BigNate

Very cool!

Thanks for sharing this. I travel to the DFW area from time to time... I'll need to extend the trip one of the next times out there. EDIT - Sounds like politics - and politics suck... I guess I've got to figure out how to revere the 99% when 1% are political scumbags...

Good times!

Thanks much... I had looked at the Leupold Mk5 but have some old anti-Leupold bias (long time ago stuff) that I couldn't get over (I probably should). The group I shoot with all speak MIL so the NF Competition is out as it appears to be MOA only... I have ordered the NF ATACR 7-35 F1 MIL-XT. I'll look at the Sightron stuff down stream. I assume that you shoot F-class or something similar?

Whelp... after all that analysis... I ALMOST broke down and bought an MOA version of the Zeiss mentioned above (the one with 46.5 mil of internal adjustment) - it is a discontinued model and I found one at a local store deeply discounted as a result... If it had been MIL I would have bought it... but I kept hearing a voice in the back of my head threatening to disown me... A few days later I was at a local shop and priced some things and the price I got back from from him on the NF ATACR 7-35 F1 MIL-XT was well below what I expected - so I pulled the trigger... It should be here in Friday or Monday. I've got to get it mounted up loosely in an existing mount, confirm that the 1.5" mount will work, then go get a quality mount for it...

New one for those in the North Phoenix / New River area - and maybe some online? https://www.grannysgotguns.com/ About a year ago on my commute I saw a new "GUNS" sign pointing to the local strip mall near my home... The shop is named "Granny's Got Guns" and it is a pretty typical small business gun store. Their inventory is pretty typical for a small gun shop - a bit of new stuff - a bit of used stuff - some fancy / collectible stuff and some vanilla guns. It appears to be owned by a couple - the wife ("Granny" - I guess) runs the front of the shop and the husband (I assume) does gunsmithing and helps with overflow. There's at least one other employee. The place has a small town barbershop feel. I had stopped in a couple of times to window shop - and a few weeks ago asked them about ordering a gun that I'd been looking for. They said that they could get it for me - and gave me a price that was about 5% below what I'd see at the big sporting goods stores. Now the cool part... The gun arrives - I'm working on fitting a brake - the shims that came with the brake don't let me properly clock it. I go back down to the shop asking if there's any chance that they have a shim kit for sale... the guy says "just a minute" and goes back into the shop - comes out with a pack of shims and says something like: "we don't sell shim packs - but here you go - bring back what you don't use and we'll figure something out... " It turned out I just needed a single 0.004 shim. I brought the rest of pack back to the shop - told him what I had used - and he tried to waive off any money. Small town service... Going forward I'll take my money back there first.

I only have one press - and it's a progressive - but I intend to use it as a single stage press. The thought is - install and set the sizing die and size cases... then finish case prep, then remove the sizing die and prime cases... then manually fill cases with powder (outside of the press)... then install the seating die and set depth and seat bullets... I've thought about buying an old single stage press - but to the best of my understanding, doing that doesn't buy me anything beyond what I can get out of using the 550 in a single stage manner... Some day I may go buy a premium turret style press - but for now I don't see the value. If I'm wrong I'd love to know it. Buying a used Rock Chucker would be in play right now... buying an Area 419 Zero... not so much... 🙂

Had an interesting conversation with the folks at Dillon Precision. In short, it looks like there's a range of structures out there for case base and extractor grooves on 338LM cases. The guy at the counter said that they have a 338LM specific shellplate for the RL-550 - but they found that it did not work consistently with all brass, and that in some cases the "G" plate (listed as the plate for 45-70, 7.62X54R, etc.) works better. They suggested that I bring in a piece of brass and they'd test fit. I brought in a piece of brand new Lapua brass, and sure enough the "338" shell plate was too tight - would not fully seat the case, and the "G" plate was a perfect fit. Not that it matters - but I've got to put calipers on the brass and compare to SAAMI spec for the cartridge to see where the delta is. I'd like to think that Lapua would be putting out cases that are perfect to the spec... but who knows. Anyway - everything is now in hand - and loading can begin...

