The M1A Standard Issue. Staying true to the classic M14, it has military-style iron sights to allow you to make quick and easy windage and elevation adjustments on the fly.
They also equipped it with a classic slotted flash suppressor, a 2-stage trigger, and a National Match. It has a smooth bolt with a floating head to ensure maximum contact with your cartridge for a consistent shot every time. If you are starting out, this would be an excellent choice for a first rifle since you get everything you need with enough power to take down your target. The butt of the stock comes equipped with a soft rubber buttpad to reduce recoil and improve accuracy.
The rifle also comes equipped with a Ruger Marksman Adjustable trigger, allowing you to make adjustments from 3 to 5 lbs. The cold hammer forged barrel comes equipped with a muzzle break to add both precision and durability. It also comes equipped with a one-piece Picatinny scope base for quick and effortless scope installation. The Ruger American. It comes with a 10 round mag, which is great for engaging your target multiple times without interruption.
Your email address will not be published. Notify me of follow-up comments by email. Notify me of new posts by email. To accomplish this, you must be equipped with a rifle with the right features and ammunition. Table of Contents.
Author Recent Posts. Rob V. While he never actually served in the US Military, he has a passion for writing about military related topics.
His hobbies include beach volleyball, target shooting, and lifting. Latest posts by Rob V. But first, we delve into mastering intermediate-distance shots out to yards. The Long Game is a new series designed to improve your long-range-shooting skills. This story is the eleventh installment. And quite often, even harsh winds can be compensated for by simply favoring the left or right edge of the target.
At 1, yards, that same wind will push the bullet five times as far. Consistently hitting at 1, yards is a different animal all together. A reasonably good shooter can just eyeball that. If 1, yards is the championship game, shooting out to yards is the practice field and playoffs. It is where you develop the skills you need to make the 1,yards shots. Just because your ballistic calculator calls for a If you notice the G7 profile has a more streamlined design.
It is meant for the traditional long range projectile; featuring a long, slender ogive and a boat-tail rear end. Simply speaking, the BC refers to how well a bullet navigates gravity, air density, and wind. The higher the BC number, the more aerodynamic and better performing the projectile will be. This is especially important to those of you who reload and can tailor a custom load for your rifle. Handloading ammunition can reap the reward of selecting the exact projectile with the exact desired BC.
The first two sections, Muzzle Velocity, and Ballistic Coefficients are values that the projectile or ammunition manufacturer would display as a selling point of the round. Another ballistic value that has importance is the Remaining Energy RE of the round at any given range. In order to find this value, usually, a ballistic solution software would have to compute the RE, on what is called a Range Card. Programs like Applied Ballistics by far the best can easily chart out in a spreadsheet-like format, all sorts of information important to long range shooters.
Below, is an example of a Range Card computed by the Applied Ballistics software. At m, look at how much more RE the gr bullet has over the gr. Over ft-lbs difference! The research is out there if you need it. Just remember, when choosing your Long Range cartridge, every metric counts and affects overall performance. Any seasoned long range shooter will tell you that understanding the dynamics of Transonic Range TR is critical in overall success.
To explain Transonic Range, think about the physics of a football. The shape of the football does not allow sustained flight if the ball is thrown end over end. It will tumble erratically and fall short of the intended target. A quarterback must spin the football in a way to achieve a tight spiral.
This concept relates exactly to how a projectile fired from a rifle achieves accurate, sustained flight. In physics, gyroscopic stability explains that rotational spin on a projectile will keep it on its initial course.
Unless you will be loading subsonic rounds, all standard Long Range rifle calibers maintain supersonic flight Mach 1 or greater than fps. So how does this relate to selecting the best Long Range caliber? A bullet traveling at supersonic speed pushes vapor in the air to create a cone around itself. Gyroscopic Stability is lost in the Transonic Range and the bullet begins to pitch and yaw and ultimately tumble.
Ideally, projectiles that have a higher BC, will retain their MV over a longer range. This means that the projectile will reach its Transonic Range at a further distance; increasing its overall effective range. Looking at the. When comparing TR values, think of it this way. The caliber in question will likely perform erratically past its TR value.
The macho days of showing off to your friends by shooting the. A lot can actually affect the observed recoil of a Long Range rifle. The world finally caught on that bigger and louder, does not equate to better performance at extended ranges. All in all, pick something that will be pleasant for you to shoot over and over. Too much felt recoil can build bad habits like target flinch…even for experienced shooters. Unfortunately, most all of you will not be able to head to the local range and rent a rifle in each of the aforementioned calibers.
