N/A Big Bore for 200yd silhouette matches

drsquall

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Jul 22, 2022
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Good morning,
I am searching for a big bore(308 up to 50) for 200yd big bore silhouette matches just started in OKC. No limit on fpe or scope can shoot tethered using shot from prone of front bag or bipod. There is 50yd off hand shooting involved as well. Have to knock over to count except for the rams at 200 solid hits count on it. They also do a 500yd ram challenge where you have to knock it over.
Here's what I wanting. I know people are going to say get a Texan but I honestly hate the way the look and would rather not. I don't want to shoot tethered and I don't want to drop a lot of money for this. We can't hunt whitetail with air guns here so this will probably be all it's used for. You shoot 5 targets at a time on a 3 minute time frame. So at least 5 good shoots per fill. It is a 40 shot match not counting sighters. If had to get a Texan I would but ughhh.


I will not be casting my own slugs. I did over 20yrs of reloading shooting pistol matches and I am done with all that. lol sold all my Dillons and single stages.
Thanks
Jon
 
Don't take this the wrong way, but you want a lot of performance with a lot of limitations. 200 yard accuracy, not a lot of money, don't like the aesthetics of the best long-range gun, no tether, and you don't cast your own slugs.

Without a doubt you're going to have compromise somewhere. I don't particularly like the look or feel of 'black' rifles, but I gave up some of the afore mentioned for performance, power and accuracy. I have a couple of Texans, and my .308 is my long-range gun. A .257 might be a better choice for what you want to do, but the .308 gets it done. I have had zero luck with over-the-counter slugs and have to cast my own. If you don't want to cast your own, I would suggest buying them from someone who does and that way you have the perfectly sized (.309) slugs.

An aftermarket stock is basically a requirement for accuracy.

I can't think of another big bore option that would cost less than $2k (with the add-ons needed) and still deliver on what you want it to do. In a nutshell, just get over it on the look and feel of the Texan and go with what's going to do the job. Eventually we all have to, lol. If there's a plus side, there's a ton of great info on how to get them to shoot straight.
 
I feel the same way about the Texans.

I'm leaning towards this AGT. https://www.airgunnation.com/threads/agt-netvor-45-any-solid-info-or-updates.1304158/
It's not super powerful but should get the job done and gets a decent shotcount.

Furthermore I've had 3 AGT rifles and all were nice, reliable, fairly precise, and not horribly expensive guns.

Just this morning I shot a 2.75" 5 shot group at 240Y with my 25 cal V3 using 60gr Altaros slugs, this was off a tripod, and it was not calm out. My friend who hadn't shot a pcp of this power level/99 fpe, was astounded at what we could hit with it. We just picked small rocks on a hillside and would send them rolling within a shot, or three. If 2 or 3 it was mostly because of trying to figure out the wind.
 
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I feel the same way about the Texans.

I'm leaning towards this AGT. https://www.airgunnation.com/threads/agt-netvor-45-any-solid-info-or-updates.1304158/
It's not super powerful but should get the job done and gets a decent shotcount.

Furthermore I've had 3 AGT rifles and all were nice, reliable, fairly precise, and not horribly expensive guns.

Just this morning I shot a 2.75" 5 shot group at 240Y with my 25 cal V3 using 60gr Altaros slugs, this was off a tripod, and it was not calm out. My friend who hadn't shot a pcp of this power level/99 fpe, was astounded at what we could hit with it. We just picked small rocks on a hillside and would send them rolling within a shot, or three. If 2 or 3 it was mostly because of trying to figure out the wind.
AGT are quality guns for sure
 
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Strange that you need to knock down full size rams in the 500m match, but at 200yds, they don’t need to fall. So for the full size 200yd match, a .308 should be OK as long as it’s has enough energy/momentum to knock down full size turkeys and pigs at 150 and 100yds. Rifle should be light enough as you need to shoot standing for the 50yd chickens. I don’t think accuracy will be too much of an issue for full size silhouettes at those distances. Should be fairly easy to hit.

For full size rams at 500m, accuracy becomes more important. The .308 might have insufficient fpe. Maybe get a .457 to help insure a knockdown. A lot harder to hit at that distance.

They also advertise a match with 1/2 size silhouettes out to 200yds A 257 would probably work well, but I think they say only .308 or larger allowed. No standing shots at that match.

