Is your rifle 400yd ready?

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The last two opportunities for coyotes have been 400 yd shots. I missed them both.
My go to rifle is my Ruger SR 556 with Nikon 3x P223.
It is back to the bench rest for me and my rifle.
I am determined to become proficient at 400yds.
I may be running short of glass at 400yds, but i should be able to stay inside paper plate diameter.
I was shooting factory Hornady vmax, but im not getting great groups, so im changing ammo too.

Will your 'go to' rifle do 400yds consistently? Are you sure?
If so, what is it? How is it set up..?
 
I don't have a centerfire rifle that is not ready for 400 yards. In a 5.56 I would suggest going with a heavy bullet between 69 and 77 grains. Figure out your hold-overs on the bench, but then walk away from the bench and start working on shooting from a bipod and off shooting sticks. That is the single biggest thing you can do to improve your hit ratio in the field.
 
Well the rifle ,of mine, I would use for coyotes is my white oak armament upper sitting on a rock river a2 nm lower. I have a 4-16 vortex viper hst sitting on top using 77gr nosler cc over 23.6gr tac in reworked lc brass. It is sub 1/2 moa out to 600yds suppressed.
 
223 no, but 6.8 yes. My 223 has a busted scope at the moment. New scope purchase will be in February when I start a new “real job” making decent money again. My 6.8 is a dandy to 300. After 300 drop is a significant factor, so if I can range the shot halfway accurately I can put a bullet where I want it. I will get the 223 as good as I can with that cheap Anderson hbar profile barrel.
 
My go to coyote gun is a Tikka .22-250 that I used to kill a coyote at ~460 yards last summer. I have a vortex 4-12x scope with their dead hold BDC reticle, which I have used at a friends range to hit a license play at 525 yards to double check the holdovers the manual from Vortex recommended. Everything under 500 yards holds true, the 525 yard mark needed the 550 holdover, I have yet to shoot past that with it because I don’t intend to shoot past 500 with that rifle at an animal.
 
I have several 400 yd + rifles- M24 SWS, "original recipe" w/ Leopold M3 LR 3.5-10X, 700 5R with 3-17 US optics w/ Horus H37 (shot this to 600 yesterday at 8" plates), custom 700 308 20" with Bushnell HDMR with H59 and Gemtech HVT, Larue OBR 7.62 w/ Horus falcon w/ H37, Mossberg MVP thunder ranch 5.56 w/ Horus hunter 3-12. The 308 rifles I use surplus M118 LR (175 grain SMK) and with the MVP I use either Hornady 75 grain BTHPM or MK 262 (black hills, 77 grain OTM). From what you posted, there are a couple areas where your equipment may be lacking. Yes, you could use more power on your glass at that distance. 223 is more than capable of killing a dog at 400 yards, but what rounds are you using? Don't believe the hype that heavy bullets like 77 grain won't stabilize in a 1:9. Try a box and see for yourself. What are the wind conditions like? 5.56 is NOT a crosswind-friendly round at any distance. Another big one is knowing the distance to your target. If you have a laser range finder, get out there with it and make a range card for quick reference, and KNOW the external ballistics of your rifle with the round being used.
 
Rem 700 243 with a 4.5X14 Legend, and a Bergara B-14 6.5 Creedmoor with a 6X18 Vortex. Both capable of sub-MOA, so yes, I am ready. Haven't played with my new Vanguard 257 mag but I only have a 3x9 VX-2 on it and although my Savage 10 300 WSM is sub-MOA it only wears a 2x7 Vari-X2.

The Bergara has been shot out to 500 so I know exactly what it will do.
 
Back around 1971 or thereabouts I bought a Weatherby MarkV in .30-'06; 26" barrel. Leupold Vari-X II 3-9x40. I put a Canjar trigger on it. Reliably 7/8 MOA with handloads.

It wasn't until 1997 that I set up a hanging steel plate at 500 yards. My longest kills on whitetails had been at 350 and 450 yards. One-shot each.

On the plate, I was grouping at one MOA, +/- very little. Some 0.8 MOA groups.
 
That rifle/scope combo ought to be good beyond 400. Doesn't the P223 have a BDC reticle? Sounds like you need to tune your load. I'd have thought you should be able to get out to 600 without running out of elevation. I'd want a bit more magnification at that distance, though.

I have several 400+ yard rifles. I've slowly been converting to good quality scopes with MOA reticles and/or exposed turrets. I develop data cards for each and then verify the dope at the range as time permits. That way I can either use the stadia on the reticle for holdover or dial in to hold dead on depending on situation. Right now, I'm most confident in my Remington 700 LTR .308 with an SWFA 3-15x42 MOA scope. My Cooper 54 in 260 Rem with a Vortex HS-T 4-16x44 is more capable "way out there," but I haven't settled on a standard load for it yet. There's a 1,000 yard range not too far from me, and I'm looking to spend some time this summer really dialing in a couple of hunting and target loads.
 