LOL - a few months after the first event when hitting steel at whatever range 50MOA of rail and mount plus all the vertical adjustment in the scope is "not enough" - so who knows - maybe a year - maybe 10 years - maybe never... LOL There's a whole lot of work to do to routinely get bullets on steel at a mile before I start worrying about 2000, 2200, etc... and that very cool piece of gear doesn't help me get through those earlier layers... so it (and I) can wait... 🙂

Very cool video… I’ve done a tall target test to validate that I’ve properly leveled my scope - but that setup is definitely “more.” I was surprised that the price for that Charlie TARAC was not higher.

Like it says… and it worked for me earlier in the week. Recreating this post in this forum now that I know it’s here…

Yes - that’s supposed to be the special sauce for that cartridge. The down side is that there have been plenty of cans wrecked as jacketed bullets rapidly disassemble on exit from the barrel. I’ve had no issues with them when shot subsonic - but my understanding is that as soon as you get into full power loads - it’s smart to run only copper solids. When I started testing jacketed / bonded bullets for subs, I did the maths to confirm that my rotational speed would be about the same as the bullet would see at full velocity out of their native platform. My plinking loads get built with factory 2nd 300gr Nosler Custom Comp bullets… At 1080 FPS out of the 1:3 twist barrel they should be spinning about 266K RPM… at 2800 FPS out of a 1:9 twist 338 LM barrel they’d be spinning about 227K RPM…. I shot about 40 of the out of the 8.6blk - making sure that they all went through paper with a round hole, before I put the suppressor on… At 2200 FPS (about where I could probably get them going with what would be a hot 8.6 load… they’d be spinning 535K RPM. I’ve given some thought to removing the muzzle device and trying it - with some big cardboard target holders on either side of the muzzle - and one in front… LOL

What were the velocities on these? If those Hornady 75s were going 2910fps (that's the advertised MV for the Hornady Freedom 75gr Match rounds) - they'd be spinning almost 420000 RPM at the muzzle... I'd think that the TSXs would be fine - but I'd be worried that the jacketed lead bullet in the 75gr match bullet turning itself inside out as it leaves the muzzle. Guessing you had no issues - or you would have told us - but that bugger was spinning...

510 Whisper with 800gr Lapua Bullex-N (not mine - sadly - pic from a guy in one of the 8.6 groups I'm part of)...

Folks in the 8.6 groups have used a variety of powders - but I'd guess that 95%+ of folks are using either AA1680 or N110... I've bought those - and CFE Black which I've seen folks represent as successful when they couldn't get the other two. So far - I've only taken the time to load the AA1680.

This showed up in another group that I'm part of. 510 Whisper loaded with 800gr Lapua Bullex-N. Super-practical? Maybe not. Super fun? Probably... 🙂

LOL - a “short action” .50…

OK - so my folks have a place up near Happy Jack - and I’ve got a spot near there where I shoot across a pretty good size meadow against a little mesa. I’ve never shot off of the top of the mesa - but based on what I’ve seen I wouldn’t be surprised if we could get 2 mile line of sight from the top / lip. The blue line on the attached image is a little over 2 miles. Maybe we get up there on a weekend some time when it’s stupid hot down here. Elevation is about 7200 ft…

Question about the quick clot stuff and trauma / bandage stuff. How does it hold up in the heat. I’ve got a small kit - but from time to time I worry about whether the adhesives are going to be worth anything after heat cycling every day in the cab of the truck.

Thanks gents… @98Z5V - @Magwa - forgive all the rambling - I live in the weeds… I’m an analyst by nature and I dive into stuff like this… over-thinking / over-analyzing stuff is my jam… LOL You should see the new spreadsheet - there’s a bunch more columns - and weighted stack ranking… 😛 I’ve added the Zeiss LRP S3 4-25X50 to the scope list… primarily because it offers 46.5 MIL / 160MOA of vertical adjustment. I’ve weighted up total elevation, depth of field, and some other stuff - and that has me I’m leaning that direction… I agree that getting on steel at a mile is the short term goal… well… finding a load that the gun likes is goal #1 - then getting on steel at a mile… https://www.zeiss.com/consumer-products/us/precision-shooting/first-focal-plane-riflescopes/lrp-s3/lrp-s3-425-50.html Looking at rigid mounts and/or rings now… but probably holding off on buying something that until I have the scope ordered.