I’d recommend the Texan.
 
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Thanks kinda what a figured.


Yeah, not doing this seriously at all. If I have to cast I will not shoot it and save my money and just shoot small bore with slugs. Not dropping lots of money

The 308 Texan with a mad dog would be about it for me on price.
Thanks
I've owned the Texan .257 and now the .308. I adore my .308; hitting targets beyond 200 yards is no issue for me, even as a hunter with a mostly stock PCP. Adding a MADDOG stock will enhance accuracy even further. Ultimately, what matters more: looks or performance? In the end, you should be content with your choice no matter what it is.
 
I've owned the Texan .257 and now the .308. I adore my .308; hitting targets beyond 200 yards is no issue for me, even as a hunter with a mostly stock PCP. Adding a MADDOG stock will enhance accuracy even further. Ultimately, what matters more: looks or performance? In the end, you should be content with your choice no matter what it is.
I can get past the looks I think but I really don't want to cast so if I can't find something that I can buy I will probably not mess with it. I've casted thousands and thousands of bullets and I'm done with that. Lol
 
200 yards with a big bore Texan is childs splay. With a little tuning, and some off the shelf 385gr slugs from Mr. HP you can easily reach out to 400 yards and keep everything on a 8" plate. Adding a good stock is NOT necessary, but it can add a cool factor to the rifle that's priceless. A properly tuned Texan will yield extreme spreads of 2-3fps (excellent for long range hits), and be cautious about the many power mods available, every single one has the potential to negatively impact accuracy by increasing your extreme spreads and they will require a great deal of time and effort to bring the rifle back into tune... trust me I'm currently running 4,700 psi with a custom hand ported valve, and things can get a little crazy above 4,000. I home cast alot of my own slugs as well, and get a significant amount of waist, I am very picky about quality control. The picture below is my 100 yard untethered three shot group, using my HPLRHC 430gr slugs (Mr. HP 385gr yield the same POI at 100 with no change to my tune). When I reach out further then 100 I go tethered to tighten up the extreme spreads. I have posts on how to properly tune your Texan for max velocity with minimal waist of your air, the post on how to tune also also covers what's needed for accuracy. Properly tuning an air rifle is the single most important thing you can do for accuracy. With the exception of optics, the gains from properly tuning your big bore will far exceed anything you can achieve from barrel polishing, trigger mods, or any other external add-on you may use to fancy up your rifle.

Texan .510 LSSCF_100yd target HPLRHC.JPG
 
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200 yards with a big bore Texan is child splay. With a little tuning, and some off the shelf 385gr slugs from Mr. HP you can easily reach out to 400 yards and keep everything on a 8" plate. Adding a good stock is NOT needed, but it adds a cool factor to the rifle, many of the power mods will impact accuracy negatively and/or require a great deal of time and effort to bring the rifle back into tune... trust me I'm currently running 4,700 psi and things get a little crazy up there. I home cast alot of my own slugs as well, and get a significant amount of waist do to my being very picky about quality control. The pick is three shot untethered at 100 yards. When i reach out further I always go tethered to tighten up my extreme spreads.

View attachment 489819
That's good because I don't wanna have to do any mods to the gun or roll my own.
 
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I can get past the looks I think but I really don't want to cast so if I can't find something that I can buy I will probably not mess with it. I've casted thousands and thousands of bullets and I'm done with that. Lol
There are some great casters out there. Neal Tressler ,Kcslugs and BARS that makes slugs for Tim Swan just to name a few.

IMG_20240718_120341982.jpg
 
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I was hitting a kitty cat sized steel which is 14" wide nose to tail and 8" from belly to back, this at 300Y yesterday with my Vulcan 3 and Altaros 60gr slugs. Some wind so 1.5 mil holdoff and after 8 hits in a row I called it quits.

What I really want as far as the next step up is higher BC than G1 .245 of those Altaros 60's but also not super heavy slugs of the 45 cals so am thinking 30 to 375 cal with G1 BC of .4-5 at around 1000 fps. Been waiting and waiting for years for some other rifle to catch my interest. This Bintac has the form factor I'm interested in so I'll keep watching.

I'd like for the company to elaborate on how the barrel is attached and how robust the action is.