Deer Taken at 1325 Yards story and link

[mrducks]

Yes I've been around a while. I read a lot more than I post

Hey Bulger! Havent seen ya in a while. Hope all is well.

Regarding the post about STW's:
We recently worked up a load for a 7mm STW Sendero. The ballistics are similar to the 7WSM but the WSM is flatter, has less recoil and is more accurrate. At 1000 yards the STW drops 250" whereas the WSM "only" drops 214". Velocity is 1738 vs 1845 and energy is 1207 vs 1361ft-lbs. In addition, a short action will have a higher level of accurracy due to the steel being shorter and therefore stiffer. The less movement the better.

This gun started as a Savage .270 WSM. While it was still a "stock" rifle (with factory ammo), we took it to Wyoming in the fall of 2009. We pulled the trigger 3 times and harvested an Antelope at 480yds, mule deer at 200yds and another antelope at 525. In my opinion I feel that is about the limit of factory equipment. We made those shots after LOTS of practice and velocity measurements before heading west. What shocked me the most was the huge variations in factory velocities. That makes placing a bullet where you want it at ranges past 500 yards virtually impossible. Wanting to go further is why I moved to handloads. My velocities now vary approximately 6 ft/sec so I can accurrately predict bullet drop, even at great distances. In regards to other calibers, the 7mm WSM is hard to beat. It is the flattest flying, hardest hitting, softest recoiling, most ballistically superior projectile you can sling downrange today. IMO

[cheeko]

That is awesome. Dont have to worry about scent control at that distance.

[black dog]

Good read, great video and AWESOME shot Junk!

[Duck$$$]

Great post. I love some long range.

[SB]

Blake,

That was a good read. I received it earlier in the week via e-mail and enjoyed it then too. You speak of the gun maker, Savage. In the past I have always thought of them as the low end gun maker. From the little I keep up with guns these days, it doesn't sound that holds true any more. How would you rate Savage with the other companies?

Thanks,

[aweyerman]

That is awesome. Dont have to worry about scent control at that distance.

True dat.

Awesome post!

[mshunter77]

Blake,

That was a good read. I received it earlier in the week via e-mail and enjoyed it then too. You speak of the gun maker, Savage. In the past I have always thought of them as the low end gun maker. From the little I keep up with guns these days, it doesn't sound that holds true any more. How would you rate Savage with the other companies?

Thanks,

Savage has always made a very accurate rifle. They really are hard to beat for the money.

[mrducks]

I agree... Again, I beat all of these equipment debates to death and finally had to settle on something. Keep in mind that when building a custom rifle you first have to start with an action. When it all boils down to it you have 2 reasonable choices: Remington Model 700 and Savage. Both companies make good rifles that can be bought on the cheap (I recently bought a Rem 700 .243 at Academy for $350). I chose Savage because that particular year they made a .270 WSM on a varmint platform with a heavy barrel. I paid $680 for the gun. That gun would have compared to the Rem 700 Sendero. All the reviews online and in local stores said that Savage was making the most accurate guns out of the box today. Chuck Hawks.com even went so fat to state that "these are the most accurate factory rifles we have ever tested. Period" With this rifle I felt like I could get started shooting further immediately. I shot the best factory loads I could find (Remington Premier Accutip) and bought the best long-range optics available (Nightforce) and started practicing. I felt confident out to 500 yards and took it to Wyoming and had great success. I then studied the differences in .270 cal (6.8mm) and 7mm bullets. What I found is that the Berger 7mm VLD is the most efficient bullet design available today. Of course I wanted them so I re-barreled my rifle with the best barrel available today (Kreiger) and chambered it in 7mm WSM and was able to use my old .270 brass by necking it up to 7mm. There were other factors such as triggers and bolt knobs that helped me choose Savage as well.

[DanP]

Any thoughts on 264 winchester magnum or 264 ackley improved?

[mrducks]

I personally dont have any experience with them but Ill be happy to run ballistics on them if you want. Alton would have a much more informative opinion.

[The Land Man]

Congrat's, that is truly awesome and you put a ton of time into every part of it!! What do you think of remington 700 xcr 7mm ultra mag?

[Deltaquack]

Thanks for your responses. I apologize for the wordiness of the post although I felt the details were necessary. I tried several rangefinders in the $300-$500 range and was woefully unimpressed with their performance. It was REALLY hard for me to cough up the dough for the Swarovski but it is the only one that would range a deer past 1000 yards. The day of this hunt I was extremely impressed with its performance after ranging deer at 5pm (dusky) at 1400 yards and this deer at 1325. The key is steadiness. If ranging past 600 yards I always mount it on a tripod. I hear Leica has a new handheld they market for 1600 yards and I am sure its great quality too... I just havent seen one yet.

The scope is a Nightforce NXS 5.5-22x56. Nightforce is now almost exclusively used by folks shooting 600 yards and further. Its the only way to go.

I just bought a 257 STW.......i've been looking at scopes and might have to check that one out.

[Blackduck]

Blake called me and told me he shot a deer. Nutjob made me guess the distance. I started around 400 and finally cried uncle after guessing 900 and he said "higher". The platform that he shot off of is really nice. elevated 8-10 feet I'd guess. The 180g Berger had 800 fps and anchored the skillet head where she stood.

Just a 10+ for wow factor.

[mrducks]

Nutjob, huh?? Hey... I resemble that remark

Good guess on the platform height; it 9'6"

Regarding the post concerning the Remington xcr:

That certainly is a nice rifle. Especially with that anti-corrosion coating. That is a BIG cartridge! Lots of recoil which generally decreases acurracy. Also, many fine factory rifles are still just that... Factory. That means that the steel has a possibility of not being straight and true. The factory rifling process is far less quality than a custom barrel. Some of the factory barrels we spin off are at that time found to be warped. Upon inspection with a bore scope the throat, rifling and bore are found to have a significant amount of defects which also contributes to decreased acurracy. Sometimes people buy a factory gun that shoots the lights out, but most often times thats not the case. The way that Remington and others get away with it is because most deer hunters (95%) shoot 150 yards or less and shoot maybe 1 box of ammo per year. At a range of 150 yards virtually any defects remain unnoticed as you will still be able to hit an orange which is approximately 4" in diameter. This is a perfect group for a vital-zone hit at 150 yards or less. Where the factory inconsistencies become a problem is when you stretch it out further downrange. A 4" group at 150 yds turns into an 8" group at 300, a 12" group at 450, 16" at 600, 20" at 750, etc etc... So, the bottom line is to take your existing gun, find the load that groups the best, measure that group and do the math. When your group reaches the maximum target diameter you have reached the maximum distance at which you can consistently place the bullet in the vitals.

With a custom barrel you can take that 4" group down to a 0.25" group. That kind of accuracy translates into a 1" group at 400 yds, a 2" group at 800 and 3" group at 1200... With all things remaining perfect of course. This is what will allow you to hunt farther and will make your maximum range the remaining energy required to kill the animal... Not the size of the vital zone.

[SB]

Keep the information flowing, Blake. I'm soaking it up and enjoying it.