Non Typical Outfitters. They are sponsees on this site I think, they were recommended to me by Len Backus. I did their class a couple of years ago. Loved it. Well worth the time and money. Longest hog shot to date is 985, longest Elk is 536, longest White tail is 310. Wouldn't have tried any of those shots before.
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Long range shooting course
- Thread starter Fishdeeper
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Try Rich Graham at fullspectrumwarrior.us. Deland, Florida. Retired Seal team 10 sniper. Very good. I can speak from experience. Take level 1 and 2. Well worth it. Takes you to 800 meters on level 2.
I went to the gunwerks class. It was very informative and we did a considerable amount of shooting as well. I don't think you would be disappointed.
Sierra96
New Member
Kalinski Consulting in Yakima, WA. Caylen Wojcik has a solid background and is an avid hunter himself. He even has a Backcountry Hunters Course that he does over 5 days. I've taken several of his courses when he worked for another major manufacturer as director of training and one course since he started his own outfit. I can't say enough good things about the dude.
https://kalinskiconsulting.com/
https://kalinskiconsulting.com/
Doozy
Well-Known Member
If you don't have the money, you can also just train yourself sufficiently to get that confidence you are talking about.
...I'm not saying a course wouldn't have benefits, but if you just want confidence at 700 yrds with a .308, I mean, this is exactly what I did. I have a 20" .308 in an AR-10 platform. Chances are you have a better setup than me. Yet, even at my first outing, I felt like I couldn't miss an 8" plate at 620 yrds; there was almost no excitement after a while because I would hit the target every time.
I'm no professional, but here's my thoughts:
1) You first need a gun, a cartridge, and a scope you can have confidence in. If you reload, great! I don't, so I tried many (29) different .308 cartridges in my gun. After a lot of testing, I happened to find that the overall best cartridge (an equation I made of most accurate, lowest deviation of fps, and flattest trajectory), was Hornady Superformance A-max in 168 gr. You'll want to find a cartridge for hunting that has the most consistent performance.
As far as a scope goes, the mechanical performance (tracking a repeatability) is the most important attribute. There are ways you can determine if your tracking is spot on. (see this article for ideas: https://precisionrifleblog.com/2014/08/13/tactical-scopes-mechanical-performance-part-1/)
2) You need to calculate your point of aim. The easiest way is to get yourself a good ballistic calculator, and all that that entails.
You need to know your cartridges muzzle feet per second speed. Borrow or buy a chronograph. If you have the money, get a Magnetospeed or LabRadar. (I used a Caldwell chronograph). You also need to know the atmospherics you're operating in. Kestrels are the best, but again, I didn't have the money. So I borrowed my home's Acurite weather station (which tells me barometric pressure, humitidy, and temp). I now have a watch that does this (minus the humidity). These numbers are important for your ballistic calculator.
There are a lot of good ballistic calculators; some come on the Kestrel. Again, me being poor, I just bought one for my phone (Strelock Pro) and it works great. I like Strelock because it shows an image of your scope's reticle (it has hundreds to choose from) and shows the point of aim and/or clicks on your turret to make. Probably the one with the best reputation, however, is Applied Ballistics. Here are a couple articles on ballistic calculators: https://precisionrifleblog.com/2019/05/22/ballistic-app/
and https://www.snipercountry.com/best-ballistic-calculator-app/
You also need to determine the distance to your target. A laser rangefinder is best ... but again, me being cheap, yet having a first focal plane reticle in my scope, I figured out how to range-find using just my scope.
Now I just plug in the data into my phone, shoot, and I'm golden. It's too easy!
...I'm not saying a course wouldn't have benefits, but if you just want confidence at 700 yrds with a .308, I mean, this is exactly what I did. I have a 20" .308 in an AR-10 platform. Chances are you have a better setup than me. Yet, even at my first outing, I felt like I couldn't miss an 8" plate at 620 yrds; there was almost no excitement after a while because I would hit the target every time.
I'm no professional, but here's my thoughts:
1) You first need a gun, a cartridge, and a scope you can have confidence in. If you reload, great! I don't, so I tried many (29) different .308 cartridges in my gun. After a lot of testing, I happened to find that the overall best cartridge (an equation I made of most accurate, lowest deviation of fps, and flattest trajectory), was Hornady Superformance A-max in 168 gr. You'll want to find a cartridge for hunting that has the most consistent performance.
As far as a scope goes, the mechanical performance (tracking a repeatability) is the most important attribute. There are ways you can determine if your tracking is spot on. (see this article for ideas: https://precisionrifleblog.com/2014/08/13/tactical-scopes-mechanical-performance-part-1/)
2) You need to calculate your point of aim. The easiest way is to get yourself a good ballistic calculator, and all that that entails.
You need to know your cartridges muzzle feet per second speed. Borrow or buy a chronograph. If you have the money, get a Magnetospeed or LabRadar. (I used a Caldwell chronograph). You also need to know the atmospherics you're operating in. Kestrels are the best, but again, I didn't have the money. So I borrowed my home's Acurite weather station (which tells me barometric pressure, humitidy, and temp). I now have a watch that does this (minus the humidity). These numbers are important for your ballistic calculator.
There are a lot of good ballistic calculators; some come on the Kestrel. Again, me being poor, I just bought one for my phone (Strelock Pro) and it works great. I like Strelock because it shows an image of your scope's reticle (it has hundreds to choose from) and shows the point of aim and/or clicks on your turret to make. Probably the one with the best reputation, however, is Applied Ballistics. Here are a couple articles on ballistic calculators: https://precisionrifleblog.com/2019/05/22/ballistic-app/
and https://www.snipercountry.com/best-ballistic-calculator-app/
You also need to determine the distance to your target. A laser rangefinder is best ... but again, me being cheap, yet having a first focal plane reticle in my scope, I figured out how to range-find using just my scope.
Now I just plug in the data into my phone, shoot, and I'm golden. It's too easy!
MELEX
Active Member
- Joined
- Oct 2, 2016
- Messages
- 37
I took a course from Caylen when he was with a major manufactuer as well. He is an excellent instructor. Calm and confident. He really cares about helping you succeed. Definitely money well spent. When people ask me where to start in long range shooting I always recommend a class. It will guide you past all the pitfalls and save you money in the long run.
Thanks, I talked to them yesterday and they are located in Evanston Wyoming. I will be attending their last class this year at the end of the month. Great timing for me as I'm preparing for October hunts.....
Fishdeeper
Active Member
Thanks everyone for the replies and suggestions. I followed up on lwdek's suggestion of Murray Clarke, spoke with him, and it sounds like his 2 day 1000yd course is exactly what I need.
A day of classroom theory, and a day of livefire held on actual hunting terrain (private property) he has access to...all for a decent price...and he is local.
A day of classroom theory, and a day of livefire held on actual hunting terrain (private property) he has access to...all for a decent price...and he is local.
clemens
Well-Known Member
There is a general gentleman in Yakima Washington that does long range course. 3-4days. Do not remember his name.
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billcaldwell
Well-Known Member
I think the world of Mike Perkins and his Cross-Hairs Long Range Hunting School. His late partner, Ed Rochnowski was a dear friend of mine. Mike lives in Boise and has schools here, but he moves his school all over depending on where he's needed. The classes are very reasonable. https://www.cross-hairslrhuntingschool.com/school-information
Over bore
New Member
There is a good LR school in Colville Wa. run by a former marine scout sniper named Carl Taylor I think they shoot out to 1200 yds also has motion targets on tracts at 600 yds
