What calibers will we use in the 2022 season?

At the turn of the year I regularly evaluate the past season and plan for a new one. And equipment preparation is part of that. And as I have done in the past here again I have a summary of what caliber we are going to use in the 2022 season.

These are the calibers for Long Range and Dynamic Precision Shooting that we are going to use in the new season. Of course there may be some changes in the components - that we use other bullets for example - but when it comes to caliber there will be no changes (it would not be technically possible anyway...).

So let's see what can be expected from them and what we will use them for. And this time I will provide more information for each of them. The pictures should be the same dimensions and the size of the bullets and cases therefore corresponds proportionally between them (hence the scale on the upper edge of the picture).

.223 Remington

I like this round more and more… For our common shooting ranges up to 300 meters (ie Mid Range. See this explanation of terms) is quite sufficient. Precision is excellent only thanks to the light shot is more affected by the wind. But at Mid Range distances it's not terrible. It can be used very well on DPS and for precise target shooting. The small recoil forgives shooting mistakes and you can also use the "free recoil" technique which is a bit like cheating. And the ammo is just cheap…

75grs Hornady ELD-M, G7: 0,235

24,3grs RS52

890 m/s

Bullet drop drop at 300m 500m 750m 1.000m 1.250m 1.500m 2.000m 3.000m

34cm 1,5m 4,4m

In this caliber I have a Remington 700 school rifle ready, which I sometimes take to competitions. It works absolutely great and reliably and it was a great choice and a great setup. With this weapon I have achieved quite a few successes and medal placements, even in competitions up to 500 meters.

6mm Dasher

Caliber for competitive shooting. Suitable for shooting up to 1,000 meters (ie Long Range). It is an absolutely great caliber and I am very glad that we decided for it. The accuracy is absolutely fantastic. And thanks to the new bullets it can be very precise even at distances of up to 1,000 meters. Suitable caliber for F-class and DPS. It has a small recoil (slightly larger than .223) and the "free recoil" technique can be used (this technique allows you to shoot more precisely and faster). It forgives shooting mistakes.

110grs Hornady A-TIP, G7: 0,304

33,3grs RS60

860 m/s

Bullet drop drop at 300m 500m 750m 1.000m 1.250m 1.500m 2.000m 3.000m

36cm 1,5m 4,3m 9,5m

We have several weapons in this caliber. However it is necessary to adjust the magazines and - for some types of weapons even the action. All this for reliable feeding and ejection. Ruger PR and Ultimatum work flawlessly with just modified magazines but we had to "push" the Remington 700 a bit. But in the end it turned out well. During the season it turned out how great it is to shoot with this caliber and achieve excellent performance. In the picture "zeroing and group check" during training before the competition.

By the way: on this target, it is absolutely great to see how advantageous it can be to have a riflescope that allows "smooth zero adjustment". That is one that is not limited by the value of the click with this setting. I would need to have zero half click right and half click up. Then I would be able to take full advantage of the weapon's precision potential. But since I don't have such a riflescope mounted on it, I have to hold over this correction. Of course it depends on how difficult are the targets and also what the weapon "can" do. However, at the competition before which I did this verification, it would be very useful…

6,5 Creedmoor

We have been using it as a universal standard for several years. This caliber is today the best-selling rifle caliber in the world and it has a reason. It is suitable not only for sport shooting, but also for hunting. It excels mainly at Long Range distances and its use is realistic up to 1,100 meters. The recoil is very pleasant but the "free recoil" is even with a good muzzle brake on the edge of possibility or maybe slightly behind it. In my opinion, the weight of the weapon would have to be over 10 kg with a good brake in order for this technique to be used well. However, 6.5 CM excels in classic shooting techniques.

147grs Hornady ELD-M, G7: 0,351

41,2grs RS60

830 m/s

Bullet drop drop at 300m 500m 750m 1.000m 1.250m 1.500m 2.000m 3.000m

37cm 1,5m 4,4m 9,4m

We have several weapons in this caliber in the team and you can successfully compete and hunt with them. Over the years, we have achieved many successes with this caliber, both in the Long Range and DPS competitions. It's just the gold standard today.

