What made you interested in long range shooting?

[Kevinprc]

I read elsewhere in a thread about the division and the lack of manners for one another we have these days. It made me think about why I came to this thread or any others. We all have a story about what made us interested in shooting distance, share your story if you are inclined. We have a common interest but how we each arrived there could make for some interesting stories.

I have hunted since I was a boy, starting out with my dad's Ruger .44 pistol or my 30-30 Marlin. Like many on here I spent some time in the military as a young man and was exposed to that plastic M16A1. Growing up and hunting in the Ozarks, I had never taken a shot over 125 yards. The fact that I could routinely hit a silhouette from 50 to 300 meters with that little bullet out of my plastic rifle was pretty cool for this hillbilly. I would have to say that is where I first became interested in shooting distance. Share your story if your inclined

Had always been around hunters and shooters. Bought my first .22 with money I made selling blackberries. Was on the high school rifle team and did well. Basic training and AIT got to shoot on a 400 yd trainfire range. Continued shooting and took an interest and pride in being able to shoot accurately at targets further and further away. Learned how to reload and did a lot of it. Then got larger caliber rifles and got into elk hunting. Still shooting and hunting at 77. So it goes.

 

[Buck1970]

In 1979 my dad bought my first rifle. Winchester model 88 hammerless lever action 243 with a bushnell banner scope second hand, he paid $200 for it. I thought is was the coolest gun ever. He set a skoal can at 80 steps and said shoot at it 3 times off the hood of his truck with Remington core-lokt 100 grains. He told me if I could hit it 2 outta 3 times, I was good. Three years later at age 12, I killed my first 8 pt at 75 yards. I was hooked.

He always said as I grew as a hunter, if it's too far, don't shoot at it. For me in NETX, a 150 yards was too far. Later on after he'd passed, I got to go with an Uncle to West TX on a hunt. All the deer were "too far", but I still wanted to shoot them!

Since then, I've wanted to reach out further. No, I'm still not in the realm of what most on this forum are with my longest kill at 496 yards on a hog, but I'm inching out regularly. Still have the old 243 and it will still put 2 to 3 in the snuff can, but Ive not hunted with it in years.

When I finally decided to, I searched long range hunting and this site came up. I read for a long time before joining. I don't read other forums, no Facebook or any social media for that matter. Pretty much don't have much to contribute, but I do learn a lot. It's obvious the folks are good and sincere here. I'm private and no nonsense and that is what I like about this site. My goal is a 1000 yards in the future, I'm in no real hurry. But I do enjoy the challenge. Personal goals aside, it's a pleasant site, with like minded folks who share a common bond of hunting, and doing it as far away as they feel comfortable, with no one condemning us for wanting to.

 

[CoSniper66]

Co Brad, your accomplishments are truly remarkable.
I started out Elk hunting with a 270 and missed a 450yrd shot due to lack of experience shooting over 100 yrds. Killed my first at 250 and then at 400. I missed several opportunities at Elk that were 500 to 700 or more. Then I started shooting Prairie Dogs and 300 on small targets were the norm. I then got into 300 yrd precision rifle competition. It was there I saw the real long range rifles and I was hooked. I was shooting a 223 Savage model 12 and placing in the top half of the field regularly. The match evolved into 600 yrd and I got a 6.5 Creedmoor and my first scope with a mil reticle and turrets, a Vortex Viper PST. Now 3000 rounds and a barrel later, I am good to 1200yrds. My longest Pronghorn kill is 765 on a calm day. Last year I killed one at 650. My hunting partner and I practice simultaneous shooting on dogs and did it on both of those Pronghorn shots. 2 shots 2 kills. Also got 2 Elk at 475 at the same time. We now shoot the Whittington center sporting rifle match. Targets out to 875. My Elk Rifle is a Remington 700 Sendero in 7STW. I've had it out to 1 mile and 1000 seems easy with that beast. Lately I have been shooting steel Prairie Dog Targets at 600 yrds with the 6.5 creed. Can't wait to get a kill on a real one at 600. Now when I look back at all those unsuccessful Elk hunts, I wish I could go back and take those shots now. Good hunting and stalking skills are needed, but if you can shoot out to 1K, you will almost always fill that tag and that is what you wished for all along.

