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Since the day I started shooting again in 2013 I have always had the dream of getting a Long Range Rifle. The idea that it was hard to get a license for big rifles was on my mind and it was expensive to put the money down to be met with the rejection of a license. Well I’m here to tell you to look at every calibre the same when shopping for your next rifle. As long as you can motivate the use of the firearm you don’t need to fear the idea of a declined license.
In 2021 I had accumulated a few rifles each with it’s own purpose but nothing that was really a long range calibre. I was trying to decide between the 338 Lapua Magnum and the 300 PRC. The 300 PRC has a lot going for it and the main thing was the flat trajectory. On wind however in theory it was very similar to a 338 Lapua.
I decided to pull the trigger on the 338 Lapua due to the increased barrel life. The rifle I chose was different to what I always did in the past. Money for shooting in South Africa is always tight. Because of this people tend to buy an affordable rifle and then with time build on this platform. A great example would be if I had bought a 300 PRC Howa, have a trigger job done, add a muzzle brake, and lastly add a chassis, the cost would build up pretty quickly. I decided to pull the trigger on an out of the box rifle. In comes the Ruger Precision Rifle. All you have to add is a scope and some scope rings.
Why did I choose to go this route? When you are looking at building or buying a Long range rifle, the starting point is always the bullet. The first decision is what bullet I want to shoot. The second decision is how fast would I like to shoot this bullet?
My criteria was that I would like to shoot a 285-300 grain bullet. The speed I wanted is around 2770 – 2850. For this I needed a 1 in 9 to 1 in 9.5 twist barrel. Barrel length needed to be minimum 26 inches. I wanted an out of the box rifle that I knew was tested in this configuration and had passed the factory requirements. The Ruger Precision met these criteria and it did it for under R 60 000. Now that is not a bad price for a serious piece of equipment. Other features that helped me decide on the Ruger was the 30 MOA picatinny rail, the 60 degree 3 lug bolt and the fact that the buttstock and barrel are in line with each other. This last feature assists in reducing recoil on such a big calibre.
The 338 also comes with a 18 inch fore end with a built in ARCA rail. This allows me to use my existing bipods. A Picatinny rail is included with the rifle if you would choose to use that instead. The rifle also has 2 x 5 round magazines included.
The Ruger Precision has served me very well in the last few months and has given me confidence to show up to a long range rifle match knowing that my rifle is not my limiting factor.
Now I am not saying that you must buy a 338 Lapua magnum over a 300 PRC. What I am saying however is to determine what bullet you want to shoot at what velocity. Then determine what rifle you want, and again add up all the bits and pieces you need to purchase to get to a competitive package. To date I have changes my muzzle brake on my 338 and added a bag rider and nothing else.
The Ruger Precision Rifle is a Serious contender for any Long Range setup!
I often hear people discussing someone's scope being to high and that it is going to cause massive trajectory issues. Lets look into this statement.
For the test examples we will be looking at a 6.5 Creedmoor topped with a Riton Conquer 5 rifle Scope.
The bullet being used for this example is a 140gn Hornady ELD-M going at 2700 fps.
Rifle 1 will be mounted with Low rings at 45mm height over bore
Rifle 2 will be using a Unimount at 60mm height over bore
| Distance | Rifle 1 | Rifle 2 | Difference in Mrad | Difference in cm |
| 25 | U 0.8 | U 1.2 | 0.4 | -1 |
| 50 | U 0.1 | U 0.2 | 0.1 | -1 |
| 100 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 300 | U 1.4 | U 1.3 | 0.1 | -3 |
| 500 | U 3.3 | U 3.2 | 0.1 | -6 |
| 800 | U 7.0 | U 6.9 | 0.1 | -11 |
| 1000 | U 10.2 | U 10.1 | 0.1 | -14 |
From the above we can draw the conclusion that at 25 meters the difference is 10mm less upward adjustment on rifle 1 than on rifle 2.
However over 100 meters the advantage went over to to Rifle 2. At 1000 meters the difference is 14 cm less adjustment on Rifle 2 than on Rifle 1.
So why do people prefer lower mounted optics. The first reason would be traditional rifle stocks having a very low Comb and therefore struggeling to get a proper sight picture. This stock design comes from the days of iron sights. This design is however still being used by rifle manufacturers.
On more modern rifles stocks or rifle chassis mounting your scope higher is not a problem as they have adjustable cheek pieces. Mounting your optics higher also takes a lot of stress off of your neck as it allows you to get more upright behind your rifle.
So to draw a conclusion, does it matter?
No not really unless 1 cm will make a difference in your shooting below 100 meteres.
Does this mean I suggest mounting your scope as high as possible, No not at all.
But this should give you some peace of mind knowing it doesnt really matter.
SA jagters Boland Ope .Die skiet was in Barrydale gehou die afgelope naweek. Daar was 120 skuts wat deel geneem het. Izak het 2de plek behaal in die goue klas en 2de plek algeheel. Loutjie het 3de plek behaal in die silver klas .Albei het met Hornady ELDM’S geskiet.
SA hunters Boland shoot was held in Barrydale this past weekend, 120 sports shooters participated in this event. Izak won 2nd place in the gold class and 2nd overall for the day. Loutjie came 3rd in the silver class. Both are shooting with the Hornady ELDM’S
The Chasa Centrefire Guns and Bows Shoot was held at the Atlantis shooting range last Saturday the 23rd of February. There were 51 shooters who took part in this event which started a little later than normal due to misty conditions. Once the mist had cleared, the conditions for the rest of the morning were perfect for shooting.
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