2025 Cold Bore Challenge

[Ruby D]

My Dad told me to try the challenge because he thinks I’m a good shot. I’m 11 years old. Im shooting a tikka 22 creedmoor. I wanted to shoot 600 yards. I choose to shoot seated down on a tripod. Shooting at a seven inch steel target that my dad hung. I’m doing max range of 600 yards



Day 1. June 16th. 582 yards. 7 inch target. Temperature was 80 degrees. Light winds. My dad dialed scope to 2.2. Hit!

Ruby went to church camp for a week. And I’ve been working so finally Made it out for shot 2. July 3 at 10:45. She is shooting 22 creedmoor with 80 grain Berger’s.

Shot 2. July 3rd. Distance was 594 yards. Ruby is seated off a tripod. Shooting at a 10 inch steel. 78 degrees 10,700 DA. Wind is fairly calm seems to be from out back. She hit it. About hit the middle!

 

[Redbaron307]

MER 800yds
300 RUM w/24” barrel
Leupold vx5HD 4-20x52
245g Berger EOL @ ~2810fps
Remington 700
Rugged Alaskan 360 suppressor
Grayboe stock
Gunwerks bipod
Phoenix shooting bags rear rest
Leica Geovid Pro AB+
Swarovski BTX 85mm spotter


Day 1: qualifying shot at 577yds

I had a pretty good crosswind from right to left around 10-15mph, I almost over held for wind but was still within a 10” circle. I didn’t have anything expect a crappy sharpie at the time to make a rough line of where 10” is so I used a tape to show 5” from the center as well. It’s a 13” gong.

Day 2: Miss.

everything felt good about the shot but it was a little too high to be in the circle still. I haven’t spent a ton of time behind this rifle yet, Lots more shooting to do before fall.

 

[PathFinder]

MER 700
Tikka 6UM, 24" Bartlein chambered by Unknown Munitions
SWFA 5-20 HD in UM Tikka rings
DIY Modified and full-length bedded Manners EHT (flat toe, negative comb, vertical grip)
115 DC NR DTAC at 3330 with 66 N570. ADG 6.5 SAUM brass
SRS 4 port Ti Brake
HCA magazine, factory bottom metal
Sand Sock Gear bag, Marsupial bino harness for rear support
Resting on my scouting pack because all the others are packed up.



Day 1: Miss. On the 12" plate, but missed the 10" circle

Conditions: 70 degrees, overcast. Wind 40 degrees in my face, 8-15 mph. Picked the windiest 15 minutes of the day for this shot

Day 2: Hit
Conditions: Wind 5-8 mph, switching from 330-30 degrees back and forth. 60 F.

Sent from my Pixel 6 using Tapatalk

 

[JohnB]

MER: 450 yards
Rifle: Tikka .270
Scope: Maven RS1.2
Rings: Sportsmatch TO84
Front support: Pack
Rear support: LS Wild Ultralite bag

SHOT 1: MISS @ 430 yards

Conditions: 75 degrees, intermittent 8-15mph wind

Shooting location: Shooting across a 250 foot deep canyon with some combination of upslope winds coupled with evening downslope thermals. From the target location winds were alternating between downslope (5-10mph 12 o'clock at shooting location) and left to right (7-14mph 3 o'clock at shooting location). I was out of my element trying to shoot in these conditions and it showed. Impact location was about 4 inches outside of the 10" target and right on the edge of the cardboard target. The mosquitos were heinous and trying to shoot accurately while getting chomped by bugs didn't help me out either.






I did get a decent look at the first wildfire of the season and got a good sunset in at least!

Day 2:
Prone off pack
450 yards Missed again!
Calm wind & 70 degrees

I'm having a hard time telling what went wrong on this one. My buddy digitally zoomed my phone in rather than using the optical zoom of my spotter so things are a bit pixelated. I think I was low and off the left. I've gotta do some practice as well as check that the ammo I'm using is shooting where I anticipated. My zero had been good and I had chrono'd 10 rounds but perhaps I've got something else going on at distance. Now that the CBC is done for me I'm going to get back out to the range at 100 and also am going to get a big piece of cardboard up at 5-600 to see if my dope is correct.

