Mag. While this may not be the first cartridge that comes to mind for long-range shooting, with an appropriate bullet, the compact .223 Remington or 5.56 NATO is more than capable of shooting over 500 yards with accuracy. Performance in the field is another. It comes in some factory rifles, like the F-class Savage rifles, built from the factory for 1000 yard competition. At A Glance: Our Top 5 Picks For Long Range Calibers in 2022 Best for Beginners: 5.56mm/.223 Remington Minimal Recoil: 224 Valkyrie Best for Long Range: 243 Winchester Best for Seasoned Shooters: 6mm Creedmoor Best Value: 6.5mm Grendel Nothing wrong whatsoever with the 7mmRM. Shooting a 180-grain bullet (.507 G1 BC) at 2,960 fps and sighted in 1.5 inches high at 100 yards, the .300 Win. The 6.5 PRC, 7mm Rem. To build off of the PSA .224 Valkyrie Upper you recommended is there any other changes needed to a standard AR-15 lower assembly? mag. Yes, you can. But this long range is a whole different ball game. One cartridge needs to be crowned the most accurate and it just happens to be one youve probably never heard of. To salvage the project, the Navy switched to 185-grain Lapua FMJs, which went into production in 1990. The technique of holding the butt rather than the fore end - not too difficult, There are many of us who have rifles to attempt to master the art of long range steel shooting. A bullet starts to drop as soon as it leaves the barrel. The lack of factory offerings is one reason the 6 GT might overtake the Dasher. Oldmarine >>> GO I know you like your Bushnell scope but you should know that they make a lot of good scopes but the one that is favored by many Long Range shooters is the Elite Tactical XRS 4.5 . Yeah, 6.5s are all the rage, and their blinding popularity has taken some shine off the old .270, but the latter is still one of the very best long-range hunting cartridges. Considered by many to be the optimum long-range, large-game cartridge, the .300 Winchester Magnum has proven itself worldwide. Richard Mann was born and raised in West Virginia and has hunted from the Montana mountains to the green hills of Africa. The same thing with the 556mm. Ammunition choices have increased lately, and Hornady has ammunition with the 87-grain VMAX and 103-grain ELD-X for long-range hunting. Where? Preferred Caliber For 500 To 1,000 Yards And Beyond: .260 Remington (130-grain Berger AR Hybrid OTM Tactical) Preferred Rifle And Optic: AR with a 16- or 18-inch barrel with a 1-in-7-inch twist rate, along with a variable-power scope utilizing a first-focal-plane Horus Tremor2 or Tremor3 reticle. An added benefit with the .223 Remington is cheap, readily available ammo. 260 Remington or 6.5 Creedmore. Another and even better option for reaching out to a big game animal with an AR15 is the 6.5 Grendel. We hate SPAM and promise to keep your email address safe. This "best" list is a list of "best" for the author, others mileage may vary. So many variables and I think the age old "it depends". To which I would answer neither the 300WM or the .338. .25-06 Rem The .25-06 Remington rifle cartridge used to be a rare wildcat. High ballistic coefficient bullets around 100 grains give this round excellent performance out to 1,000 yards. 7mm Magnum is what I use out here on Guam, USA. Thanks! Mag. One needs look no further than how the 6.5 Creedmoor and its kin have fared in precision rifle competitions, winning time and again when the shots are on small targets at 1,000 yards or more. ( The Weatherby 257 is also greatly favored by Western hunters)." As with Hornadys two recent 6.5 caliber introductions, it has found favor with long-range competitors, but also with hunters who like to hit at distance with heavy bullets. The 27 Nosler bests the .270 Winchester by about 400 fps with 150-grain bullets. Therefore the .17 Remington is the round for you. However, the .220 Swift and the .22-250 have been used to take deer out to distances a lot of folks got no business shooting, for a long, long time. Hoping to hear some good things about it too. Join F&S+ to read exclusive stories by your favorite writers. Type your email address and well send Lots of hunters consider the .270 Winchester one of the best all-purpose, short- and long-range cartridges of all time. The 6.5 CM is superior to the .308 Win in just about any practical sense of the matter with better range, less effect with wind, and less bullet drop. Cartridges like the .338 Lapua Magnum, .375 Cheytac, and .50 BMG have shown incredible performance down range, but they can be prohibitively expensive. All you need is a magazine for the .224 round and the 6.8 SPC mags do a very good job. what are your thoughts ?? I just think this article was not specifically a hunting article. The password should contain at least 8 characters with at least one number or special character. It may be a bit rough on barrels, but this cartridge shoots so flat you probably wont care. (Even though the term cartridges is correct, the common usage of caliber dictates why this story is called Best Long-Range Calibers rather than Best Long-Range Cartridges.). Faster velocities mean flatter trajectories. Compare that with a .300 Win. We cover a few of our favorite long range cartridges. We haven't gotten any trigger time with it yet, but I'm hoping to do some testing soon. That he us army has recorded kills with a 5.56 using black hills 77 grain ammo at 1800 yards? Match those and regardless of caliber, drops will be identical. Nosler is loading the 27 with their famous AccuBond, which is one of the best big-game bullets ever crafted. Both are far more exceptional than the 5 you chose. For example, the 7mm Weatherby Magnum will