King of 2 Miles ELR Match — Derek Rodgers Takes the Crown
Photos by Stephen Fiorenzo, courtesy Applied Ballistics.
The 2017 King of 2 Miles match has concluded, and we have a new monarch. F-Class Ace Derek Rodgers is the new King of 2 Miles. Shooting with Team Applied Ballistics, Derek delivered a dominant performance, scoring nearly twice as many points as his nearest rival, Ronnie Wright. And Derek was the first KO2M marksman in history to hit the target at the maximum 3368-yard (1.91 mile) distance.
With his McMillan-stocked .375 CheyTac rifle, Derek shot brilliantly from the start. He was perfect — without a miss — at the first three yardages: 1543, 1722, and 1888. He had some misses at 1953 and 2667 yards, but then he out-shot all competitors at 3028 yards, going two for five. No other shooter managed a single hit at 3028 yards. Then it all came down to the big one — the last (and greatest) challenge, the target at 3368 yards (1.91 miles).
This would require superior shooting skills, a masterful wind call (by Emil Praslick), and nerves of steel. Derek tried four shots without success. It looked like the two-mile hit would continue to be an impossible goal. But then, on his fifth and very last shot, Derek did it — he hit the 3368-yard target.
After Derek made the (nearly) two-mile shot, cheers erupted on the firing line — what an achievement! Derek is the first (and only) shooter to make the 3368-yard shot at K02M. Watch him do it in this video:
Derek Rodgers Hits Target at 3368 Yards on his Final Shot:
Derek Rodgers K02M-Winning Hardware and Ammunition
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RIFLE COMPONENTS |
CARTRIDGE and LOAD |
Factory Rifle Finishes in Second Place
With so many full-custom rifles on the firing line, many were surprised to see a factory rifle finishing second overall. Ronnie Wright shot superbly with his stock Barrett M99 chambered in .416 Barrett. Ronnie’s impressive second-place performance proved the effectiveness of the .416 Barrett cartridge (and the build quality of the M99). For ammo, Ronnie used Cutting Edge 472gr MTAC projectiles loaded in Barrett-stamped .416 cases. The powder was Alliant Reloder 50 ignited by CCI #35 50 BMG primers. The rifle had a Barrett factory 32″ barrel fitted with an Accuracy 1st level.
INTERVIEW with DEREK RODGERS:
Q: What do you believe contributed to your success at this match?
Derek: This match was truly a team effort from the entire Applied Ballistics Team. Emil Praslick and Paul Phillips are world class wind-readers and spotters. They have the ability to make decisive decisions and trust that I (as the shooter) will put a bullet on target every time a command is given. We posses a dynamic team background with a lot of history and experience under our belt. Our positive team synergy is hard to find. The addition of vital tools played a huge role in our success. A few of the tools we used were the AB Kestrel and Garmin Foretrex 701 AB Elite to give absolutely crucial and accurate ballistic solutions. The new McMillan ELR Beast stock was stable and the NF ATACR scope is robust and clear. The Bartlein barrel used was top notch! However, one of the most important pieces of the ELR puzzle and the only thing that separates the target is — the bullet. We chose Cutting Edge (CE) bullets due to their high level of precision. These bullets proved to be invaluable in connecting every piece of steel at the KO2M competition. The CE 400gr Lazer Max bullet was selected and was tremendously accurate. This bullet transitioned into a sub-sonic velocity without any loss of precision at ELR distances. Our success would not be possible if the projectile did not fly correctly for 7+ seconds of flight time. CE has outstanding designs and several quality choices to choose from.
Q: How many hours would you say you practiced for this match?
Derek: It is hard to calculate practice time in hours. ELR is a program that we work on every chance we get — day and night for months prior to the event. We have an extremely strong background of team shooting and long range shooting. A lot of time has been invested on and off the range, but does not stop there. The combined range time from other disciplines really helped me to be successful in transitioning from long range to ELR. It really is a compilation of 10 years of trials and tribulations. Some would say, “the Devil is in the details”. Our team tries very hard to not overlook any small detail. Practice and training is always scrutinized for improvements. Our Applied Ballistics team has a love and passion that goes beyond measurable amounts of time. We were fortunate to get together for two days a month prior to the Ko2M event to review our program and practice as a team. Bryan Litz had a plan, and we discovered as a team we had flaws in our program. Each one of us contributed from years of experience on improving our technique until we had a winning solution.
Q: Why did you choose the .375 CheyTac cartridge?
Derek: When I was asked to join the AB Team, I needed to get an ELR rifle built in a short period of time. I was under a very tight time schedule to get the project complete. In an effort to eliminate variables, I decided to keep things standard and as simple as possible. I chose the .375 CheyTac for the ease of getting components. The larger rifles are more difficult to get components quickly and I felt like the .375 CheyTac had enough attributes to be competitive at ELR distances.
