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Forum Index > Precision long range hunting and shooting > Old mates & extended ranges

Old mates & extended ranges

07 Jul 2021
@ 01:43 pm (GMT)

Martin Taylor

So an old friend of mine & l got back together after a few crazy life changing events/episodes occurred one after another, more than 4 years has slipped past.
We picked things up straight away having feeling like it was only yesterday that we where sending projectiles out to our 750 yard gongs. Developing what it takes to make these shots work along with my sons.
This old mate was my trusty Remington 700 Police (with personalized stock) in the almost surpassed and definitely un-trendy 308W. A great training & get to it calibre still after all this time or “hack” as Nathan has coined it. Enough recoil, drop & drift to keep things interesting and not run the barrel out in a few thousand rounds. My 06’s little brother.

The new barrel likes things hot which is a bit of a change from the original though still terrific to tune and very user friendly.
Still my recommended to any new reloader getting into the precision LR game for the above reasons along with the versatility of the 30cal bore as a massive bonus.
You’ll have to control technique, learn to call the wind & own the results. That’s right you will need to put in the time and effort, no instant glory here!

At the same time I had another overlooked calibre chambered, a 260rem into one of Grants terrific 6.5mm Trueflite barrels and what a ripper that is, not a ladder group over .7moa so far with 3 projectiles. It has a longer throat, built into a Tikka action feeding through L/A mags and is how the 260 should have been released all those years ago. It’s my heavy for purpose, wild dog/varmint rig and was in the planning way before the 6.5mm craze came about so l guess I’m trendy but a bit daggy at the same time. Maybe half a tacticool beard for me. The bonus is more & more good 6.5 pills are readily available.

Still my go-to mid-range training rig is the trusty 308.

Marty

Replies

1
07 Jul 2021
@ 08:56 pm (GMT)

Ben Law

Re: Old mates & extended ranges
tactical goatee marty?
good to see you posting on TBR again.
08 Jul 2021
@ 03:23 am (GMT)

Scott Struif

Re: Old mates & extended ranges
Although not technically a wildcat, your long-throated 260 deserves a moniker: Maybe 6.5 Kick-boxer, or 26 Prison-pussy?
08 Jul 2021
@ 12:03 pm (GMT)

Nathan Foster

Re: Old mates & extended ranges
Hi Marty, great to hear from you. Yes, its such a good feeling to catch up with a friend and head to the range or hunt together. Moments to savor.
08 Jul 2021
@ 02:12 pm (GMT)

Martin Taylor

Re: Old mates & extended ranges
Yep maybe a Tacky Goatee is in order....... coool!
Hope your LR journey has been fruitful Ben, if l remember correctly your combo was proving a bit frustrating?

Maybe the Wannabee Crudemoore.....
but seriously don't take offence 6.5 owners, the new generations of calibres have just had their geometries set up unlike the Sammi 260.
The 6.5mm is a great cal to play with but its just not the big game LR slayer or hammer of Thor it is portrayed to be atm.
As we have said many, many times it's all good until the placement doesn't go to plan.....mmmmm. How much margin for era does the smaller high BC bore offer then??

But anyway l digress, just wanted to post something about the fun that can be had retracing steps from years ago and many have tread before. Not reliving, just the enjoyment found shooting an overlooked Calibre that is often beguiled or run down by gun rags & online in just about every 6.5mm article.

Will try to post every now and then, just been on life's crazy Rollercoaster the past few years!
09 Jul 2021
@ 05:21 am (GMT)

Scott Struif

Re: Old mates & extended ranges
Please try to find the time to post. Nathan has given you the nod elsewhere on these pages, which says a lot. Cartridge wars spawn keyboard warriors, a group in which I sheepishly include myself. When I first heard about the 6.5 PRC, I thought, “Finally, a useful 6.5.” Then a hunter on here set me straight, commenting: “It’s just a 6.5.” Weatherby’s (& also Nosler’s) one-upmanship has catapulted the caliber to eighth-wonder-of-the-world status. Every caliber has a point-of-diminishing-return, BC-wise. Foster-Manson have tried to find that golden mean for several. You have breathed new life into a dog / varmint cartridge. It’s refreshing to pick up the occasional transmission from earth.
09 Jul 2021
@ 12:25 pm (GMT)

Martin Taylor

Re: Old mates & extended ranges
As per usual these posts lead in different directions but that's not a bad thing!

