What The Pros Use

This article shows what scopes and scope mounts/rings the competitive rifle shooters were running at this year’s Nightforce ELR Steel Challenge in Casper, Wyoming. That is a one-of-a-kind, 2-day, flagship match with 20+ stages featuring targets from 720 to 2,091 yards. The average target distance is year was 1,180 yards, with 70% of the targets beyond 1,000 yards! When you’re reaching out to that kind of distance your scope and mount must be rock-solid! This article is based on a survey of 100+ competitors and shares what brands and models these guys trusted to make first-round hits.

Over the past few weeks, I surveyed over 100 shooters who competed in this year’s Nightforce Extended Long Range Steel Challenge in Wyoming. I know a lot of you had questions about calibers, scopes and other gear guys were using, so I put together a survey, and the match director, Scott Satterlee, sent it to all the competitors. Over 100 shooters completed the survey, including 85% of the guys who finished in the top 25 overall. Thanks to all the guys who took the time to share. One of the fun things about the NF ELR match is it has ...

The 6XC has been a popular choice among top-ranked precision rifle shooters since they first started having long range precision rifle matches. This past year there were 3 shooters using a 6XC in the top 25 in the PRS, and 4 in the top 25 in the NRL. It’s clearly a very capable round in the hands of a good shooter. This article shares the 6XC load data these top-ranked shooters are reloading in their match ammo.

This article contains detailed reloading data for the 6x47 Lapua and 6.5x47 Lapua based on a survey of over 150 of the top-ranked precision rifle competitors. See what the best long range shooters in the country are reloading in their match ammo!

This article contains detailed reloading data for the 6BRA, 6BRX, and 6BR based on a survey of over 150 of the top-ranked precision rifle competitors. See what the best long range shooters in the country are reloading in their match ammo!

This article contains detailed reloading data for the 6mm Creedmoor and 6.5 Creedmoor based on a survey of over 150 of the top-ranked precision rifle competitors. See what the best long range shooters in the country are reloading in their match ammo!

This article contains the load data for the 6 Dasher based on a survey of over 100 of the top-ranked long range shooters in the country.

“In the past 4-5 years we’ve made quantum leaps when it comes to predicting bullet trajectories.” –Dave Emary, Ballistician Ever wonder why you center punch targets at some distances, but your dope is a couple clicks off at other distances? Maybe your shots are dead on at 600 yards but off at 1000 yards, or vice versa. In those scenarios we often blame the rifle, scope, ammo, or ourselves, but is our firing solution as accurate as it should be? This article gives practical insight into some important nuances of predicting bullet trajectory, and shows what drag models the top ...

Ever wondered what ballistic app the best shooters use? Here are the answers! This article covers the ballistic apps the top precision rifle shooters are running to calculate their firing solutions for first-round hits at long range. The data is based on a recent survey I conducted of the top-ranked shooters across the country in both the Precision Rifle Series (PRS) and National Rifle League (NRL). (Learn more about the PRS & NRL). This is a very unique data set, because it includes a wide sample size (170+ shooters) who also represent the leading experts in the field. (View all ...

This article covers the rangefinders the top precision rifle shooters in the country carry in long-range competitions. This is the first year I’ve asked about rangefinders, so it was exciting to see which brands these experts trust to give them an accurate target distances. The data is based on a recent survey I conducted of the top-ranked shooters across the country in both the Precision Rifle Series (PRS) and National Rifle League (NRL). (Learn more about the PRS & NRL). This is a very unique data set, because it includes a wide sample size (170+ shooters) who also represent the ...