 

[ajkellerusmc]

Like yourself I shot that M16A1 out to 500 yards in the Uncle Sams Motorcycle Club and was hooked, We also studied about Marines in WW1 using open sights to whack Germans out to 800! After I got out I moved to AZ and with wide open things here and a Model 70 winchester with handloads I was soon hitting a paper plate at 500 yards with ease. (yes we used paper plates in those days!) I always made long shots with that rifle on game that impressed my pal's while they missed at ranges under 100 yards. My Encore muzzeloader can even hold 6" at 300 yards if I do everything right. Since joining the forum and finding out all the cool reloading gadgets one could by I now am a self proclaimed scientist with of course a lot of guidance from members of this forum. Discovering a great load in my laboratory for the Ruger long range target rifle My son and I were popping clay pidgeons on the berm at 600 yards with Berger 140's every time we pulled the trigger! I am still hooked!!!

 

[TXTrained]

I read elsewhere in a thread about the division and the lack of manners for one another we have these days. It made me think about why I came to this thread or any others. We all have a story about what made us interested in shooting distance, share your story if you are inclined. We have a common interest but how we each arrived there could make for some interesting stories.

I have hunted since I was a boy, starting out with my dad's Ruger .44 pistol or my 30-30 Marlin. Like many on here I spent some time in the military as a young man and was exposed to that plastic M16A1. Growing up and hunting in the Ozarks, I had never taken a shot over 125 yards. The fact that I could routinely hit a silhouette from 50 to 300 meters with that little bullet out of my plastic rifle was pretty cool for this hillbilly. I would have to say that is where I first became interested in shooting distance. Share your story if your inclined

well I like the challenge.I grew up on a ranch way out in the country.My Mother may go to town twice a week.Church on Sunday we all went and She bought groceries once or twice a month.I started hunting squirrels and rabbits with my 410 at age 8. All there was to do was hunt or rifde horses or pick up sticks and fix fence and feed horses and cows.So I hunted every day nearly.I killed my 1st deer at age 9 with a British 303 that my Dad had customized.My Dad was a lawyer buy we didnt have alot of money tet.A 5 Bedroom house and 600 acres drained him for a few years.There were deer ,bobcats and foxes and coyotes all over.There were bigger ranches beside ours and I hunted all of them along the San Bernard River Bottoms,.
So I started seeing how far I could shoot with a 22 Long Rifle and Then a 270 Win.Then graduated to a Rem. 700 7mm Mag.That tested my skills since my Scope was only a K6 Weaver..I bought a Model 70 Winchester 7mm Mag and a 3-9 Zeiss and Long Range was getting easier.I practiceded with a 22 Magnum Winchester and a AnShutz 22 Mag.
I just like to challenge myself and see how perfect I can get.That brought me to reloading as well.
Im a Precisionist by nature.I like competition but its really about me against me.

 

[MW204]

To say I could, it really is that simple. Rem 308, 1-10, 26" barrel, Leupold 4.5x14x50 side focus, with turrets, H380 compressed just a little, Sierra 168gr BTHP Match, sorry I forget the load & fps (it's outside in the shop).
I finally got to shoot on 2 friends' places side by side out to 1023 yds and once I did that I came back to the 4-500 yd stuff, it was more reasonable where I hunt.
I'm sorry and embarrassed for the crappy video but that's all I had back then. I set a target on top of an old shot-up refrigerator and took two shots, they were within 6" of each other so I thought well ok you've done it now get back to your normal range. Well crap, LRH, doesn't support my video, at least I'm not sorry for the crappy video.

 

[Philward]

Only here for the reloading aspect and ideas to help increase the accuracy of my rifles and shooting, don't really care to shoot at animals beyond about 300yds and rarely look farther than that for them. I'm 50% archery and 50% rifle hunter.

 

[338 dude]

Only here for the reloading aspect and ideas to help increase the accuracy of my rifles and shooting, don't really care to shoot at animals beyond about 300yds and rarely look farther than that for them. I'm 50% archery and 50% rifle hunter.

