2025 Cold Bore Challenge

[BjornF16]

MER 675 yds
Blaser R8 Jäger 6XC
108 ELD-M @ 2870 fps
NF NX8 4-32x50
Scythe Ti
Trigger cam 2.1



Summary:
Day 1 - Hit (575 yds)
Day 2 - Hit (575 yds)
Day 3 - Hit (675 yds)
Day 4 - Miss (675 yds)

Day 1 (21 June):
89°F, 60% RH, 29.45 inHg, DA=2828'
Target bearing 241° @ 575 yds
Winds 160°v200° 10g18 mph

Day 2 (29 June)
83ºF, 65% RH, 29.47 inHg, DA=2550'
Target bearing 241º @ 575 yds
Winds 190º 4v10 mph

Day 3 (3 July):
78ºF, 75% RH, 29.50 inHg, DA=1920'
Target bearing 241º @ 675 yds
Winds calm

Day 4 (4 July):
80ºF, 90% RH,
Target bearing 241º @ 675 yds
Winds 180º 3v8 mph
Decided to move out of prone and shot this sitting (tripod table front, backpack rear support)

 

[dster3]

MER: 550 Yards

Zermatt Ti3 - 6.5 Creedmoor
Leupold Mk5
Factory Federal GMM - 140 Berger 2740
Manners LRH
MDT MTN Bipod
SAP Run & Gun Bag

5600' Elevation





Target Day 1: 529
Temp: 42 Degrees - some rain, a little bit of hail, and some thunder on the hike back to the target.
Wind: Measured at 2 o clock - 5-6 mph

Summary
Day 1: Miss

Ended up hitting the target hanger - about 6-7" high of the plate center. Should have held another .1 mill to center up on wind

Hit the target hanger. A stick falls down in the video. Slope of the hill skewed the target a bit, I shoved that in the hanger to help straighten the target.

I messed with my wind direction a bit and noticed my elevation was changing between 2.93 and 2.96. I decided I felt better with the wind call direction that put me at 3.0 mills. Should have held a little down on the plate to compensate a bit.



Summary
Day 2: Hit - 530 yards

Temperature: 43 - Sunny, birds were chirping, deer in the meadow.
Wind: 1mph from 4 o clock.

Trusted my Kestrel - 2.95 mils. Dialed 3.0 and held a touch low. Held center for wind, pretty centered up, could have given it a little. impact on target was a touch left of center.

 

[eli425]

MER: 577yds

Tikka t3x
Mcgowen 22cm 16" fatty barrel
Diligent defense wolf hunter with lswild cover
Krg echo with mini arca/pic rail from srs
Trijicon credo hx in um low rings

Factory hornady 80gr eld-m flying at about 2930ish fps
Shooting off Lswild shooting bags. Usually hunt with bags or tripod. Might try the day 2 sitting off the tripod.

Day1:
46.4 F this morning and DA of about 2600
Distance 495 yards
8inch plate (need to buy a 10inch plate)
Strelok calls for 8.8
Dialed 8.75.
Slight left to right cross breeze at target. Favored left edge.

Day 2:

In short, didnt learn my lesson from day1. Needed to hold more for wind.
Warmer Morning of 52.7F, Humidity 48%, and DA of 2879.
Target was a 10x16 ipsc, so I painted a 9.5" circle on there. Glad I did, otherwise the 8" used on day 1 would have resulted in a miss.
577yards. Strelok calls for 11.3 MOA. Dialed 11.25.
Shooting off Pack and Bags again. Wasn't confident enough to shoot off the tripod.

Sorry about the terrible video quality. Just poor equipment and didn't realize my phone shifted after hitting record. At least we get a good view of the wind

 

[Wyatt.Carter]

MER:600

Savage 110 Ultralite 6.5 PRC
Stockys M50 Carbon Stock
Maven RS1.2
PVA Jetblast muzzlebrake


I’m shooting 147 ELD-M hand loads at about 2960. Also using the Spartan bipod for support.

Wind has been crazy here lately. Glad I was able to get out while there were still spots available.



Day 1: Wind was about 5mph and shifty. I made a bad wind call and shot left of the kill zone.

I used the same target as last year and covered the 2024 holes with duct tape .

Day 2: Winds were calm and about 57 degrees. Shot felt pretty good, hit low and right — I later realized I got in a rush and didn’t check my level like a rookie!

0/2 for me this year (ouch). As usual, thanks to Rokslide and the sponsors for putting these together!

