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340 WBY Long range shooting?
- Thread starter crazydawg
- Start date
myfriendis410
New member
How extreme is extreme? My best friend shot a 37 1/2" 5 X 5 muley last year at 591 yards in a 40 mph crosswind. Does that count?
handlerer2
New member
I own and reload for 340WBY. It has loads of long range potential, and plenty of quality match bullets now.
In a sporter weight rifle, w/o a brake, it will beat the snot out of you at the bench.
I own a late 60's MkV Deluxe my uncle left to me and I keep it in my brothers gunsafe in Spokane. I have fired it maybe 60 times and never hunted with it. It is accurate, but not that easy to shoot consistantly, because like I said, it a hunting rifle and will punish you at the bench.
In a sporter weight rifle, w/o a brake, it will beat the snot out of you at the bench.
I own a late 60's MkV Deluxe my uncle left to me and I keep it in my brothers gunsafe in Spokane. I have fired it maybe 60 times and never hunted with it. It is accurate, but not that easy to shoot consistantly, because like I said, it a hunting rifle and will punish you at the bench.
Brian Pfleuger
Moderator Emeritus
If your posts disappeared... long range hunting ethics is not the topic.
Regarding the "shootability" of ELR rifle cartridges, a former USN SEAL Team Commander emailed me some months ago about a recent military test of sniper rifle cartridges at ranges up to 1500 yards. Several former Palma Team members as well as top qualified military snipers did the tests both slung up and using bipods/bags. The .300 Win. Mag. had the highest first-shot-on-target results and best accuracy compared to the .338 Lapua Mag. But the US Army was so darned hung up on maximum muzzle energy and maximum down range energy, they picked the .338; a miss with more energy was more important than a hit with less.
The more recoil a rifle-cartridge system has before the bullet leaves the barrel, the harder it is to shoot accurately from any position. Off bipods or bags does make the miss distance from aiming mark's mean radius smaller with either cartridge, but it's the smallest with the milder one. Hence, the 24 and 26 caliber medium cartridges are favored for any off the shoulder competition at long ranges and dealt the death knell to the 30 caliber and larger magnums. In contrast, in free recoil, the accuracy advantage will always go to the most accurate system regardless of caliber or case size. Which is why the best compromise seems to be the 30 caliber ones for benchrest at 1000 yards.
The more recoil a rifle-cartridge system has before the bullet leaves the barrel, the harder it is to shoot accurately from any position. Off bipods or bags does make the miss distance from aiming mark's mean radius smaller with either cartridge, but it's the smallest with the milder one. Hence, the 24 and 26 caliber medium cartridges are favored for any off the shoulder competition at long ranges and dealt the death knell to the 30 caliber and larger magnums. In contrast, in free recoil, the accuracy advantage will always go to the most accurate system regardless of caliber or case size. Which is why the best compromise seems to be the 30 caliber ones for benchrest at 1000 yards.
Last edited:
mapsjanhere
New member
Of course, some LRH people swear by the 338 Edge (338-300RUM), slightly larger than the factory 338 RUM.
Regarding the "shootability" of ELR rifle cartridges, a former USN SEAL Team Commander emailed me some months ago about a recent military test of sniper rifle cartridges at ranges up to 1500 yards. Several former Palma Team members as well as top qualified military snipers did the tests both slung up and using bipods/bags. The .300 Win. Mag. had the highest first-shot-on-target results and best accuracy compared to the .338 Lapua Mag. But the US Army was so darned hung up on maximum muzzle energy and maximum down range energy, they picked the .338; a miss with more energy was more important than a hit with less.
The more recoil a rifle-cartridge system has before the bullet leaves the barrel, the harder it is to shoot accurately from any position. Off bipods or bags does make the miss distance from aiming mark's mean radius smaller with either cartridge, but it's the smallest with the milder one. Hence, the 24 and 26 caliber medium cartridges are favored for any off the shoulder competition at long ranges and dealt the death knell to the 30 caliber and larger magnums. In contrast, in free recoil, the accuracy advantage will always go to the most accurate system regardless of caliber or case size. Which is why the best compromise seems to be the 30 caliber ones for benchrest at 1000 yards.
Bart B. I know the study you are referring to. The desired endstate of that program is a 2000 meter sniper system, which is why the Army is pushing for the 338 Lapua. You know this too, we've covered it before.
What your buddy doesn't tell you is hard numbers. I had a buddy in the USMC test a 7mm sniper system out to 1900, and he reported back some very interesting results. Still, having shot high power with the NSWC Crane contractor who came up with the new A191 load (220 SMK over H1000) he seems to think that SOCOM will continue to use 300 Win Mag until someone manages to come up with the terminal objective 2000 meter round.
Heck, the Army has even tested the 408 Cheytac, but found that it went unstable like a 50 BMG around 1,400 meters.
Jimro