AusVarmint

Hi guys,

Well im stuck on the couch with the bloody flu again and have just been thinking to myself id like to have a go at 1000 yard br. I have the next few days off and im pretty bloody sick of doing nothing so thought id get some info of you guys. My understanding is no one just is great at 1000 yard br they have to do a lot of practice, research and build the ideal rifle for the job. So my question is where do all the great br shooters start? Do you guys try short range etc to start with and then progress further out or just rock up to the 1000 yard line? Im pretty confident to 400-500 yards with my heavy varmint rifles but getting out that far is going to take something bigger. Any recommendations at a starting point? The components i have to make a start is a 3 and half inch wide br stock, 8-32x56 Sightron SSIII (not sure if that is enough mag?) warne mounts but no action. Perhaps a trued rem700 in a 30cal to begin with???

Anyway just thinking out aloud, any thoughts would be great!

Cheers
dave

Gooday Dave, you would most likely have read a lot of stuff on the various threads on this forum about 1K BR. From my own perspective, i did start off in SR BR and then later moved over to LR where that is the only shooting i do now. Target archery has now taken the place of the short range stuff.
Now this is my take on it and only my take. The short range stuff can teach you about bench technique and that sort of stuff, but as far as the nitty gritty stuff of bullet selection, load development etc, what i learned in the SR is no longer relevant. Well little of it is.
One of the very important things i can tell you about bullet choice is that no matter which one you choose, try to use a cartridge that will have a bit of a margin above the sound barrier when it gets to that terminal distance. Some smaller cartridges, while accurate in testing at shorter ranges, go vertical or open like a donut when they approach that transonic area. I will not use a combination that has not at least a 300 fps margin.
Scope choice is subjective and everyone has an opinion on this, but the only thing you need is a scope that holds POI. Rifle configuration is again subjective. Action choice is once again in that subjective zone but you would not do badly with a Rem 700 action as suggested.
Go to a match, have a talk to the people there and look at the equipment used, but be carefull of the marketing hype associated with some stuff like cartridges, barrels, actions and other gear.

What were you hoping to build, light gun or heavy gun? Tony, wouldnt you recommend a barrel block so he can hang a big heavy mother of a barrel off his 700 Rem? I have only done one 1000yd BR shoot, so I cant help much, but I,m helping a friend, a new shooter build up a 1000yd heavy gun. Well helping him decide what bits to use as my gunsmithing skills are limited to fitting a scope.
What size is your bolt face? A few others here might be able to narrow the choice on calibers if they know the bolt face.
Where abouts are you? A few of the experienced 1000yd BR shooters here will most likely agree that you dont need super high magnification to shoot 1000yd BR.
P.S, I love my Sightron.

A very qualified, long range benchrest shootin' gunsmith told me several years ago to stick to a 30 cal. I took his advise and I'm having a ball.
His reasoning for the 30 cal was the vast choice of projectiles. Shooting 30 cal --- make it easy for yourself and go "heavy"--
Merry Christmas Malcolm

I agree Rod, a barrel block and 700 action is a great way to go. I also agree with what Malcolm says, 30 cal and go heavy. All new shooters, IMO, should go straight to HG class.
We had our last 550 BR match of the year a couple of weeks ago where Jeff H had his brother David have a go with the HG. While he didn't set the world on fire, you could see that it wouldn't take David long to get on top of the wind and mirage stuff. The rifle behaves itself on the bags, human error to a greater extent is taken out and all the novice has to do is watch and learn about reading the conditions. By removing as many of the variables as possible, the quicker you arrive to a competitive level.