How do I get to 550 yards with a 30-30

[10x]

Aim high!

aim small, miss small

[bedbugbilly]

30/30 - what a fun cartridge to play with . . . . .

stick a flag out for checking windage . . aim high and drop 'em in.

[country gent]

Or as John Wayne said in one movie elevation and wind maam elevation and wind.

[Larry Gibson]

O.k. What you be the best way to get 550 yards with a 30-30 with more moderate loads?
I have 150’s and 170 grn bullets b.c. about 0.240 I suppose.

Do I aim for the bullet going transonic on top of it’s flight at say 2-400 yards.

I don’t think I can make all the way super sonic.

I would even be up for using gas checks if I really have to but have had no luck with them.
Pp works if I clean the barrel often.

I have done it once years ago but forgot what I did.

So here's the problem....the scope has 100 moa adjustment. To got from a 50 yard zero (your preference) to 550 yards will require 97+ moa of adjustment....that doesn't leave much room for error. If you bottom vertical adjustment out of the scope and shim the base to bring you to that zero you just might make it.....doubtful though. With a 100 yard zero you still need 91 +/- moa of adjustment to get to a 550 yard zero. That might be doable but, again you'll have to bottom the vertical adjustment out and go up 3 moa then shim the rear of the base to bring you to zero at 100 yards. You then should have 97 moa to paly with. better would be to go to a 150 yard zero (7.75" high at 100 yards) then it would take 83 MOA +/- to get to 550 yards.

Are you wanting to stay sub sonic? If not then I suggest switching to a more favorable long range bullet such as the 311299 and push it out at 1800 + fps.

[barrabruce]

I have no real need for subsonic load out to 550 but if I bump it up enough to just under speed of sound then the come-ups reduce to perceived doable range. The wind deflection is about 1/2 of anything else I got to play with going 1800-2000fps.

A 240 grn whisper bullet (I don’t have or could spin up)would be only 20 inches or so defection of wind instead of 40 odd for the pope bullet and 60+ for the 150-170’s I have.

So I might as try the pope first and see.
The vertical dispersion may kill me thou.

I can’t see why the young guns with their 308 and half a Hubble scope on them whinge and have such a hard time at 500 using good factory loads with Spitzer bullets.

[sniper]

Buy a .308! Or...use enough gun!

[barrabruce]

If I buy a 308 I may as well buy a 30-06 and be done with it and shoot those big heavies mo better.
Ha.
Nah I just want to have a go at 550
I think I used the 308466 @1500 fps but can’t find by notes on it.
Not committed to the game.
I can plug things at 300 on the range but they have A shoot now at 500mtres so I may rock up for laughs and giggles.
See if I can do it.

[charlie b]

....I can’t see why the young guns with their 308 and half a Hubble scope on them whinge and have such a hard time at 500 using good factory loads with Spitzer bullets.

I do whine when my jacketed bullet groups at 500yd are more than 3" But, I'm only 67

The fun part is when I can put a 210gn cast bullet on a sheet of letter size paper at 500yd.

[samari46]

There are more than a few videos on you tube using lever actions. Usually type in what you want and should get a bunch of hits. My suggestion would be to use a cast bullet heavier than the 170gr and at least 1800 fps. I shoot a 314299 at 100 yds but have to set the rear sight at 600 meters from a Finn M27 Moisin Nagant rifle. Frank

[Peregrine]

What are you trying to do at that distance?

[Mike H]

If it is possible,put up another aiming mark higher than your target,let the bullets drop onto the scoring target.

[barrabruce]

What are you trying to do at that distance?

Just hit paper or steel.
Nothing living.. for me.
Getting it on a huge piece of paper would do .
The back stop doesn’t make for seeing any splash unfortunately..


Thanks mike I see if I could work out something.

I used to aim at bushy tree limb 3/4 of the way up the back stop to hit the 300mtre gong with a 22lr.
But a restructure has change all of that.

Will I have to put my wind flags about 13ft high at mid range tapering off to the ends to get a real wind reading?

Starting to figure out what I have to do..

Cast lots of bullets.

[barrabruce]

What I really need is a fit young fella to run out and have a look or stand/indicate where the last one went.
Then disappear to the side abit.

It appears they don’t make ‘Em as enthusiastic as they used to.
Must be all that political correctness and OHS these days.

[10x]

So here's the problem....the scope has 100 moa adjustment. To got from a 50 yard zero (your preference) to 550 yards will require 97+ moa of adjustment....that doesn't leave much room for error. If you bottom vertical adjustment out of the scope and shim the base to bring you to that zero you just might make it.....doubtful though. With a 100 yard zero you still need 91 +/- moa of adjustment to get to a 550 yard zero. That might be doable but, again you'll have to bottom the vertical adjustment out and go up 3 moa then shim the rear of the base to bring you to zero at 100 yards. You then should have 97 moa to paly with. better would be to go to a 150 yard zero (7.75" high at 100 yards) then it would take 83 MOA +/- to get to 550 yards.

