So, it's three weeks before I leave for South Africa, I went out this morning and shot my long range load for practice.

The load is the 235 grain Raptor ER from Cutting Edge Bullets with 85 grains of BLc-2. This gets me 3099 fps at the muzzle and sighted in 2" high at 100 yards it drops to -5" at 300 yards.

I used my portable shooting bench with sandbags and there was no wind at all.

0.7" group @ 300 yards

Only one problem Frank, no excuses!

Looks pretty fine to me. And I agree, now there are no excuses!

Good shooting, Frank!

Now you just have to hope that:
1. Your scope doesn't fail between now and your hunt.
2. Your stock doesn't split.
3. Your gun arrives in RSA.
4. Your ammunition arrives in RSA.
5. Your PH isn't drunk.
6. You aren't drunk.
and,
7. The rope holding your quarry in place doesn't snap!

Have a great time!

George

Funny guys!

I think that I have a little cant in my scope as the center of the 300 yard groups is always a couple inches left of my point of aim.

The rest of the groups ran from 2" to 3.5" but occasionally I can lob one in.

Great group. As others have said you have eliminated the rifle as a potential excuse.

I always seem to shoot better when I have confidence in my rifle and load. With no worries we just seem to function as one.

You own that title!

Frank,
I assume that you had the tips in them???

What's wrong, Frank, don't you know the difference between 300 yards and 300 inches?



Just kidding. Good shooting.

quote:

Originally posted by pagosawingnut:
Frank,
I assume that you had the tips in them???

Yes, I was crushing the tips with the compressed loads so now I pop them off to seat the bullets and then re-install them.

quote:

Originally posted by Grenadier:
What's wrong, Frank, don't you know the difference between 300 yards and 300 inches?

Just kidding. Good shooting.

I've been lying about what 6 inches is to Wifezilla for so long, I'm not sure.

On behalf of Bakersfield and the rest of Kern county Frank you are without question the big bore shooting champion. Good luck in Africa do California proud Frank.

Very impressive. Some of these big bore are super accurate shooters.

But has anyone ever shot any game with a 375 H&H out to 300 yards ?

Mike

quote:

Originally posted by Beretta682E:
Very impressive. Some of these big bore are super accurate shooters.

But has anyone ever shot any game with a 375 H&H out to 300 yards ?

Mike

I shot a zebra at a lasered 301 yards in Namibia.

Great shooting.

I had trouble seating TTSX in a 416 where the plastic tip would deform. The easy fix was to use a little round circular washer/spacer that was just a tad wider than the base of the plastic tip. I would put the metal circle on top of the bullet as I fed the bullet and case into the seating die.

This would probably be more reliable for the long term than removing and reinstalling a tip. You wouldn't want a tip to fall out during transport or on its way to the target.

quote:

Originally posted by 416Tanzan:
Great shooting.

I had trouble seating TTSX in a 416 where the plastic tip would deform. The easy fix was to use a little round circular washer/spacer that was just a tad wider than the base of the plastic tip. I would put the metal circle on top of the bullet as I fed the bullet and case into the seating die.

This would probably be more reliable for the long term than removing and reinstalling a tip. You wouldn't want a tip to fall out during transport or on its way to the target.

I asked Nikki at CEB, she said that they pop right out. They make the bullet and just pop the tips in after the bullets are formed.

quote:

Originally posted by Beretta682E:
Very impressive. Some of these big bore are super accurate shooters.

But has anyone ever shot any game with a 375 H&H out to 300 yards ?

Mike

Impala at 340 yards with a .375 H&H! 2 Elk over 300 yards, and one of them was right at 410 yards.

quote:

Originally posted by Fjold:

quote:

Originally posted by Beretta682E:
Very impressive. Some of these big bore are super accurate shooters.

But has anyone ever shot any game with a 375 H&H out to 300 yards ?

Mike

I shot a zebra at a lasered 301 yards in Namibia.

Wow - very impressive.

How much does a 375h&h drop at 300 yards ?

Mike

quote:

Originally posted by pagosawingnut:

quote:

Originally posted by Beretta682E:
Very impressive. Some of these big bore are super accurate shooters.

But has anyone ever shot any game with a 375 H&H out to 300 yards ?

Mike

Impala at 340 yards with a .375 H&H! 2 Elk over 300 yards, and one of them was right at 410 yards.

