I tried a "hunting version" of the popular YouTube "test your limit/blackjack" 500 yard challenge. Featuring the RokStok!

[mxgsfmdpx]

I'm on a group text with some old hunting/shooting buddies and one of them linked us a video for a neat challenge. They call it the "test your limits" or "blackjack" 500 yard challenge and I spent some time watching them last night.

In the videos I saw, this challenge is done primarily with very heavy custom bench rest guns, shooting dialed in hand loads, with very stable rests/crazy weighted bipods, etc. I thought it would be fun to take a everyday hunting rifle out and see how it could do on this challenge.

I loaded up this morning and grabbed my gongs/stand and some fence wire, got setup on public land AZ and started videoing.

The challenge is to hit 12", 10", 8", 6", 4", and 2" gongs at 500 yards. If you hit all the targets you get what they call a "blackjack". I have my Tikka .223 dialed in and ready for my AK moose hunt in two weeks, so that rifle got the call this morning.

I didn't have a 10" gong handy, but the white portion of my 12" gong is 10". So I shot at that gong twice as my 12" and 10" shots. Also, one of my 6" gong wires had fallen off the stand by the time I hiked down and got setup. So I shot at the 8" gong twice for my 8" and 6" gong shots.

In the video I mentioned that the cactus was 473 Yards, when I laid down and ranged the 12" gong they were actually at 436 Yards. I wasn't going to try and move back to 500 as I already had a good shooting lane through the brush cactus and to make the shots, so I went with it.

Common field hunting shot, shooting off backpack, bino harness for rear rest. Factory Tikka .223 shooting factory Black Hills 77 TMK's, 20" barrel, Maven RS1.2 scope in UM rings, and of course the RokStok!

The Rokstok - Unknown Munitions

Main Features: The Rokstok, simply the best shooting stock on the market. 100% Carbon Fiber shell and proprietary ultralight fill throughout the entire stock, no hollow areas. True Negative comb is 1/2″ above bore centerline at a 12 degree angle. Laser Molded Textured panels in grip and forend...

www.unknownmunitions.com

 

[Ecampbell25]

Good shooting! What’s that rifle set up weigh?

 

[mxgsfmdpx]

Good shooting! What’s that rifle set up weigh?

 

[mxgsfmdpx]

Good shooting! What’s that rifle set up weigh?

Add another 3.3 OZ for a factory Tikka 4 round mag loaded with Black Hills 77 TMK's.

 

[Big_wals]

Nice shooting! That rifle looks great.

 

[Ibex]

Thanks for posting.

 

[HuntHarder]

You sir have drank the Rokslide green kool-aid full tilt. .223 for moose certainly will work, but is not any where near optimal for moose. Kind of sad that guys think this way now on this site. Hope your rokstock tikka um rings maven .223 works for you. Shoot straight and do not get anywhere near the shoulder

 

[mxgsfmdpx]

You sir have drank the Rokslide green kool-aid full tilt. .223 for moose certainly will work, but is not any where near optimal for moose. Kind of sad that guys think this way now on this site. Hope your rokstock tikka um rings maven .223 works for you. Shoot straight and do not get anywhere near the shoulder

How many moose have you personally killed to form such a strong statement? What is your experience with moose and .223 in general?

Have you been able to check out @PNWGATOR s thread on this topic by chance? Have you reviewed any of the vast kill reports using 77 TMKs specifically by many members including great evidence with photos and yardage reports from @Formidilosus ?

 

[Tbone26]

Here we go again... There is plenty of evidence that a .223 will work. If you don't like it, just don't use it and move on. Every post seems to go down this rabbit hole one way or another.

 

[Macintosh]

Thats a KYL rack (Know Your Limits) target, its a pretty standard setup for some of the practical precision rifle matches. Rimfire it might be a 50 or 100 yard target from 2” down to 1/4”, or bigger centerfire gongs at longer range. Agree its helpful. Its less aggravating when you get to shoot it biggest-to-smallest too!

 

[mxgsfmdpx]

Thats a KYL rack (Know Your Limits) target, it’s a pretty standard setup for some of the practical precision rifle matches. Rimfire it might be a 50 or 100 yard target from 2” down to 1/4”, or bigger centerfire gongs at longer range. Agree it’s helpful. It’s less aggravating when you get to shoot it biggest-to-smallest too!

I used to have a 1,000 yard range off my back deck before I moved. I made permanent versions of these more like this.



The one from today was meant to try and be light and portable to hike up a mountain or across canyons with. Obviously has some flaws haha.

 

[sierracharlie338]

Just went and picked up some additional steel to round out the sizes I was missing to complete my line up for this as well. Hoping to shoot it in the next couple weeks.

 

[mxgsfmdpx]

Just went and picked up some additional steel to round out the sizes I was missing to complete my line up for this as well. Hoping to shoot it in the next couple weeks.

Heck yeah! I hope to shoot this a couple more times before I’m busy hunting for the next 5 months. I did end up hitting the 2” gong before I left. Took me 3 more tries getting my wind hold correct.

 

[sierracharlie338]

Heck yeah! I hope to shoot this a couple more times before I’m busy hunting for the next 5 months. I did end up hitting the 2” gong before I left. Took me 3 more tries getting my wind hold correct.

I’ll be shooting my 25 creed since it’s the most tuned at the moment but really looking forward to shooting it

 

[HuntHarder]

How many moose have you personally killed to form such a strong statement? What is your experience with moose and .223 in general?

Have you been able to check out @PNWGATOR s thread on this topic by chance? Have you reviewed any of the vast kill reports using 77 TMKs specifically by many members including great evidence with photos and yardage reports from @Formidilosus ?

Which part of my statement was strong? I said it will work, just not optimum.

 

[Ibex]

What have you found that is optimum for moose?

 

[HuntHarder]

.17 remington

 

[mxgsfmdpx]

Which part of my statement was strong? I said it will work, just not optimum.

"Not anywhere near optimal" would to me, mean that you have vast experience in this use case.

It is interesting that one comment about how this will be my moose gun this year (if I even see a moose hunting DIY public land) is what you gathered from this video and thread.

 

[JF_Idaho]

Well, this thread sure went to crap fast.

Sounds like fun and a great setup. Always nice to have a little fun and training at the same time. What kind of wind were you shooting in?

 

[mxgsfmdpx]

Well, this thread sure went to crap fast.

Sounds like fun and a great setup. Always nice to have a little fun and training at the same time. What kind of wind were you shooting in?

Winds were variable. At shooting position they were 4-9 MPH, it heats up quick here in AZ and the change in temps as the sun rises brings in wind quick this time of year. almost always from the East-South-East.

I was shooting from a flat bottom about 200ish yards from the base of the knob. So a 4-9 MPH wind from between 2 and 3 o clock, I would have normally held for close the strong value and hope I didn't miss right.

However, at the target, because of the knob slope it wasn't quite as windy due to the slope direction/wind direction and the gong position being on an "edge" between two folds (wind funneling down once it tops out and cresting over "behind" the gongs). This turns the wind at the target to more of a 1-2 o clock wind having shot in these mountains often.

So, as usual, my long blabbing story shortened. I held for 5 MPH 3 o clock wind (0.5 MIL hash mark on Maven reticle).