Sleeper rifle builds or plans?

Im using a Nikon 5-25x50. I also range find everything when I hunt. I also hunt a pipeline and I have flags telling me distance. When I site in at the beginning of each season I use a bench and a led sled with a 25# weight on it. Ive also played with COAL and Im confident at 400 yds but the groups dont like 500.
 
When you sight in every year, do you find you have to adjust your scope, or is point of impact still dead on? Also, are you sighting in at 100 yards?
 
Novahunter said:
When you sight in every year, do you find you have to adjust your scope, or is point of impact still dead on? Also, are you sighting in at 100 yards?
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No its dead on unless i make a powder change. I keep a journal now so I dont forget. I am sighted in at 100 yds. When Im hunting 200 yds I turn the turret to 2 300 yds 3 etc.. I do shoot a lot and have for the 12 or more years with this gun. Im thinking the barrel has its limitations and thats the best Im going to get out of it. I have noticed it likes a dirty barrel but needs to be cleaned after about 20-22 ish shots. When I say dirty i mean the groups tighten up after the 3 shot.
 
Ok then. So, that a decent basis to start from.

Before I got into my opinion, I'll give you my background. Grew up hunting since I was 11. My dad only knew old school and DIY hunting from PA, so that's what I learned. Y board Tree stands from ply wood, we'd sight our rifles in every season using a black and decker vise with a blanket in it so as not to scuff the rifles. I remember when my dad bought a lead sled for an upgrade. The last 7 years or so, I've gotten into long range shooting (out to 1200 yards), and PRS competitions. My skills grew as I pushed myself, and I've learned alot about gear, about myself as a shooter, and this has changed how I think regarding shooting, and how I approach hunting.

I say all that because I'm just some guy on the internet and I have an opinion.

That little .308 I posted I haven't sighted-in in 5 years. I throw it in my truck, have dropped it from trees, and have had it knocked around by airline workers really good (so much so the level I had mounted on the scope tube was shifted considerably) and it's never lost zero. Only time it gets cleaned is if it rains really bad when I've hunted with it. I have 100% confidence that if I took it out right now, I could hit 1/2in (1/2 MOA) circle at 100 yards first shot. At 500 yards, I'd be confident out to a 2 MOA target in most conditions. The reason for the MOA difference at 500 vs. 100 is environmental and wind calls. I still feel I suck at calling wind, but I definitely suck less than I did a few years ago. I've seen wind humble some great shooters (Guys who shoot 1000 rounds a month and shoot sexy sleek 6mm hot rods). And, 500 yards is definitely a long of distance for wind to affect where your bullet impacts.

I built that .308 with quality parts. Not the most expensive, but quality. I've been at matches and had numerous gear failures, and thus I prefer buying quality gear that Likely won't fail.

For your situation, most rifles these days shoot 1 MOA, even the cheap ones, so I'll set the rifle aside for now and assume it is 1 MOA capable.

The first thing I'd check/change are the rings. The least expensive rings I'll use are Seekins/Vortex PMR rings. I have punished two scopes mounted in those rings, and they've never failed me. Hawkins, MPA, Sphur, etc are other solid ones but are more money. The link between your scope and rifle must be rock solid.

Next is the scope. Nikon scopes did not have a great reputation for mechanical reliability. There's a reason Nikon didn't sell many and stopped making scopes. Look up a tall target test, buy the applicable target test it (Mil or MOA) for your scope. Assuming the scope fails, buy a quality scope you can dial out to the range you want to shoot.

For a cross over scope that can be used for targets and hunting, I highly recommend the Bushnell LRHS 2 sold by GAP. For the money ($1000), it's one of the best buys in that range, IMO.

For practicing and sighting in, sight in as you naturally shoot. Lead sleds and other contraptions sound nice in theory, but by definition they make you interact with the rifle unnaturally vs. any other time you will shoot it. You need to sight in the rifle and make sure you understand your natural point of aim. Your POI could be different simply because your eye, cheek, and fingers are all interacting differently with the rifle while you are sighting in vs. when you are out shooting. All my rifles are sighted in with a bipod, and rear bag only. Either full prone, or modified prone on a bench. When shooting from field positions, I try very hard to make sure the rifle feels exactly the same every time. Cheek is smae position, trigger hand/finger are same position, etc.... Dry practice fundamentals in your garage or bedroom too.

If you do those things, and you're still having issues, there's tons of other rabbit trails and holes you can sink money into.

The other option is, your setup could very well have a 400 yard limit, and that's ok. Every rifle can't do everything. If you want to get into longer range shooting, might be better to just start from scratch with a new rifle, scope, everything and practice, ALOT.