The Cutting Edge 400gr bullets are milled from solid copper bar stock on a CNC Swiss-style lathe.
New ELR Hardware and Software on Display at K02M
This marks the second straight year that Team Applied Ballistics has won the K02M event. Last year, Team AB shooter Mitchell Fitzpatrick won the coveted “King of 2 Miles” title (Fitzpatrick finished fourth this year, just off the podium). In the past year, there has been considerable evolution in Extreme Long Range hardware and software, and projectiles are constantly being improved.
Bryan Litz (center) conferring with Team AB members Emil Praslick (L) and Doc Beech (R).
We asked Bryan Litz, founder of Applied Ballistics, to summarize developments in the ELR game. Here are Bryan’s observations:
“Each year the KO2M sees advancements and shooters converging on those tools and processes that have proven effective in prior years. It’s rather apparent, for example, that spotting impacts is a crucial part of success in this match. This was improved by the match directors/organizers placing the targets in very good locations for spotting impacts. We’re seeing less set-ups with adjustable bases, and more with solid/fixed scope mounts. One of the exciting new pieces of equipment is the periscope device made by TACOMHQ (John Baker). This device provides an optical shift to the image which allows you to get more elevation for those long shots. Also, the refinement of fire control (ballistic) solutions has really played a role in getting shooters centered up for their first shots.”
“This tournament highly favors first-round impacts with the scoring system, so the approach of ‘walking the shots on’, isn’t a winning strategy. Those who employed accurate ballistics solvers were able to score more first round hits, and pile up the points. First and second place (at least) were using Applied Ballistics solvers to center their shots. We’re looking forward to even more advancements and making these ELR shots even out to two miles more commonplace in the future thru systematically applying the Science of Accuracy.”
The winning Applied Ballistics Team:
Bonus Video — Interview with David Tubb at KO2M
Similar Posts:
- The King Goes Big — Derek Rodgers Builds a .416 Barrett
- Sunday Gunday: .375 CheyTac ELR Rig and Cartridge Info
- Sunday Gunday: World-Record-Setting .375 CheyTac TubbGun
- Peterson Cartridge Brass Distributed through Grafs.com
- Go Big or Go Home — Big Presses Needed for Big ELR Cartridges
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Tags: Applied Ballistics, Bryan Litz, Cutting Edge Bullets, Derek Rodgers, ELR, Extreme Long Range, KO2M, New Mexico, Raton, Two Miles
Accuracy 1st did not make the barrel. The barrel is a stock barrel. An Accuracy 1st scope level was used to make each shot eliminating can’t of the rifle.
Interesting comments on the K2M Facebook page before they were taken down…
Comment N°1-
This match is like pro’s playing against college team’s. They cater to certain team’s/people. For instance AB was struggling with the
final target’s. Team’s were required to follow all rules but exceptions were made to allow AB a advantage in keeping them as winners.
I recommend you look at this long and hard before shooting in this match. I liked how the wind caller for AB admitted he had all the
information on the target’s the day before it was released to all the other shooters in it. He said it in the AB clinic at the end of day 1. If
it’s not a rigged event then why would other team’s not be allowed that information until day 1 when they could be shooting 30 minutes
later. AB gets the information well in advance. Definitely something to think about. Along with the rules not being enforced for AB. I
know several other’s were told it was immediate disqualification if there were more than 2 spotters. AB had 3+ everytime and nothing
was done about it.
Comment N°2-
Okay well the 2017 match in Raton NM is over once again. In reality it needs to be renamed the AB show instead of it’s current name.
The AB team had their own camera crew, filming everything they did from start to finish and for those that may not have noticed, even
had a camera man tapped into the match target cams relaying information and recording the AB shooters while shooting. The AB team
caught every angle possible.
The rules were obviously different for the AB team, and many of the other teams were very aware of it.
Case in point, when another competitor asked Mr. Manners “Hey is that fair to have two rifles on the line like that”? Referring to
moment when another AB team member was down on the line with the new king while the new king was shooting and the AB team
member was using the scope on his rifle to walk in the new kings rounds. Mr. Manners replied, “Well no not really but look who it is,
there not going to say anything”. Yes, wind coaching is allowed but 3/4’s of the AB team was in the shooters box/staging area at the
time when the new king was shooting giving signals and impact adjustments. On several occasions, the match director or the match
referee would demand observers with spotting scopes preparing for their team, to leave the shooters staging area.
