Domaine D’Aristee with Hornady, Leupold and Savage

When Jens Tigges from OMI asked if I would like to take a four-day trip to a hunting and shooting location in France, it didn’t take long to agree. As well as hunting opportunities across the 1800-hectare estate, the owner, Frederic Patin, runs training courses for hunters and shooters wanting to broaden their skills out to 1000m. Hornady, Leupold, and Savage wanted to use the opportunity to introduce precision and long-range shooting to a few European hunting journalists, and I tagged along.

The trip

Arriving at Montpellier airport, we had a 60-minute transfer to the delightful countryside, with endless greenery, rolling hills, and forests interlaced with vineyards running as far as the eye could see. We were met at the Château by representatives from Hornady (Seth Swerczek), Leupold (Nic Kytlica), and Savage (Matt Alwine). They provided press briefings and tuition throughout the event.

Although UK shooters are becoming increasingly familiar with precision shooting events like PRS, one of the goals for this trip was to help introduce it to the predominantly hunting-based markets around Europe, so other journalists from Germany, Italy, France, Poland, and Spain were also present.

It’s perhaps worth mentioning that although we may feel somewhat legally restricted in the UK by laws banning certain types of firearms, we enjoy comparative freedoms over other countries regarding shooting over land other than official ranges, and it’s something many of my European friends covet strongly. Even the Americans (I won’t specifically quote Steve Hornady’s colourful description) appreciate our relatively sensible and easy access to moderators/suppressors.

Let’s talk ammo

For the hunting and pistol shooting journalists, access to the large precision rifles in seemingly small calibres was a real eye-opener, as well as the multi-range concepts involved. Our first classroom session was with Seth from Hornady, who as well as ballistic research, is heavily involved in marketing, plus he runs the company podcast (which I can thoroughly recommend). We discussed the latest trends in PRS shooting and the differences between the 6 and 6.5mm calibres available (factory ammo and hand-loaded options).

It’s funny how the world continues to re-discover itself because although we shot mostly 6.5 Creedmoor rifles throughout the event for simple ammunition commonality, this is a fast-dying cartridge among top US PRS competitors. This is because they seek even less recoil and superior wind-resistant ballistics, all at the expense of barrel life while using the 6mm Creedmoor.

Hornady themselves have introduced the 6mm ARC, which is essentially an update to the 6mm PPC. It shows a 0.440” case head diameter and projects a 108-grain ELD-M at 2750 fps. That said, the 6mm Creedmoor pushes the same bullet along at 2960 fps. Although physical recoil isn’t a huge factor, spotting bullet trace and impacts on the target is, so there are benefits along with a superior barrel life. There are no magic answers, and although we are already seeing 6mmBR variants commonly in the UK for PRS, I like to see cartridges with streamlined magazine feed capability that will lead to factory-chambered rifles becoming available. So, the Arc appeals to me. It’s also wonderfully quiet from a moderated rifle.

This will help

Up for discussion next was the use of the 4DOF (4 Degrees of Freedom) ballistic calculator app for smartphones, as well as its availability in a Kestrel 5700 Weather meter, too. This topic alone would take 4-5 pages to cover, as it involves incredible mathematical detail, but essentially, 4DOF differs because instead of using simple G1 or G7 ballistic coefficients, the system uses over 400 variables, including measurements from individual bullet types. Hornady physically sections bullets from either their own range or competitors. They then fully mathematically map their shape and precise weight distribution. This allows 4DOF to calculate the effect of a bullet’s rotational speed, yaw characteristics, and angle of attack within firing solutions. Modern ballistic calculators can be trued up. Things like Kestrels or other APP-based calculators need to be refined with range time and experience, but on a truly technical level, it is fascinating to see how 4DOF approaches the solutions.

Interestingly, the 4DOF app for smartphones is free and there are no adverts, just a few add-ons that can be purchased if you want specific features. The app gives full access to Hornady’s 4DOF research (bullet characteristic database) and once set up, it doesn’t need internet connectivity to run. It’s intuitive and can be linked with a Kestrel via Bluetooth, or manually with other wind meters if you require. It also allows for more atmospheric and location detail to be input in real-time, but I will cover this in a more detailed article in the future. The simple fact is that the app benefits from greater computational power within a phone than the Kestrel possesses, so there are advantages to both systems. However, one is free on the phone already in your pocket, and the other is about £600!

Optics

Nic from Leupold presented a general company overview, before focussing on their involvement with the US PRS market, explaining how their products are well suited to the tasks at hand. He also dispelled a few myths that are long established and hard to clean up in the optics trade, and as much as we try to explain, ‘some’ people still only want to hear ‘what’s best when it gets dark’.