Edit to add, as an example of why you don't need a lead sled to shoot a good group. This group is 5 shots at 100 yards with nothing but a bipod and rear bag. This was the one and only time I sighted in my PRS rifle.
 

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@Novahunter that is great information. Hopefully I will be able to shoot next week one day and Ill leave the lead sled at home. I do have a bipod I bought last year but never mounted it. I definitely have some homework to do. Ive also been considering a new rifle and scope but not this year. I would rather wait till February after our season ends so I can focus on what I would want. I have everything I need for the 300 wsm so I would buy another rifle in that caliber. Thank you again. I kind of feel like I hijacked @Stinky Coyote 's thread. I apologize if I did SC.
 
I bought a 6ARC Savage Switchback (Sportsman's Warehouse Exclusive Model) , pulled the action and dropped it in a MDT XRS chassis. Feeds great with the MDT magazine.

Easily sub-MOA despite the fact I am not a great shooter. It hits where I aim and doesn't kick at all.

Once I get better, I plan to try PRS or NRL Hunter with it.
 
The only rifles I have seen that can regularly compete with customs are Tikkas. That is not to say you would be able to compete with a factory Tikka in things like PRS-style matches. You would be at an extreme disadvantage. I only mean that factory Tikkas can be as accurate as a lot of high-end rifles from positions like prone with a bipod and rear bag.

As mentioned earlier, Rusty Ulmer has won some of the NRL Hunter matches with a factory Tikka. Rules for the factory class are basically that it must be a factory SKU, 12-pound limit (includes bipod but excludes magazine), and you can add things like a brake if the barrel is factory threaded and a rail if using factory mounting holes. Rusty is using a $900 bipod, and I believe he shoots Nightforce scopes.

FB_IMG_1654803082831.jpg
 
Unckebob said:
I bought a 6ARC Savage Switchback (Sportsman's Warehouse Exclusive Model) , pulled the action and dropped it in a MDT XRS chassis. Feeds great with the MDT magazine.

Easily sub-MOA despite the fact I am not a great shooter. It hits where I aim and doesn't kick at all.

Once I get better, I plan to try PRS or NRL Hunter with it.
Click to expand...
this cartridge will do wonders for the extra short action world popularity, it should be a top pick for target work where recoil blast and spotting hits are a big deal, like all the non factory short 6's, and just like most 6's it will cross over to hunting just peachy also, be nice to see some Sako XS 6-arcs/6.5 grendels, maybe some a7 love, tikka too please...those finns are always years late to the party though, how long did it take them to get in the manbun game? buggers still not seeing any 6 cm's from them yet so won't hold my breath it will be late this decade perhaps if ever, and any other fine .223 length offerings would be nice to see outside cz/ruger american/howa...browning, Remington, ruger Hawkeye stainless be nice, some savages be good, at least there's this switchback in arc, but be silly not to chamber Grendel at same time...rant over ;)
 
Stinky Coyote said:
this cartridge will do wonders for the extra short action world popularity, it should be a top pick for target work where recoil blast and spotting hits are a big deal, like all the non factory short 6's, and just like most 6's it will cross over to hunting just peachy also, be nice to see some Sako XS 6-arcs/6.5 grendels, maybe some a7 love, tikka too please...those finns are always years late to the party though, how long did it take them to get in the manbun game? buggers still not seeing any 6 cm's from them yet so won't hold my breath it will be late this decade perhaps if ever, and any other fine .223 length offerings would be nice to see outside cz/ruger american/howa...browning, Remington, ruger Hawkeye stainless be nice, some savages be good, at least there's this switchback in arc, but be silly not to chamber Grendel at same time...rant over ;)
Click to expand...

6ARC is tough to find in a bolt gun - basically Savage only.
 
Unckebob said:
6ARC is tough to find in a bolt gun - basically Savage only.
Click to expand...
it's one of the most brilliant 21st century cartridges going, finally a factory 6-dasher/6br/6ppc class cartridge we can all have access to, not just for the full custom reloader guys, it's tough to find something that would do more for 29.6 grains of powder burned...the AR guys will surely pave the way but I've seen comparisons of it against the 6 CM for steel work at distance and it's done very well, guys were getting their hits easier, spotting everything easier, I think it was outscoring the creed...anyway, to be able to buy a 108 eld-m 6-arc factory load affordable is what my dreams were made of only 15-20 years ago for an ultralight sheep rig, as it stands I'm likely gonna be Grendel for life now as I wind this game out, close enough and I don't need the extra couple hundred yards these days...yes we need way more bolt action options in this cartridge, well played Sir ;)
 
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