 

[cq0302]

MER 700
Setup:
Tikka 22-250 factory barrel scythe ti suppressor
Amazon cheek riser, vertical grip and mountain tactical trigger spring
Berger 85.5 .020 jump, nosler brass, 38.2 gr n560 going 3090fps
Maven rs 1.2 with UM tikka rings
MDT grnd pod in the front with my pack as a rear rest

Conditions:wind was variable 2-5 with gusts to 10 half value from the front left (it does weird things in this valley)
73f (4dof screenshot looks weird because i forgot to shut it off before i took the screenshot)
The screenshot explains the rest
Shot 1: held left edge of plate and impacted low right center

Will shoot again Thursday for a second 600 then step it back to 700

Day 2: hit 622 yds wind was a full value at 4-6 mph. Luckily there was a lot of cottonwood pollen in the air to give a good read so I held half value and it worked well with another hit. This load and rifle work great and feeling confident headed to 700. The 85.5 Berger is killer in these things. Next shot will look a little different, I’ll probably use the neighbors farm field or do it in Montana when I’m there for a wedding next week since I ordered my own mag view today and won’t have to rely on the help of @Buffalo-Jo to film (thanks for the assist, little behind the tech power curve over here). Two at 700 next.

Day 3: 706 yds. 2673’ DA, 84f 4-5mph wind full value from the right, held right edge plate and hit. New location, sorry for the poor video quality, very humid and glass was fogging on the outside instantly.

Day 4: same location as day 3, it was about 84f, I did not feel great about the shot, measured some gusts up to 12 which I definitely would’ve got closer, likely 500 max. Held left edge of the plate thinking I was in a lul. Anyway, I missed right, maybe a bit high. Since it was the last day I shot a couple rounds after and got a second round impact using a half mil of wind and the same elevation hold

Thank you to Rokslide for putting this on! It was fun! Now back to practicing. Should have the 6um in a couple weeks so excited to get started on that.

 

[Bado20]

MER 600 yds

Setup:
KS ARMS 3 lug lightweight action
Triggertech Special
MDT HNT 26
IBI 20" Carbon in 6.5 CM
Nightforce Xtreme Duty Rings
NX8 4-32x50 with Mil-C reticle
Atlas BT47 bipod
Bino Harness for rear bag

Ammo:
129gr ABLR
38.5gr Varget
Starline SRP brass
CCI 450

Conditions:
85 degrees
917mb
52% humidity

5-10mph wind almost head one but angled slightly left to right. Tons of mirage coming off of the field. I held 0.2MIL left. Target is at 608 yards. First shot was a miss way off the left side of the target.

I haven't had the chance to do a proper ten shot zero with this load in this rifle and it is zeroed off of the load development group but still seems way off. Could also be due to the shape of the valley that the wind at the target is often different than from the shooting position. I will trouble shoot after I take my second shot tomorrow.

Day 2

Back to the same spot, set up and the range from the shooting position was 597 yards today. The wind was much stronger today, 12-17mph wind coming towards me at a 45 degree angle going right to left. Wind at the target was almost 90 degrees going left to right. Temperature was 75 degrees, humidity 50 percent, pressure was 919mb. Dialed up 3.7 MILS, held dead on no wind hold as I figured wind at the shooter and wind at the target should pretty much cancel out.

Impact, hit a bit to the right but with the crossing winds I'm not surprised I was off to one side or another.



Takeaways:

This was my first year shooting this challenge and predictably it was pretty humbling. My first miss was bad and I don't have a good explanation for it beyond a really bad wind call. I checked my zero after my second shot and it was on. To be fair to myself, I picked an MER of 600 yds to try to push myself, but the longest shot I've ever actually taken in the field is 350yds. Great challenge, looking forward to continue to pushing myself.

 

[silasbowhunter]

MER
440 yards

Rifle
Caliber: 223
Action: Tikka
Barrel: Tikka Varmint 16”
Stock: Factory with cheek riser and DIY vertical grip
Rings: Sportsmatch T048
Scope: SWFA 3-9x42 HD with Pods8 zero shim kit.
Bipod: Caldwell
Suppressor: 7.5” Form 1 can

Ammo is some Frontier/Hornady 69gr HPBT

Day 1. HIT.
Hit bottom portion of the plate dead center.
Shot off the front bipod sitting on my butt and used my 25” Ark frame as a rear rest. Surprisingly steady. Wind was about 8mph from about a 7:00position. Held left edge of the plate. Dialed 2.2 mild (like a dummy)

DAY 2. HIT.
Laid prone on a downhill angle rifle over my pack and the jellyfish under the butt stock. I also remembered to hit the focus on my phone screen today I did forget to chamber a round/load my rifle though so you’ll hear a click then me fumble with ammo in the super long video haha
Pretty much center-shot the plate. Dialed 2.4 mils today lol wind was calm but a little left to right so I held left edge of the plate.

