2026 Cold Bore Challenge Q&A Thread

[MTBlazer89]

Me and the wife both shot our shots this weekend. She doesn't know much about Forums, but was interested in the challenge. We were out for the final weekend of spring bear in MT so we were scouting for a spot in the 500-600 range that didn't require hauling a steel plate halfway up a mountain. Working on getting these videos uploaded.

 

[Nine Banger]

Asking for a friend:
- is it legit to shoot this comp as a pair be it buddy, spouse, sib, kid, or hunting partner?

Reason for asking:
- the second shooter is getting wind data whilst acting as a spotter or observer for the first shooter

I did a practice run (not the same target I intend to shoot in the competition) with my recording equipment, with my spotter (a person, not an optic) last Thursday and went thru the all the regular motions except said "It's on me" for the wind call. Even if I don't tell him what I held, he got data, nonetheless.

I'm probably going to shoot it solo but have loose plans to shoot it with a buddy.

 

[Nine Banger]

Pro tip for the shooting addicts on the fence about participating:

Shoot one shot in the evening and then the other shot in the morning and you can go about your normal business of shooting with reckless abandon.

 

[JohnB]

Shot two was a miss for me, prone at 480 yards. I got smoked by mosquitos and was an idiot and forgot to do my wind hold. I shot a couple more after failing and still went 1/3 on my wind hold. This was my rough guess as to wtf was happening with wind and I just based it off of the southern wind near where I was shooting from.

 

[huntnful]

Asking for a friend:
- is it legit to shoot this comp as a pair be it buddy, spouse, sib, kid, or hunting partner?

Reason for asking:
- the second shooter is getting wind data whilst acting as a spotter or observer for the first shooter

I did a practice run (not the same target I intend to shoot in the competition) with my recording equipment, with my spotter (a person, not an optic) last Thursday and went thru the all the regular motions except said "It's on me" for the wind call. Even if I don't tell him what I held, he got data, nonetheless.

I'm probably going to shoot it solo but have loose plans to shoot it with a buddy.

It’s a challenge not a competition. It literally does not matter at all. No extra anything is rewarded for hits on the plate. Shoot it with him. Who cares. Less fuel and time wasted making separate trips to the same range on different days.

 

[Marty]

Shot two was a miss for me, prone at 480 yards. I got smoked by mosquitos and was an idiot and forgot to do my wind hold. I shot a couple more after failing and still went 1/3 on my wind hold. This was my rough guess as to wtf was happening with wind and I just based it off of the southern wind near where I was shooting from.
View attachment 1081490

Were you able to reverse math and figure out what wind hold resulted in a hit?

 

[BRTreedogs]

Pro tip for the shooting addicts on the fence about participating:

Shoot one shot in the evening and then the other shot in the morning and you can go about your normal business of shooting with reckless abandon.

Official rules say one shot per day.
FYI

 

[Nine Banger]

Official rules say one shot per day.
FYI

24 hrs or "Monday" and "Tuesday".

 

[mlevimadden]

Were you able to reverse math and figure out what wind hold resulted in a hit?

I froze frame on his video and judging by the 10" target, the miss looked 3-4" off the left. At 480 yards that's 0.2 MIL off the plate. Another 0.3 MIL would put it at the center of the plate for a 0.5 MIL total wind hold.

At 480 yards, that's almost exactly one gun wind number. I'm not sure his elevation, muzzle velocity, or bullet BC, but roughly 5-8 mph cross wind from right to left. His miss was also a little bit high which makes sense with that wind.

 

[JohnB]

Were you able to reverse math and figure out what wind hold resulted in a hit?

My first CBC shot that I missed looked to be 0.5 mil left, so my shots afterwards I held 0.5 right and had 1 dead on and two just off the right side, so I'd guess 0.3 would have been better. However the winds were squirrely and I was for sure shooting in conditions beyond my skill set.

I froze frame on his video and judging by the 10" target, the miss looked 3-4" off the left. At 480 yards that's 0.2 MIL off the plate. Another 0.3 MIL would put it at the center of the plate for a 0.5 MIL total wind hold.

At 480 yards, that's almost exactly one gun wind number. I'm not sure his elevation, muzzle velocity, or bullet BC, but roughly 5-8 mph cross wind from right to left. His miss was also a little bit high which makes sense with that wind.

I was shooting at 2,700 feet elevation, 270 shooting 145gr TGKs(0.508G1 BC) at 2,885 fps. I wish I'd borrowed a buddy's Kestrel to give some real wind numbers but my estimate was in the 5-8ish mph range you suggested.

 

[BRTreedogs]

24 hrs or "Monday" and "Tuesday".

Me read what u typed backwards

 

[eric1115]

Pro tip for the shooting addicts on the fence about participating:

Shoot one shot in the evening and then the other shot in the morning and you can go about your normal business of shooting with reckless abandon.

What does this do for you that two consecutive mornings don't?

Saturday you get one shot whether it's morning or evening, then Sunday morning take shot #2 and then bang away for the rest of the day either way.

 

[Justin Crossley]

Pro tip for the shooting addicts on the fence about participating:

Shoot one shot in the evening and then the other shot in the morning and you can go about your normal business of shooting with reckless abandon.

What does this do for you that two consecutive mornings don't?

Saturday you get one shot whether it's morning or evening, then Sunday morning take shot #2 and then bang away for the rest of the day either way.

I see the advantage like this if you have to travel to shoot.

Show up to your shooting spot on Friday night and shoot one shot. Camp out and wake up the next morning to take you 2nd shot.

That way, it only takes one evening and one morning, leaving you with most of your weekend to shoot more or do something else.

 

[lak2004]

What does this do for you that two consecutive mornings don't?

Saturday you get one shot whether it's morning or evening, then Sunday morning take shot #2 and then bang away for the rest of the day either way.

I hate driving to find a place to shoot to only shoot once, so I usually camp out where I'm shooting, shoot that night and the next morning and then go to town unless I'm claiming a MER greater than 600.

 

[Q_Sertorius]

I doubt I am going to get qualifying videos done this year, but here’s my first attempt at it from June 16. I figured I would post it here as a hilarious outtake, since I don’t think this would qualify.

I forgot the 5-20x scope I was going to set up to use to record the hit, but I decided to set up my phone and record a shot that could at least show the target and me.

It was a beautifully calm day. I decided to shoot from inside the hayfield at an 8” steel target as far away as I could get. That turned out to be 404 yards. Had this been a deer, I would have used the hill and tree line to my right to make it a 200-yard shot.

Due to the tall grass, I decided to go with seated, using looped hiking sticks for front rest and my assault pack for a rear rest.

I took the shot and got a hit, but it appears I transmogrified into a large black and white mutt.

 

[Silver Wings]

I took the shot and got a hit, but it appears I transmogrified into a large black and white mutt.

Meh…I say it counts, if for no other reason than the correct usage of the word “transmogrified”