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So I pull up to the range today. There's a guy on the far end am AR of some sort with his chrono way to close to his muzzle. Best I stay away from him. There's someone else in the spot I would normally set up at so I decide to just do prone off to the side of the firing line. I start with my 223 and work my way through 20 rounds from 360 to 550 all the while the AR guy on the end is repeatedly banging the 6" at 200. I'm a little frustrated because the wind is highly variable from 5-15 mph. I did pretty well on the 450 but was missing on both sides of the 10" at 550
I switch to my 22" Grendel, put it on my mat and get up to load,some mags. AR guy asks for a cold range and walks by my spot. "Hey, is that a 223" No it's a 6.5 Grendel. He heads down range and I grab some targets. He hangs by the backstop as a staple a few up.
"So is that like a 223 that takes a 6.5 bullet? I'm shooting 6.5 Creedmoor"
No, actually, it's completely different than 223. Has a fatter higher capacity case. I can show you one
"At what distance are you going transonic with that?"
(Well that's an odd question - wouldn't someone first ask about velocity and bullet weight?)
I think it's around 1100 yards with the load I'm shooting. Not a concern with any target here
We get back to the firing line and I show him a round
"It looks like a baby Creedmoor. What did they do? Cut down a 6.5 Creedmoor and make it smaller so it could fit in an AR-15?"
No actually, it's a completely different design. In fact, it was designed before 6.5 Creedmoor
"What sort of velocity are you getting?"
I'm pushing a 123 grain scenar at 2550
"I'm shooting 120 grainers at 3100 fps. Couldn't miss the 900 yard target today. Just kept on hitting it.
(I didn't get a good look at his rifle but his barrel was no more than 20")
(I may be off, but I would venture that a 900 yd shot with a 120 grainer from a Creedmoor isn't going to be any easier than a 550 yd shot with a 69 gr SMK at 2915)
Why are you shooting 120s instead of 123s for ranges like that?
"Because I have a whole bunch of them"
Have you tried the 140s? That looks,to be where Creedmoor shines
"Yeah I've been looking into them. It seems like they lose a lot of their velocity in the first 1000 yards, but then they just keep going out to 2000
(While chatting, I had pulled out my Kestrel and just held it up)
"What's that?"
A kestrel
(Blank stare)
It measures wind speed. Seems to be all over the place today. What sort of values were you holding for at 900? I can never get a good handle on the prevailing wind up there
(Blank stare)
"So I was up in Rangely with my son and I was letting him shoot my Creedmoor. We were shooting ground squirrels from 550 yards and just kept hitting and anilalating them. He was having so much fun I just said keep on shooting"
(It's pretty desolate up by Rangely (NW corner). There may be a ground squirrel or 2 but it's infested with prairie dogs......)
Where do these guys come from?
I switch to my 22" Grendel, put it on my mat and get up to load,some mags. AR guy asks for a cold range and walks by my spot. "Hey, is that a 223" No it's a 6.5 Grendel. He heads down range and I grab some targets. He hangs by the backstop as a staple a few up.
"So is that like a 223 that takes a 6.5 bullet? I'm shooting 6.5 Creedmoor"
No, actually, it's completely different than 223. Has a fatter higher capacity case. I can show you one
"At what distance are you going transonic with that?"
(Well that's an odd question - wouldn't someone first ask about velocity and bullet weight?)
I think it's around 1100 yards with the load I'm shooting. Not a concern with any target here
We get back to the firing line and I show him a round
"It looks like a baby Creedmoor. What did they do? Cut down a 6.5 Creedmoor and make it smaller so it could fit in an AR-15?"
No actually, it's a completely different design. In fact, it was designed before 6.5 Creedmoor
"What sort of velocity are you getting?"
I'm pushing a 123 grain scenar at 2550
"I'm shooting 120 grainers at 3100 fps. Couldn't miss the 900 yard target today. Just kept on hitting it.
(I didn't get a good look at his rifle but his barrel was no more than 20")
(I may be off, but I would venture that a 900 yd shot with a 120 grainer from a Creedmoor isn't going to be any easier than a 550 yd shot with a 69 gr SMK at 2915)
Why are you shooting 120s instead of 123s for ranges like that?
"Because I have a whole bunch of them"
Have you tried the 140s? That looks,to be where Creedmoor shines
"Yeah I've been looking into them. It seems like they lose a lot of their velocity in the first 1000 yards, but then they just keep going out to 2000
(While chatting, I had pulled out my Kestrel and just held it up)
"What's that?"
A kestrel
(Blank stare)
It measures wind speed. Seems to be all over the place today. What sort of values were you holding for at 900? I can never get a good handle on the prevailing wind up there
(Blank stare)
"So I was up in Rangely with my son and I was letting him shoot my Creedmoor. We were shooting ground squirrels from 550 yards and just kept hitting and anilalating them. He was having so much fun I just said keep on shooting"
(It's pretty desolate up by Rangely (NW corner). There may be a ground squirrel or 2 but it's infested with prairie dogs......)
Where do these guys come from?
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