2026 Cold Bore Challenge

[MtnBeaver]

MER 500



6 creed 22” benchmark barrel
Defiance action
Vx5 3-15

108eldm avg 3085
Alpha brass
41.4 h4350

Bipod with bino harness rear rest
9.5” gong at 506y

Day 1 hit
11c no wind

Day 2 Hit
508 10mph wind avg

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[sageshoots1023]

Day 1. Shot today with my dad and brother. My MER of 450 shooting a Remington 700 in 223 with a 77 gr SMK. Shot was prone position off a bipod and hit.

Day 2. Miss, very windy today. Wind pushed my shot into the middle gong.

 

[jonesn3]

MER 500 yds, first year shooting the Cold Bore Challenge

CA Ridgeline/XLR Element Mg 4.0 chassis 300 WM, 26” barrel, side port brake
Hand loaded Barnes 175gr LRX at 3098 fps

Shooting prone
Spartan bipod
Lightweight rear bag
4DOF ballistics phone app
Kestrel 2400 wind meter
Spotter: Vortex Razor Gen1 16-48x65mm w/ magview adapter

Shot 1: HIT (barely)
Sat, 06/06/26
511 yds, 0-5 mph wind typically straight away. Rifle tends to shoot 0.75-1 MOA high when cold, so I dialed 6.75 MOA
Trigger press wasn’t great, caught me by surprise slightly, still acclimating to an lighter trigger weight on this tigger tech

Shot 2: HIT
Mon, 06/08/26
511 yds, same as day 1, 0-4 mph wind mostly straight away, slight gust at times but minimal, held about 1 MOA left adjusting from the previous impact which was right
Trigger press felt good, hit in the upper left quadrant, felt like my elevation is pretty dialed but need to practice the fundamentals more since I appear to be inconsistent LT/RT. Overall, this was a great challenge and I feel much more confident hitting on game out to this distance, but really showed me that continued practice is needed.

Apologies for the poor footage and shooting paper at distance, not very easy to spot impacts! This challenge is late enough in the spring that shooting steel in the dry tall grass probably isn’t a smart move

 

[jdvangeystel]

I got out and shot this evening- I am going to call my MER at 700 yards this year due to feeling like that is going to be as far as I can shoot accurately with a new lower power scope. I am shooting a Mountain Forged 7 SAUM on a long action throated for 190’s. shooting 168 grain McGuire Ballistics copper rose bullets at 2975 fps MV, with an Unknown Suppressors OG-L and a salmon river solutions suppressor brake- MDT Mountain Bipod. Scope is a 2.5-10 Leupold Mark 4HD FFP with the TMR mil reticle . Today I shot prone at 676 yards. I hung 2 targets while I was doing it, the left target being a 10” circle. I had 4-5 MPH winds coming from about 3:30, but it was a bit shifty down range. I dialed 2.9 Mils and held about 2/10ths right and had a first round impact. My impact was about 2” right of center but my elevation was pretty centered up. I always enjoy this challenge starting and look forward to moving forward to day # 2. I am working on attaching the video link now, hopefully I do it right. I will attach some pictures as well.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Day 2 shot # 2. Got up and shot early to try to beat the mirage but still had a fair amount of mirage- 676 yards, I just barely stayed on the plate today, I was fighting mirage pretty bad with a 10x scope. But I was able to qualify to move on to my max MER of 700 yards.

 

[dirtshooter]

MER 508 yards, seated shooting off of trekking poles.

As a result of the first shot I know that this really is truly my max in that position. In fact it may be a bit beyond my capabilities but it's a challenge right?

Rifle:
KS Arms 6.5 Creedmoor
Nightforce SHV 3-10x42
Wildcat Composites stock
Triggertech Canadian Trigger

Ammo: 140gr Hornady AMAX factory load

Conditions:
20-23 degrees C
Slight wind from the West
Sunny



1st shot: miss (but I killed that tree branch lol)

2nd shot: TBD!

 

[Fred]

Ha, I’ll do my best.

