Has anybody ever taught a long range rifle reloading class? I was told to look for @gimli and @Nick to ask these questions. @thatguy suggested you both.
I compete at ranges of 300 yds to 1000 yds. I haven’t taught any classes on long range reloading because I haven’t found anyone but @Nick that is interested at shooting 600 yds or more.
If you are interested let me know what you are looking for and I’ll be happy to help you.
Russell Ward
Thanks for the response. I am working on long range shooting on my own. I reload for myself with Lapua brass and Sierra MK bullets, but I want to sit down with somebody that knows the finer aspects of reloading for long range. Also would like to discuss how I can get better on the range. Thanks for any input.
What calibers are you using and what ranges are you interested in. I am associated with some national class long range shooters that have a world of knowledge about reloading and shooting.
Starting out I decided to go with the military classic .308. So I bought a Remington 700 “Varmint” model. 26" bull barrel. Put a basic scope on it and am out to 500 yards so far at ETTS in Midlothian. I recently upgraded to the SMK 175 grain bullets that should improve my hits. But have not been out since I narrowed my load down. I adjusted the trigger down as low as it would go, that is about 2.5LB. But over time, will buy a Timney.
Saving up right now for a Burris XTR 2 5-25.
No other caliber right now. Figured I should work on one thing at a time.
I have a load that I have worked up over several weeks that gives me .6" at a hundred yards in my rifle. Now I am going to take that out to the long range over this holiday weekend.
Its a 175 SMK over 45.1 Grains of Varget in Lapua Brass and Federal Primers.
My goal for the year is to shoot under 10" at 1000 yards with consistency and learning how to adjust for wind.
That is what I am looking for.
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RCBS equipment and dies. I currenty load all my own ammunition and shoot in several different calibers.
223, 308, 300 Win Mag, 325 WSM, 30-06, 270, 8MM Mauser, .50 Beowulf, 9MM, 45 ACP, 38SPL. .40 S&W.
Hi John,
It sounds like you and I are in the same boat. I’m finishing up a build on a 308 palma match rifle. I’m also working on a bloop tube for my savage 22lr to get a similar sight picture to the 308 so I can practice position, trigger control and sight adjustments with a much cheaper bullet. I’m using a Phoenix rear aperture sight and a right sight front aperture sight.
Are you planning to shoot with a scope or aperture sights? Also, are you interested in competitive shooting or just shooting by yourself? To be honest Russel hangs with a very nice group of competitive shooters. If you show interest in the sport, they are often willing to share their knowledge freely. Plus, you can jump in with another none expert in me and learn the ropes with a buddy.
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I am definitely interested in competitive shooting. But I don’t have any hookups. So if you can help me by letting me know where to go and what to bring, I would love to jump in!
Scope for all long range stuff.
Will be trying my new S&W Piston driven AR 15 with iron sights but everything else is scoped.
With the 700 you should be able to shoot F class and palma with Russel and I. There is a monthly shoot that Russel is part of. Once my rifle is done I will be competing with him there as well. My rifle should be ready at the end of next week. If you can make time for lunch on a Friday, you might ask Russel to invite you to lunch to meet Tom (our long range gunsmith) and a few of the shooters. It is an amazing group. Their generosity lead me into the sport with confidence I wasn’t wasting my money and time. My palma gun is also a 700 action. So you are on a great and proven platform with a cartridge well known by the group. So your talking to a great crowd here!
I think I can do the lunch. I can take half days and will try to make that happen soon. Maybe this week. I know this is a public forum, but is there a way I can get your and Russells contact information? And @thatguy as well?
Headed to bed now, but let me know. I will give you my phone if you want to private message me.
I’d have interest in a reloading class for .308 - I have a Lee die set I’d bring along and would be willing to bring my press in for the class as well once I get it on a base that can be attached to the Hatcher bench. Waiting on Nick’s reply re the metal channel stock he used in the bench so I can add it to my own bench at the house. I’m not looking to competition shoot myself - but have a mind to get an AR-10 build in the future.
This would also give me a chance to use my case trimmer for what it was actually intended…
I am also interested in learning to load and shoot long range. (600m - 1000m). Would like to tag along if you guys put something together.
@dana55, @Axel_Ohmstede and @hornej3 and anyone else that might be interested. I’ll be at DMS tomorrow, Wednesday, at about 5:00 PM if you guys want to talk about long range reloading and shooting. I’ll probably be in the Big Room.
Russell
Great. I will plan on being there.
John Horne
Cell:979-877-8770
you might want to edit that phone number out.
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See you there.
As a note to those taking advantage of Russel’s (@Gimli) impromptu classes may I suggest you think about making a donation to hatchers as we do not get honorarium for these classes and money helps the committee grow!
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I’ll probably be in Hatcher’s working on shelves.
I’ve been eyeballing this thread for a couple of days wanting to respond, but afraid of the mini-novella it’s provoking in me. So I’ll try and keep it short.
Long-range shooting is a blast, and combines marksmanship and mechanical aptitude, in order to shoot well.
Most important, you must have a rifle suited to it, and few are. To be remotely competitive, it needs to shoot into 1/2 minute of the angle or less, and most rifles just can’t get there. At 1000 yards, 1 minute equals 10"of conical shot dispersion, so even if your aim were perfect, you could still miss your aiming point by 10 inches. Add wind drift, mirage, holding error, and an inaccurate rifle just won’t get you there, and will make learning very frustrating (service rifle matches are a little different, and group size somewhat less important, but not much).
I’m not a fan of 700 actions for this. I know lots of people have used them to good effect, but it takes significant gunsmithing to get one to shoot at 1/2 MOA or less, and changing barrels is a pain as well. Long range shooters go through barrels.
If it were me, I’d build the rifle around a Savage target action, using a premium match barrel, in one of the faster 6.5 or even 6mm chamberings. The 6.5mm bullets will stay supersonic at much longer ranges than the .308’s will, and the recoil is much less. The Savage actions can be had new for about $500, require little to no gunsmithing, and you can change a barrel on them at the range if you want to. In long run, saves you a lot of money. A quality barrel will run you 300 or so. For less than 1500 total, you can assemble a rifle capable of winning matches. Just add sights of your choice.
Reloading for long range is all about ultimate consistency. Getting the case dimensions as close to identical as is humanly possible, but using quality brass (Lapua), turning necks, uniforming primer pockets, and bump sizing the shoulder, using quality dies (Redding or Wilson), using an in-line seater. Prepping a batch of cases for the first time is just tedious. The process is described on a thousand web pages, and is the same as bench rest reloading, except that long range loads need to be hot as a rule.
Use a culver powder measure to throw charges. Bench rest shooters have long shown that volumetric differences often have more effect on accuracy than minor weight differences.
Charge development must be done on the rifle you wish to compete with. Use the nodal method of finding the best charge, but remember - you need to have a stable bullet at your desired range, and at 1000 yards that means velocity and lots of it. So LR loads tend to be pretty hot, and also tend to wear out barrels.
Sorry, I know that’s just glazing over a lot of subjects.
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