Went out shooting yesterday with a buddy and got to have a little fun at longer range. He took out his 300 WSM (used to be mine and I sold it like fool
) and 7mm Rem Mag Sendero that he recently picked up. I brought the 375 BME and the 284 Win Striker (and pile of other stuff that didn't get shot at that range).
We weren't sure what to expect from the Sendero but it did really well. He was just shooting the 139 SST, but after a couple shots to zero it at 100 it only took a few shots to get on the 14" rock at 960. It's amazing how well the 139gr bullet did in the wind.
The 300 WSM has always shot well and yesterday was no exception. He was testing out a new load with the 208 A-Max and some 7828ssc. Couple shots to zero at 100 and a few more to get on at 960. Making hits was boring even with the switching winds.
Then I drug out the heavy guns.
I haven't run my 375 past about 300 yards since I got it put together, just haven't had time. So I really wasn't sure how well it would do. The 375 BME hit the rock on the 3rd shot. It only took 5.5 MILs to get the 350gr bullet to 960 yards. Not bad for such a big chunk of lead! It has less drop and less drift than a 300 WSM with the 208 at 2910fps. But CONSIDERABLY more recoil!
The BME stops being fun after a couple of shots when shooting prone!
Last up was the 284 Win Striker. This one is running the 168gr Berger VLD at 2670 from the 19" barrel. This gun went straight from 100 yards to the 960 yard rock. I haven't shot it in between yet. It took a couple shots to get the wind call right and make some adjustments to the drops, but after about 10 shots I was making hits. The 284 was definitely the under dog of the guns that came out. 9.6 MIL to get to 960 yards. The wind was not kind to that bullet either!
The best group of the day was with the 6mm BR Striker. Its 5 shots at 100 yards in .182" I love that gun!
Best shot of the day came when I was shooting at a target 448 yards away with the 6mm BR Striker. I switched to a load I've never shot past 100 yards. I don't know the velocity and didn't calculate any drops. I dialed 10 minutes of elevation just as a random guess and held on a rock below the target. My buddy though I was holding on the actual gong. First shot, PING! It hit the gong. My wind call and elevation were nowhere near being right, but my spotter didn't know that. His jaw just dropped! He called it a fluke so I told him I could do it again. Held the same and let one go. PING! I should have stopped while I was ahead. The third shot missed. I let him think that I was really just that good for a little while before I told him that I actually missed the target I was aiming for.
Now for the lessons learned:
1) The guy I shot with has quickly surpassed my shooting shooting abilities with a rifle. I got him into precision shooting (he was an AR guy
) a few years ago. So now I need to find somebody else to shoot with.
I'll still crush him with a specialty pistol though!
2) The 375 BME needs to gain some weight. 12.5# is a little on the light side for a gun that moves 350gr bullets at 3100fps. Today my shoulder feels like I got kicked by an NFL player!
3) I'll put my 6mm BR Pistol up against any rifle in a short range BR match
4) Next time I make an amazing shot by accident, keep it to myself and quit while I'm ahead.
5) The 284 Win Striker may need a muzzle brake. I got kissed by the scope twice before I backed it down to 12x.
Andrew
