My 1st Long Range With the .338 Lapua

slim_shady

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I love shooting just about as much as I love hunting.

Give me your new rifle and scope to get zeroed in and a box of ammo, I'll gladly take it down to the range and get it dialed in.

Sure shooting by it self is fun, however even small targets at 100 yards got a little old, and as much as I love my Rem 700 in .308, a .338 Lapua can do some serious damage even out to 1000 yards. I had been planning since the first of the year and ordered the Savage 110 BA stealth last spring. At first I was very disappointed with a 5" group at 100 using factory 250 gr ammo. It took a few weeks trying a few different loads before I read a post from another Savage .338 shooter that his gun liked berger 300 gr pills.

I ordered a box from midway and started working up different loads using H1000. After 4 or 5 trips out to the range I found the sweet spot and my best group at 100 was .75". My new Sig 24x scope however didn't like the recoil from the .338, as the knob for the electronic switch for the cross hairs came loose and was about to fall off. Within 3 weeks They simply sent me a new scope. I was back in business.

To back up a bit in the time line, very shortly after the .338 purchase I had decided to build an elevated platform, 4'x8' in size to take shots in the prone position 4' off the ground. It didn't take long to decide to potentiality turn it into a blind to actually hunt out of.

A couple months back on a trip out to the range I was lined up at 500 yards taking shots at my 24" steel plate. While packing up after the session just before dusk I spotted 2 bucks and a doe, who had just popped into the hay field at about 350 yards. The next day I planted a feeder and the covert game camera. That night I had 5 bucks and 6 doe's at the feeder, and they were there all night long. Ever since I have had pictures every night, and on several occasions a couple different good looking bucks and a spike have shown up in the mid morning, and early evening before dark.

Since, I had been in high gear on Sundays to get the Blind closed in and ready for the opener. To date I have one more board to cut, and 3 pieces of trim to put on the roof.

Oddly this week, I've had less and less photos on my phone in the morning, and decided to check the feeder after work today. Once off the paved road its about 600 yards to my stand witch is positioned on a dirt road leading to one of the hay barns. Once at the stand I make a sharp left and the feeder is 350 yards away. The entire distance up to the stand is covered by a neighbors pasture with lots of trees and brush I plan to use the cover when I deer hunt in the mornings.

Today, once I turn the corner at the stand, I spotted a black spot close by the feeder. Woaha!!!!! Its a pig! Dang, its 6:40 the sun is down, and its going to be dark in minutes. I think to myself. "How can I not at least try to make it."

Its about 5 min to the house, 5 min to get the gun and gear packed into the car, and 5 min back to the stand. My heart is pounding the whole time. Its my first real chance to hunt with the .338.

Once back to the stand, I stop the car 10 yards away, still out of sight, and as quietly as I can grab 2 rounds and my bean bag sock in one hand, the gun in the other and slowly walk up to the stand. With the door open, I drop the legs on the bi-pod and load the two rounds into the mag. I open the door of my peep shot hole, and adjust the scope. The light is dim and I'm having trouble with a clear image. All of a sudden something spooked most of the small sounder and they were making a dash for the fence. One still had its head down and was still, so I decided to take a quick shot and hope for the best.

Boom!

At this point I discovered I was shaking from the adrenaline dump. It looked like it was making the stanky leg shake, but I couldn't tell for sure and decided to get closer with the car.

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FrankT

Destin FL
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well done, interesting blind design
 

Jake

Bandera, Texas
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Cool story and better shot. Bet that poor sucker thought a train hit him!
 

RattlesnakeDan

San Antonio Texas
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That's the way to break in a new rifle!
 

fanninland

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Great story and nice shot - with that setup I'm sure there will be many more to come.
 
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