Buckmaster article "The Ultimate Flat Shooter"

[dw]

The front cover reads "The Ultimate Flat Shooter" The article itself is actually entitled "Sizzlers" By Russel Thornberry. I kinda new to this whole long range rifle thing. Being from Indiana we don't usually get to shoot alot of long range animals and we are limited to shotguns for hunting. Anyway i have been looking to buy a gun that will reach out there and touch someone. I do reload and i am interested in getting something not so ordinary. I guess my real question s what is the "Ultimate Flat Shooter" in this article it claims that it is a 7mm STW custom gun by rifle builder James Ferguson. I guess i dont' understand if any gun chambered in this round can reach the fps these guys are claiming or if it is limited to guns built to the exact specs that mr. ferguson builds them too. I have also looked in to getting a 22-250 AI i realize there are two different guns built for different reasons but i was just wondering what you guys found to be the best flat shooter. thanks

[Mikul]

The ULTIMATE flat shooter would have to be a high powered laser.

[KilgorII]

The 7mm ultra rem. mag sends the same 7mm bullets about 150 fps faster than the 7mm STW.

So it would be even flatter shooting.

And it is factory chambered in Remington 700's...

If I were REALLY looking for the most flat shooting, I'd look to Weatherby.

Me personally? The "standard" calibers are fine for me and shoot within inches of the ultra mags.

Though I do really like the idea of the .300 SWM.

Kilgor

[fubsy]

There is a 30/378 made by mcmillian that has some impressive numbers and accuracy is supposed to be very good.......the problem I have is that when you start putting large amounts of powder behind a bullet to get that 3k plus velocitiy the barrel life has to be limited---and what Im referring to here is the accuracy life of the barrel----I dont have any stats to show you on accuracy deteriation with specific calibers and velocitys but the bench rest boys probably have more accurate information then I would......how much accuracy are you looking for?.......its sorta like that ole saying...."how fast do you want to go, How much money do you have"....I worried purchasing one of these rifles for quite some time and finally came to the conclusion that I had no real place to shoot it.....so with tears in my eyes I put it on the back burner.......Id go check mcmillian anyway...heck ask rock I believe hes on the board somewhere.....fubsy.

[Steve Smith]

dw, be warned, "flat shooting" usually means highly acellerated barrel wear.

[Bogie]

And remember that the sonic crack ain't gonna scare nothin' to death when you miss...

Current 1,000 yard shooters are favoring the 6.5/284 chamberings...

[dw]

Well in this article he claims that the rifle will produce no less than 3600fps with a 140 grain bullet, without exceeding safe pressure parameters. and the rifle zeroed in at 300 yards will make it shoot 2.2 in high at 100 yds, 2.8 in at 200yds and 6.8in low at 400. Now take that for what it is worth.
And i would like to thank you guys for all the info and opinions. you have helped alot

[griz]

When I saw that article I was suspicious of those numbers too. I ran them though a ballistics program and they were right, an actual 400 yard point blank range. There isn’t anything magical about that particular caliber though, there are others that shoot as flat. I seem to remember the 257 Weatherbey is, or maybe was, the flattest shooting, but none will beat the others by much. I’ll stick to the 25-06.

[Redneck2]

I live about 30 miles west of you and run into the same circumstances..

In our shop we have guys that all went nuts over the .30-378 Weatherby when it first came out. Then one of our hard-core customers got one. Kicks like a mule...'til you put on the muzzle brake, then the muzzle blast is horrific and you get dirt blown all over you. Uses powder by the bucketful and barrel life is measured in hundreds, not thousands of rounds if reports are correct.

He traded it in, and I thought about buying it until I figured out that, after 800 rounds, the barrel was probably more than 1/2 used up.

I have a .22-250 and .25-06 for 'hogs and dogs. They are both as "overbore" as I personally care to go. Even moving up to a 220 Swift typically sacrifices accuracy potential for a modest increase in speed.

A 10% increase in powder typically gives a 2.5% increase in velocity. The extra goes into heat (wear).

An increase in velocity may mean 3" difference at 400 yards...have one of your friends stand at 400 yards, hold their thumb and index finger 3 inches apart and tell me it makes a difference.....although.....

I have a friend that I work with that got a prarie dog at 1,000 yards...now I could get into that. More to do with ballistic efficiency than speed (see Bogie's post above).

[C.R.Sam]

The higher the AVERAGE velocity, lower flight time, the less drop. Hence knowing the range of the target is less important with the higher velocity round.

Sam

[Lycanthrope]

I have a 7STW and I shoot 140 gr Ballistic Silvertips with 81gr of 7828 (4 grains over max according to the Nosler manual). I'm not at 3600 (a tad over 3500), but it IS possible as I'm not showing pressure signs...yet. The extra 100 fps isn't worth the risk, anyhow. 100 fps in my ballistic computer is pretty much worthless past 300 yards. Besides, 81gr groups less than .5 inch in my gun......which is real important at 500 yards + (at 500 a half inch at 100=4inches).

However, If I were to go overkill (more than my STW), then I'd look into a Lazzeroni. They make calibers that make ulta mags look SLOW. The 30/378 is a sweet caliber, if you limit yourself to the Weatherby style cartridge.