6,5 PRC

When 6.5 Creedmoor is not enough and you need to shoot a little further or hit harder. Caliber usable for hunting and competitive shooting up to 1,300 meters. It is a "semi magnum" ie stronger than the standard but not yet a classic magnum. Even with a lighter weapon (7 kg) shooting is pleasant and quite forgiving mistakes. Thanks to 6.5mm bullets with high BC and high speed, it is not so prone to wind and the drop of the bullet is relatively small. And all in classic .308Win magazines. However the bolt must be magnum because the cartridge has a larger diameter than .308Win.

135grs Hornady A-TIP, G7: 0,321

56grs RS70

975 m/s

Bullet drop drop at 300m 500m 750m 1.000m 1.250m 1.500m 2.000m 3.000m

21cm 99cm 3m 6,6m 12,3m

I used it in this weapon with good results but it turned out that the carbon barrel is a great choice for hunting but not so much for sports. So I have another barrel ready - this time stainless steel. In addition it will be in another weapon. But I will definitely continue to use this caliber especially at distances of 800 - 1,300 meters or in severe weather conditions which it can handle better than 6.5 Creedmoor. And it still behaves like a normal caliber which is great.

7mm Practical

We have been using it for several years and again it was a great choice. It is a magnum caliber but with a lower recoil. The cartridge case was originally a .300 Winchester Magnum but with a resized neck for a 7mm bullet. These bullets weigh 2/3 of what conventional magnum bullets and yet have better ballistic properties. And thanks to the lower weight of the projectile the weapon has a lower recoil - so it is easier to shoot with this caliber than with classic magnums. Over time it has become clear that we can easily compete in .338 Lapua Magnum competitions in Long Range competitions. Can be used up to 1,600 meters (1 mile).

197grs Sierra Match King, G7: 0,400

68grs RS70

915 m/s

Bullet drop drop at 300m 500m 750m 1.000m 1.250m 1.500m 2.000m 3.000m

26cm 1,1m 3,3m 6,9m 12,5m 21m

With this Tikka T3 we have achieved many successes in Long Range competitions. Veronika usually shoots with her and almost always brings a cup. Compared to the competition (especially the .338 LM and .300WM) it has the advantage of lower recoil and excellent precision. In addition I must admit that we managed to assemble and tune this weapon extremely well and is currently our most reliable and precise weapon.

37 XC

Go big or go home… For shooting ELR - extreme distances. A huge shell that can shoot very accurately. 10,000 Joules of Muzzle Energy will test the shooter position and recoil management... Caliber designed for shooting at 2,000 to 3,500 meters. XC stands for Extreme Capacity. And the truth is that bottle of powder is enough for only a few shots…

361grs Warner Tools Company Flat Line, G7: 0,494

123grs IMR 8133

927 m/s

Bullet drop drop at 300m 500m 750m 1.000m 1.250m 1.500m 2.000m 3.000m 3.500m

23cm 1m 3m 6,1m 10,9m 17,5m 38,5m 137m 228m

Thunder Stick of the Lord of Excuses. A monster from hell which is designed for extreme distances and the ultimate competition - "King of 2 Miles" (Ko2M). The last two years have been canceled in Europe due to Covid so we will see what it will be like in 2022. Unfortunately, due to travel restrictions, we could not even honestly test and properly prepare this madness. Hopefully the new season will be more favorable…

You may have noticed that I no longer mention .308 Win and .338 LM calibers as I did in the past. That's because I will not use them in the new season. Everything the .308 can do 6.5 CM can do better. Everything that the .338 LM can do 7mm Practical can do better (in this case, of course, except of impact energy. But if we shoot at targets then it doesn't matter). And that's why we have no reason to use them in the new season…

Is there any caliber that I would like to have in the future? Yes.

For the AR15 I plan to try a 6mm ARC caliber. For repeating rifles I would like to try some bold and crazy wildcat (non-standard modified caliber) in the magnum category with a .300 - 250grs Hornady A-TIP projectile.

But otherwise I am very satisfied with the current setup:

.223 Remington for training and up to 300 meters

6mm Dasher to win

6,5 CM for everything

6,5 PRC where Creedmoor is not enough and up to 1,300 meters

7mm Practical up to 1,600 meters

37 XC for extremes