 3-18X44 (I love this scope!)
Hornady ELD-x 143 handload, 2970 fps
Spartan bipod
Gunwerks BR4 rangefinder
Magview for the video
Gunwerks 8IGHT suppressor

Day 1 conditions: 7 am, calm wind and 72 degrees. Slight breeze from the east straight on so no dialing for wind. Elevation adjustment called for 10 MOA. I hit the top of the 10" steel. Tomorrow I will dial down 0.75 MOA.




Shot 1:

Day 2: 6:30 pm with perfect conditions, 85 degrees. No breeze and a cloud moved in and covered the brutal sun just before my shot. I was a little high yesterday so I made the MOA correction and adjusted a couple too many clicks. This time I hit low.

Day 2:

 

[Mountainrancher]

Mer: 450 yards
Rifle: tikka 6.5 cm
Stockys vg stock
Trijicon tenmile 3-18 mils
Unknown scope rings
Caldwell bipod
Cheap off brand rear bag
Shooting freedom munitions 123 grain hpbt at 2800 fps


First shot: A hit! It was 64 degrees with a 0-10 mph gusting wind coming from about 40 degrees to my right. Hornady app gave me a 0.2 mil wind hold and I dialed up 2.2 mils and it was almost perfect. It looks like I hit low and left a bit should have dials 2.3 or 2.4 and held a little more wind but I’ll take it.

Second shot: A big ole miss! 58 degrees with absolutely no wind today. A little mirage at the target but I can’t blame that I don’t think. It was just a touch high. I have a tendency to pull shots high and I’m sure that’s what happened to me today. Thank you rokslide sponsors and staff for this awesome ass kicking challenge. I plan on repeating it on my own a few times this summer to see if I notice any improvement in my shooting.

 

[Tcmo-33]

Setting my MER to 600 yards

Factory tikka 243 8 twist
Harris bipod
Rear bag about the size of a 16 oz can
Um tikka rings
Swfa 3-15
Stock pack
108 g. Eldm’s @3000 in lapua brass cci 200


Day one swing and a miss…. Kind of

Conditions were 16-20 mph 6 o’clock
Temp 70
I normally use sig kilo2400 abs but I forgot it in my buddies pickup on the last hunt so I’m using my backup Leica and applied ballistics app

Missed vitals but still on steel


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[686]

Thanks to Rokslide and all the sponsors for putting this on!

I whiffed on my first attempt last year, but am more setup for success this year and got my first shot on target today. 500 yard MER

Shot was at 3:20 this afternoon, 93 degrees, 610’ elevation, 500 yards.

Setup:
Stock Ruger Go Wild in 7PRC
Shooting the notoriously slow Hornady factory 175gr ELDx ammo, but it holds sub-MOA in this rifle.
Sig suppressor
Sig BDX 5-30X56
Sig range finding binos synced to scope and applied ballistics ap, giving me about a foot of wind hold; I didn’t note the MOA of holdover or windage, just used the BDX solution.
Bog pod deathgrip
Shooting from seated position using a shooting stick as rear support.
Swarovski ATX with 65mm objective
Phone scope attached with iPhone 14pro max for video
Blazing sun, lots of mirage

Shot attempt 2:

I drove out to my folk’s place today, where I have a decent range setup, a good spot is 530 yards from the gong:

Sig BDX ballistic ap screen shot:

It felt like I was between wind gusts, so I didn’t hold any wind.

Just snuck it in. I didn’t check lot numbers, but this Hornady ammo is shooting higher/faster than the boxes I originally had. I like the 7PRC so far, will probably get some dies and do some hand loads, may try the Federal ammo as well.

Edit: checked when I got home and yeah, different lot numbers from what I sighted in with to what I was shooting cold bore with. I bought them at the same time and didn’t think to check. Learning experience.

Thanks again to the Rokslide mods for putting this on and the generous prize donations. It gets your heart rate up a little when you know you just have one shot; great practice.

 

[TheCougar]

MER is 500 yards this year for seated shooting off a backpack. Seated positions are something I have been experimenting with and working on. The tripod rear support is fast and fairly stable.

This rifle is completely new to me. After the CBC is over, I’m tearing it down and installing UM rings, installing a magwell pic rail on it, and doing Form’s whole “process” for degreasing and scope mounting.

Tikka T3X 6.5CM
Chopped to 18” with Scythe and DIY suppressor cover
Rokstok
Trijicon TenMile with Talley Rings
Shooting 143ELDX around 2605fps.

Shot Number 1: 500 yards, winds were 10:30 at 2-4mph, dope was 2.9 and .2L. I was using the backpack as a front rest and a tripod as the rear rest. I wasn’t as stable as I had hoped. I had about .2-.3mil wobble, which is enough that I was distracted by it and couldn’t get super comfortable (I think I was slouched over too much). Between the wobble and the other guys shooting around the target, I forget my wind hold and came close to missing the target. It was still a hit, but not by much.

 

[TheM1DoesMyTalking]

My primary hunting rifle is at Kampfeld Custom right now so this CBC lit a fire under me to assemble a 6.5 Grendel upper I've been intending to build from parts I've had for a while. I matched it up with a scope & mount I picked up on the classifieds here. I only had time for one trip to the range prior to "going for record" with day 1, so this barrel just has 52 rounds through it and I will continue to refine the zero and validate dope before hunting with it.

