12-05-2018, 01:06 PM
CazadorBob Wrote:Greetings,
I recently bought a Howa Mini in 6.5 Grendel with the 22" lightweight barrel. I am very happy with this rifle so far. I anticipate taking a longer distance shooting class this coming year since I have never shot beyond 100 yards before. I have developed some accurate loads with both copper bullets and lead bullets in 100 grain and 120 grain bullets. The class will shoot at various ranges up to a maximum of 600 yards. Here is the question for those more experienced longer distance shooters: Which weight bullet do you think would be better for the longer distances I will be shooting? Any advice and help offered would be appreciated.
CB:
Weight isn't the major issue. Performance is. Your max range will be 600 yards. It is a shooting class so you will have someone watching trace and either seeing impacts on steel or someone in the pits working a target. Do not base your decision on hearing a bullet hit steel, BC's, bullet weights, etc. Base it on the ability of your ammunition to shoot well at 600 yards. I advise you to do yourself a favor and go with a 120 Sierra Match king. Avoid the hassles of bullet jump, OAL, and the time and money spent trying to find a 'node'. The 120 Match King is not a competitive bullet from a Grendel much past 300 because of wind but if it shoots well for you at 300, I give it a much better chance of shooting just as well at 600. This is not as certain with one of the VLD designs.
My bet is that if you use a common powder and a CCI-450 primer, load the Grendel to about 95% of the max charge of that powder for a 120 Match King, seat said 120 Match King to what ever OAL is in a reloading manual, that you will shoot a minute or less, group after group, day after day, and will do so all the way to 600. The problems will occur with winds. It is a lousy bullet to shoot in winds at 600 but it is consistent and that has great meaning when it comes to learning how to dope winds. A 108 or 123 Lapua are also good choices but you will not see a difference at 600 unless you are a highly skilled long range marksman. Then you will see a very slight edge with the Lapua bullets in terms of winds, not raw accuracy.
Face it, there is nothing magic about putting a 600 yard elevation on a sight. Your bullet will go to 600 without a issue. The challenge comes from your marksmanship skills plus your ability to estimate wind, then having the confidence to either hold or adjust windage the correct amount before the wind shifts again. Use ammo that will perform consistently well to 600 and you will have eliminated one source of any problems that may arise.
LR55