I've got a 257 Roberts that I can consistently hit 2-liter bottles with at 400 yards. That's using handloads with 115 gr NBT. I haven't worked up a range card yet for it but if I can convince a coyote to stand still while I measure off 400 yards, I'm very confident I'll hit it. :D

I've also got an AR with at 223 Wylde chamber that will do 400 yards consistently as long as there isn't much wind. That's with 68 gr Hornady BTHP. My main load out of that one is a 60 gr Hornady SP which will do 300 but has issues farther than that.

I've got other guns that would probably do it, but I haven't stretched them out that far yet.

Matt
 
I don't have a lot of rifles.

I am ready for 400 yards, and most of my rifles are. A couple are not, such as my .35 Remington, and my .308 hunting rifle that I dearly love but isn't as accurate as I'd like. It would be pushing it at 400 yards for someone picky about exact shot placement. I have never shot the .35 Remington over 300 yards, and it was just playing around to see what it would do there.

.222 Mag HB varmint rig? Check. FN SPR .308? Check. AR? Check. .22 Hornet? Giggle Snort. .22 LR guns? Heh. :)
 
Like @Walkalong, I have a handful of rifles which just aren’t conducive to 400yrds, typically big bore stuff like 458wm, 450socom, 45-70, 44mag... I’ve only taken my .416ruger out to 325 so far, plenty far enough, but I’ll work it farther in time.

Any of my “normal” hunting rifles which are NOT punkin chunkers are at least 325 ready, and most are 600 ready. I have one particular range I like to use a lot, private ground, which offers about 340yrds, and my normal working distance on it is 325yrds with marked stations at 100, 200, 300, and 325. Even most of my rimfires are “325 ready,” as I shoot there the most.

The good news: it should take less than a box of ammo to get “400yrd ready” with most centerfire bottleneck cartridges.
 
The 223s, not really. The 22-250s, yes. To check anything at that distance now I have to drive out to BLM land and setup as the local gun club lost it's 300 and 400 yard ranges because of a couple of really stupid shooters. It was either close those two or the whole range as they lease the land from the city and those were the only two options.

I always enjoy a trip out into the boonies but the local range was a lot handier---and closer. The range did go to 1000 yards but we lost that years ago when the city sold some land to a private prison. The 1000 range was nowhere close to being a danger to the prison but that was part of the deal and of course money won out.
 
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Mine is similar to farmerboy78- White Oak upper with 20" barrel, Palmetto lower with Elf SE trigger. Scope is Althon Argos 4-20x50 w/BDC reticle. I shoot either 55gr. V max or 75gr. Hornady Steel Match.
The combo is certainly more accurate than I am capable of.
 
The 243 may be better, if you have higher magnification than the AR. Less susceptible to wind drift than a 223, more than enough power. I have a 700 in 243, and its a great shooter. Know the distance and know the hold.
 
Are you getting decent accuracy on the bench at 400 yards?. Having the scope zeroed and knowing your drops is important. I would also maybe try a heavier load as others suggested. The 223 should be good at 400, maybe some better glass with a little more magnification would help
 
"Will your 'go to' rifle do 400yds consistently? Are you sure?
If so, what is it? How is it set up..?"


Yes, but I am a cheater.
I spend the whole summer shooting out to 1200 yards with one of my rifles. I have a 6.5 Creedmoor that I do that with as well as a couple others. I probably shoot at ranges over 200 yards more than a dozen times per summer. But for 400 yards, I have a number of rifles that I regularly shoot at that range including several AR15s. I don't know about hunting, but I regularly shoot at steel plates and paper at 400 yards using an AR15 with iron sights (White Oak Armaments upper made for NRA Service Rifle matches).
 
Will your 'go to' rifle do 400yds consistently? Are you sure?
If so, what is it? How is it set up..?

Here are some of my rifles and set ups that I know are 400 yards ready, and some of them are good for much further than that. The .338 LM will consistently put five shots into 1-1/2" at 400 yards!!

AI AW 6.5 CM, Nightforce NXS 3.5-15x50mm F1 FFP mil/mil, HORUS ASLI, SilencerCo Omega 300 suppressor, Atlas bipod, AI sling, 140gr and 143gr A-MAX/ELD
AI AWM .338 LM, Premier Reticles 5-25x56mm FFP mil/mil, HORUS ASLI, AAC TiTAN suppressor, Atlas bipod, AI sling, 250gr Lapua Scenar
Kimber 8400 Talkeetna .375 H&H, Zeiss Conquest MC 3-9x40mm RZ600, Montana sling, 250gr Barnes TTSX

I have other rifles that I plan on getting ready this year including another AI AWM, a POF P308 and a custom Kimber 8400 Montana chambered in 6.5 PRC, hopefully with a Proof Research barrel.
 
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I can get 400 yds with all my scoped rifles.
Okie wind kicks my butt more than I like with my 22-250.
I like 6mm and bigger if the wind is blowing.
I don't see coyotes during daylight so I shoot most of them with Bluedot 30-30 loads and a Speer half-jacket. It's more wakeup and run outside without preparation friendly.
 
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