Are you wanting to stay sun sonic? If not then I suggest switching to a more favorable long range bullet such as the 311299 and push it out at 1800 + fps.

I have a duplex reticule on my scope. I use the wide part of the bottom part of the crosshair as a post sight at long distance. The other solution is a 1 to 4.5x variable with mil dots

[country gent]

At a High power match half your time is standing UNDER the target while its being shot at. Granted a big berm between you and the shooter but under the target pulling marking and sometimes scoring.

[444ttd]

At a High power match half your time is standing UNDER the target while its being shot at. Granted a big berm between you and the shooter but under the target pulling marking and sometimes scoring.

we used to do that in long range firings in the army.

i have an sporter 1891 argentine mauser in 7.65x53 that i would luv to long range shoot targets with cast boolits.

[Walks]

Elevate muzzle to 43degrees.
Or fit a tang sight to your rifle.

[Forrest r]

IMHO:

I'd set a target up @ 50yds and get your loaded/scope dialed in hitting your poa. Once I'm dialed in I set a target up @ 150yds. Don't change the scope settings. Simply do a 5-shot or better yet 10-shot string on that 150yd target. What I'm looking for 1st is if I'm I still centered on the target and secondly how much bullet drop do I have??? The 3rd thing my groups would tell me is how much dispersion do I have compared to the 50yd groups.

Aim I still centered???
If my groups for example are 3" to the right @ 150yds compared to the 50yd target being on center that puts my bullet +/- 50" off center @ 550yds. Myself I always make sure my scope is centered to the bore of the firearm, if not I'm spitting in the wind.

After making sure the scope is centered/poi is centered, I'll measure the bullet drop. This puts me in the ballpark of having #'s to play with using a ballistics calculator. I own a chronograph which makes this a little easier but the actual data I get from the target is king. Doing this gives me an idea of how much elevation I need to get on target from my 50yd zero.

I like to double check everything by moving out to 200yds and doing more 5-shot/10shot groups and re-measuring everything. Doing this tells me how accurate my bullet drop info is an allows me to adjust it accordingly. The 200yd target will also tell me if I'm centered and what amount my group dispersion increased.

I still should be centered along with re-checking by bullet drop #'s. And hopefully my groups/bullet dispersion didn't go from 1" @ 50yds to 10" @ 200yds. If the dispersion is too big/groups too big @ 200yds I'm doing nothing more than burning powder @ 550yds.

Finding these #'s @ 50yds, 150yds & 200yds and how my load performs tells me not only what to do to get on paper @ 550yds. Those test groups at those yardages tell me if I should even bother shooting @ 550yds with that load.

This is a chart Burris puts out for their scope rings that have the +/- inserts in them. This chart tells me how much I have to raise/lower the scope for elevation. I can also use them to center the scope (side to side).
[IMG][/IMG]

I have a 308w setup for cast bullets with a set of these rings that is set for +30moa. 30moa sounds like a lot but it really isn't and should put me around +/- 180" @ 550yds. This also keep my crosshairs centered in the scopes adjustments for +/- 600yd cast bullet loads and 1000yd jacketed bullet loads. I tend to get more clarity & light thru the scope when the crosshairs are centered in the scope.

An example of what I'm dealing with:
I cast up some 311466's and end up a 1900fps load that is accurate enough @ 200yds to do testing @ 550yds. With that bullet/load doing 1900fps My drops are +/-
0" at the muzzle
12.5" @ 150yds
23.75" @ 200yds
60.5" @ 300yds
transonic @ +/- 350yds
163.25" @ 450yds
272" @ 550yds

That same 311466 bullet with a 1500fps load will drop +/ 380" @ 550yds zeroed at the muzzle.
That same 311466 bullet with a 2300fps load will drop +/- 188" @ 550yds zeroed at the muzzle.

Anyway, that's what I do when working up loads for long range shooting. I 1st make sure the rifle is setup correctly. Then I test the load to see if it falls apart @ 150yds/200yds. If everything is good to go I use the data I found from my 50yd/150yd/200yd tests and come up with #'s to get me on paper at whatever yardage I want to use that load @.

good luck

[barrabruce]

Thankyou Forrest r

Can’t argue with any of that.
Very well explained.
This may take me all year to do mind you.
So I will post a few updates as I go.

I figured out last night I need a loan of someone’s phone and do a FaceTime call and put their phone looking at the target at 550.
That way I could see what happens.
I don’t know if I would be using there data as well doing this but it seems like a option.
What’s the chances of or how unlucky could you be and hit their phone?
Ha

[dh2]

trade it for a 300 Win, Mag