The keyboard warrior postings are a very large part of why l stopped helping Scott, plain & simple.
The pages should be for discussions but above all else the hope is (& why Nathan made them) that they will be educational.

Readers and Posters ideas, beliefs, skills, etc. will not be the same or the only way, inserts ethics & morality here………………. Because you deem it impossible, wrong or out of the realm of mortals just may not be correct. Anything near 2-300yards may be out of your (or systems) capabilities therefor deemed unethical. To others that’s a starting range & Inside their combos point blank. If the effort etc. to extend ranges is made and needed skill levels achieved/excelled why not? Have you made any of these efforts, have they?

The fundamentals of say reloading or bedding remain the same though. The application/explanation of these changes to suit the individuals skills etc. as long as the basic principles are understood it will have the same outcome. What works for bedding a Remington is not how you bed a Tikka which differs from a Howa though all share the basic principles outlined in Nathans teachings.

So l guess in short l’m trying to say to all is “take the time & think about where the other people are coming from before posting”.


The PRC would be a potent calibre for sure but as you say it has limitations like any other.
Flat shooting/Wind cheating is not the only part of the game killing equation, if it was Nathan had that sorted years ago with the 7mm Practical and would be the only cal we need!
09 Jul 2021
@ 11:20 pm (GMT)

Ben Law

Re: Old mates & extended ranges
Quote:
Yep maybe a Tacky Goatee is in order....... coool!
Hope your LR journey has been fruitful Ben, if l remember correctly your combo was proving a bit frustrating?


i have made some progress, still not where i intend to be, that project has been on the backburner for a while. the little time i have for my shooting has been spent in the bush hunting at closer ranges.
15 Dec 2021
@ 01:09 pm (GMT)

Martin Taylor

Re: Old mates & extended ranges
An interesting thing occurred doing some load development with this 308w.
One of those, is it me, the gun (new IBI bull barrel), the load or something else moments.

Not being able to shoot much over the last couple of years due to a combination of lockdowns, closures, supply issues and some health stuff combined to get me totally lost, the perfect storm.

I have a couple of bulk boxes of 155 grain high BC target projectiles to burn through, punching gongs etc. So off to the range with perfect weather conditions, sporting my new tactical beard, just couldn’t do the Tact Goatee! Testing a mid-top end ladder of 2206h/H4895, 4 rounds of each jumping at .030”. Pretty routine stuff, 308w using new Lapua brass, Fed gold primers, 2206h is as reliable combo as it gets reloading. Simple!

Well damn, l had just about every pattern combo you can get, double groups, 2+” random, 1” with flyer, spread and some others l don’t know how to describe! Used the whole A4 page, M60 style.

After checking fouling, the bedding, all torques, a second scope failure?, right powder? (brass good, primers good) & some soul searching l was beaten. Insert an “I’ve lost my shit” mini meltdown here………..
So l put that away and punched out some 5 shot cloverleafs with my stock Tikka 223.
Shit this is a recoil thing, l really have lost it.

Mmmm, there’s some 168 Z-max validation loads in the box, do l bother wasting the ammo? These being the only load l had done for this new barrel so far. Settle down, just shoot, you know how to do this (right!!). Crap, cloverleaf’s one after another, the trusty old A-max’s saved my sanity. Wish l had purchased a shitload more boxes of these back when they went for $99 OZ for 500.

So the lesson out of this, K.I.S.S!
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