 

[SpicyIrish]

I drew a cow elk tag and buck tag this year and was told I need to practice. I've been practicing with the .223. This is the first time ever shooting this rifle a 22 Creedmoor with a Maven scope at 450 yards. It is sunny 72 degrees and a little windy.

2 for 2 at 450yards! No wind this evening. Same set up as last time.

 

[Timberline001]

Tikka 6.5 creedmoor in a McMillan tracker stock, Athlon 2-12 scope, YHM Resonator 2 can. 147 ELDMs at 2620. Shooting off my Leofoto tripod with pack as a rear rest. Really don’t like the crosshairs on this scope. At this range the crosshairs are much too thick for my liking.

Day 1 MER 570 yards 8 inch gong 5 MPH wind at my back. 71 degrees
High impact

Day 2 585 yards 74 degrees and no wind.
Missed 2 inches high and slightly left. Nicked the left chain.

After completing the challenge I shot a few more shots because my shot felt perfect. I consistently impacted high and slightly left. Went back to 100 and found my zero has shifted 1 MOA up and about 1/3 MOA left. Not great and likely the scope but I’ll go through the check list. Got the scope on a good deal and wanted to try it for myself since I like testing things but appears the not holding zero claim is accurate.

 

[pathnz]

I reckon as far as I'll tend to shoot big stuff with my .223 is 450 metres (495yards) or thereabouts, because 1) it runs out of speed about there and 2) hit probability falls off a cliff.

So I shot 442m today (483yards)
Remington model 7 custom .223
1:8 18" barrel, suppressor, manners stock, aics kit, March F 3-24x42 mounted in Talley ultralight
80gr ELDM handloaded at 2747fps over adi 2206h. Plate is 200mm (8 in) square which ends up just short of 300mm (12in) across the long axes - so I'll cut off an inch from each point, if a bullet happens to land out there. Setup is prone, Atlas bipod, thlr rear bag.


Day 1: wind 0m/s. Didn't deliberately pick that condition to shoot in, and was expecting a couple m/s of Southerly but it was dead dead calm out at the shootin spot. 8⁰c, 1011hPa, if anyone cares. Nice centre hit as anticipated

Day 2: wind 1-2 m/s south easterly, so coming in about 10-11 o'clock on my shooting direction. 10⁰ c, 993hPa. 446 metres (486 yards). I overestimated the effective wind - hit plate but outside my 0.29mrad (1moa) inner circle.

So - 2 for 2. Both shots within 0.1mrad vertical and centred. Penciled grid on the plate is 0.1mrad spacing. Wind - not so easy - and one of the reasons why I consider about 450m to be max effective range for the .223

 

[Stumpy208]

I'm calling maximum effective range of 450 yards this year.

Howa mini
6 ARC
SWFA 3x-15x
Hornady Match 108 ELD-M
Dead Air TiXC

Day 1: I was able to sneak out after work to get to shoot today and get a HIT!
Distance to target: 453 yards
Temp: about 80 degrees
Wind: about 2-4 mph from 5 to 11 o'clock
Setup: Prone off my pack with my bino harness for rear support

Video:

Target: 10" gong

Summary: I dialed 2.8 MILS based off 4dof. Definitely a little bit high. Just barely hit the edge. I am a little over 100 rounds through this gun now and I haven't had a chance to rezero after the break-in has been completed. After the I complete the challenge I will definitely recheck my zero.

Day 2: HIT.
Distance to target: 464 yards
Temp: 90-95 degrees. It was 100 degrees wheni got off work before I shot.
Wind: about 4-5 mph from 5:30
Setup: Sitting supported with trekking poles up front and my K3 tucked under my right arm and left hand supporting the stock.

Video:

Target: 10" gong

Summary: It was pretty hot today. I dialed 2.9 MILS based off 4dof. I set the target up on the left hillside to be more of an angled across canyon shot. I'm excited to take this out to hopefully get a muley this year.

Thanks again for putting this challenge on. It's always fun to get out and shoot it.

 

[EdgeFan]

Im calling my MER at 711yds
In the video I say 578yds but it was actually 597 thats why im about 3/4 moa low but still in the kill zone.

