Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Long Range Hunting .277 Matrix Bullets... wow!

I've got 1300 162's sitting on the shelf, which should get me through the summer. Come fall, I'm not gonna hesitate to ventilate Bullwinkle with an AM if I get the chance...

I mind the price when talking about practice bullets, but I fire maybe 10-15 hunting bullets through each rifle every year, so a few extra dollars for the good stuff ain't gonna kill me

It's their origins Jeff;not the bore size.This has been said here before,but the 6.5 and 7mm's existed as military calibers....and among the first smokeless calibers as well.Their "forte" was long, heavy for caliber bullets in both military and sporting configurations,and fast twists to stabilize them.The military heritage insured they'd be used for target work as well...As new cases were developed, the fast twists stuck around

You can look this up by reading about the use of 6.5's and 7mm Mauser in Africa and North America back around and after the turn of the 20th Century.

The 270, OTOH, started out as a high velocity cartridge, lighter bullets at high velocity,and as a hunting cartridge.This actually distinguished it from "other" cartridges of the time.

Why .277? No one seems to really know exactly why.....but there is nothing inherently inferior about it.....it's just twist and bullets....And commonly repeated misconceptions,common usage, and truisms that aren't really "true"..We sure see a lot of that.

How many 7's you got? 1300 rounds is more than smokepole got out of his P-N 7 WSM before the throat went south...

Given the number of .270's out there it's kind of a head scratcher to be honest why it's taken so long.

Because


Because there are maybe (a big maybe) 1 in 100 hunters that have even the faintest idea of how to shoot past 200 yards. From what I've seen of the those who actively hunt, it's more like 1 in 500, or 1 in a 1,000.

Because


Because there are maybe (a big maybe) 1 in 100 hunters that have even the faintest idea of how to shoot past 200 yards. From what I've seen of the those who actively hunt, it's more like 1 in 500, or 1 in a 1,000.

Form-not sure where you live or hunt but where I'm from it'd be a grave mistake to bet against the vast majority of the hunters past 200 yds. Sure, past 400 people get a bit wonky. But, day in and day out I can't say it'd be tough to find a good game shot around here that can go a lot longer than 200 with ease and then some!

I've worked the our ranges sight in days and far and away the people are more than capable with a gun.

And, with proper coaching it aint no bigga casa grande to get people ready to hot game to 400 under the right conditions and with the right set ups and proper training.

Just what I've observed in my part of the world.

Dober

Way I see it, you aren't going to notice the difference between a .5 BC and a .65 BC under 6-700 yards, unless there is a big fat wind. And maybe it's just me and my way, but I'm not going to shoot at game if there's enough wind to make me question myself...

Form, can you go into what you mean by 'know how' to shoot past 200 a little more? Just proper shot placement/knowledge of ballistics/field positioning?

Form-not sure where you live or hunt but where I'm from it'd be a grave mistake to bet against the vast majority of the hunters past 200 yds. Sure, past 400 people get a bit wonky. But, day in and day out I can't say it'd be tough to find a good game shot around here that can go a lot longer than 200 with ease and then some!

I've worked the our ranges sight in days and far and away the people are more than capable with a gun.

And, with proper coaching it aint no bigga casa grande to get people ready to hot game to 400 under the right conditions and with the right set ups and proper training.

Just what I've observed in my part of the world.

Dober

It's really, really cool to see how a decent piece of glass with a functional elevation turret coupled with an accurate load can transform a rifle.

Matter of fact if Dober and BobinNH are reading I would be very interested to see what ya'lls times are for the above drill. I have timed a bunch of people on it, but am very interested in what different good animal killers can do, and from what I read I think you both probably fit that. Anyone else that wants to try it would be great also.

Gee, just think...If a 270 with matrix bullets is now a long range performer, just think what a real 6.5 -or- 7mm can do with matrix bullets.

All of the above. I probably should have stated 200 yards in the East, and 300 or 400 in the West. I have hunted in 8 or 9 states in the East and and have never just stumbled on someone who knew what they were doing at long range. I have met and hunted with a few but I knew them before going hunting. Of course I have ran into the guys with the equipment to go long, or at least they thought so, but none actually could perform at distance. I also meet guys that are capable LR shooters but they don't hunt, or if they do it amounts to them shooting deer off of their porch. These were/are the F Class/1,000 yard benchrest type.

I did have a couple of guys come out that had custom 300 Jarretts, Ziess scopes with the Rapid Z reticles that could hit out to 500 or so if they could use their bipods. But come to find out Jarrett built the rifles, mounted the scopes, zeroed the rifles, and worked the loads until the drops matched the reticles. They didn't know how to adjust for wind, how to dial at all, only one even owned a rangefinder, and neither knew how to sight in their own rifles. Take the bench away or leave prone and the bipod and something at 150 was more then likely safe.







As I said above out West there certainly seems to be more people that can shoot in the 3-400 yard range. We met some guys in the San Juans a few years back that had killed a barely legal bull Elk. It was a couple days before our season started and we were out scouting when we heard 11 or 12 shots and meandered up the ridge to see what was up. There were a couple of guys standing around shaking hands and what not when we walked up. We started talking and they told us what they had killed. They had decent equipment and talked like they knew what they ware doing at least somewhat, but under time constraints and pressure two of them shot almost a dozen times at an Elk starting at 400 and ending at just over 600 yards.


Hunting deer out West not to long ago we met and talked to probably close to a hundred hunters and not one was comfortable with long shots. We went to check zeroes the day before the season opened and stopped by one of the main camping spots on the NF land where we were to let the people there know we were going to shoot a few rounds. Just like the fellows from CO we met a group of guys that had the equipment and talked a good game about 5 and 600 yard killing. We through a pack down and picked out a smallish rock at around 300 and a clump of dirt at about 550. We of course hit them with our first shots as thats pretty easy range for even normal rifles, but you would have thought they just saw a miracle the way they acted. Like most I have contact with, when they are actually holding a rifle with a target/animal in front of them, they seemed to know more about talking about LR shooting then actually doing it.

FWIW.... I killed both of my deer on that hunt at shorter ranges. One at sitting at 382, and the other at 369 of a pack.




I think what happens (it certainly was the case for me) is that if we like to shoot/hunt LR/race/etc., then we tend to associate with those who like to do the same, and start to think that there are more of us then what there really are. Especially if you frequent forums. It wasn't until I joined the military, started traveling and competing that I realized how..... limited... most are. Just like the "sub MOA all day long rifle crowd" it seems everybody is a riflemen on the internet. However, I've run into people at matches and in the military that talked good about the longish shots on the net but inevitably when the caps start getting popped those 1/2 MOA rifles aren't and the real comfortable out to 500 yard hunting types aren't either. There are exceptions such as George Gardner, Scenar Shooter and some other well known guys, and I'm sure that Dober, BobinNH and a few others are completely capable, but in my experience they are not the norm.


I maintain that if you took 100 hunters from random and gave them thirty seconds to range, setup and hit a 8-10 inch plate at 400 to 500 yards starting from standing holding their rifle and pack that very, very, very few would hit it. Of those that did hit it most would be from guessing and "luck" more then skill and knowledge.