R8 Professional for LR

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Monty3006
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Location: Mudgee

R8 Professional for LR

Post by Monty3006 »

Hi,
I'm looking at setting up for long range steel ringing and hunting. For me I consider this to be 400-500 max range on game. I hunt fallow/red/sambar deer but the long range will be mainly for trips to NZ.

I have a R8 Professional with 3006 standard barrel which currently has a zeiss diavari classic 2.5-10x50. My question is what would you do to this setup for the above?
- New scope?
- leave the same scope unchanged.
- Have Zeiss retrofit an ASV turret? I'd be keen to hear any experience with this and if you've had it done in Australia what it cost and turnaround?
- Thoughts on 3006 for this type of thing and good projectiles for it?
- Would you get a bipod adaptor or not?
- Any other thoughts?

Thanks in advance.
John

Blasernovice
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Re: R8 Professional for LR

Post by Blasernovice »

My mate shoots a 308 really well out to 1000yds with 178gr ELD-m projectiles. They will be even better in a 30/06 with the better velocity.
Sorry can't help with the scope, I know nothing about that brand.

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stokesrj
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Re: R8 Professional for LR

Post by stokesrj »

I have the Zeiss 3-12X56 HT with the ASV+ and find it completely adequate for purposes you stated. I don't think you give up much moving from 12 down to 10X for big game, either is entirely adequate at 500 yards. I've also used the 30-06 at these distances quite a bit. Bullet selection is critical as by 500 yards many tougher bullets are below the expansion threshold and just sail through the animal with little damage. I've experienced this first hand with the 165 grain Nosler partition at just a little over 500 yards.
The 178 ELDX as mentioned above would be a great bullet on softer game at those ranges and would more than likely expand. I also found that it shot pretty well in the factory Precision Hunter loading in an R8 standard profile barrel. You can look up an article I wrote to read more about that factory load and other factory loads in the Articles section.
A bipod helps steady a rifle quite a lot but I've moved away from them in most situations, preferring a bipod mounted rest from the Outdoorsmans that I can use from a sitting position. I have found with proper set up I can gain better accuracy and clear low obstructions more readily. However a bipod is easier to employ in other situations where there are no weeds or brush in the way.
Robert J Stokes

Monty3006
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Re: R8 Professional for LR

Post by Monty3006 »

Thank you gentlemen. The 178 ELD sound like a good place to start.

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John1911.com
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Re: R8 Professional for LR

Post by John1911.com »

Monty3006 wrote:Thank you gentlemen. The 178 ELD sound like a good place to start.
175g Sierra's in my Tac2 shoot fantastic at 1000 yards. I have the pics to prove it.

Marky

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SPEEDY
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Re: R8 Professional for LR

Post by SPEEDY »

500m is an easy shot if your dialled in, changing the turret would help a lot, but unless you can dial in and compensate for elevation and more importantly angle then it probably won't help a lot for mountain hunting.
Run a ballistics program and see what a change in angle can do at 500m, a 30° decline can shave 8" off a shot making a kill shot either a miss or worse yet a wounding.

It can do it just fine but you will need to calculate the changes in drop and compensate for it, not the most precise method but it works. A simple dope card in your pocket, written on your scope covers etc will do the job.

Bullets, well Bullets are funny things, what works up close might not work out far. I like the 168gn Nosler myself, it will open at a distance while retaining weight up close. The 165gn Accubond might be a better option although I think I will stick with the plain old BT myself.
ATM I'm using the 168gn Amax and the jury is still out but it looks encouraging to me.

The 30/06 as Stokes said is perfectly fine so don't even worry about that.
The bit to keep in mind isn't that you want the best 1000m accuracy, you want the best game killing performance you can get at 500m.
If that's mainly in NZ and your hunting the mountains then I'm guessing your talking more Thar and Chamois so your not talking the biggest and the toughest, you want fast kill and don't run to the edge.
Something like the 168gn BT will do a lot of damage, the Amax on a chest shot even more so will stop them better IMO then something harder designed to penetrate from any angle.
I've seen that 1st hand on thousands of goats over the years back when I did a lot of LR.

But for what you want, if you know and can work around the limitations then what your looking at will do the job you want.

Hope that helps.
I'm soft and I don't care. :dance:

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SPEEDY
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Re: R8 Professional for LR

Post by SPEEDY »

Almost forgot in my rambling, I wouldn't bother with a Bipod adapter for mountain hunting, not in rocky areas anyway and most of the Bi-pods are damn heavy anyway.
Learn to shoot from off of a backpack, it will let you take more rested shots when you aren't lying down.
I'm spending more time 're-learning the old methods I was taught for using a sling. They have fallen out of use with the extreme LR craze but for out to 650-700m they work damn well. Another option is very popular on here when hunting, get some good sticks and practice with them.
I'm soft and I don't care. :dance:

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