 

[Buffalo-Jo]

MER goal 650

Equipment
Christensen Ridgeline 7PRC
175gr ELDx
66gr H1000
Maven RS1.2
Silencer Central MeatEater
Tac bag with replaced hyperlite fill
Gunwerks bipod

Day 1
No noticeable wind and very warm out!




Shot at 605yds

Day 2
Attempted shot at 618yds
Missed high left. After the shot discovered my can was a little loose. I think I might be seeing a little tensitivity with H1000 with ambient temps at 91F resulting in a little more velocity than my ballistic calculator predicted.

 

[Graves14]

Thank you for running this again and thanks to all the sponsors for contributing such awesome prizes!

MER - 650yds
Sig Cross
18" 6.5cm
TBac Magnus K
147 ELDM Handloads @ 2570fps


Day 1 - Miss - Underestimated the wind, crazy mirage should have been a clue! I shot it for 5-6 was more like 10-12. Shot prone clipped in to my tripod.

Day 2 - Miss - Mirage was twice as bad, could barely even see the plate (That's my excuse). Hard to tell but I believe the shot was slightly low right. The elevation surprised me but I can't exactly be sure from the video it was low because of the mirage.

Bottom Target is Mine

 

[Kquinn511]

MER
650 yards

Rifle 11.5lbs
Caliber: 6.5 Creedneedmore Magnum
Action: Tikka
Barrel: Proof Sendero Lite 22”
Stock: XLR Element 4.0
Scope: NX8 4x32
Bipod: Harris
Suppressor: Omega 36m
Ammo: Factory 140 ELDM @2670
Tripod: Leophoto SA324 W/ MA-40 head

Day #1 (Hit): 577 yards prone off the Bipod. Accounted for a 10mph wind coming from the left.(Top paper plate is mine)

Day#2 (Hit) 577 yards seated tripod with my exo smashed under my leg to fill the void. About half the amount of wind yesterday. Felt I had to try for a non prone position as I had an impact yesterday and felt great off the tripod today.

Day#3 -647yards (swing and a miss): Doesn't matter how stable you are prone if your wind call sucks. Mirage was possibly the worst i've shot in. Defiantly out of my comfort zone at this range for a high probability of a hit. You can see in the video the wind is ripping, my guess was 12mph needed probably 15+.

 

[TeaGull]

MER 427

Rifle:
Tikka 6.5cm
Rokstok
Maven RS1.2

140 eldm

8” plate was what I had
Day 1 hit

I try to limit shots to 400 on animals.
Planned to shoot further but there was 100 yards of bee boxes on the Range and they were warming up by the time I got there. Looooser…




Day 2 - miss
Bees were moved, backed to 477 and shot off my pack.

I suck, THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER!

 

[JBahr]

MER 800 yards. I’ve lost some confidence in this rifle and very recently had wild velocity spreads where it was my most consistent shooter in years past. I very recently cleaned the barrel to bare metal and cleared a carbon ring and velocity seems to be falling back into stride. I also switched to a traditional stock over the chassis.

Rifle: MPA 6.5 PRC Ultralight Hunter in a Manner LRH stock, LA Curtis Action, NX8 Scope
22" Proof Sendero Barrel Chambered with a 0.200" Throat (Std is 0.188") AW2 Reamered, Spartan bipod, Banish 30 Gold suppressor
ADG brass fired 5 times, Neck tensioned and three way trimmed
156EOL Berger Seated 0.025" off the lands
56.5 Grains of H1000

76F this morning wind 12.7mph from 1 o’clock. Using a kestrel and revic rangefinder. Day 1 impact at 600 yards.

80F by mid morning, no wind to speak of. Super curious if my velocity is going to climb since I eliminated the carbon ring and broke it back in Monday. Worried it might stil be climbing. Yesterday's velocity was 2854 FPS and today's 2878 FPS. Super small sample size, but worried about going to 800 next week. Day 2 impact.

Well yesterday I got all geared up, remembered my 10" plate this time for my MER shot at 800 yards. Drove an hour and a half... Set up my target, set up my shooting position and video equipment. I picked up my rifle from the case by the scope and felt something move! I shook the rifle and felt it again. The pic rail was loose... The rail I blue loctited on... I stripped the truck looking for the right size allen head to retorque for the shot, no dice. Long, sulky drive home. Took the scope off the rail and found 3 out of 4 screws less than hand tight!!! Cleaned and paint pened and retorqued. My zero had wandered after the cleaning prior to the challange but I attributed that to a bare barrel. No idea if the loose rail was contributing. This might be the nail in the coffin for my CBC. I have removed a scope from a pic rail and reinstalled without loss of zero but have no idea how this will impact zero. We will see next week...