I haven't noticed any other ARs in this year's challenge so far, maybe there will be some in the next 50 entries.

MER: 500 yards (paper/steel targets only, 400 yards on animals due to velocity)

Rifle & setup:
Aero Precision receivers and handguard
Faxon 16" 6.5 Grendel barrel and bolt
Geissele G2S trigger
BCM stock & grip
Warne MSR mount (Thanks, @General RE LEE)
SWFA 6X MQ (Thanks, @Clark33)
Factory loaded Hornady 6.5 Grendel 123 ELD-M (I estimated velocity at 2460 fps which would drop below 1800 fps just after 400 yards, I'll shoot through my chrono and confirm in a few weeks)
Prone off day pack with rear bag
Kowa TSN-1 w/ 25X LER eyepiece on Sirui AT-125 tripod w/ AT-10 pan head
ScopeCam universal adapter with MAG-2 fixed position mag plate

June 13, 2024
Day 1: MISS
Target: 10" circle on 5' backer board at 500 yards, up 4 mils elevation.
Conditions:
5-10 mph wind with gusts and let offs, coming up behind me and switching between 8 O'clock and 5 O'clock. I held left .25 mils and needed to have held off more. I missed on both elevation and windage, not good. Impact was 6" high, 6.5" right.

In between Day 1 and Day 2 I was reviewing data in the Hornady 4DOF app and realized that it was set to a 1.5" sight height. I updated to reflect the 2.625" height over bore that this setup has and re-ran the numbers in 4DOF and with my Kestrel and discovered that the elevation of 4 Mils that I had used had been too high, partially contributing to the miss.

June 16, 2024
Day 2: HIT
Target: 10" circle on 5' backer board at 500 yards, up 3.7 mils elevation.
Conditions:
1-5 mph primarily from 11 O'clock. I held center because I believed there was a lull. Impact was a hit, 3.5" low, 2.5" right.

Thank you for hosting this challenge!

 

[Wyatt.Carter]

I'm glad this is on again!!

MER: I'm going to try for 800 - for my qualifying shots ill be shooting at a 10" painted circle on a piece of plywood- if I make my qualifying shots i'll shoot at a painted steel target at 800.

I've been using this rifle the past couple hunts i've had. Description is in the video below, but i'll give a brief overview.

Savage 110 ultralite in 6.5PRC
Leupold VX5 3-15
Shooting handloads with 147 eldM and 4831 SC getting about 2980fps.

Day 1- Wind was light and variable- about 60degrees (cool for this time of year). Target was at 580 and shot was good !

Shot #2 : Looks like that's the end of the line for me! Dang! Wind was all over the map- up, down, left, right and gusty. I couldn't get a good wind hold to save my life- ended up shooting a little high and out of the circle (see the hole high and left in the white paint).

The end of the trail for me- but glad to get the gun out and get ready for this year. As usual- major props to the Rokstaff and sponsors who put this and the Cold Bow Challenge together- it's my favorite thing that's come around over the last several years- keep up the great work!!!

 

[Hank]

MER 800

Glad to try this challenge again this year! Thank you guys for putting it on.

Shooting a Seekins Havak Element 6.5 PRC
Nightforce NX8 2.5-20x50 F1
Atlas bipod
Omega 30 silencer
Hornady factory 147eldm
Prone with a squeeze bag

Day 1
Calm wind with a little overcast
6:45 am about 60 degrees
Shooting at 593 for qualifying shots
12” plate with 10” white circle
Shot with @lak2004

 

[Raider4044]

I’m going to call my MER 750 yards this year.

I’m shooting my 24” 7mm SAW running 162 ELD-Ms at 2800 fps.

Defiance Tenacity Action
Bartlein Carbon 24” 8.5 tw Barrel
Manners EH-1 with Area 419 ARCA
Triggertech Diamond
Leupold Mark5 5-25 PR2 reticle
KGM R30 suppressor

I’ve been working on my tripod shooting, so I’m going to push myself and shoot everything off my Leofoto LN-364C tripod.

Day 1- 596 Yards

Had a full value 20-25 MPH wind, so that made shooting and videoing a little tricky. You’ll have to excuse the shaky video. Shot was about 3” right and 2” high of dead center. I’ll take it.

 

[lak2004]

MER of 800

Tikka T3X 6.5 Creedmoor in a rokstock, 18" barrel with Harvester Evo suppressor. Bushnell LRTS 4-18 sportsmatch rings.
140gr eldm @ 2580 fps

Shooting with @Hank .

Day 1: Target @590 yds. MISS. Around 56*F, no wind. Shooting across a draw at 7530 ft elevation. Target is a 12" gong but the 10" area is in white.
Missed about a foot right. Elevation was good, think I pulled with the rear bag, not sure. I was prone with a rear bag and using my pack for a front rest.

Day 2: Target @590yds. MISS. Around 50*F, no wind. I missed just right of the steel. Not as bad as the first shot. Need to verify my scope is setup good or if it's just me.
Shot 4 more shots and hit all 4 afterwards...Shot prone off my pack with a rear bag, not a fan of my rear bag though, open to suggestions.
Planning on lots of practice at distance and more time building positions at home and in the field.