260AI I built myself
KS action and barrel
140gr berger hybrid
Starline brass
Gynex primer
Zero wind
Hasty field position
Shot is at 1:07min

 

[Nine Banger]

2025 Cold Bore Challenge
MER: 490yds Seated Supported

My most frustrating position to build right now is seated/kneeling off the pack and I need to work out the movements. This last year I've been shooting mostly prone supported including 2 shots on animals; 411 yards on a bear and 509 yards on a moose. Moving forward I'm going to prioritize practice in other positions.

Site Prep:
It's a challenge to shoot distance in my AO without going to a range due to vegetation. Machines help.




Shot 1:

MER: 490yds Sitting Supported

Shot 1 Date: 6/24

Shot 1 Time: 830am

Target: 10” round Steel Challenge target

Target Distance: 490 yards

Wind Speed: 1-3mph

Wind Direction: 240 Degrees

Shot Direction: 160 Degrees

Temp: 81

DA: 1666 (real elevation 7 feet)

Rifle: Tikka T3x 223…Maven RS1.2…Raptor 8 w/ 3.5” Reflex…Rokstok

Ammo: IMI Razor Core 77gr BTHP 2789 fps

Position: Seated Supported w/ Exo K4 as front rest…sticks as rear

Shot 2:
MER: 490yds

Shot 2 Date: 6/25

Shot 2 Time: 815AM

Target: 10” round Steel Challenge target

Target Distance: 490 yards

Wind Speed: 1-2 mph

Wind Direction: 270 degrees

Shot Direction: 160 degrees

Temp: 85.5

DA: 1876 (real elevation 7 feet)

Rifle: Tikka T3x 223…Maven RS1.2…Raptor 8 w/ 3.5” Reflex…Rokstok

Ammo: IMI Razor Core 77gr BTHP 2789 fps

Position: Seated Supported w/ Exo K4 as front rest…sticks as rear
Same-same as yesterday except I got the rifle up on the top of the pack in a pocket instead of mashed down in the crease between the SG R3 bags and the frame.

 

[longrangelead]

just for fun...

MER 625yds

Sauer 100 6.5 Creed
Mavin RS1.2
SRS ST2

load: 130 ELDM
H4350
2840 FPS

Shot
prone off pack w/rear rest,
yes I hunt with it if I expect to need it.
624 yds
elevation 5600
DA 7600
full value L to R 6mph +/-

Elevation 3.6 Mil
wind:
held left .5 Mil (gave call to spotter)

#1

custom Rokstok conversion(patent pending )


target is in yellow circle. I put down a mat because there are a few ticks still.

Hit @ top was from a couple days ago, I set up with the big Caldwell front bag out of habit, disregard.
hit at very top edge was @Tommyhaak immediately after asking him to shoot the other target to the left...
Hit at 5 O'clock of bull is today from pack as witnessed by @Tommyhaak

CBC shot#2

went out early hoping to beat the thermals and get a full day of work in. As luck would have it, I beat the thermals.

624yds
68 degrees
DA 7000
no wind except slight movement right at target.

elevation: 3.5 mil
wind: center

 

[QMR]

I shot my first shot this morning with my dad and my little brother. Max Range range is 500 yards. My shot was at 495 yards today.
The gun is a Howa Mini 6ARC shooting a 105 AMax. The video messed up and we lost the video of my shot but it was the best shot out of the three of us so I hope it will count. The phone switched from video to photo and we got a photo of the target before and then a photo of it after.

Shot #2
My second Cold Bore Challenge shot at 496 yards. I shot right after my little brother with the same setup—laying down over Dad’s backpack with the Howa Mini 6 ARC, 105 grain AMAX, and the Tricer bipod wide open. It was 88° with wind between 5–10 mph. My two shots were about 1" apart, both inside the 10" circle. The second one was closer to center. And yep… outshot my Dad.

Both shots inside the 10" target.

 

[CRR]

My max is 500 yards this year. My shot was right after my brothers at 495 yards. I hit the edge of the black circle on the left. We need to measure to see if I was in the 10".
I shot the 6ARC too and I used a Tricer bipod and laid over my dads pack.

Shot #2
This was my second shot for the Cold Bore Challenge at 496 yards. I went first, laying down with the Howa Mini 6 ARC, using a Tricer bipod and Dad’s backpack. It was hot and the wind was about 8 mph. The wind pushed my shot to the right and I missed the target, but it was still a fun day and I’m ready to try again.

Shot #1 was outside the 10". Shot #2 was a miss.

 

[mcr-85]

I took my boys out this morning to shoot our first shot. Work and baseball have kept us pretty busy this summer and I didn't know if we'd get in before it filled up this year. Luckily we were able to go today.

