Good f-ing grief Sierra Bullets, can't you make a product at least as consistent as bulk private brand Nosler Custom Competition blems?
OK, not really long range but a solid mid range at 600 yards. I'm loading up .30-06 for vintage sniper competition at Camp Ethan Allen next Wednesday. It can be a challenging range. If you can see 3 wind flags, they will likely be pointing in 3 different directions and one of them will be flapping briskly- until it doesn't, which will be right after you compensate then squeeze the trigger. Early AM start often includes fog or if clear, sun directly in your eyes. The last thing I want is excessive variation in the $$$ 175 grain Sierra Tipped Match Kings. Started weighing them just to be sure and glad I did- weights ranged from 174.44 to 175.46. Over half were ~175.06, plus or minus .04; but the rest were all over the map. Bought them on sale- did the vendor know they were a shitty lot?
On a couple precision shooting forums it seems that most competitors can accept plus or minus about .1 grains, give or take just a little. A vintage USMC sniper is a far cry from a free floated, bull barrel PRS gun and minor changes in powder charge and/or bullet weight can more easily throw the harmonics out of whack. Unless you are hitting dead center on the X (you won't be), one MOA of variation can drop that score from a '10' to an '8' on the 600 yard target. 8's suck. These TMK's are clearly plus or minus over .5 grains, yet are priced higher than most comparable projectiles other than Bergers unless you find a very good sale.
What weight variation do most folks find acceptable for longer distance competition? There's really no need to sweat such details (within reason) at my 200 yard competitions, but 600 yards starts getting 'real'. I like the TMK's high BC to minimize errors in my meager wind reading skills, but the cost/performance ratio sucks when you have to cull well over 1/3 and throw them in the practice load box. For skills reference, I'm still working on the longer distances but at 200 yards I usually win some version of trinkets / hardware and pick up a gold often enough. Got a couple bronze at Camp Perry. I'm no Carlos Hathcock, but do well enough that I should not be shooting mediocre loads.
Anyone shooting high BC 30 cal projectiles from Berger, Hornady, or Nosler? Happy with them?
@mac1911 - What does your wizard math say about 600 yard drop differences for as much as 1+ grain bullet weight variation?
OK, not really long range but a solid mid range at 600 yards. I'm loading up .30-06 for vintage sniper competition at Camp Ethan Allen next Wednesday. It can be a challenging range. If you can see 3 wind flags, they will likely be pointing in 3 different directions and one of them will be flapping briskly- until it doesn't, which will be right after you compensate then squeeze the trigger. Early AM start often includes fog or if clear, sun directly in your eyes. The last thing I want is excessive variation in the $$$ 175 grain Sierra Tipped Match Kings. Started weighing them just to be sure and glad I did- weights ranged from 174.44 to 175.46. Over half were ~175.06, plus or minus .04; but the rest were all over the map. Bought them on sale- did the vendor know they were a shitty lot?
On a couple precision shooting forums it seems that most competitors can accept plus or minus about .1 grains, give or take just a little. A vintage USMC sniper is a far cry from a free floated, bull barrel PRS gun and minor changes in powder charge and/or bullet weight can more easily throw the harmonics out of whack. Unless you are hitting dead center on the X (you won't be), one MOA of variation can drop that score from a '10' to an '8' on the 600 yard target. 8's suck. These TMK's are clearly plus or minus over .5 grains, yet are priced higher than most comparable projectiles other than Bergers unless you find a very good sale.
What weight variation do most folks find acceptable for longer distance competition? There's really no need to sweat such details (within reason) at my 200 yard competitions, but 600 yards starts getting 'real'. I like the TMK's high BC to minimize errors in my meager wind reading skills, but the cost/performance ratio sucks when you have to cull well over 1/3 and throw them in the practice load box. For skills reference, I'm still working on the longer distances but at 200 yards I usually win some version of trinkets / hardware and pick up a gold often enough. Got a couple bronze at Camp Perry. I'm no Carlos Hathcock, but do well enough that I should not be shooting mediocre loads.
Anyone shooting high BC 30 cal projectiles from Berger, Hornady, or Nosler? Happy with them?
@mac1911 - What does your wizard math say about 600 yard drop differences for as much as 1+ grain bullet weight variation?