Introducing New Shooters to Our Sport

[cronhelm]

Apparently I have it good compared to lots of guys out there.

I used my wife's rifle to make my first long range kill! All my rifles are varminters that aren't exactly suitable for big game.

Then I made the mistake of putting her behind a bench/varmint rifle and she thought that was pretty cool. I can just see that I am going to have to get another 6BR varmint rifle for her now.

Peter Cronhelm

 

[Digger49r]

Well people I'm new to this board....and to real long range shooting too. I can't belive the amount of information on this board. It's been a big help. I'm pretty much on my own here so I'm just pluggin along by myself. The biggest problem is finding a place to shoot. I use a pit I can squeeze 500 yds out of and if I do say so myself I'm getting fairly good at it.....I use a 300 win (Savage 112)and the Rem 700 ( sendero sf) in 300 rum. I've been handloading for years now too....so that isn't much of a problem. Sure would like to get out to 1000 (and beyond) tho.

 

[Ian M]

Digger,
Your situation is not uncommon up here, we don't have many (if any) actual 1000 yard ranges in the whole country so a person has to look for safe alternate locations.
We also don't have access to the good toys and what is available is rediculously expensive, probably double what our U.S. friends have to spend.
I suggest that you try to get a partner interested since the only way to shoot long (that is an arbitrary term, but lets say past 500) is to use the shooter-spotter teamwork. Just doesn't work great by yourself and not nearly as much fun.
I would also suggest mooching or buying some large steel plates as they are the best target for long range, you can get your zeros much easier way out there.
Another suggestion, check out www.shooterready.com, then buy the CD. It will give you info that you need as you get into wind, mirage and range estimation.
Good luck, you found a good place to get info on this sport.

 

[daveosok]

HELLOOOOO Digger.

Long time no see. How have ya been? How did that Ultra shoot? I havent done anything so far with the rest of my gun projects.

This site is a Godsend for a lot of information about super long range shooting. Should be right up your alley.

Dave.

 

[halfbreed]

hello everyone, this is my first post here. i too have been bitten by the bug. trying to learn as much as possible before buying any equipment. also trying to find a range longer than 100 yards is a problem around here as well. unfortunantly i will probably have to start with something like a savage 110 tactical, hopefully 300 wm.
mostly though, thanks for the site and info.

 

[Guest]

[ 07-11-2003: Message edited by: S1 ]

 

[Mysticplayer]

S1, great data. Nice to know that even the best still need to "hold'em and squeez'em" and the best also miss.

Any idea what type of tasks are being asked of the equipment? I have never participated in a tactical event but have read many times about broken this and that. Why are the shooters treating their equipment so rough?

I always thought that the equipment takes priority over the body, so a "pro" would be more likely to suffer a flesh wound then damage their rifle.

I am sure that these shooters are using the best equipment that their agencies or country can provide. What type of scope failures are they experiencing? I thought Luppies and others of that class were pretty much indestructible.

Oh well, if given enough will, anything can be broken. Makes you wonder.

Yes, optics are the most important part of your rifle. You can't hit what you can't see, and you will not try if you have no confidence in your adjustments. Scopes have to be reliable and repeatable. They do not necessarily have to cost a fortune.

I am guessing if the Bushnell Elite and Tasco super sniper are an indication, the scope industry is going to start producing good quality and affordable scopes with mil dot reticles and plenty of adjustment.

Jerry

 

[Jon A]

halfbreed,

Definately listen to these guys. You don't need to spend a ton of money when you're starting out. My rig looks pretty "unexciting" compared to others' here:

Browning A-Bolt, pretty much the same as the day I bought it 13 years ago or so (factory stock, barrel, etc). I have done a few things to it (rechambered from 300 Win Mag to 300 RUM, new trigger, bipod) but none of those were necessary to do what I'm doing with it now. I did them because I wanted to, not because I needed to. Even with those additions, I have a whole lot less money in it than even a fairly cheap custom rifle and it gets the job done.

The guy behind the trigger is the limitation right now, not the rifle.

 

[Mysticplayer]

To the new posters, welcome. I hear this quite often about wanting/needing the very best equipment to start. Great goal...but maybe not so realistic.

For many, the cost of a custom rifle and other equipment takes this style of shooting out of reach. It doesn't have to be.

That savage in a 308 or 300Win mag WILL be effective as a LR rig. It is just a matter of degree.

Remember that knowledge and experiece cannot be bought. What you learn from working with a production rifle and getting it to shoot will teach you more then "buying" or trying to buy that experience.

All of the tricks in rifle and load tuning are used in a production rifle. In fact, because they need more tuning, you are going to learn a lot about the subtleties that elude most "hunting" reloaders. It should be possible to get consistent sub MOA performance from modern day rifles. There are many that will perform as well as a custom job.

Spend money on practise. That is where the biggest dividends will come from. With time and experience, that production rifle will become more accurate.

The difference in a production rifle and a custom rifle can be as little as 1/4 MOA decrease in group size. The error in misjudging the wind or light/mirage could equal a few feet.

Jerry

 

[Pecos]

Halfbreed,

Jerry and the others have already explained things much better than I could.

The only other thing I can recommend is Practice, Practice, Practice and then Practice some more... When you get down to it, if you don't know where your rifle will put a bullet at any given range, then it will not make any difference how much you have spent.

Keep records. Write down your scope settings for each range, wind conditions, weather etc. It sounds like a lot, but in a very short while, it becomes second nature.

Hope this helps.

Pecos

 

[Mysticplayer]

Interesting thoughts. I guess "s**t" happens.

With the efforts in Afghanistan, the need for sniper/scout teams was proven beyond a doubt. If it were not for the response of the JSF2, bad things could have happened to some friendlies.

In fact, this group has been specifically requested by the US to aid in any conflict with Iraq. Really, the only contribution directly requested for.

It seems these Canucks used some pretty good equipment and techniques to do an excellent job. I think this will set the presidence for other countries to develop these types of units as they work well in the new threat environments. Very cost effective too.

Being a civi, I hope to never experience the fog so speak from zero experience. However, I feel that training helps in times of extreme stress. If proper equipment handling is taught then practised, there will be lower incidence of damage during normal operation.

It is impossible to build unbreakable equipment.

Jerry

 

[Guest]

[ 07-11-2003: Message edited by: S1 ]

 

[Guest]

[ 07-11-2003: Message edited by: S1 ]

 

[Mysticplayer]

Sounds like the blind working with the ill informed to produce the impossible. Isn't bureaucracy grand?

Same BS in Canada and all on the tax payers expense.

Wouldn't it be great if they just admitted they don't have a clue about shooting, firearms, or "pro" work and leave it to the people in the field to make it happen.

Sure, come up with a list of requirments and a budget. But, leave the medling out of it (politics should not be controlling engineering). I bet if the US/Canadian armies let the shootin public submit ideas based on their requirments, they would come up with amazing equipment at no cost except for a plaque and photo op. Hell, some would even complete the testing and development.

But then we couldn't have events like Vietnam, Somalia, and Iraq (oops not happened yet).

Well, this has gone way off topic. Let's all try and introduce shooting of any kind to someone this year. By example, we can slowly change the preceptions of media, politicians and public opinion.

Good stuff,

Jerry