Another point, in the 2017 rules it clearly stated that when a team is on the line shooting, no one from that team can be in the target
camera viewing area where the monitors are. AB team members were seen countless times in this area observing target hit’s and
misses. Another rule states that the shooter is responsible for making all adjustments to his/her rifle once they begin engaging targets.
Not the case, the AB team lead was viewed making scope adjustments to the several AB scopes while they were shooting. As were
other teams also viewed doing the same thing, again nothing was said. Also the 2017 rules stated that if a shooter has a malfunction of
the same type two times during his/her course of fire, that shooter is disqualified. An AB team member had this very thing happen, two
fail to fire type one malfunctions, click no bang due to poor quality control during reloading and apparently was allowed to continue.
The afternoon of the first day, right at half of the shooters had shot. The AB team offered up a free clinic in the eagles nest for those
that wished to attend. Several thought it was kind of odd that the AB wind coach stated during his segment “As soon as I got the target
distances last night, I went to work”. How did the the AB team wind coach have the target distances the night before everyone else did.
In previous years of this match, the target distances and course of fire were not reveled until the morning of the first day at the
shooters brief. Mmmm???
Congratulations are flying all over social media for the AB team. Why? It’s obvious the match was for them and the other
teams/competitors were there to make it seem as more of a big deal match. Keep in mind shooters and teams travel great distances,
thousands of miles at their own expense to compete in this match. It was also observed by several participants that the AB team had
way more time to get their shooters set up than other teams did. From just observing, this match was a f-class elr match, not a tactical
match. Do away with the f-class bi-pods and the bench rest rear bags and let’s see how the scores are next year. By the way, it was a
great target presentation and the cold bore target was brilliant indeed!!!
Oh, and the cherry on the cake, you’re going to love this one. The match referee, the same person responsible for picking target
locations a few months just prior to the match as well as hanging/setting the targets for the match came in third place. Wow!!!
really??? So do you think he had time to game the course of fire just a little bit. The top three all walked away with thousands of dollars
in really nice prizes with this years king walking away with nearly $10,000.00 in cash, trips and prizes.
Solutions
One: enforce the rules written and don’t change them several times because someone doesn’t like it.
Two: anyone associated with the design and/or control of the match can not shoot the match for score.
Three: don’t show favors to any team for any reason.
Four: all team members are required to wear the same team shirt for identification purposes.
Five: if a team has five or more team members only four shooters can participate in the match.
Six: no more than two team members of the same team in the the shooters box/staging area.
Seven: two spotters may assist wind calling for their team shooter only with a spotting scope.
Eight: target cam/referee monitoring area should be sealed from all accept match officials.
Nine: no one is allowed to tap into radio frequency cameras viewing the targets at any time during the match.
Ten: make it fair for everyone competing and always refer to solution one!
Eleven: any one team may only have two team members in the finals.
If this match isn’t made fair for everyone, attendance will surely decline and that’s not the intent. Now ask yourself this. Why would an
individual or a team want to drive 10, 15, 25 or even 30 hours if there is noticeable and blatant issues in regards to the rules of the
match, match officials ethics and over all fairness of competition
Von Affentitten,
Thanks for reposting those comments, and for your suggestions. Very interesting . . .
I’m surprised with a limited number of entries for the match a single team is allowed 4 shooters.
4 shooters shooting the same bullet at similar velocity definitely gives one team an advantage. I can definitely understand the animosity expressed.
I would suggest in the future a team is only allowed 1 shooter. If the event doesn’t fill up additional shooters can be chosen by teams already entered via lottery
Love the way Mr Tubb thinks.
A Top 10 equipment recap (rifle, cartridge, spotting device, and ballistic solution device) would be very much appreciated. Bryan mentioned the TACOMHQ device but neither of the Top 2 shooters used one. Did anyone in the Top 10 use it? Thanks.
Wow! What a convergence of shooter, team, rifle and bullet. The fantastic shooter and team talents aren’t obtainable commodities, so to the rifle and bullets used by Derek, – relatively short term build it says? Well, the McMilan rifle looks impeccable. If only there a twin spare for sale… I have long wondered how the Cutting Edge bullets can perform in a match and I’m very glad to see them employed so successfully. Obviously bringing that design of specialized bullet to market is no easy feat. In a competitive match, such a dominant score sure raises the bar and telegraphs to us interested in ELR what has worked – after the months of effort you guys put into development, and for that we should all acknowledge the huge contribution to ELR including your willingness to share the details of your success, thank you!
The Barrett M99 used a factory Barrett barrel. An Accuracy 1st level was used.
Really like Mr Tubbs rifle. Any idea of the price.
More Cowbell Baby!
Congratulation Derek and to the whole AB Team!
Later, Frank
Bartlein Barrels