Congrats to our very own Bryan Litz for winning the 2021 Nightforce ELR Steel Challenge! Bryan, Chief Ballistician at Berger, competed against more than 200 other competitors on June 12-13 at the Tillard 55 Range near Casper, WY. The Nightforce ELR Steel Challenge is a challenging match, comprised of targets ranged from 700 yards to over 1.2 miles, with an average target size of only 1-MOA tall. This win is definitely one that Bryan should be proud of!

“Not being highly experienced in this kind of match, I was very happy to do so well,” says Bryan. “I returned this year with a lot of lessons learned from last year; applying advice from more experienced shooters. My equipment selection was on point: Barrett MRAD chambered in 300 Norma Magnum with a Nightforce 5-25 ATACR scope. Cartridges were loaded with prototype 30 caliber 245 Grain Berger Hybrids and Vihtavuori N565 powder. The Garmin Tactix Delta watch was used for ballistic solutions. All equipment functioned flawlessly. Thanks to these quality components and a good plan, I was able to hit everything in sight!”

This marks the third straight year that the winner of the Nightforce ELR Steel Challenge was shooting Berger bullets. In 2019, Mitch Fitzpatrick, who works closely with Bryan on several projects, won using the Berger 338 Caliber 300 Grain Hybrid bullets. In 2020, Jorge Ortiz took home the win with Berger 30 Caliber 220 Grain Long Range Hybrid Target bullets. This year, Bryan won while shooting an experimental 30 Caliber 245 Grain Long Range Hybrid Target (LRHT) bullet that him and the Berger R&D team has been working on as a request from the U.S. Elite Forces. Our LRHT bullets improve upon our existing hybrid profiles by creating a higher BC bullet that has a very consistent BC, which is extremely important when shooting longer distances. Seeing how well these bullets worked, we might see this as a new bullet release in the spring of 2022!

To learn more about why BC matters, you can read Bryan’s articles on NoBSBC here.