Wow - impressive.

I think the max I have shot 375 h&h to is like 175 yards.

Mike

quote:

Originally posted by Beretta682E:
Very impressive. Some of these big bore are super accurate shooters.

But has anyone ever shot any game with a 375 H&H out to 300 yards ?

Mike

I shot my gemsbok at about 250 yds.

No flies on the 375

Drop really depends on the bullet weight. For Plains game, I use the Barnes 235 gr TSX, velocity is a tad over 3000fps. Or the Sierra 250 gr Gameking at 2820fps.
For the impala I took 2 years ago, I was using the 270 gr CEB Safari Raptor without the tips installed, and figured the drop to be around 12 inches, but it turned out to be more like 15 or 16 inches at 320. That bullet is not very aerodynamic without the tip installed.

OK Frank, you are the champ for "Big Bore Benchrest 300-Yard-3-Shot."
Until someone beats that, you have the title.
I suggest we all try.
Gotta be .375-caliber or larger rifle at 300 yards, outdoors for 3 shots only.
The trigger hand usually does not go numb until after 3 shots.

The BULLET used is IMPORTANT.



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quote:

Originally posted by RIP:
OK Frank, you are the champ for "Big Bore Benchrest 300-Yard-3-Shot."
Until someone beats that, you have the title.
I suggest we all try.
Gotta be .375-caliber or larger rifle at 300 yards, outdoors for 3 shots only.
The trigger hand usually does not go numb until after 3 shots.

The BULLET used is IMPORTANT.



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LMAO, Good one!

quote:

Originally posted by Beretta682E:

Wow - very impressive.

How much does a 375h&h drop at 300 yards ?

Mike

That load was a 300 grain TSX at 2500 FPS. It started out at 2" high at 100 yards and -10.5" low at 300 yards.

My 4-bore shoots a one shot, one inch group at any distance.
Cal

Cal, I'm almost as good.

My best 4-bore one shot group is 1.005", also at any distance.

Bob

Excellent shooting with any caliber never mind a 375! Congrats!

Another point of order:

This sporting event is for sporter weight only.
Cal and Bob might be disqualified if their 4-bores are too heavy.
Also we cannot have 25-pound or heavier 50 BMG or .416 Barrett rifles horning in here.

What is the weight limit?

Here is why Frank beats me: He is shooting a "point-two" MOA group. My best is only in the "point-three" MOA neighborhood.

I need to try his bullet in a .375 Wby and a .375 H&H in the rack here.

It is interesting to note that my target (below) was also done with CEB bullets, a .500-cal/360-grainer WITH PLASTIC TIP:











Above, 350 grains without the tip, 360 grains with the tip, CEB "W350" bullet.

Below, the rifle put together by Rusty McGee:



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quote:

Originally posted by RIP:
Another point of order:

This sporting event is for sporter weight only.
Cal and Bob might be disqualified if their 4-bores are too heavy.
Also we cannot have 25-pound or heavier 50 BMG or .416 Barrett rifles horning in here.

What is the weight limit?

Here is why Frank beats me: He is shooting a "point-two" MOA group. My best is only in the "point-three" MOA neighborhood.

I need to try his bullet in a .375 Wby and a .375 H&H in the rack here.

It is interesting to note that my target (below) was also done with CEB bullets, a .500-cal/360-grainer WITH PLASTIC TIP:

That's great Rip!

I say any weight in a standard hunting rifle and no target scopes. (I shoot the Leupold 2.5-8X)

Shall we say no more than 10X magnification on the high end?

Frank,

Another great idea. Max 10X scope power.
That is more than enough.
My "point-three-MOA" was done with the same scope you were using for your "point-two-MOA" effort: Leupold VX III 2.5-8x36mm.

Since you have not made a specific weight recommendation for rig (rifle with mounted scope and no ammo),
I am going to suggest a very generous 14-pound limit.
That is 14 pounds and zero ounces, or 6.350 Kg.

That is being sporting about being a scoped sporter, will allow plenty of leeway for bigger bores,
yet exclude Mr. 50BMG and Ms. 416Barrett and their obese kin.

Muzzle brakes are OK, or if muzzle brakes are to be excluded then we will have to have separate categories for bore size or some other handicapping?

What say the hordes of big-bore benchresters out there?

