Tips and gear advice on learning to shoot longer distances.

Can someone link the 100 yard drill thread?
 
You're right, factory ammo will work fine. I missed the fact that he doesn't reload, but what I said isn't nonsense. The 75+ gr bullets are seated super deep to fit within SAAMI OAL, and most will be a mile from the lands, which is not ideal at all. The 73 ELD-M is designed to work within SAAMI OAL, but it's also not nearly as aerodynamic as the 75 ELD-M, which exceeds 2.400" OAL when seated out of the case and near the lands. I.e., they're hamstrung at SAAMI OAL.

I think it's nonsense to suggest that SAAMI OAL is a significant handicap to getting good training value out of a Tikka .223 or that the rifle is "severely hamstrung". Run the numbers between a 75 ELDM at 2850 vs a 77 TMK at 2750. I'm doubtful that you'll get 100 more FPS no matter how long you seat, but even at that it's about 0.2 mil difference at 600 in a 10mph full value crosswind.

Nothing? No, not nothing, but holding 1.2 vs 1.4 is not "severely hamstrung". I don't have a WEZ calculator, but would guess the difference in hit rate is tiny switching from a "hamstrung" 2.26" 77TMK to a 2.4+" 75ELDM.

I'm definitely not against using slipperier bullets and longer magazines (I load 109 ELDM's at 2.95 in my .243AI), but it's silly to say that someone needs to "make sure" to get aftermarket mags and hand load bullets that don't work at standard mag length in order to use a .223 effectively. Sorry to make a big deal of this, but for 98% of people in OP's position, it just muddies the water and causes hesitation and confusion. Most of us, if we're honest, would be better served by 10 hours per month of training on decent factory ammo than by 7 hours of training and 3 hours in the reloading room making the sleekest high BC low SD rounds possible.
 
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