Thread: Auckland Long Rang Shooting/rifle help.

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!