I was pleased to hear him claim an honest 1% tolerance on mechanical travel within the adjustment of an optic. At the same time, he blasted out of the water some of the assumed factors within the industry. He demonstrated cant-free scope mounting and correlated the details about 4DOF-derived firing solutions alongside actual turret and corresponding reticle usage. This was all backed up by the fact Nic is an active PRS shooter, and he showed us a superb training video with TriggerCam footage filmed during an actual course of fire. This illustrated positional stability, watching for bullet trace, and hits with immediate aim-off compensation for incorrect wind calls, and/or continually refined wind calls through the 60-90 second competition segment. To the non-PRS shooters watching, this was also a superb introduction to the benefits of first focal plane optics, because as hunters, most had only used second focal plane in the past. Terms like eye relief and eye box were also demonstrated with respect to maintaining a correct shooting position for field of view and aimpoint through the recoil cycle.

The rifles

The final briefings were from Jens himself on the Savage rifle range, as well as from Matt who is a Savage-sponsored PRS shooter in the ultra-competitive US market. Matt shared hints and tips for those starting out in the discipline, and at no time promoted specific products. I liked the way he explained what he did and why he did it, without dismissing alternative techniques and approaches, which he was prepared to discuss.

Although Savage are not currently popular in the UK, this is likely to change, with a new distributor coming soon. I remember reviewing Savage rifles a while back that were pushing lighter chassis systems into the civilian market way ahead of the current surge. They are a brand that always seems to have provided factory rifles for growing markets, just like they did with F-Open and FTR rifles a decade ago. A Savage 110 in a chassis, and with a Leupold Mk5 5-25x56 scope fitted, is an easy rifle to shoot.

We used three of the ranges on the estate, and day one saw us use a short range for checking zero and making sure the newer shooters could familiarise themselves with the positional concepts and courses of fire. Day two and range two offered targets from 300-500m, while the third day on range three provided extended shooting from 500-1000m.

All of the ranges had multiple stable firing points, as well as some deliberately unstable ones. We used vehicles to travel along snake-like gravel roads that twisted back and forth around the estate to get to them, with no real impression of where we were, other than with GPS tracking. When you popped up out of tree cover onto the firing points, you were able to see small clearings cut into the otherwise continuous tree cover, enabling access to steel targets with safe backstops. The scenery was stunning and the weather never disappointed, with a 17–23º air temp and an 8 mph wind with odd 10mph gusts.

The shooters all got the opportunity to try different rifles, cartridges, and scopes alongside the 4DOF app to generate firing solutions. All the guns were chronographed with a Labradar to make sure the data entered was accurate. Some rifles had moderators, some had brakes, and it was great to watch all the shooters experiencing first-hand, the removal of recoil compared to the ‘naked’ rifle. We were able to see bullet trace more easily through the air, plus the shot placement on steel, then reload with the least amount of point-of-aim-shift.

Once everyone felt familiar with the rifles and new concepts, we moved on to some PRS-type courses of fire. Nothing competitive, but an introductory demonstration that was quite illuminating for those without prior experience. It was very enjoyable to see how they progressed and improved. Bear in mind the differences in international hunting and shooting cultures here, and if you think we all seem different in the UK, combine that with alternate countries and legal requirements from those who have never rung steel beyond a few tens of metres!

Just to get it out of the way, there is no denying our French hosts excelled with both food and wine (on an evening) to the extent that meals were interrupted by shooting, rather than the other way round. We spent an average of 4-5 hours a day at the dinner table in deep discussion!

Signing off

To sum things up, Jens Tigges said “Ballistics are the science, wind reading is an art form”, and he was totally correct. Many experienced shooters will dismiss smaller cartridges with lower speeds and weaker ballistics, without recognising that the shooter is always the weakest link in the chain. So, a cartridge that offers good barrel life and is priced well, will always enable more trigger time. This is easily visible from the growth of Rimfire PRS.

It was great to be on a trip with industry experts and to be able to spend a lot of time listening to ideas and concepts. I found the approach very impressive and would like to see this type of event growing in stature again, as the writers are the people non-club or target shooters find most accessible to contact with enquiries. Target shooters and hunters all face challenges, and any time we mix the two together, it strengthens both sports. Talking to shooters from other countries also illustrates what may well be on the political radar in our own. But for now, PRS is growing fast, and I’m looking forward to trying some of the new products mentioned on home soil. This way, I will have a bit more time to go into greater detail, especially with new rifles like the straight-pull, Impulse Elite Precision, which I think may well be the future of Savage rifles in the UK.

Thanks to:

Outdoor Marketing International - www.outdoor-mi.com

Hornady - www.hornady.com

Leupold - www.leupold.com

Savage - www.savagearms.com