Anger? Jealously? Happiness? Truth be told I don’t know exactly where my emotions lie with the current state of precision. Here’s what I do know—if you want to get into precision rifle shooting, it’s never been easier to find precision shooting success. What parts of precision have become easier? All of them. Access to good equipment at all price levels. Access to education and training and the sharing of information. Finally, access to ranges and opportunities to test your capabilities. It’s all there. Right now. You can get a lot for not excessive amounts of cash unless you want to spend excessive amounts of cash. Whether it’s the rifle, optic, ammo, or the instruction and everything in between. It’s available in droves. It wasn’t like that when I first attempted to get into precision. It’s still an investment, but you now get so much more with that investment.
Precision Shooting Success
I’ve known this about precision for a while now, but the point was driven even further home in my latest trip the the Leupold Academy—one of my all-time favorite places to go and send bullets at all sorts of distances, in varying conditions and terrain. Every time I go, I learn. And every time I go, precision shooting success gets better.
Noobs Apply Here
First of all, the Leupold Academy isn’t open to the public. I’m sorry for this. I know they offer a few hunting specific courses once in a while. Don’t let that deter you from the rest of what I’m about to convey. The rifle, optic, and ammo combo literally blew me away. Why? It wasn’t the first time I’d interacted with any of the equipment aside from Hornady’s V-Match ammunition. But it was the display of the capabilities of the equipment on hand. Several of us from varying levels of experience laid down behind factory-built rifles, topped with affordable optics, shooting affordable factory ammo and absolutely smashing steel all they way out to 1,300 yards. It was literally show up, lay, down, shoot, and leave being amazing. I want that for you. And guess what? You can get it.
This kit that we used is nothing but an easy button. If you’re thinking about diving into precision shooting, you can’t go wrong with this combination to get you on the path.
Rifle
Aero Precision dropped the Solus Competition Rifle in 2023. I reviewed the rifle in late 2023 and it won our Ballistic’s Best competition in the target bolt-action category. The Solus represents what’s possible when a company sets their mind to doing it as right as they can, and observing and listening to what shooters want and need.
I refer to the Solus as the American Tikka, which is a high complement as I’ve never heard anyone badmouth a Tikka. Ever. The heart of the Solus rifle is the Solus action that features three lugs and a 60-degree throw. It’s smooth. Really smooth and when you insert a loaded mag; the action feeds so effortlessly into the chamber you may think that you failed to feed a round. That was my initial impression back in 2023 and it stands to this day. Add to that the ability for the user to change out barrels on their own via an available barrel changing kit and pre-fit barrels, and you have a rifle that can grow with the shooter. You don’t have to over commit.
The barrel and action are dropped inside a well optioned aluminum chassis. It’s adjustable and comfortable and you can add weights as well. It’s a proper chassis for the modern target shooter. And the rifle in it’s stock form is actually light enough to take it on a hunt if you want, at around 11 pounds sans optic. Keep in mind, being a Rem 700 footprint, you can place the barreled action in to countless other chassis and stocks.
The price is also a strong point of the Solus. Just over $2,200 will get you into a complete rifle. Then you’ll only need a couple of other things that you can read about here.
Optic
Leupold has a long standing name and reputation as an American-made optic with solid performance. Personally, I’ve watched over the past five years or so as Leupold has changed their game significantly, and this change has benefited the shooter in many ways. The Mark 5HD is an optic that put Leupold back on the map of precision shooting. And the new Mark 4HD, which we ran with the Solus, adds affordability to high-level performance.
I personally like to think of the Mark 4HD as a downsized and down featured MK5 HD. The glass is exceptional with a clarity that I’ve come to expect from Leupold. The tube is a 34mm instead of the 35mm of the MK5—fine by me. It’s easier to get rings for. Other small differences include a windage cap that isn’t covered on the Mark 4, but it and the elevation dial feature their ZeroLock system with .5 MIL under-travel on the elevation.
This optic comes in a trove of magnifications and reticles, but the sweet spot for me is the 6-24×52. It first the precision role perfectly, being lightweight, and parallaxing down to 25 yards. The PR2 reticle is a must in this optic, although the PR3 will work as well. I’m still a fan of the tree reticle. I have more options for aiming that way.
The MK4HD 6-24×52 can be had at $1,499 MSRP, which is a magnificent price for the performance and features this optic includes. The best shooters in the sport would be hard pressed to find short comings in this optic.
Ammo
I assumed these rifles would be chambered in 6.5 Creedmoor. I mean, why not? It’s the new standard. I was pleasantly surprised to find they were instead chambered in 6mm Creedmoor—still my favorite cartridge at this point. It’s fast, accurate, has low recoil, and does well in the wind. Also, it’s popular enough to find off the shelf at a local box store and even smaller stores.
I’m a huge fan of Hornady’s ELDM 108-grain and I was not expecting the 80-grain V Match to be the ammo of choice. Boy am I glad they did this. Can we talk about the lack of recoil? Or the great velocity from the 22-inch barrels? I never imagined an 80-grain bullet could perform at this level all while being a varmint projectile at the same time.
You could think of the ELD-VT bullet as a hybrid line. The ELD-VT utilizes aerodynamic features from low-drag match bullets, coupled with lightweight of varmint projectiles. This is accomplished through its reduced core to bullet ratio. It flies fast and stable. 1,300 yards with 80-grainers is no joke and Hornady’s factory loaded 80-grain ELD-VT did the work. This is off-the-shelf type of ammo and it makes hitting the target easy, especially when paired up with a premiere ballistics solver like Hornady’s 4DOF.
4DOF is a free app available from Hornady and it uses complex computations to spit out accurate ballistics solutions. I use this app almost exclusively now for its precision and the lack of having to true my rifle at distance for it to work. The 4DOF solver is available in a Kestrel as well, which we used in conjunction with the smart device app.
Other Niceties for Precision Shooting Success
I should note that the overall experience was made better with the addition of Aero Precision Lahar-30 suppressor. These rifles were crazy quiet with the suppressor on board and totally spoiled all the shooters.
Add something like the Atlas bipod and well you are truly set for precision success on the fast track, as long as you get some instruction as well. The instruction will remove many mistakes that could be made, costing you precious improvement time.
Anger and jealousy aside, if I had to start new, and wanted to maximize my precision shooting experience and minimize my financial investment while obtaining product with longevity, I’d opt for this setup that includes the Solus, Leupold Mark 4HD, and Hornady ammo. It’s truly a hard setup to beat.
