In pretty much any circumstances or shooting discipline, scoring a 10-round group all in the center ring is something to be striven for and proud of, for virtually any shooter. The vast majority of shooters out there today would struggle to make those consistent hits. Now consider achieving this feat at 1000 yards. Impressive stuff! Even more impressive is that the man who is making headlines in the benchrest shooting world for this accomplishment, seasoned NBRSA competitor Charles Greer, is 83 years old. How many octogenarians do you know who you think could pull this off? Odds are, it’s not too many. Greer used a .300 WSM “heavy gun” – that is to say, a rifle weighing over seventeen pounds, according to the National Benchrest Shooting Association’s official classifications – at an NBRSA match near Tuscon, Arizona on February 13th. Though official NBRSA measurements are still pending at the time of this writing, the grouping is being hailed as the most accurate 10-round in competition history and is almost certain to be confirmed as a new benchrest world record.

A closer look at Greer’s impressive 1000-yard NBRSA (National Benchrest Shooting Association) target.

The record-pending group was measured at the NBRSA match using Ballistic-X software, and found to have a spread of just 2.680″. This gives an MOA measurement of just 0.256, or in layman’s terms: extremely accurate. The spread covered 2.526″ wide by 1.664″ high, with nine out of the ten rounds landing completely in the white inner circle. The tenth and final round’s perforation bled over into the next-largest blue circle by less than half, with the bullet’s center punch well within the innermost 3″ diameter X-ring. The involved rifle and ammo details are as follows, as quoted from AccurateShooter.com:

Charles Greer NBRSA 1000-Yard Heavy Gun Specifications:

Action: Borden BRMXD drop port
Barrel: Krieger 30″ 4-groove, 1:10″ twist, custom contour 1.35″ tapered to 1.00″
Chambering: .300 Winchester Short Magnum (WSM)
Chamber Specs: .337 neck with .280 freebore
Stock/Weight: McMillan/Wheeler LRB (solid fill) stock at 27 pounds
Gunsmith: Gerald Reisdorff
Optics: Vortex Golden Eagle 15-60x52mm
Front Rest: Sinclair Competition with 4″ Edgewood bag
Rear Rest/Bag: Wahlstrom mechanical rear rest with custom Edgewood bag

Load Details: Norma .300 WSM brass, Alliant Reloder 23 powder, Federal 210M primers, Berger 220gr LR Hybrid bullets at 2800 FPS

Mr. Greer with the .300 WSM “Heavy Gun” category rifle that allowed him to set this (pending) 1000-yard record.

Though this will likely end up being his best one, Mr. Greer is no stranger to setting NBRSA records. In 2008, he set an aggregate score record for the Light Gun category, and two of the three Highest Three Target Score records he set in 2010 are still standing today. Greer’s new 100-10X at 1000 record is lined up to replace two existing records. The first is Bill Schrader’s 2005 single target Heavy Gun score record of 100-6X. NBRSA competitor Tim Height set a single target Heavy Gun group record of 3.650″ in 2019, which Greer’s group edges out by 1.008″. To further put this in perspective, the current 10-Shot 1000-yard Heavy Gun group record noted by the International Benchrest Shooters organization is 2.871″, set in 2016 by Michael Gaizauskas. Greer’s 0.229″ smaller measurement should make not only the best 10-round set ever fired in an NBRSA competition, but the tightest group from any benchrest competition ever. Congrats to Mr. Greer! See you at the range.

Photos courtesy of AccurateShooter.com and the NBRSA.