I am calling 700 this year. My first shot was at 624.

I am shooting a Tikka 6.5x284 with the Stockys VG that I won in this challenge last year. I have a SWFA 3-15x42 Gen 1 on this gun. I didn't get any pics of my gun and my boys didn't take any of me. I shot off my pack laying down. I'll get more pics for shot 2. We have a couple new plates so we might go find a different spot for our second shots.

It was 60° with the wind coming over our right shoulder and about 45 degrees to the left towards the target. The wind changes directions in that spot and midway to the targets the wind travels left to right down a draw. Its a tricky place to shoot. I did help my boys with telling them where to hold wind, just the same as I'd do if we were hunting, I'd be trying to help them the best I could.

My first shot is on the edge of the black. I had to get home and then to work but I'll get out there with a tape measure and try to determine if I am in the 10" or not. I think I am just outside of it.

Thanks Rokslide for holding the challenge.

We finally got shot #2 in tonight. We planned to take our new steel out but between work and baseball and fishing we haven't found time to get new targets out to a new spot.

I shot the Tikka 6.5x284 again.
625 yards
88°
6-8mph wind at our location, looks like it was probably moving down the draw more than I thought as I hit right
Right at the end of shooting light. I don't think I'd shoot this late at a critter, especially not at 625 yards.

My boy Cole was running the video on the spotting scope. He told me it was blurry but I had ear plugs in and didn't hear him. The video is no good but it's what I have.

My first shot was barely in the 10". 2nd shot was out.

 

[lak2004]

I selected a MER of 600 yards this year.
Shooting a Tikka 6.5CM with facotry barrel cut to 18", Rokstock, AB Raptor 8 with 3" reflex and SWFA 6x scope. Using a 140gr Eld-m bullet that's going a little under 2600 fps.

I was going to use the tricer rp bipod, but i feel more comfortable shooting prone off my pack as I have done that for much longer.

Shooting a 10" steel gong that I painted a small orange diamond on.

Sorry for the crappy video quality, apparently the Athlon Ares is not a great spotter.....


Day 1
Temperature was about 70* F, wind about 5 mph from behind me and right.
4dof told me to dial 4.1 mils. I screwed up, though, because I didn't have my zero stop set from sighting in the other day. I was zeroed at -0.3 mils and dialed to 4.4 I stead of 3.8 because I was in a hurry. Missed high by about 24". I'll correct tomorrow and it should be good.

Day 2. Well, I dialed correctly, but I must have pulled the shot a bit and missed high. Sorry, @svivian, no bullet through the hole! I appreciate this challenge for what it is and I pushed myself at 600. Time to dial back down and work on my fundamentals.
Thanks to the mods and sponsors! Also thanks to @Hank for a better spotting scope today!

 

[Bluumoon]

MER 680 yards
22CM Master Sporter/Maven 1.2/Warn Mtn techs
77gr TMKs at 3350fps.

I wanted to shoot 6CM but it had lost zero and I didn’t have time to reload, reassemble, rezero. 22CM same recipe as previous reloads, either rifle sped up or different bottle of powder increased speed from previous round of reloads, zero changed. Likely needs one more 0.1mil click right.


Day 1, 612 yards, don’t bother watching. Target intact. 4.5mph 45 degree wind. Held right edge missed off left side.

Accidently edited out video of set up, EXO 2200 with S2H Jellyfish up front and thanks to a shooting fairy dropping by on Sunday I had a thunderbird SSS pad in the rear.

Shot 2. 612 yards. Made the 0.1 mil R adjustment on Zero after relooking at the 10 round group I had previously shot.

8-9mph 45 degree wind, held 0.3-0.4 right. Impact.

 

[hibernation]

MER goal: 400 yds, shooting an 8" target
Tikka 6.5 CM stainless w/ vertical grip, 18" barrel w/ Diligent Defense Lti, Maven RS1.2
Factory Barnes 127 LRX estimated MV 2670 fps

Day 1 6/26/25: elevation 5k', 50F, little to no wind.
404 yds, prone with backpack over a cut stump, bino harness for rear support
Dialed 2.2 mils. Hit!

Cold Bore Challenge - Day 1



Day 2 6/27/25: elevation 5k', 45F, variable wind 1-3mph from left to right.
408 yds, prone with backpack on top of a couple broken log chunks, bino harness for rear support
Dialed 2.2 mils. No wind hold, which may have been a mistake... swing and a miss, just off the right side of the plate.