shoot the same bullet as a 7mm Remington Magnum, but it will do it about 10 percent faster. Its bullets will remain supersonic out past 2,000 yards. But I suspect the 220 Swift will hang on as our Flat Trajectory Champ or close to it at quasi-sensible hunting distances. Why It Made the Cut: The 6mm Dasher consistently wins in competition. I had my own doubts because I am a bit of a cynic. I tried to pick out some popular ones on the market currently based on typical ranges most shooter's shoot out too. There's plenty of setups out there where 500 yd shots are simple things. Nathan, I got to say I really appreciate that defense. Is it the 6.5 CM on steriodes but with out the kick of the 300 win mag? Unlike most rifle cartridges, the trajectory stays level out to about 300 yards. We'll send you the latest guides and training tips geared Effective accuracy range is much different than effective and ethical killing range on game, but that is something to take into account if the rifle will be used for hunting. 26 Nosler is considered by many to be the best cartridge for long-range hunting. You would be surprised at what my .25-06 Rem will do. I've been toting a T3 Lite Stainless in .308 Winchester for many years. Prior this Ive been an old school kinda guy, shooting offhand and making sure I can hit what I aim at out to 300 yards. But to do this, it must launch a heavy bullet and that means recoil can be stiff; from an 8-pound rifle, it generates more than 33 foot-pounds of recoil, which is more than twice that of the 6.5 Creedmoor. Out here on Guam, I use a Browning BAR 7mm Magnum and has NEVER let me down 25-06nobody ever talks about it. .300 Winchester Magnum is a favorite of hunters worldwide for big game at long range. . If this is a discussion on long range rifles rounds and the rifles that shoot them, then the .308 shouldnt be in the discussion. Just dont try to enumerate its downsides to anyone who knows anything, because there arent any that matter. The Creedmoor is the hottest cartridge on the planet. With a flatter trajectory and less wind drift the .300 Win Mag offers a useful step up in performance in a similar size rifle. Lets look at the last point, first. Chief, I certainly respect your opinion, but having hunted out west I'd like to make a counter argument for you and others to consider. To explain the nuances of rifle twist rates, you can read my previous article about, After reaching out to 1,250 yards on a trip to the amazing High Bar Homestead in Gillette, WY, I am now a firm believer in the .224 Valkyrie. Shot from SAAMI-mandated 1-8 twist barrels, the 6.5s long, slender bullets seem to almost defy wind and gravity and allow this cartridge to deliver clean kills at distance. The .30-06 Cartridge Ballistics You are not wrong in your thoughts. A personal favorite of mine is the Federal Premium 130-grain Bergers, which at the time of this writing costs $1.50/round. The 6.5 PRC can remain supersonic out beyond 1,600 yards or so, but ammunition options are limited. At the end of the day, your skill and time on a rifle is a much larger factor on how ethical a shot is. Wrong on all accounts. Those are the hunting rifles, see a pattern? It's new, very little data out about it. It drops almost 400 inches at 1000 yards and drifts 100 inches at the same with a 10 MPH full value wind. And to reach out that faryoull need some quality glass, so check out our article on the Best Long Range Scopes. The .270 Winchester stays supersonic out to 1,400 yards, which is more than what 99 percent of hunters will ever need. All of those things and more must be perfect. Just took me a 600+ pound cow elk 1 shot with my creedmore 200 yards away. Copyright Ron Spomer Outdoors document.write(new Date().getFullYear()) Are going to forget about 6.5 rem mag again? Subscribe to Pew Pew Tactical's sales and deals email. Regarding the comment on the 6.5C, the laws of aerodynamics don't agree with you. By the time the 6.5 Creedmoor started gaining popularity, interest in the .270 WSM was fading. Its tough, simple, and in the words of Jacob Bynum who helped with the process, sloppy and stupid, which is meant as a compliment with respect to the rifles ability to digest any .308 ammo, no matter how poorly made, and shoot it well. No matter the choice, theres no denying that we live in a golden era of rifle accuracy. It wasnt until the late 1980s that the Navy started looking at the .300 Win. Don't even come play if you can't consistently make that shot. In the world of practical precision rifle competition, exemplified by the NRL, PRS, RTC and other series, there is an arms race among light-recoiling 6mm cartridges. At the same 2950 fps muzzle velocity, the drop of the bullet at 600 and 800 yards is 76 and 163 inches, respectively. This is probably my inexperience talking but I have to ask why, when evaluating long range potential, the evaluations are always limited to flight path and ringing steel? The Creedmoor carries more velocity and energy downrange with less recoil than any other factory cartridge. Ditto for the .300 PRC, which fixes every shortcoming of the .300 Win Mag and as the name implies (PRC - "Precision Rifle Cartridge") was made for accuracy at extreme long distance. With a recent elevated popularity, due in no small part to the rise of the six-fives, the Grendel is now getting the attention it deserves. Your words is like a Bible. An F-Class shooter engages the 1,000-yard target at the Wendover, Utah, Air Force range (inactive). I grew up in Montana,hunting both in the mountains in the West and in high school out in the flats in the East part of the state. 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