Best Centrefire Cartridge for 500M?

[Panda Shooter]

I am new to the 500M Fly having only shot the event three times.  The first two times could only be described as complete disasters!  The third time was more of a learning exercise with two good targets, two bearable targets and one disaster.

My long range shooting background is F Class, which has the distinct advantage of clearly showing each shot before you shoot the next one.  In FTR and F Standard you are restricted to the .308 Winchester or .223 Remington cartridges  so most shooters choose the .308.  In F Open you are restricted to a bore size of 8mm with the most popular cartridge used for the short ranges (300 to 600 yards) being the 6mm Dasher.

I see that many successful Fly shooters choose the 6BR or a variant of it.  

I shot my .308 because it is what I have.  I hoped the bigger bullet holes would be able to be seen but that wasn't the case with all targets due to the mirage.  I assume the 6mm holes would be even more difficult to see.

So after that introduction, I guess I have two questions that I would like people to comment on:
1. what cartridge do you shoot and why did you choose it?
2. what strategy do you use when the mirage makes seeing bullet holes very difficult (or is that impossible) to see (because what I did didn't work for me!)?

Any advice you would like to offer this novice would be gratefully appreciated.

Regards

Cory Lang

[Dave Groves]

Hi Cory,
                A lot depends on what class of rifle we are talking about, what are you planning on using? Light or Heavy?

I shot my .284 Win in Heavy and my 6mmBR in Light in Brisbane, both have NF 15-55’s and I could see my bullet holes on most targets.

Strategy we can discuss later.

Cheers.

Dave

[Ken Perrin]

Welcome aboard Cory.

Mate a lot of us Fly shooters run a 6mm of some type in light gun as just about anything based on a 6BR case or a 6.5X47L case seems be accurate & easy to drive.
Also components for 6mm are generally easier to come by ( except for right now when nothing is available ).

As for heavy gun well i only run a Dasher because its easy to get used to one caliber & the rifle hardly moves but you trade off the larger bullet hole & higher BC that the 7mm & 30's offer.

When the mirage is on its difficult to see no matter what caliber.
 This is where a good mate spotting for you helps ..failing that trusting your flags & fall of shot on the splash plate is important ..... sometimes you just have to run them down & cross your fingers.

 

[Panda Shooter]

Dave & Ken

Thanks for your replies.

My plan is to shoot a Light Gun in both events.

I was using a Sightron 10-50x60 scope which,  price being indicative, isn't a match for the Nightforce or March scopes.  What are your views on the suitability of fixed power scopes for the Fly?  I had the 48x52 March Highmaster in mind.

Once again thanks for your advice.

Regards

Cory

[justjeff]

Panda Shooter,

I have just moved to  Melbourne, so not too familiar with conditions. My claim to fame is winning one or the other classifications for HG at Narromine 1000yds 5 out of the last 6 years. Don't go to a fixed power scope. It will serve you really well in good conditions, but when the mirage kicks in, you won't see shit. The ability to pull the magnification back in bad mirage will help you no end.

Just my 2 bobs worth

Jeff

[Stuart Pethy]

Hi Cory
i shoot my LG in both classes as it saves money (still want to build a HG one day)
i shoot 6BRX and 6BRA .. i'm still trying the 6BRA atm but if i don't see any advantage of it over the 6BRX i will just get a straight 6BR barrel done and swap between the 6BRX and 6BR (the 6BR is the easiest and accurate caliber to start with as no fire forming or messing around with)
i like the 6BRX as you get that 100-150fps over the 6BR and i built it for the odd times i shoot F open so i had that extra speed out to 1000 but its done great at the fly
i also run a NF comp 15-55x52 scope and would never get a fixed scope as you need to dial it back when mirage comes in

in mirage conditions where you cant see the holes i shoot one at sighter plate, see where it hits hold over on target and put 2 down quick, then back to the plate and put one down, see where it hits then back to target hold over another 2 then down to plate the back to target..but all depends on if conditions change while shooting but this is a quick explanation  

cheers
Pethy

[Panda Shooter]

Jeff & Stuart

Thanks for your advice.  I really appreciate you taking time to help me out.

I have a 6x47 Lapua barrel which I have decided to use for the 500 M Fly and will use Stuart's strategy when the mirage prevents me from seeing my shots on the target.  And, I will stick with my Sightron for the time being.

Regards

Cory

[Warwick Shepherd]

Nothing wrong with a sightron mate

[John 23 Harris]

In regards to the scope

I have used sightron
NF
And now Leupold 45x Comp


To my surprise the Leupold has provided a better image and I have found I can see shots though the mirage much easier