Cold Bore Challenge - Day 2

 

[Slick8]

As usual, a little late to the party.

Rifle.
338 Edge on Def An-Ti, Bart and XLR chassis with a Trigger Tech.
Trig Ten Mile 5-25.
ADG brass, 300 Hybrids over H1k at a MV of 2740.
Revic Tripod.

I took my first shot on Thursday 6/26.
Conditions.
Cloudy with a chance of rain, 85 deg, wind at 8-10 from the 4 o'clock.

I haven't shot this combo at 600 but felt good about it from the 300 yard line.
I took cold bore shot at 600 and a clean miss. I then validated on paper and found it to be 8 inches low..

I'd prefer to take this shot from a prone but due to the grass height I went with the sitting tripod. I could see a little grass in picture but don't believe it was enough to create an issue.

 

[Juan_ID]

Cold Bore Challenge 2025, did not think I was gonna be able to squeak this in this year between coaching softball, work and family vacation but I lucked out! I’d typically shoot this with my pea shooter but I haven’t had a chance to shoot that much this year between nrl matches so decided to use my NRL rifle. It’s right around 10lbs without bipod, so pretty close to what my GT weighs as far as actual hunting rifle weight. I have not shot this rifle since the Gunwerks match a couple weeks ago, and surprisingly when I arrived the rifle seemed to be shooting about .4 high. I decided to leave it as that’s the first time it appeared to be “off” I went on to shoot the match and shot ok so I think it may have just been me.
Either way I set my MER at 650 for this year. Was kinda rushed trying to sneak in before it closed.

For day 1 re-do shot I went prone, ckye pod lightweight front, backpack rear. I am not big brain enough to figure out my wind # and all that so I just go off what I feel in my mustache…

MER 650
Rifle:
Tikka t3x ctr 6.5 Creed in a XLR element 4.0
Leupold Mark4 HD
TMB brake
147 eldm’s @ 2720ish
Starline brass cci450’s

Day 1 re-do: 587 yards, not quite 10mph wind from 7 o’clock.
75*

Day 2: 594 yards, ~10mph wind from 2 o’clock. 75*
Went prone again similar to yesterday’s shot just a little bit further back on the little ridge. Should have held a little more wind but squeezed it in there.

Looks like I made 2 qualifying shots. Tomorrow will be at my MER, if I get a hit I plan to move a little beyond my MER for my last shot.

Day 3: 675 yards, plugged in 10mph wind from 2 o’clock about 80*. Went prone just above a cool little ledge. My MER was 650 but I couldn’t get any closer on this ridge so I decided to go with it. Going to try and push it back to 700ish tomorrow. I had already pre ranged it so I knew it was atleast 650, but I left in the video how I’d go about putting in my wind on an NRLhunter stage. I use my wind checker to get a rough idea of the wind direction/speed. Plug it into the Sigs and shoot what it calls for if it feels right. In this case I probably could have held a hair less wind, like .1ish less.

Day 4: 700 yards plugged in 10 from 7 o’clock about 82* outside. Went modified prone off a big boulder, bipod front backpack rear again. I thought 10mph seemed a little much but I went with it anyways. Missed low left of the 10” circle, even if I would have cut .2-.3 off the wind it still looks like it would have been low. I don’t know what it is but my video quality sucks so I apologize.

 

[Ucsdryder]

I think I’ll sneak in with a few spots to spare.

I’m going to set my MER at 900 yards with my first qualifier at 620.

Tikka 7saum
180 eldms at 2745fps
Ag composite alpine hunter
Vortex RAZOR 3-15x42
TBAC Dominus suppressor

Don’t mind the target, we went camping with family and everyone had to take a shot of course.

Cleaned up the target from the non participants and added a 10” circle. Pretty good shooting from the Ryder family on round 1!

First shot broke perfect and landed a couple of inches low of the X.

Day 2…what a garbage ending to the CBC! I got a kestrel and was playing with all the ballistic inputs. I guess I played too much and messed something up. My 625 yard shot hit high. I thought it was a bad shot so I shot another (challenge over, and it printed in almost the same splash).

I reset all my ballistics and it came back with a .4 mil difference which would have put me in the money. My previous 2 years of the cbc ended with 8 hits in the money zone. I was due for a miss, just wish it wasn’t equipment related.

75 degrees
9mph wind from the left