THE ROAD TO MAMMOTH: PART 1 - THE RIFLE

When I sit and think about the giant that is the Mammoth Sniper Challenge, my heart races and my body fills with nervous energy. The idea of failure enters my mind. It’s the series of what-ifs that circulate through my prefrontal cortex—the part of my brain responsible for rationalizing thoughts. But then it hits me: breathe. This is just training; we haven’t even reached Arkansas or Virginia yet. But in this moment of preparation, I can visualize the feelings, the stressors, and of course, the possibility of failure. Will I succeed in my goal?

These are the thoughts that race through my mind when I train. I try to prepare my body for that stress, even if it’s simulated, so that when the moment arrives, I’m ready. Because when that first ruck begins, everything else fades away. No plan survives first contact. That’s why I’m out on a hot summer day in Ohio. The humidity has surpassed the temperature, and I’m trying to break in a new rifle, a rifle designed specifically for Mammoth.

RANGE DAY, TAKE ONE

Time is valuable, and only so much of it can be sacrificed to training. So, on a day when everything goes wrong, frustration levels surpass the day’s mercury level. I was shooting at my friend’s property, a place explicitly bought for shooting. While not considered a “long-range” by modern standards, we can still shoot out to about 425 yards. It features a platform, tank trap, logs, and any other items we can haul out to create various scenarios. But today wasn’t about positional shooting; it was about testing out a newly built rifle on its maiden voyage.

The rifle was constructed using high-quality components, including a Bergara barreled action, an MDT HNT26 chassis, a TriggerTech trigger, and a Vortex optic. All these parts should come together to create a lightweight, precision machine. However, sometimes, things don’t go as planned.

It was a hot, humid day in Ohio for the rifle’s maiden voyage. The chance of rain was in the air, and the humidity hovered north of 90%. Sweat rolled down my face. The range had just been mowed; however, the shooting platform was on its last legs. The previous year, I put a hole through it when I stood up from the prone position. I hoped it could last through one more range session. I was wrong. I had barely unpacked and set the rifle down on the platform when I stepped up, only to find myself touching the ground again. Now there were two holes, forcing me to contort my body around them. No big deal, right?

The initial configuration of the rifle had no external weights or a muzzle brake. Originally, I planned to use a Daniel Defense SG-30 Titanium suppressor, and that’s how I shot it on this day. I managed to get a rough zero at 100 yards with American Eagle M80 ammo, but it didn’t shoot consistently. I attributed this to inconsistent ammo. Then, I switched to Hornady 168-gr A-Max from their Black line. I’ve fired numerous loads from this series with great success. But today was different.

I was putting two rounds close to each other, then a 3-4” shift for subsequent shots. Nearly all my accuracy testing is done with 5-shot groups. I’m a big proponent of Outdoor Life’s 20-round aggregate that looks at mean radius as a better indicator of a rifle’s potential. However, on this day, nothing was working. I went through nearly two boxes of ammo, taking 5-minute breaks between groupings, and consistently got the same results. A couple of shots are close together, then a dramatic shift occurs. I even switched to leftover Hornady 178-gr ELD-X ammo from a Texas hunt—same results.

After that, I started a thorough inspection. I have Fix-it sticks in my range bag, so I checked the torque on the action and optic screws. Everything seemed fine there. Next, I examined the barrel. It was piping hot to the touch. By this point, more than five minutes had passed, and the barrel should have cooled some.

Furthermore, the suppressor was just as hot. To make things worse, I noticed the Bipod was loose! In my frustration after falling through the shooting platform, I never checked if the Cyke-pod was tightened down. By this point in the afternoon, I was annoyed and hot. I had already sweated through my shirt and wasted over $50 worth of ammo. It was time to swallow my pride and call it a day with that rifle (though the range session wasn’t a total loss; I shot my precision 10/22, which was comically accurate).

THE FIX

After a few days of pondering and conferring with the World Wide Web, I made some adjustments. First, I stripped down the rifle for a thorough cleaning. I usually clean new guns when I get them, but honestly, after thinking it over, I couldn’t remember if I did that with this rifle. So, I decided to do it again—you never know if machine chips or oil are interfering with its accuracy.

Next, I removed the suppressor. Sometimes, suppressors can compromise accuracy as they alter the barrel’s harmonics (see this article on Silencer Central). In its place, I installed a Kelbly Rifle’s “The Claw” muzzle break (I hope that is a Toy Story reference). I also added two external M-Lok weights to help further manage recoil. Then, I reassembled the rifle and checked the torque. I even used a mirror to verify the scope’s tracking. Once more, everything appeared to be fine

FINAL THOUGHTS

Not everything goes well on every range visit. Much of the media only depicts the highlights, but the reality is quite different. Initially, I wasn’t going to discuss this day’s transgressions. Instead, I view it as a learning tool. And if it’s happened to me, it’s happened to many others. Precision rifle shooting is a journey. And not all days are good. There are setbacks. And that’s okay. How we handle those obstacles is how we learn about ourselves and move forward. It’s about getting back out to the range and letting go of the past, focusing on the present. If you relent to these obstacles, Mammoth Sniper Challenge will swallow you whole.