The gear:
New 6GT Barrel on an old t3 action. 18”.
Seems to be doing well with 116 TMK and 33gr Varget. Velocity is stabilizing between 2725-2736 fps.
Was hoping I’d have my Rokstok lite before the challenge. Unfortunately not yet. So the gun sits in a krg bravo, and has a 4-16 mil-r atacr for glass. OG65 rounds out the package. Everything but the barrel was hunted last fall.

I sewed myself an XL denim game changer, filled with about 2lbs of git-lite.
Rangefinder: Revic Binos.
View attachment 1076605
______________
Day 1.
This gun should stay above 1800fps out to 750yds.
I’ll try for a 700yd MER
View attachment 1076606
Well loved 10” gong.

View attachment 1076607
Wind conditions driving out today.

Starting with 578yds:

Hit. Big breath of relief
_____________
Day 2
628yds - Hit

_____________
Day 3
_____________
Day4
_____________

I have a 6GT as of last year and Love it... Good LUCK

 

[Clarktar]

My MER is 650 yards
Tikka 6UM, Ace barrel, rokstock, tbac gen 2, swfa 3-9. 106 gr TAP at 3350 fps. Shooting prone from spartan bipod

Day 1 580 yards hit. Wind was left to right about 2-3mph
I repainted the target after day one for better recognition of where I hit. Day one hit was right below the 6" mark in this photo


Day 1 video

Day 2: 591 yards. Swirly 1-3 mph wind.
Painted the target more better

Day 2 video

Day 3. Not sure what happened. Wind seem light and swirly. But I missed left by a large margin (6-12") at 638 yds. Should have taken my time and calmed down more I guess.

So I guess it's all over for me...

 

[Mag_7s]

MER 500 yards shooting prone with puffy jacket as rear support.

Rifle: 7SAUM. 175 Berger EOL hunting hybrids at 3030 fps out of a 26" Proof with Unknown Suressors OGL.

Target was just range steel measured at 2moa (10" @ 500)

Day 1: Hit. Windy, per usual. 17mph, with gusts of 22 and 24. Temperature was in the mid 40s. 7.75 moa of elevation with a 2.5moa left hold for wind

 

[Silver Wings]

MER 600
Shot #1 615 yards…Impact
Wind 3-4 from 9:00 held ~.3 mils
Prone/pack/bino case
Tikka T3X 6 Creedmore
PVA barrel 26”
Rokstok
RS 1.2/UM rings
109 ELD-M
Lapua srp
CCI 41
RL 16 39gr
MV 3000
Videoed through Swarovski ATC that I won in last year’s raffle!

Shot #2…CHOKE
605 yards
Prone/pack/bino harness
Wind was 4-5 from 9:00 at the target
Held ~.1-.2 left, totally misread the wind

 

[doverpack12]

MER 740ish shooting 610 yards qualifying for MER.

Tikka 300 WSM with 200.20x Bergers at 2714 fps in a warrantied Rokstok, Maven RS1.2 Mil. Seekins break for now will ultimately have a US Reaper and their new break.
Gunwerks Elevate 2.0 Bipod (Spartan Javelin in all previous years)
Molinator and Jellyfish rear bags, I've shot my past 2 elk with these bags and a deer last year with them.

50 degrees on the Mountain, mostly shooting through shade but I was in the sun from shooting location. I didn't hold any wind and when I started the video it was still, by the time I shot there was just a little breeze left to right, more of a downward thermal. Spin drift was 0.1 mil I ignored but with a little wind I should have held left of Center. Shot execution felt great, and I watched the impact in my scope, saw the plate rock right, just couldn't quite see the impact point. Used shooter for my ballistic app, it called for 3.8 Mil up.

Plate is 13" wide by 11.5" tall with a 10" diameter white circle painted

Day 1 Shot Video

Day 1 Impact Video

Day 1 Setup and Impact Target

 

[jonnyviceroy]

Going for an MER 800 yds.

Rifle is a medium Bighorn Origin with an 18” Bartlein carbon barrel chambered by SJA in 6.5 prc. XLR Magnesium, MDT mountain bipod, Scythe (I know, I know), scope is a Leupold mk4 off my NRL Hunter rifle until my NX6 or S2H gets here. We’ll see which is first lol.

Shooting a Berger 156 at 2900 fps

Shooting will be done prone with a bipod and a home sewn rear bag that is spec lite and cordura around 1.9 oz.



