Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Long Range Hunting Starting from scratch for a 1400yd. steel gun?

Barnyard stuff, but need to compete with 338's & the like. Would love to beat them with an under 30 cal rifle. I think my long throat. long barrel 260 might be fine but would entertain a new 7mm considering all the new bullets coming out.

The 180 & 190 grain 7's have amazing BC's but thinking they need more than a 7-08 to send them. OTH, I think an Ultra mag or Nosler is overboard. ?? Is there a 7mm stand out? I don't think a 338 is needed at this range.

Thoughts?

So you want a 7mm cartridge between 7-08 and the 7mm Nosler?

7 WSM or SAUM would be about it I think, in between.

8 twist 7 SAUM built on a medium length action will get you there.

Shaen has a nice 280 Remington reamer. 180 ELD at 2700-2750 fps may do okay. Still carrying about 1500 fps at 1400 yards.

That long of range is outside my normal operating range, so I'll preface my comment with that disclaimer.

A 7WSM or 7RM in an 8" twist barrel sending 180's at 2900-3000 fps is a beast to beyond 1400.

I have a 30" bbl on my 7WSM and get just under 3400fps w/162 A-max and R-25. Haven't tried any slower powders than '25 yet.

Can’t imagine much beating a 180’s eld or Berger at that job. Either 7RM on a LA or 7 wsm on an XM length. Both will get you to +/- 3000fps with the 180 which is a good place to be

Curious what your elevation is there? I’d want to beat them with the smallest cartridge I could just to get in their heads.

Depending on your exact load, a 6.5 PRC will stay super to 2K with 150 SMK's and not beat you to death doing it.

Elevation is 900' give or take. I've been to 1400 with my 260, 2.950" OAL w/142 MK out of a 28" barrel, so know I can get there. But it's a stretch & the big guns would have it on me big time in the wind.
And yeah, I've hinted to a couple of them that they don't need a 338 Lapua, but they won't listen or they just want one. There is just no place around her to stretch one out. None of us know anybody with enough land that lays good enough to get past 1400.




And.. the 7WSM is looking like a contender. Or..... thinking a fluted Krieger with a match 7 mag chamber that looked like & was screwed on a Sendero could be fun.

I built a 15.5 pound 338/300 Ultra to play to 2K with, but finally tired of the boom & concussion.

Sold it, and built a 12 pound 7x300WM w/o a loudener to replace it. Still stayed super to 2K w/o the blast.

Sold it and built a little bit lighter 6.5 PRC, and settled on a load that stayed super to a bit over 1900 yards. Funner yet, and better barrel life to boot.

The 1st load was running the .713 BC 150 SMK's at 3125, but ended backing that off to 3025.

No need to go any bigger for just 1400.......

That's where I'm @ w/7WSM and 162's, stays super-sonic bit over 1900yds. I could probably try different powders and projectiles to improve wind-deflection in particular, maybe stretch out super-sonic range, but I have quite a bit of '25 and a bajillion 162 A-max's. The longest place I have to shoot here regularly is 1250ish so what I've got is plenty.

My 7WSM is a 30" 1.25" no-taper Brux in a Shehane/McMillan on a Lawton right-bolt left-port single-shot action with a 12-42x56 Nightforce on top. It's ~19# and reasonable to shoot regarding recoil.

I hear ya loud & clear aalf. I'm not crazy about the big boomers anymore & powder is hard enough to find without burning 70-90 grains per shot.

Knowing my 260 makes the trip I might just buy some 150's to try in it. Or a 147 ELD. My chamber has a .175 freebore so I'm not likely to invade too much more capacity.

The MK is stated @ a .713 G1 & the ELD @ .697. Those numbers can buck wind with most, if I can get any decent velocity.

Since you are running the 150, how would feel about it @ 2800?

I know, I've got a lot of numbers to look at.

No doubt you could find a combo to go super over 2K, but at 1250+ max, I don't see it worth the effort either. Part of my reason for selling the big 338, it just wasn't needed till you go beyond 1500, it was such a hassle to set up targets at a mile plus, and having plenty of others for the "close" ranges.

The 150 vs 147 probably would come down to which is more accurate, velocity is secondary, to a degree of course.

2800 wouldn't suck, but the more the merrier.....

At distance, wind is your enemy, and BC is your friend. You can dial distance, but drift is the bitch.

Best thing is spend some time on JBM, and play with realistic velocities with intended bullets, and compare drifts.

Lastly, there's no guarantee that you'll get the accuracy at the velocity you want to run, but you gotta start somewhere.

Sounds like and OTC 6.5 PRC from Ruger.

I just started working with the 6.5 PRC, that’s what I would recommend. Have had a 300 PRC for awhile now , both great cartridges you can buy factory rifles and ammo for and be in the game.

28 nosler and 7wsm are also great, but it’s a custom job to get right what nosler and Winchester so horribly botched..

If you’re feeling nostalgic a 7 rem set up correctly is never wrong. ADG offering brass for it keeps it in the game, imo.

Thanks again guys,

While I wouldn't mind a new rifle, I've realized I already have about all I need for the job. I've got a 260 w/142's that stays super to 1400 & change. A 147 ELD or 150 SMK might even make it better or more competitive in the wind. They didn't make those when I built this rifle, I need to test some anyway.

My 260 has a NF benchrest scope on it that doesn't have enough travel to get to 1400 & nobody makes a rail more than 20 moa for the Stiller action. Then I remembered the Burris signatures. No new scope needed, no rail shimming, bedding all that stuff. A proven rifle nearly ready to go.

If I were to build/buy another, I had about decided on a 7 WSM. Plenty big/long legged enough for around here. The size of the farms & the way the land lays in my parts, there's just not enough room to present a shot further than a good 7 could handle. And, a person could burn out a barrel just testing all the great hi BC bullets there are in 7, a good place to be.

....................What I would do first, is take all of your potential cartridge choices in 6.5, 7mm, and include a 30 cal as well if I were you, and then take all of your best bullet choices for each and compare all of them on a ballistics calculator for velocity retention % compared to their MVs, bullet drop, inches of wind drifts etc; all the nuts and bolts,,,everything..............I know you wished to stay smaller than a 30 cal, but I would certainly include the 300 PRC for consideration. 225 gr match with BCs of about 777. Out to 1400 yards, my main concern would be wind drift and which possible choice would be the best..

On you tube..............Type in...........Todd Helms 300 PRC........7 minute plus video.

Go with whichever gives ya the best #s on paper in all of the categories.

I have recently acquired the use of a 1200 yd private range and want to try some long range shooting. I have 2 rifles that might suffice, a rem 280 (Ruger 77 tang safety & a custom 7x57AI). The custom has 25 in. Proof Research barrel, McMillan stock, Rem 700 action & timney trigger. I would think, it has the best chances of doing what I want out to about 700-800 yds. Problem is (other than the nut behind the trigger) long range load data is very hard to come by, especially with heavy bullets. Anyone have any suggestions on loads? Thanks Daniel