This week, I got a special treat. One of my former Special Forces teammates, Todd Vanlangen, stopped on his way to the King of the Two Miles event. And he brought his toys with him. Todd is now a shooter for Beretta, Tikka, Sako and Victrix. His gun of choice for this event is the Victrix Tormentum chambered in .375 Cheytac.
The King of Two Miles is a relatively new event and it’s getting popular, fast. The King of Two Miles match, or KO2M, pits teams of two to three in an extreme long-range shooting competition with targets, like the name implies, as far out as two miles.
SEE ALSO: The CZ 550 American Safari Magnum in .375 H&H — Full Review
The Victrix bolt with a 9mm Luger cartridge for scale.
Each round the teams have three to five rounds to make a hit, with extra points awarded for doing it fast. Failure to hit a target in time or with the allowed number of shots ends a team’s run.
It has a radiused 3-lug bolt with dual ejectors.
The rules are simple, but the game is not. The set up for this kind of shooting is obviously a bit specialized, though the KO2M staff has done a good job of keeping it semi practical. For instance, the rifle weight limit is 45 pounds and must not exceed .50 caliber.
The idea behind KO2M is to push the limits of rifles that are actually useful, not to build game-specific space cannons. Still, your typical deer rifle isn’t going to cut the mustard.
First, you are going to need a round with reach. The 375 CheyTac excels in this department, with arguably better flight ballistics than the 50 BMG. It might not hit as hard, but that doesn’t matter much to the paint on a steel target. And oh lord will she fly.
Most past KO2M winners have used some type of .375- or .338-caliber cartridge and the CheyTac is a solid performer in this class. We were using Peterson match grade brass hand loaded with special projectiles. There is magic in the bullets, which I’m not allowed to write about at this time.
Second, you need serious glass, preferably with a lot of travel. We used a Steiner M5XI 5-25 with a Horus H-59 reticle. This provided enough clarity for shooting at extreme distances and enough travel to keep the Victrix out of the clouds. You can hold your reticle in the sky through a concept called “stacking mils” but it gets dicey for point targets. It’s much better not to use your rifle as a mortar system.
Third, you are going to need a gun, and a mean one. The Tormentum delivers on that front. Victrix Armaments is an Italian rifle company that specializes in high end precision tactical rifles. Every bit of the gun is machined incredibly well, which the price reflects.
Our Tormentum starts at $9,995, but it was money well spent. The stock looks like it belongs in lab and the bolt is smoother than butter. The trigger is easily among the best I have ever used and it’s user adjustable down to a scary light weight.
Accuracy was incredible, with one ragged hole the standard at paper target ranges. It easily shot 1/3 MOA groups. Even in high winds our 1,800 yard group was 21 inches. Not bad for a rifle still in its break in period.
At 28 pounds, this is no runway model for certain. But if you need to hike from mountaintop to mountaintop, you are going to be hard-pressed to beat this one. Stay tuned for an update next week after King of Two Miles for a status report on Todd and the Victrix.
.416 Barret, 550 grain cutting edge solids
https://www.nytimes.com/2000/11/26/magazine/the-big-bad-fun-gun.html
You don’t say where the shoot is. Must be the Black Rock Desert. Though your readers might get a kick out of a piece about that shoot with a .50 cal back in 2001.
I know this kind of sport requires a very precise rifle, and no doubt it would need to be custom built if a team wanted to be truly competitive.
But..A weight limit of FOURTY FIVE Pounds?? I would hardly call that “Practical.”
Sure, I have seen unlimited class bench rifles that make that weight sound almost light! But, no one has ever remarked about them being a practical firearm. This is strictly a “speciality” rifle. Of little use other than a competition such as this.
I have NO problem at all with that concept, but let’s not bring the word Practical into it’s description.
At 26 lbs I could see Maybe using that term, but to make it a truly practical long range sniping event I would say the weight limit would need to be held closer to a 25 lb maximum rifle weight.
That’s just my opinion of course, and I do not express it to belittle this event in ANY way. I believe ANY team that can hit a target out that far are much better shooters than I ever was, or would have ever become. Myself and most of the rest of the world as well.
Good luck with your contest!
Liked this article. Some will say why not wait until you CAN comment on details ( “magic in the bullets, which I’m not allowed to write about at this time.” ). Liked the funnies too ( “It’s much better not to use your rifle as a mortar system.” ). I am USMC Quantico Honor Grad so I REALLY appreciate latest LR toys, I use 338 RUM (more affordable than the Lapua) and am NOT surprised that .375 projectiles would do well at 3000+ yards. EVEN at 25 pounds I bet the shooter experiences some ‘recoil rosie’ after a full day of match shooting. Noice, ‘Hi-speed, Lo-Drag!!!
Nothing secret. Not sure why he cant talk about it. They are using Flatline projectiles. Nothing that can’t be talked about.
Years ago I was eyeballing Gunwerk’s 375 and 475 CheyTac offerings–they looked awesome and came all-up even with optics ready to go. And then Poof! they disappeared. Do you know why/what happened to get them to discontinue selling them?
The HAMR as I recall. I believe those were initially offered as a 1-time deal.
Ko2m took place July 2-4. Your certainly right about it gaining momentum. Just 5 weeks late.