Tried to push myself and shoot the qualifiers on an 8” I have on a t post near my house.

Qualifier 1: 611yds. Hit (barely). Shot first thing early morning and wind conditions were calm, shooting in a canyon looks like there was some wind up higher in the drainage. Good practice.

Qualifier 2: 614 yds. Hit. Wind was pretty sporadic and noticed it moving a good bit above where I was shooting from in the drainage. Solid impact holding .7 mils left.

 

[mxgsfmdpx]

My MER for this gun is where I’m comfortable with for minimum impact speed… TLDR: 900 Yards.

I will be shooting 2 shots in Wyoming in 2 different spots that I’ve never shot before. If I’m successful with both qualifiers I will shoot 2 more in Arizona in 2 locations that I’ve never shot before.

The density altitude effecting the terminal range will vary quite a bit between the two different states, with today’s shot being at 5,500 DA; and where I plan to shoot in AZ having potential for around 9,000 DA.

I’ll split the difference in DA and with this Tikka 6 Creed shooting 116 TMKs out of a supressed 16” barrel…

I’ll call my MER at 900 Yards.

Target:




Rifle:

Tikka 6 Creed. Maven RS1.2 Scope. UM Low Rings. Rokstok. US Reaper 6.5 Supressor. 16” PBB 7.5 Twist. Shooting 116 TMKs with a hunting/wet safe load at 2725 average.

Shot 1 Distance/Shot Location/Shooting Position:



578 Yards.

I set the gong up on a “shelf” where a stream cuts a small drainage below, with rolling prairie hills up above. I stacked two coolers with my phone on top recording the gong during the shot. The phone and coolers are 75 yards in front of the gong and slightly off to the side. Pretty insane to hear how quickly that bullet gets to the gong.

I shot prone off my backpack with my bino harness as my rear rest.

Video and Shot Result:

———————————————————————



Shot 2:

Same rifle and load of 116 TMKs.

Wind was swirling and a bit unpredictable with decent lulls and then seemingly out of nowhere 15- 20 MPH blasts from what felt like anywhere from 11 o clock to 2 o clock. Trees at the target showed unpredictable wind information, same with the tall grass at shot mid point.

Waited for a lull and held dead center with 3.8 MILs dialed into the scope.



Video and Shot Result:

 

[brucemt]

I am going to try for a mer of 650 yards.

Tikka T3x .223, factory barrel, factory stock, free floated, raised the recoil pad and installed an adjustable cheek riser. Bonded srs rail, seekins rings, and an swfa 10x.

Shooting prone off of my pack with a molinator and an lswild pack pillow for a rear bag.


Day one - hit @ 580 yards

Sorry for the long video, cant figure out how to edit it shorter in length.

Day 2
Same shot, same distance, different conditions. Today the wind was blowing about 4-5 mph and building up to gusts of 10-12 and switching directions alot. I was on the shot for over 2 minutes waiting for the stronger gusts to settle down. I held right edge and hit top right edge at about 1-2 o’clock. What a relief.

Shot prone over my pack with a molinator and the lswild packpillow as a rear bag. Today I brought my hunting shooters matt as it was wet out.

 

[sargent]

MER 430 yards
Tikka T3X Lite .223 recently cut and threaded at 16 5/8", SWFA 3-9, Airlock Nano
Bone Frog 5.56 77 grain TMK
Backpack front rest, bino harness rear rest
I just got this can last week and haven't gotten a chance to shoot much past 100 yards yet after chopping another 2" off the barrel. I changed my quick drop calculation from +.2 to +.3 and sent it. The wind was blowing from left to right, mostly lightly but occasionally gusting a little. I held ~2" left of center and hit the left edge.

I shot my second shot in the same place as yesterday. The target was out by the island of trees in the center of the picture. Conditions were similar. I held center and hit a little low in the plate.

Thanks to Rokslide and the sponsors for putting on this challenge every year.

 

[BRTreedogs]

Anti x
18” Proof 6 CM
Climber stock
Ultra 7
4-16 atacr milr
Mer 615
10” white circle.