I will do my best to adequately describe what can be felt. Now this parameter may not be too important to most of you out there, searching for the best Long Range caliber. BUT, just keep in mind that sticking to one caliber, and being able to use that caliber in multiple systems does have advantages.
But once they saw just how quickly they could engage multiple, long distance targets…the advantages of the gas gun were very relevant. One good thing about switching between the M24 to the M, was that snipers were already familiar with the MLR round. Sniper teams were already comfortable with the way a performed.
So having the mission flexibility to own a heavy, long-barreled bolt gun AND a lightweight, semi-auto gas gun that fires the same familiar round…is priceless. Although they exist, it is not very feasible or common to find gas systems that will feed the longer, magnum cartridges i.
So keep this in mind when choosing an LR round for you. Do you intend to run the same caliber across bolt and semi systems? If not, this is one less thing you have to worry about. One thing that makes the. That being said if you plan to take your Long Range game seriously, I would invest the time and money into reloading. The difference in accuracy of store-bought ammo verse hand-loaded rounds is definitely noticeable.
My own personal Remington chambered in. That same rifle can shoot my hand-loaded grain Sierra Match Kings at 0. If you are looking at Long Range shooting as a serious hobby, instead of something to depend your life upon, I would say barrel life is almost just as important as ammo availability when choosing a long range caliber. For most amateurs, it is not feasible to swap barrels every 1,, rounds. Their high muzzle velocity and heavy projectile weights greatly increase erosion of the lands and grooves that make up the barrel rifling.
At about the 1,, round mark, magnum calibers will start to see spikes in muzzle velocity variation and a decrease in sustained accuracy. Take a. You can choose the hottest and flattest shooting caliber for your Long Range build, but keep in mind you will most likely have to replace that barrel once a year if you shoot enough.
As said before, each of the parameters will have to be thought about. You most likely will have to compromise on certain aspects. If you want the absolute best performing Long Range caliber, it will certainly come at a cost. In this topic, I have to admit a certain level of bias.
My background comes from the military sniper community where our gear was never the best. Our rifles were dinged, we sometimes were issued machine gun ammo instead of match.
We were always trained to overcome our shortcomings. We used our training and repetitive experience to put accurate rounds on target, not fancy top-of-the-line rifle builds and hand-loaded bullets.
My point being, I would sacrifice on picking that absolute top-performing round because it most likely will cost you resources that could be used on training or trigger time. Almost all wildcat a round that is not mass-produced…usually strictly custom hand-loaded chambered rifles have to be hand-built by very niche gunsmiths who specialize in Long Range precision rifles.
So when I speak of overall practicality, I would steer people towards a round that is attainable in an easily bought rifle. Now when it comes to ammo, I already mentioned wildcat cartridges.
The bench rest shooting community usually pushes the boundaries and concocts the wildcat s. As said before, I come from a different world. My bias steers clear of the wildcat calibers. Save your money and invest in training and supplemental gear. New LR shooters also often skimp on glass and what I see most often is that someone buys a cheap scope so that they can afford other goodies for their rifles.
Get the gist? Take your time, watch some videos, and use the above parameters to make your decision. Like I said, each discipline and personality will favor a certain caliber. Decide where you fit in.
The List:. We have put together a table for you to compare values side by side, and below the table, we go more in-depth on each caliber. The US military decided that the average rifle squad was more effective by accurately delivering rounds on target with a 5. The ammo was considerably lighter, meaning the rifles could be lighter. Initial Thoughts: The. Muzzle Velocity: Average MV for a.
Rule of thumb: fps for every inch of barrel either gained or lost. Since the most common. Remaining Energy: Muzzle: ft-lbs m: ft-lbs m: ft-lbs m: ft-lbs. Recoil Condition: One of the great things of a. The recoil is almost non-existent. Cross-Platform Use: You can build a. It is also the most popular caliber for the most popular and modular rifle…the AR The possibilities are endless with the. Ammo Availability: Factory ammunition can be found nearly anywhere for about 30 cents per round but as stated before, prices range greatly.
Barrel Life: Average barrel life will depend greatly on ammo type and how fast the gun is shot barrel temp. Average life will be anywhere from 4,, rounds.
Overall Practicality: The. For a rifle platform, this caliber is great for building a highly modular and dynamic setup. As a candidate for the best overall long range caliber? History: The. In order to do so, their already proven case, the 6.
This basically means the opening of the case where the bullet is seated, is tightened from 6. That one-millimeter difference means a large increase in MV. Initial Thoughts: This cartridge is an interesting case of innovation to solve a fairly difficult problem. Before its inception, the thought of pushing a grain projectile past yards was uncommon. Because the.
