Thread: Auckland Long Rang Shooting/rifle help.

Hey all. I have a 7mm08 Howa with a 20inch barrel, and overbarrel supressor, I have been toying with the idea of selling it and getting a 7mm mag, or rebarreling, and rechambering to 308, or should I forget both of these and use the 7mm08. The issue I have currently is the current barrel is very thin, and heats up after 3 shots, which accoridng to my attemp at load devolpment it hurts my accuracy. I did consider getting a 3-9x40 leupy and chucking this gun in the safe as a bush gun, and building/buying something dedicated to LR, but in a relative budget, thinking a Bushnell 4200, Rem 700 in a magnum, and a terminator brake, but i'm trying to avoid spending lots of money this year, as we are saving for a wedding/honeymoon, and i'll get skinned if i drop 3k on a rifle again... I could probably get away with $600-800, so I would need to sell my shotgun, my howa, and my saiga, meaning I would only have the 1 firearm....

Oh and, where in auckland could one go to learn and practice some long range shooting, with no access to property? Is there any clubs etc? I know the deer stalkers has a 200m range, but I was thinking more like 600m or what ever my 7mm08 could hit gongs out too.... A short google has returned a club in Maraetie (spelling fail), but thats only actiuve in the summer months, I may have access to a mates farm, but thats only about 400m.




Any and all feed back is appreciated.


p.s I made a similar thread "overthere" a while back and got rubbished about not knowing what I want and maybe I should come back when I know... Trying to avoid another shit fest, so if it seems as if I dont know what I want, that is probably because I havent done any long range shooting and would like to try, but not sure if I want to invest heavily in it just yet....

Put a 20moa rail on it, a dialable reliable clear scope on your 7mm08, Get the trigger set to 1 1/2lbs, load up some 162 A-Max and shoot. It wont matter if they are going abit slow, or its not grouping 1/4 inch, as long as its under an inch it will be able to shoot to the limit of the 7mm08.

You can shoot long range with anything within reason if you know what your doing.

Practice, practice, practice


Remember, it's the first shot that matters, anybody can walk themselves into a target

Hi Brennos, there is the Akarana Rifle (Kawakawa bay), the Clevedon rifle club, and the frankin rifle club ( Waiuku). Waiuku and Akarana shoot from 300-800 and clevedon goes out do 1000, the season is usually runs from october to may.

you can shoot pretty much anything as long as it's under 8mm

Originally Posted by crzyman

Put a 20moa rail on it, a dialable reliable clear scope on your 7mm08, Get the trigger set to 1 1/2lbs, load up some 162 A-Max and shoot. It wont matter if they are going abit slow, or its not grouping 1/4 inch, as long as its under an inch it will be able to shoot to the limit of the 7mm08.

You can shoot long range with anything within reason if you know what your doing.

Practice, practice, practice


Remember, it's the first shot that matters, anybody can walk themselves into a target

Agreed.

Shooting animals at LR is all about the 1st shot, its not a target that will stay still if you miss it, or hit it poorly, so the fact that your barrel is a bit thin shouldn't be an issue in most circumstances. A 7mm08 should be good for 500-600m. That is actually quite a fair way away when you start lining up an animal, so until that becomes "easy", a bigger, dedicated LR rig most likely isn't a necessity.

When is becomes a necessity, I would be looking at rebarrelling what you have already, open the bolt up to magnum, chuck a 7mmSAUM reamer down the barrel, and start shooting again. Same trigger, same stock, same scope = familiarity, with a bit more grunt. Personally, I would forget about the supressor if you go down this route, get a 26 inch barrel (and brake if you want) and run it as a magnum, not a stoked up 7mm08...

Originally Posted by crzyman

Put a 20moa rail on it, a dialable reliable clear scope on your 7mm08, Get the trigger set to 1 1/2lbs, load up some 162 A-Max and shoot. It wont matter if they are going abit slow, or its not grouping 1/4 inch, as long as its under an inch it will be able to shoot to the limit of the 7mm08.

You can shoot long range with anything within reason if you know what your doing.

