South Dakota Engineering in Big Sky Country

By Bart Bauer

Author Bart Bauer glassing broken timber patches, looking for elk, while carrying the 300 PRC.

Every fall, I like to chase elk, and occasionally I even get to see one or two; I had the opportunity to hunt with a new rifle this year. This butter-smooth boom stick was H-S Precision’s Professional Long Range Hunting Rifle (PLR), chambered in 300 PRC. I topped this off with a Swarovski Z8i 1.7-13.3 optic, grabbed my gear, and headed to the range to sight-in and get some trigger time. 

The 300 PRC makes for a great hiking companion while hunting the hills of Western Montana or any other location for that matter. This rifle is equally at home no matter the location or game you’re hunting.

HS Precision, located in Rapid City, South Dakota, builds everything in-house. Thus, they can control the superior tolerance for their components, all of which lead to a great shooting rifle. They test fire every gun they manufacture to ensure it meets their half-inch MOA accuracy guarantee, also including a copy of the test target with every rifle.

The Swarovski Z8i 1.7-13.3 atop the H-S Precision, PLR, chambered in 300 PRC at the range, shooting Hornady’s Precision Hunter 212 gr ELD-X, recording velocity with a muzzle break and again with an Elite Iron STFU suppressor while zeroing the rifle at 25 and 100 yds.

I don't personally use a lead sled, so I usually get the full experience from the bench. I had reservations about the beating I thought I would receive from the repeated shots required for sight-in and develop my personal Dope/Range card. That beating never came though, thanks to a variety of well-thought-out rifle features, with the biggest one being the design of the stock.

Yes, the stock makes that much of a difference.

H-S Precision’s stock is created from dense polyurethane foam, reinforced with Kevlar fiberglass and an aluminum bedding block which helps decrease the amount of felt recoil. I really liked several stock features like the angle and feel of the ambidextrous vertical grip which had a generous palm swell that fit my hand quite nicely. The adjustable cheekpiece allowed me to get the proper sight picture and best possible shooting position. At first sight, I did have unfounded reservations about the texturing of the Urban Camo pattern on the stock, but this turned out to be a welcome feature and not the sandpaper on my face feeling I had suspected. This stock is loaded with the features you would expect from a company like H-S Precision, which is known for attention to detail and a superb level of, well, precision; and it’s a theme which carries through the whole rifle platform. The stock features a full-length aluminum bedding block, vertical grip, dual swivel studs, an adjustable cheekpiece, and a 1-inch decelerator pad.

How did it shoot?

I used Hornady's Precision Hunter 212 gr ELD-X, first at 25 yards and then again at 100 yards for zero. Velocity proved consistent both in muzzle velocity and group size was well within the manufacturer’s legendary 1/2 MOA accuracy guarantee. This is the first rifle I have ever shot, where muzzle velocities were extremely close to the ammo manufacturers posted velocities. Using both a Chrony F1 and a MagnetoSpeed V3 chronograph to log velocities, all five-round groups averaged within a few feet-per-second of each other. The 300 PRC sports a 10X cut-rifled and fluted 26-Inch barrel, with an African contour, which allows for maximum stability and heat dispensation yet is still light enough to pack. The detachable muzzle break is great for taming recoil but not so great if you happen to be a close onlooker, even with hearing protection.  Zero and velocity complete, I replaced the break on this system with an Elite Iron STFU suppressor. I was pleasantly surprised to see the minimal point of impact shift between muzzle break groups and suppressed groups at 100yrds, only about 1-inch vertical and no change left or right.

I was pleasantly surprised to see very little point of impact (POI) shift between muzzle break and suppressed groups, only about 1” vertical and no shift left or right, at 100 yds. This gun if fun to shoot and shoot and shoot, in fact I had to be careful not to shoot up all my allocated ammo at the range.

This gun is pleasant to shoot, and shoot, and shoot. In fact, I had to be careful not to shoot up all my allocated ammo the first day at the range.

The Pro Series 2000 stainless steel action is smooth and quick on the reload while throwing the two-lug bolt, with an oversized extractor and a large recoil lug. Also sporting a 3-position safety and a lovely factory trigger, with no creep and a crisp break at about 3- lbs. Their center-feed/center-stack detachable magazine feeding system comes in 3, 4, 5, 7, and 10 rounds, depending on long or short action calibers; this one was in three rounds.  The Teflon-coated magazine feature two spring tensions against the boot to ensure a tight fit and eliminate any rattle, something I have become very aware of while using other box magazine rifles. The magazine release is skeletonized and located on the trigger guard's front, easily accessible with either hand.

Now with the zero and known velocity, it was time to compute my estimated dope and verify.  This is quickly done using any of the many ballistic apps, I chose Applied Ballistics and moved to the longer ranges to verify and adjust mine. Once again, I was surprised, but at this point, I should not have been at the quality and exacting precision of the Pro-Hunter LR rifle. After dialing in my suggested elevation for 550 yards (the extent at my range) and sighting in at the steel plate way down there, I let 212 grains of ELD-X fly and was rewarded about 1.5 seconds later with a gratifying ring of steel.  Inspecting the splatter mark on the steel, I corrected only a few clicks and let another one fly, this time striking near the center of the 6-inch plate.  Follow on shots confirmed that my dope was good to go. I was ready to take this boom stick on some long walks. 

I've never been accused of being a tall guy, and that has its advantages, but not when taking this particular gun configuration for a walk. The overall length of this rifle is 43.5 inches with a 24-inch barrel. This one had a 26-inch. Now, add to that a 7.8-inches of suppressor, and you have about 54 inches of long-legged precision for my short-legged stature to carry around, wander around, up and down hills, over fallen trees and through heavy brush. Removing the 7.8-inches of suppressor drastically improved the way the rifle carried on my shoulder.  I figured I'd have time to attach the suppressor for any longer shots, and with only a 1-inch of point of impact shift at 100 yds., a close shot would be just fine. With the overall length between 44-5 inches, and topped with excellent glass, the whole package weighed in just over nine pounds, very manageable and comfortable to pack all day. The rifle weighs between 8.2-8.9 lbs. depending on caliber and barrel length from the manufacture.

I started taking this boomstick for a walk opening day of elk season and continued on through the last day, not getting a chance to take a shot. Not because we didn't see elk, but because the elk apparently had been briefed on where the safe zones were and what side of the fence to lounge about on. Sad to say, I didn't fill my elk tag this year, but not because of an equipment issue. I carried this rifle in beautiful fall weather and through some borderline blizzard conditions, and not once did I worry about whether or not the rifle would perform when needed or that I'd be hurting the beautiful finish of this gun. This rifle is built to be out and about, to whether the elements and perform all the while superbly. This rifle is built to hunt.