Not many production rifles exist in a budget option. Especially in the bolt action realm. I think this cartridge will prove useful to the long range community in the future. One big drawback to the Valkyrie is the same as the. For hunters, medium-game will be the limit of this caliber.
Muzzle Velocity: MV values for the. G1 BC:. Remaining Energy: Muzzle: 1, ft-lbs m: ft-lbs m: ft-lbs m: ft-lbs. Recoil Condition: Minimal. Many shooters claim the. As said before, the standard rifle manufacturers have not caught up the.
When the Remington and similar actions start chambering in. This cartridge as it stands is perfect for a PRS shooter. Ammo Availability: Several factory loads do exist on the market today. Those of you who reload can stretch the Valkyrie by playing with different powders, bullet seating depths, and projectile types.
Barrel Life: Finding barrel life data can be tricky, especially for a round that has only been alive for 3 years. From what can be expected, the. Any shooter of any age can comfortably shoot the Valkyrie without feeling recoil fatigue. It has been a proven competitor in the PRS circuit. I do believe the market will catch up to this round.
History: Introduced to us in , the. It was a great option at the time for those wanting long range performance with very low recoil. At the time this cartridge was revolutionary in that it bridged the gap between small and fast varmint projectiles with heavier medium game calibers. Sportsman could use the same rifle used for groundhogs and coyotes, as for deer.
Initial Thoughts. This caliber thrived in the late 20 th Century and has since stayed for a reason. As more and more interest in the Long Range community, one thing has become apparent. Also, terminal performance on larger targets has proven weak at best one large reason the.
Muzzle Velocity: The. Remaining Energy: Muzzle: 2, ft-lbs m: 1, ft-lbs 1,m: ft-lbs 1,m: ft-lbs. Recoil Condition: Like most calibers with projectiles lighter than grains, the recoil can be considered light. Cross-Platform Use: Since this caliber is somewhat antiquated, the modern tactical platforms have not maintained product lines for the.
Ammo Availability:. I would guess that every Walmart in the United States carries. Projectile manufacturers are even still making their high-end rounds in. Barrel Life. Very bad if shooting light bullets, not that great if shooting the heavier projectiles. Barrel Life on the. Overall Practicality: All in all, if you are new to the LR community and have an heirloom. Also a great option for novice or seasoned hunters who want a great flat shooting rifle that can take groundhogs or deer just by changing the ammo.
As a serious LR shooter who intends on needing terminal performance or wanting a modern tactical build, I would leave the. History: The 6mm Creedmoor can obviously be related to its slightly bigger brother; the 6.
A column writer for Outdoor Life wanted to do a piece on how to design a wildcat cartridge. His favorite caliber at the time for LR competition shooting was the 6. He took that case and necked it down to load. He wanted an even lighter-recoiling cartridge with the same performance, so the 6mm Creedmoor was born. The caliber took the LR community by storm. Initial Thoughts: Just like any new and exciting caliber that is designed specifically for the LR community, I know the performance will be top-notch.
I am interested to see how the price of such systems will come down and become more readily available to entry to novice level LR shooters. I like that the caliber is being offered in high-end AR platforms for the gas-gun enthusiasts. I still think this cartridge might be a bit on the wildcat side of the market expensive to shoot and a barrel burner. Recoil Condition: Very similar to the. However, with the 6CM being available in more modern builds, devices like muzzle brakes and suppressors that are not found on most.
Ammo Availability: As to be expected, the 6mm Creedmoor is still a young cartridge. Being developed in , most ammo is going to come from reloading. That being said, there are plenty of commercial options, but the price will be much higher than standard cartridges.
Barrel Life: Again, as most wildcat rounds are concerned, barrel life will not be great. You are looking at the 1, to 2, round mark for consistent accuracy. All 6mm projectiles are notorious for extremely fast throat erosion. Most off the shelf set-ups are going to be on the high end of the market so the 6mm CM is not ideal for a beginner shooter. LR performance is very impressive. I just want to see more of the market available to the 6CM.
History: The 6. The overall purpose of the Grendel was to deliver extended accuracy and range of the. By using the same overall magazine length dimension, the 6. However, the Grendel uses the same case diameter as the 7. The overall intended target range for the 6. Initial Thoughts: A good friend of mine owns a 6. I like the idea of taking the. Most modern shooters are very familiar with the AR design. We all have scores of 5.
I think the 6. Remaining Energy: Muzzle: 2, ft-lbs m: ft-lbs 1,m: ft-lbs 1,m: ft-lbs. Recoil Condition: You are definitely going to feel less recoil than a. Somewhere in-between an AR and AR
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