Lighter Bullets, Longer Ranges

Higher velocities mean lighter bullets. Here’s how speed can help you improve your long-range shooting game. My parents always told me that things would get smaller and lighter with the advancements in technology and society. It is evident that “we” see it in many industries today, but the shooting community has been slow. The shooting world lacks balance and is subject to wild swings in its efforts to incorporate new technology. We started exploring barrels as a first area. To save weight, we wrapped steel in carbon fiber. We began to question the technology and came up with reasons not to use carbon fiber barrels. Yes, it can shift the point of impact if it is heated too much. But we knew that. Mirage shields are not new. We used mirage bands on stainless-steel barrels. When target shooting with a carbon fiber one, it makes sense to include it. Packs are another area we are slow to follow. We love heavy, heavy military-style packs. The most popular include a gun bearer function to transport your rifle and gear. They’re essentially copying military gear from 1980s. Modern shooting packs weigh around 8 pounds empty, while modern packs weigh in at a mere ounce. It’s the heavy Cordura that we adore that adds weight to our equipment. The improvements are noticeable if you take 4 pounds off the pack and add 2 pounds to your rifle. Performance is improved across the board. See what I mean? Unbalanced BulletsThis brings me to bullets, rifles: I think we are missing a balance in our choices. Many people run too heavy and large. People want to shoot a.338 Magnum with 300-grain bullets. But the 250-grainers will work better. 6.5 Creedmoor will also do the same job. We all know that bullet weight helps the round travel farther. However, speed wins and when you consider the balance between them, speed wins. Recently, two cartridges for AR platforms were introduced. See, I’m a bolt-action, precision rifle guy. I shoot a lot large-frame ARs. They drive very differently than the smaller-frame AR-15s. Each one should be approached from a different perspective if you want success downrange. This led to a problem with accuracy. People were shooting well in AR-15s but not in AR-10s. It happens. It happens all the time. It’s a training issue but it takes time to correct. You might consider a smaller cartridge to bridge that gap. You might find the ballistics very close, but with much less recoil. Enter the Valkyrie… or the 6mm ARC. I could go on about the 6.5 Creedmoor but I want to concentrate on these two offerings because 6mm is used in precision rifle competition and Valkyrie due to the misfire in the release. The 6mm Creed is an excellent round. It’s light, fast, accurate, and has a lot of barrel life. It’s Grandpa’s.243 Winchester with a long-range twist rate and huge bullet list. The.308 Win was the first choice for guys. The.308 Win. Speed. The precision rifle competitions have a speed limit at 3,200 fps so the 6mm Creedmoor, which is 3,175 fps, was perfect. It killed barrels, had recoil, and did not do much over the 6.5 Creedmoor. The 6mm Dasher has less recoil and speeds up from 3,175 fps down to 2,850. It offers all the performance you need, with less recoil and a little more barrel life. The Dasher was the catalyst for many other 6mm cartridges before the 6 GT was created. Today, most 6mm rounds average between 2,850 to 2,950 fps in muzzle velocity. It is a great balance of speed and weight. The bullet weight of the competition crowd is usually over 100 grains. They can reach a maximum of 115 grains. These values combine to produce a remarkable drop and drift. My personal load with a 108 grain factory ammo is 6.8 mils to 1,000 yard, which is amazing. Recoil management is key to marksmanship. Recoil management allows the bullet to know where the barrel is at release. Because 6mm bullets are light and fast, they will leave the barrel quickly and with less disturbance to the shooter. The bullet can be added to a small-frame AR-15 to balance the weight and speed equations. What are my goals? How will the bullet impact the system? TimeThe bullet takes less time to leave the barrel, which means that shooter actions behind it are minimized. This reduces the time it takes for the bullet reach the target, which means that there is less drop. It also means less wind interruption. It also means less wind interruption. But this increases my chance of missing from an errant wind gust. Not to mention that the bullet is heavier than the bullet. I also love the.224 Valkyrie but strongly believe it “misfired”. My grandchildren may never see the Valkyrie because it might not survive. If it does, it will be because of sheer willpower. The bright side? The bright side? The 224 Valk cartridge is a winner. This was my initial thought when the Valkyrie came out. I bought a JP SR15. I shot a Guardian match one week after Hornady had released 88-grain ammunition for it. I landed in Top 15. It was great. It performed exactly as promised. It was difficult to spot impacts beyond 800 yards, but overall I loved it. These small-frame ARs combined with long-range cartridges have revolutionized the game. I want to be able to shoot 600-800 yards and I would love to do it with a smaller caliber. With the factory loads, consistency can be difficult at these distances. Semi-auto rifles are prone to misfires with the 90-grain stuff. The 88-grain Hornady Ammo can also be difficult to find. The.224 Valkyrie can be seen at 400 yards. Although the.224 Valkyrie is capable of performing consistently up to 600 yards, it can be difficult to perform at 800. The balance between speed and weight was slightly off. How can I find the sweet spot? A.224 Valkyrie bolt gun. I chose a Zermatt Bighorn Origin Action, one of the most affordable custom actions on the marketplace. The Bighorn Origin bolt head can be replaced, making it easy to pair it up with the 6.8 bolt faces. Next is my secret weapon: a left hand gain-twist Bartlein Barrel. Gain-twist barrels don’t care about bullet weight. The recoil pulse is stronger and the pressures and speeds are exactly where they should be. To clarify a myth, the bullets don’t run over the lands or grooves multiple times. It isn’t scoring the bullet more. The Bartlein gain twist barrel allowed me to shoot the Federal 90-grain load at speed and distance with a Bartlein gas gun. A box of 90-grain Federal ran at 2,750 fps using single-digit SD numbers. Here’s the end a Bartlein Gain Twist barrel. This barrel is 6mm in diameter and goes from 7.75 to 7.7. It’s not because the gas gun is less efficient due to movement. The Valkyrie seemed to like the extra speed. We know that it wasn’t the semi-autos’ 1:7 twist rate that caused the problems. It was the speed required to achieve the performance. The same principle applies to the 6mm ARC. Although the 6mm ARC is easier to load, it still needs speed. You can’t expect the same results if a setup runs 200-400 fps slower that performance would like. 224 Valkyrie were performing. CR2 Shooting Solutions instructors followed my example and used a bolt action version as a student rifle. This setup has allowed me to see second-round hits in 12-mph winds at 1,200 meters and impacts out to 1 miles. The Valkyrie in Colorado is light and efficient. It is less than 12 pounds in weight and can hit targets beyond 1,000 yards at elevation. And, when paired with ballistic software, shooters can read results quickly and move to a more effective load to increase performance.Balancing bullet weight and speed might mean going lighter. It’s possible to do it yourself. Storm Tactical’s impressive target pack includes62 printable targets for rifle and handgun range usage. Target grids and bullseye sizes can be downloaded in MOA. This is a great option for long-range shooting. Enter your email address below.