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quote:

Originally posted by cal pappas:
My 4-bore shoots a one shot, one inch group at any distance.
Cal

This is a 4 Bore at Butch Searcy's. I don't want to shoot it.

And I do not plan to try the 12ga From Hell for this either.
Though it easily makes the weight limit, even with the brake or golfball launcher, and slip-on pad,
I don't have any CEB tipped raptors of .730-caliber:

1400 grains at 1800 fps:









Might as well duct-tape these two together and call it a double rifle ... exempt from benchrest ...

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Ouch, 1400 grains at 1800FPS has got to be brutal. What do those weigh?

My 4 will do 1525fps with a 1500 grain ball and recoil isn't bad at all at 17lb. The farthest I've ever shot it was a bit over 100 yards at a fleeing donkey with a roundball.

Here's a pair of one inch, one shot groups that just happen to be on the same target offhand at 25 yards with 2000 grain conicals.

Sorry guys Ive shot many a .375 group with my .375 at 400 yards, shot 458 group with my 450 double at 100 yards. and .411 with my 450-400...sorry fellas..

All this shooting,how does it fare off the shoulder on live game under free range conditions?

quote:

Originally posted by gryphon1:
All this shooting,how does it fare off the shoulder on live game under free range conditions?

Buffalo, zebra, blue wildebeest, kudu, gemsbok, impala, bushbuck and blesbok all died from mine.

I leave in 15 days to go hunt the KZN in South Africa for Nyala, Bushbuck, etc.. That's why I shoot just about every weekend.

I don't wanna shoot anyone down but, anything over two hundred yards maybe even hundred yards takes a lot from hunting.
It simply becomes shooting
It is so much more fun to try to get close, but we became slaves to shooting industry
Prime example is bowhunting, it ain't no more.
It's garage openers against garage openers and hunting gets lost in transaction.

let me start by saying that's some great shooting by a lot of folks.

Milan, while I agree with you I'd rather get close, particularly with dangerous game or it's just not dangerous game anymore. That said, when you spend a lot of time, energy, and sweat on a stalk of an old Coke's hartebeest and flat run out of cover any taller than something on a fairway at the finest golf club, it's nice to be able to push a medium bore to 300 yards.

I agree, meant overall and in general
Again, I didn't mean to hijack in any way this thread
Just pains me to hear most of my friends talking about 400,500 plus yards shots and latest 300 magnums etc. instead of good hunt and seeing game close

Some of us like to do both, hunt and shoot.
And doing good is its own reward, hunting or shooting. Doing good has no end.

I screw up occasionally, but I have taken fallow deer with a .416 Rigby at right on 400 yards.
Caribou at 350 yards.
2 each of cape buffalo, water buffalo, and bison at 50 to 80 yards.
And I fell off the side of a termite hill in Tanzania once as I was touching off at a cape buffalo at 150 yards.
We found one drop of blood after hours of searching.
The PH was lazy that day, telling me to shoot off of sticks set up on the side of a mound, just to get the second buffalo over with in a hurry,
and I was stupid enough or green enough to not question ...

As you were ...

And did I remind myself that the bullet chosen for the task is important.

CEB: Proven up to the task here.

GSC: I need to remind myself about that one ...



Above is the custom-made .411/317-grain GSC HV that might be up to the 300-yard task in my "400 Whelen Petrov Berry of 2013"
which is a slightly wildcatted version of the "400 Whelen Petrov of 2003."


This combo was 0.142" for 3 shots at 100 yards,



with Leupold 2.5-8x36 scope, again, in an M70 of quite sporting weight and light recoil:





About equal to a .375 H&H on a 30-06 brass case.
Still a big bore?
Hey, I am proud to say it is so.
The big bore for the elderly.
Need to see how the wind affects it at 300 yards.
Soon as I finish hunting 'lions in my back yard, I am going shooting.
I prefer a Weed Hound at close range on those pesky 'lions, dandelions.



That is not a geezer with a cane and a drool bucket above. It is a geezer with a Weed Hound and a 5-gallon bucket full of dandelions.

Good hunting!
Good shooting!

Nobody challenged my groups? Oh well!! Did I mention I now shoot one hole groups of caliber size..It seems that since I started shooting one shot groups my shooting has really improved.

Nice Shooting Frank

Dale just took a great Nyala, Waterbuck and Eland. Shots were 198, 134 and 120 so you should be good with that grouping.

See you next week.

Ian