Day three MISS at 800 yards, Impact looked high, wind was 15ish left to right full value. Spotted my shot, looked like it hit right behind the plate, which typically means over it in this case. I thought I hit record on the phone scope but screwed that up too. Please do not include me in the completed over 600 MER crowd.

LESSON LEARNED: Check all components, no matter how solid you think thay are. Personally, I will be moving away from anything without an integrated solid rail. I had cleaned this one and used lock tight and still came loose. Only thing I can figure is that the loctite was open for a while and probably old. Still should have caught it. Rifle went right back to previous zero and was about 1.5"MOA high at 100 yards.

 

[Zork]

Mer 625

Rifle: tikka 6.5 cm, chopped to 19", factory stock, vert grip, limbsaver
suppressor: scythe ti
Scope: swfa 3x9 in t084 rings
Bullet: 100 gr eldvt at 3145 fps

Shot off pack with small ultralight rear bag.

Day 1: hit( I think)

Approx 3mph Thermals coming down from 9ish. Held .3 mils left. I shoot in this spot often and it's so ******* difficult to read the wind. Shooting across the top of a narrow Gulch that opens into a huge valley. Shooter location is a saddle where the wind wraps around and swirls constantly. Did OK today but mostly luck.

video blows and was crooked on my magview. My bad. Zooming in on my phone I'm pretty confident I can see the splash a few inches low but in the circle and then it threw a rock up from behind the steel. Will have to verify later as I was out of time.

Day 2:

miss (I think). Just outside left edge and a little high. Similar conditions. Thermals coming down. Dead calm one minute. Gusting to 5-6 the next.

Forgot to photo my shooting setup but will return, check target and add more details later.

I've been struggling this year. I think I've lost sight of fundamentals while paying attention to other shit like equipment. Shooting well on paper but not in the field.

 

[Antares]

MER = 450 yards

Tikka w/ 18" Ace barrel in 6CM
Factory 108 ELDM
Rokstok
NF NXS 2.5-10x42
CGS Hyperion w/ LS Wild cover

Target is a 10" plate at 463 yards, 12° uphill through a gap in the trees.



Shot 1 - Hit
8:00 a.m. 6/19/25
52F and sunny
No wind
Prone over pack. Pint-sized gamechanger w/ lite fill in front, bino harness and LS Wild ultralight bag in back.
Impact was 1-2" low at 6 o'clock

I'm going to try shot 2 sitting off my trekking poles. For extra realism, I dumped my rifle out of the truck after shot 1 so we'll see how my setup does for zero retention. Idiot...

I almost missed out on the CBC this year, but I have a good excuse. I've had my hands full lately trying to keep this little monster under control.



Shot 2 - Hit
8:40 a.m. 6/29/25
50F and sunny
No wind
Seated supported. Trekking poles in front, backpack and LS Wild ultralight bag in back.
Impact was 4-5" off center at 3 o'clock.

 

[Mountainrancher]

MER 450
Rifle set up:
Tikka t3x stainless superlite 6.5cm chopped back to the flutes
HSM Berger 140 vld 2574 fps
Huxwerx ventom suppressor
Stockys vg carbon stock
Unknown rings
Trijicion ten mile 3-18
Caldwell bipod and cheap amazon rear bag


Shot 1: Hit!
Temp was 69 with absolutely zero wind 7300 ft elevation. This load lines up perfectly with quick drops so I layed down at 450ish dialed 2.5 mil and let it fly.

Shot 2: Hit!
75 today with a 1-5 mph breeze coming at about 45 degrees. Still used 2.5 quick drop and it looks like the hit was pretty high. Not sure if it was me or if the 2.5 was to much elevation today, either way it would be a dead deer.

Takeaways:
Shooting suppressed is a game changer. I heard that for years and didn’t believe until I got one but man does it improve everything. I’ve felt very comfortable at 450 since getting my can and this is the first year I’ve gone 2/2. I do kinda wish I had tried 500 to challenge myself a little more. Thank you to Rokslide staff and sponsors for this awesome challenge!