I've watched this guy for a while... and given that he's not selling anything, and is a guy who appears to just love ELR or what he notes in the video as ULR (Ultra Long Range) and does things like shoot a 30-06 or 45-120 at 3000Y... I'd guess that he has something useful to say on the topic of choosing an ELR scope...

I had talked myself out of one for more than a year. If you come out for the fall shoot you're welcome to put rounds through it...

Well - I work about a mile from Dillon Precision so I ran over this morning to get clarity with them about whether there were any size issues with 338LM in the Dillon 550B (the good news is there is no issue). The good news is that there isn't. The other good news is that after chatting with the guy at the counter for a few minutes he said "hang on a minute" - and ran to the back. He came out with a box of 300gr Nosler Custom Competition and another in the 300gr SMK. They'd brought them in for some sort of testing - and were not an inventory item. I bought the box of Noslers well below street price - because I've got about 1000 factory 2nd 300gr 338 bullets that I bought to load as subsonic 8.6 plinking rounds - that are supposed to be factory 2nd Noslers. Once I get a load worked out for the Bergers or A-Tips - I'll probably do a quick pass at the Noslers and build enough group data for it that I can load up some with the factory 2nds to see if by some chance they perform well.

I genuinely gave some thought to getting a B14 HMR in either 7 PRC or 300 PRC for ELR but decided to go to the 338 based on Magwa's experience with the Savage. I really think that gun is an incredible value.

So I'm following @Magwa down the 338 LM "next zip code" trail including reloading for this pursuit. I've made a few assumptions, started accumulating stuff, and started to build out a set of questions. Assumptions Materials Powder - I'm starting with Retumbo and VV N570 primarily based on what I'm seeing is a variety of online sources including here - and because I lucked into some of each at the local big-box sporting goods store. If there's a reason to start anywhere else please let me know. Primers - Federal 215M Bullets - I've got 100 each of the Berger 300gr OTM Tactical (MPN 33109) and the Hornady 300gr A-Tip Match (MPN 33389) as they seem to be two of the most commonly chosen and they are near the top of the list for BC without going to Cutting Edge Lazers which are nominally better - but more than twice the price per unit ($125/50 vs about $90/100 for the other two). Brass - Planning to buy 100pcs of new Lapua brass. Equipment Press - I have a Dillon 550B that I'm planning to use. I'll probably load in a way that is much more like a single stage press. This is what I own - and I probably won't be buying something different unless I run into issues (will probably find an older / used but high quality single stage) or win the lottery (I'll go buy all the newest coolest Area 419 stuff)... Dies - I've not yet sourced dies - doing research - would love advice. This will be the first real dive into "precision" reloading. I'm reading up on specialty dies etc. Scales etc. - I have a relatively inexpensive digital scale that I doublecheck with a balance beam scale. I have a manual trickler and I'll be manually trickling each charge until I decide I can't stand it anymore and break down and buy something better. I've come close to buying something a few times but always bail on it because I have a hard time spending $200 - $400 on something that I'm sure I'll want to replace with an FX-120i and auto trickler... Probably an OCD issue... tell me I'm wrong... Software - I'm modeling things with GRT Immediate Questions Dies - I've seen advanced / precision micrometer dies that I understand allow tighter control over seating depth etc. Worth it? No? Also - I've used Dillon, RCBS, Hornady, and Lee dies. For most things I've used basic dies - but I want to go "premium" for this setup - given the purpose of the gun and the degree to which a tiny variance in performance will amplify deviation at long range. Measuring Gear - I have read a bit about tools to measure seating depth from the ogive instead of COAL. It would seem that this would be most appropriate if I'm really concerned about jump to the lands. Too much? Order of Adjustment - Looking for validation or correction on this approach... My intent is to set the bullet about 0.020 off the lands, then work on a load ladder in small increments to try find a load that the gun likes (accuracy node). My question is - when do you start working to adjust distance from the lands, neck tension, etc. and how do you work through the decision to go back to powder / velocity modification after starting the other processes? What Am I Missing - What questions am I not asking that I should be asking? I'm sure that I'll have plenty more questions as things go forward. I'm hoping that this thread is a place where I'll learn and where we can create something that other folks diving down this rabbit hole can ramp up... Thanks in advance...