Practice, practice, practice


Remember, it's the first shot that matters, anybody can walk themselves into a target

Awesome, cheers for the advice. Currently I have a EGW 0 MOA rail, with Leuopold QPR rings, and a Nikon Buckmaster 4-14x40 scope with a mildot reticle. The stock is standard Hogue, but I am sold on a Bell and Carlson Stock from Dead Eye Dicks. I have adjusted the trigger myself, but it needs to go and get done properly, I might drop that off next week. What do you think of the setup currently? I will see if I can find a decent 20moa rail, and sort the trigger, but do you think I need to upgrade to a clicky scope, if so, would a Bushnell 4200 (or equivilent) do the job? $700 landed with turrets etc? I'm not trying to skimp, just avoiding spending too much, should be able to get $400 for my current scope, so only spending another $3-400 would be nice.

Oh and 162 A-Max projectiles, would they stabilise ok in my short 1in10 twist barrel? I wanted to use them, but was warned off them by those in the know.

Originally Posted by The Claw

When is becomes a necessity, I would be looking at rebarrelling what you have already, open the bolt up to magnum, chuck a 7mmSAUM reamer down the barrel, and start shooting again. Same trigger, same stock, same scope = familiarity, with a bit more grunt. Personally, I would forget about the supressor if you go down this route, get a 26 inch barrel (and brake if you want) and run it as a magnum, not a stoked up 7mm08...

Really? That would be ideal, I wasnt sure i could turn it into a magnum, due to the strength of a short action.

Originally Posted by Duck Gunner

Hi Brennos, there is the Akarana Rifle (Kawakawa bay), the Clevedon rifle club, and the frankin rifle club ( Waiuku). Waiuku and Akarana shoot from 300-800 and clevedon goes out do 1000, the season is usually runs from october to may.

you can shoot pretty much anything as long as it's under 8mm

Does akarana clevedon and waiku all run the same season, or is that just clevedon? Ideally I owuld like somewhere I could shoot weekends all year round? Waiuku would be pretty cool, is that the one out on an old WW2 range?

Originally Posted by Brennos

Awesome, cheers for the advice. Currently I have a EGW 0 MOA rail, with Leuopold QPR rings, and a Nikon Buckmaster 4-14x40 scope with a mildot reticle. The stock is standard Hogue, but I am sold on a Bell and Carlson Stock from Dead Eye Dicks. I have adjusted the trigger myself, but it needs to go and get done properly, I might drop that off next week. What do you think of the setup currently? I will see if I can find a decent 20moa rail, and sort the trigger, but do you think I need to upgrade to a clicky scope, if so, would a Bushnell 4200 (or equivilent) do the job? $700 landed with turrets etc? I'm not trying to skimp, just avoiding spending too much, should be able to get $400 for my current scope, so only spending another $3-400 would be nice.

Oh and 162 A-Max projectiles, would they stabilise ok in my short 1in10 twist barrel? I wanted to use them, but was warned off them by those in the know.



Really? That would be ideal, I wasnt sure i could turn it into a magnum, due to the strength of a short action.



Does akarana clevedon and waiku all run the same season, or is that just clevedon? Ideally I owuld like somewhere I could shoot weekends all year round? Waiuku would be pretty cool, is that the one out on an old WW2 range?

Personally, I would keep the Hogue stock on it. If you want to stiffen up the fore-end then buy a carbon fibre arrow shaft and epoxy it in there. If the rifle shoots MOA or better as it is now, it will be good enough for 500-600m (this should be your limit on game). You might gain a little accuracy by changing the stock, but that $600 would be much better invested in a better scope. $600 + $700 mentioned above gets you pretty close to a Mk4 4.5-14 x 50 from the States. This will also mean that you probably won't need a 20 MOA rail either as the Mk4 has 100 MOA of elevation adjustment (from memory), so theres another $100 for your scope. A nice light, and crisp trigger will do wonders for accuracy, so it should be a priority as well.