 

[waspocrew]

MER 550 yards


Rifle specs:

22 Creedmoor
Terminus Zeus QC with 20" 1:8 Proof pre-fit
Manners LRH
Triggertech Diamond
NF NX8 2.5-20 FFP MOAR
Gunwerks Bipod
Gunwerks 8ight Suppressor w/ LS Wild Cover

Shooting the 77 TMK at 3406 FPS
45.2 gr RL-26
Peterson Brass
Fed 210 Primer




Target:



Day 1:
Snuck out after work to an area I found on OnX. The vegetation was much higher than I expected and my gunwerks bipod wouldn't allow for a clear prone or even sitting shot (I'm an idiot - didn't bring my shooting tripod). Ended up shooting out of the bed of the truck to clear the vegetation. 550 yards. The Tricer RP will be heading out with me tomorrow!

Temp: 82*
Wind: None

Impact was a little high, but still within the 10" plate.

Day 2: Hit

Learned from my mistake yesterday and brought my tricer bipod. Extended all the way allowed for a shot from a sitting position with my backpack for rear support. Definitely wasn’t as solid, but was still able to hit the plate at 490.

*** Day 3***
Wasn’t sure if shooting out of my truck bed on Day 1 really was within the rules or not, so I went out for another shot. I got tired of lugging my steel out and back on the previous trips (public land, not going to risk losing my plate), so brought my mountain bike to speed it up a bit.




88 degrees, little to no wind at all
430 yards
Standing with tripod



Result: Miss!

Was definitely surprised. I shot an antelope off my tripod at this very distance 2 years ago and felt it was within my range. I guess I better keep practicing! As always, it’s a fun challenge.

 

[tak]

MER 510 yards

Rifle:
7mm PRC
20" Proof
Defiance Anti X
Foundation Gideon Stock
Leupold Mark 5 5-25
Pint size gamechanger, git lite
Factory Hornady 180 ELDm at 2725fps

88 degrees
920 ft elevation
~8 mph wind at 5 o clock

Day 1:
Missed low. Shot felt good, but I know I need to check zero. I don't have a high round zero with this ammo, so a good lesson to learn.

Day 2:
Missed again! Humbling for sure.
I think I missed just low again, I recorded in slo-mo and rewatched it several times, and I think it's low but hard to tell.
I did follow up 3 for 3 on the next 3 shots after I was done. Frustrating, but just goes to show you how tough that cold bore shot really is. I'm not as good as I think I am, LOL!

 

[TheM1DoesMyTalking]

MER 500 yards

Savage 16 .308 with 16" barrel
SWFA 3-9X with @pods8 (Rugged Stitching) shims
Diligent Defense Enticer S-Ti with LS Wild cover @hereinaz
Hornady Black 168 AMAX



Day 1: Hit
Shot prone off backpack with LS Wild @hereinaz mini ultralight rear bag. It's only 1.4 oz and just the right size to grab a top corner of the bag with three fingers and use my thumb and index finger as a V under the stock. Shot shortly before sunset, no wind. 3.8 mils up, center hold. Called shot a little high. Impact is 3.5" high and 1.5" left of center.

Day 2: Hit
Shot seated, bear hugging my backpack with the rifle on trekking poles. This is a more likely hunting position for me and has a bigger wobble zone than with prone so I decided to up the ante for the second shot. Shot right after my range opened in the morning, 5-8 mph wind right to left from 2 o'clock. Up 3.8 mils, held right 0.5 mils. Called shot clean, saw impact (dirt in the berm) in the scope. Impact is 1" high and 1" left of center. I was pleased to have an even better hit from a less stable position.

 

[nphunter]

MER 600
Model 700 280AI
168VLD
Maven 1.2

Put the new scope on a couple months back and redid load development. Had first round hits 100-400 but this is the first time I’ve shot it as 600 trying to get those extra entries. Guess I’ll be doing a little more shooting over the summer.

Shooting prone off a pack using jacket and hand as rear support.



Day 1, 15mph tail wind, got all setup and the shot felt decent. Hit super low, took a minute to realize I got in a rush and forgot to dial.

Day 2, no wind, it was raining steadily and I was getting soaked and rushed the shot and barely missed high.

 

[ridgehopper]

MER-535 yards
Christensen mesa fft 6.5 cm cut to 16.5”
147eldm at 2580
Leopold vx3i cds
Banish 30

Last shot out of this was my 11 year old son shooting a nice boar

Day 1 Hit! - was super calm and about 55 degrees. Nice cold front just moved in.

Day 2 miss !! - 543 yards. 7:30 am stiff head wind. Didn’t use kestrel as I don’t hunt with it with this rifle. Guessing a good 12-14mph wind but pretty straight on. Shot felt good. Wind looked good but appeared to be about two minutes high. Will need to check zero now. Damn leopold