Day 1 576 yards
Called wind 5mph right to left.
Made it but barely

 

[Marty]

MER 650 yards

· Weapon System: MDT HNT 26 chassis, Defiance Anti-X action, Geissele Super 700 trigger, 16.5” Proof Research 6mm CF barrel, Dead Air Nomad TI XC suppressor, Nightforce NX8 4-32x50 MIL-XT in Nightforce Rings, Trijicon SRO (will take it off for hunting season here shortly).


· Ammunition: Handload- Hornady 6CM brass, Federal 210 Gold Medal Primers, H4350, 109 ELD-M producing 2840 fps AVG at sealevel with an SD around 10-14.

· Support gear: EXO K4, Stone Glacier Sentinel Bino Harness, MDT Mountain Bipod, LS Wild 2-5 2/3 filled waxed canvas bag.

· Ballistic Solver: Revic, Revic BLR 10Bs, Kestrel 1000 (wind only).

· Digiscope System: Epoch Outdoors Mountain Mag system, iPhone 17 Pro, and a Swaro STC



Shot #1:

Infil and Target Placement: After work, I hiked into some public land with my worthless golden doodle. It’s nor golden and doesn’t retrieve. Anyways in one spot I gained a little over 1000 feet elevation in a mile. Once up we started ranging possible target locations eventually settling on a spot just below a ridgeline. With the target in place at 576 yards, we followed the ridgeline to establish our firing position. Settled on a spot and broke out dinner for the both of us. After dinner, it was go time!

Shot Conditions: Partly cloudy, 65F, elevation around 3k MSL. The wind has steadily increased from when we first got up there and now was generally a full value from left to right in what I estimated at 4-6 mph at my position. Didn’t have much vegetation at the target location so I was using heat mirage to try and estimate it at distance. I thought it was more than where it was at my position, so leaned in with a bold wind call. Ugh, I was nervous to break the shot!

The Shot: For the shot, I elected for bipod front and bag rear, dialed 3.2 and held .7 left for wind and broke the shot. So relieved for a hit.



Reflections: Two come to mind. First, these stinking CBCs have me dry firing and over analyzing. I need to follow the succinct shot process of IDing the target, ranging, dialing, building a position, wind call, shot execution, and respond to downrange feedback.



Second, and not related to shooting…as I went to retrieve the steel and pack it back down off the mountain, I was greeted by three young Dall sheep popping up atop the mountain behind me. So cool and a great way to end the day.





Shot #2:

Infil and Target Placement: After working the day, got home and packed up with the intention to shoot a new spot. After driving to my primary, alternate, and contingency spots were all unsuitable for a variety of reason, I ended up at my final location. Walked down and set the target in place at 598 yards then back to the firing position. It was now about 9:30pm and thank the good Lord for long Alaskan summer nights- plenty of daylight.



Shot Conditions: Cloudy, 60F, light and intermittent rain, elevation around 500ft MSL. The target location was pretty sheltered from the wind. I couldn’t feel any at the target. At the firing position, I had a light and recurrent ½ value wind for what I’d estimate 2 mph. Putting my reflections from Shot #1 into action, I tried to follow the process deliberately, and quickly. After the artificiality of getting the digiscoping video running, build a prone position only to see I was too low. Needing to get higher, I build a new position.


The Shot: For the shot, I elected for tripod front and backpack rear, dialed 3.4 and held .1 left for spindrift and broke the shot. Grateful for the hit.



Reflections: This was a very similar shot set up a blacktail I killed on Kodiak last year- tripod front and backpack rear to get the needed height above the brush. Wobble zone was acceptable on this shot but I could have brought the backpack closer to better consume the deadspace between my body and the weapon.



Placeholder for Shot #3:

Placeholder for Shot #4:

 

[EdgeFan]

260AI I built and chambered myself at home
KS Arms action and barrel 23''
MDT HNT 26 chassis
Triggertech trigger
nightforce SHV 10x scope
140 berger 2800 fps
Day one was a slight left to right so i just favoured left a bit
Day 2 was double that so 1 moa left hold
You can see from the two pictures the second one landed right on top of the first one
For those of you wondering the two top hits are old ones from cold bore challenge 2024

day one impact

day 2 hit you can see now the mark is bigger than day 1