Simulate long shots

[Archer357]

Hi everyone, I hope this is not to far out there. Any way to practice long shots at a close range? The closest open range is an hour drive. It has a 25 and 50 yard range. To shoot longer I have to drive 2.5 hours. My thought is, can I shoot at a very small target to simulate shooting at 300 or 400 yards. Maybe someone else has an idea?
thanks for any ideas, feed back.

 

[338 dude]

Hi everyone, I hope this is not to far out there. Any way to practice long shots at a close range? The closest open range is an hour drive. It has a 25 and 50 yard range. To shoot longer I have to drive 2.5 hours. My thought is, can I shoot at a very small target to simulate shooting at 300 or 400 yards. Maybe someone else has an idea?
thanks for any ideas, feed back.

That's what I was going to say smaller targets!

 

[ShtrRdy]

It depends on what aspect you want to practice. If it's your shooting ability to be consistent at placing a bullet within xx moa of your aiming point, then yeah, short range work is fine.

If you want to practice your ability to read the wind and compensate then you're going to need to shoot longer distances.

 

[FEENIX]

Not a fan of hunting/shooting simulation, LR, or not.

 

[dirthead1]

Wind is the great equalizer at long range. You can practice with small targets up close, but there is no way to practice with switchy winds at long range, without shooting long range.

 

[ATH]

Wind is the great effect at range. No way to simulate that at such extreme short ranges. There is absolutely nothing you can do at 50 yards to simulate longer range shooting. Even 100 yard zeroing gives minimal information for longer range.

 

[Bravo 4]

These guys are right about the wind. However I will not say shooting at closer ranges doesn't help, that would be about like saying dry firing doesn't help. Short range can help with several aspects such as learning your rifle and recoil management/follow through.

 

[dirthead1]

These guys are right about the wind. However I will not say shooting at closer ranges doesn't help, that would be about like saying dry firing doesn't help. Short range can help with several aspects such as learning your rifle and recoil management/follow through.

I agree with that. Work on your fundamentals at close range. That's all you can really do. Wind at long range is more of an art than a science most times.

Two weekends ago, we were shooting at 1550 in northern Arizona. About 7000 foot elevation. Wind was all over the place. Mirage was terrible, but at least it gave you something visual to judge the wind down range. Using a kestrel to measure wind was worthless because it changed 4 times between you and the target.Watching mirage and making a judgement was the best wind reading method, but there's just no way to simulate that at close range.

Use your short range practice to perfect your fundamentals. Everything gets maximized at long range. Some things you can control, some things you can't. Fundamentals is under your control. Wind isn't, but experience helps.

Use your short range practice to perfect the things you can control. Realize that there are things that require shooting at long range to become better at (not perfect). I don't think you can perfect wind at long range, you can just use your past experience to help judge your next shot.

 

[Archer357]

Thanks everyone. Just what I needed.

 

[Tiny Tim]

Not certain what your situation is, but is it possible to find a farmer or property owner that would allow you to shoot there rather than at a range? Around me, the longest range generally open only goes out to 565 yards. There are a couple 1000 yards ranges, but it takes a few years to even become a member. Beyond that, all the above information is solid.

 

[Tank308]

I had the same thoughts. When I was starting out I would practice with the magnification set on the lowest power and small targets. Just so when I did get to go to a longer shooting range the size of the target way out there wouldn't get get in my head.

 

[BrentM]

Get a 22 and run sub sonic ammo and shoot positional and small targets.

 

[jareese]

Shoot rim fire at a couple hundred yards.

 

[del2les]

Agree with the 22LR at reduced scale targets at 2, 3 and 400 yards. Decades ago, this is how we partly trained for Palma and 1,000yd prone, and a decent 22 Target rifle with a target scope was very good at improving our wind reading, mirage, light changes, follow through, etc skills.

Even today, we still use 22LR for training for newer shooters to the LR/ELR, and even some of us very seasoned shooters still enjoy lobbing 22LR's at 300+ yards. Lots of trigger time in these ever changing winds here.