Shooting those two weapons systems is really the same thing,and yeah completely opposite that being said one is to see how close you can get the other is to see how far away you can get and still make the shot

 

[xsn10s]

My Dad wasn't into firearms but coming from the "old country" to get in close, or extending range was a core principle and mindset. That was true for close in tools or ones that extend range. So being Americans the jump to firearms was a natural extension. Another tool for the toolbox.

 

[brant89]

Ha, ha. I guess you shouldnt invite them next month. By the way...how come you never invite me!?

Well when I come up in a couple weeks you get first trigger pull on whatever coyotes we call in.

 

[biff's reloading]

Woodchucks!

Shooting groundhogs is my favorite. Eventually i run out of em at 50 yards so the 22mag got hung up when I was 12 and dad gave me his "243 savage". Beat up 110e in 243. Thats when I started long range shooting. In north west pa we don't have a lot of real long shots, but plenty of 300-500 yard long fields. For a teenager in the 90's without a rangefinder, that's long range. I spent whole days stepping off distance to holes and drawing maps on paper, then taking shots at targets and writing down holdovers. I wish I'd kept better notes then. I dont know how many I got or how many shots I took but it was a lot.
I still really enjoy it. It's like fishing. Go n sit and enjoy the sunshine, with a splash of excitement here n there.
Now my daughter does more shooting than I do. Got her a fancy cricket 22mag and she handles the first 100 yards. I just get the long pokes.

 

[bighit]

I wanted the challenge of proving my abilities to myself. When I can show myself I can accomplish a challenge then I feel I am able to share it with others to help them. It is probably not a healthy way to be I grew up only knowing and living every moment....YOU CAN DO BETTER...when it comes to learning a skill.

Living in the west it has a lot of different shooting situation. One of them being long range shot

 

[Mitch Rapp]

Like a lot of guys here, Carlos Hathcock had something to do with getting me started. My first pellet gun was a scoped crossman 1077, and growing up I learned the importance of precision by trying to kill turtles on the ponds all over my uncles land. Hitting targets at 300 yards with a 30-30 was the next thing, my first precision rifle was a Savage 300 win mag, at the time Hornady Tap for it was only $20 a box so we shot a lot, I was enamored with shooting groups, and never really took the win mag past 300. Got engaged and needed money for a honeymoon and to fix up our first home, other than the self defense guns, most of mine got sold. Had a couple of nice Savage .308 tactical over the years, but invariably ended up selling them when the wife needed a surgery or something. Stretched out to 500 on steel in that time though. Deer hunted a lot, but my luck in hunting holds out that whatever I'm set up for, the opposite usually happens. Many times I have set up for 3-500 yard shots only to have a deer walk out under 100, and well I can't pass up meat in the freezer lol.

About 7-8 years ago we went through a really rough patch. One baby stillborn, and over the next year we had a couple miscarriages, we have 6 kids and are immensely blessed by God, but that wasn't how we wanted to end our baby having days. Wife had a genetic issue that had decided to end it for us though. In the middle of all of that I found this site. I needed something to escape to mentally, and just being here and reading the stories and debates was what I needed. The guys on the site did a Christmas build giveaway and a guy on here I had talked to put me in for it. I'll be honest, the nomination did a ton for me, just re kindled a love for the shooting community. I never expected to "win" a couple other guys seemed more worthy, but they did two rifles, and picked me for one of them.

It's an awesome rifle, my hunting luck has been the same even with it, this year while watching a big field with the 6.5 Sherman, a buck ran by and I shot him at 10 yards with my 1911….. my 6.5 Sherman makes 600 yards feel as easy as 300 with a .308. This site and that rifle hold a special place in my heart. My kids know that the rifle came from some friends online most of whom I never met, who wanted to do something special since we lost Kiera ( our stillborn daughter) and they think it's the coolest thing ever. I tend to agree.

I read a lot, post a little, but really appreciate the site.

Thanks Len

 

[WYOHTF]

Good on you for taking the time for our vets. Thank You.

Agreed !