A clicky scope is a must. Holdover past 300 odd metres (and you need a rangefinder to know...) isn't very ethical in my books. If an animal is 300+ away, its probably not going to know you are there unless the wind is up your arse, or you have been blazing away at it already using holdover (all this is assuming your zero is at 100m).

A short action is in theory stiffer than a long action, and the strength doesn't come from the long/short action, it comes from the lock up (bolt lugs, dia of the bolt, barrel tenon size etc). Opening up the face to magnum would be the same as buying a magnum in the first place (i.e. the action is the same, just a different boltface)

Originally Posted by The Claw

Personally, I would keep the Hogue stock on it. If you want to stiffen up the fore-end then buy a carbon fibre arrow shaft and epoxy it in there. If the rifle shoots MOA or better as it is now, it will be good enough for 500-600m (this should be your limit on game). You might gain a little accuracy by changing the stock, but that $600 would be much better invested in a better scope. $600 + $700 mentioned above gets you pretty close to a Mk4 4.5-14 x 50 from the States. This will also mean that you probably won't need a 20 MOA rail either as the Mk4 has 100 MOA of elevation adjustment (from memory), so theres another $100 for your scope. A nice light, and crisp trigger will do wonders for accuracy, so it should be a priority as well.

A clicky scope is a must. Holdover past 300 odd metres (and you need a rangefinder to know...) isn't very ethical in my books. If an animal is 300+ away, its probably not going to know you are there unless the wind is up your arse, or you have been blazing away at it already using holdover (all this is assuming your zero is at 100m).

A short action is in theory stiffer than a long action, and the strength doesn't come from the long/short action, it comes from the lock up (bolt lugs, dia of the bolt, barrel tenon size etc). Opening up the face to magnum would be the same as buying a magnum in the first place (i.e. the action is the same, just a different boltface)

Thanks for the reply, you have definitely given me new areas to research, especially in regards to rechambering to a magnum once the time arises. I'd love to keep the rifle as its the first one I ever bought, only reason I want to change the stock as its starting to show signs of wear, the rubber is peeling in certain places, and its pretty floppy (around the action even after bedding, admittedly probably poorly by me), but its last on the list, i would change the stock at the same time as I change the barrel, as this one is bedded for this contour... Trigger job is now first, ill drop in in after my next trip to the range as I have to "use up" the last of my SST projectiles. Looks like ill be selling my buckmaster and upgrading. Will keep an eye out for a good deal on a mk4 from the states. should be able to afford it b y July, if no other bills pop up, or I might just sell my damn (safe queen) shot gun and but it now lol. Any one want a Maverick pumpy

Hows the trigger on that Howa?

if its the same as my one, (Howa 1500) was (hence my username) I pulled mine apart and polished the sears all up and adjusted the pressure...
i have seen the odd Timney for sale here in another column (others can help out with the location) for 2/3rds less than retail. i only went down the path of doing it myself due to the inhibitive costs of a retail trigger, and the red tape of importing one, including a scope from the US... Now it shoots 1/2 MOA with hunting, and 1/4MOA with Palma projectiles .308 cal

I uploaded and wrote a step by step guide on another website, though googling it will prob bring it all up.. I have tried to repeat it on here, with not much success...

google "My take on improving Howa 1500 factory trigger" and you'll see the lot...


Happy to help fella!

I miss them roads out to Kawakawa, and Twilight Road!

Brennos I have a second hand mk4 that will be up for sale pm me if interested

I'm hoping that after 14 months he has got it sorted already...

lol Proud kiwi. In the end I was forced to sell the howa, and most of my other "toys" to pay for our honeymoon. just got back into the game though, with a rem 870, and a second hand handi rifle (soon) am back into saving for something LR in a few months. in the end I "tuned" the factory trigger and it was alright. crisp, and tight, and pull was fairly light, compared to stock.

I can appreciate that. My wife is the most expensive thing in my life by a LOOOOOOOOOONNNNNGGGGGG way.

tell me about it. Get married they said, it will be great they said, sell your guns she said.

Originally Posted by Brennos

sell your guns she said.

Don't do it Brennos

Wait till you have a few sprogs!!!!......street beggers pay more tax than you do.