Where does "Long Range" begin

[98s1lightning]

I do reload

I figure reloading is mandatory w oddball calibers, more so with today's market/economy on ammo.

Even the old school, gas station, "6 bread & butter cartridges"
30-30, 45-70, 243win, 308win, 270win, 30-06.....
They are now $60 a box instead of the $25 they used to be, for plain jane loads

Gotta reload to afford to shoot

Thanks for all the friendly replies. This is a very cool forum with lots of knowledgeable people and info archived.

I agree.
Shooting, if your humble, is rewarding, and a never ending journey of learning.

 

[Teri Anne]

I can't afford larger scopes or better gear right now,

I'm wondering what I can expect.

I watched someone online shooting a 30-06 sporter 150gr to 400 yards w great results. That was impressive to me. When I say great results, I don't know or hang out w guys here in the Northeast that shoot further than 200yds.
He was very confident w the 06 as a 400 yard game getter.
I'd like to get that type of confidence.

Right now my confidence ends about 225yds.

One of the last times I fired my rifle I had perfect wind age and 1" high at 175yds. I was extremely pleased w that.

Well, there are a lot of questions from the information you provided. Long range in the NRA competitive shooting world usually starts out at 600 yards, and out to whatever you can hit an appropriate sized 1 moa sized target out to. Ideally 1 moa will get you a 6 inch center at 600 yards, 10 inch at 1000 and 1 inch per 100 yards beyond that. Keep in mind that this is shooting perfection for both rifle and shooter. A rifle that holds a group of 1 inch at 100 yards, you would be looking at shooting groups of 2.25 inches as the goal. Not very many hunting rifles are capable of that accuracy level.

At the beginner level, every shot you take is competitive. You are shooting against the hardest competitor there is, yourself. Nobody else matters. The name of the game is to make every shot better than your last.

So now let's get down to the real nitty gritty. Using your rifle very carefully shoot at 100 yards. Measure the group size. From that point on, when you shoot, you should be concentrating on and expecting the group size to get smaller each time until you reach the capability of your rifle. If the rifle will only shoot 2 or 3 inch groups, that will be the best you can expect out of the rifle, while your capabilities will have improved to the point where you are now shooting competitively even with a hunting or any other type of rifle.

I might suggest that instead of doing this with your hunting rifle with ammo that is probably quite expensive that you save up and buy a .22 caliber rifle. Used there are many that can be found, often for around $100. Ammo is inexpensive, which will cut training costs. I can assure you that the .22 is fun to shoot and all the basics of shooting still apply and transfer to your hunting rifle and ability to shoot either of them.

.22 rifles, like hunting rifles are not all created equal. Some are better than others and I would recommend that you purchase one of the better ones for your shooting/hunting endeavors. Personally I prefer Remington or Marlin bolt actions. I have found that with care and the right ammo they will shoot 1 inch or less at 100 yards. A good scope is also required, remember, "If you can't see it, you can't hit it."
For a 22 shooting at 50 or 100 yards a 3 - 9x or 4 - 12x is more than adequate for simple training or some competition.

Finding a good .22 is not all that difficult. I use auctions a lot, to both buy and sell rifles. A good auction site is Kramer auction service out of Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin. https://www.kramersales.com/ The main reason I prefer this site is that Curt Kramer is very knowledgeable on all forms of firearms, antique and modern. He personally rates every firearm sold on the site and his ratings tell you a lot about the firearm. His ratings of "Good, lightly used or like new," tell you a lot about the gun. Lightly used means its in good shape but might have some banged up wood, a few scratches or minor rust spots. Like new, means exactly that. I have bought several firearms in, "Like New condition," that sat in s gun vault and have never been shot. He also has preview times when you can come in and actually look at, handle and inspect anything you are planning on bidding on. When I first started buying at Kramer auctions I used to make trips out to Prairie du Chien, a 90 mile one way trip to check out firearms I was interested in. Once I figured out how accurate his ratings were I quit the trips and just go by his ratings. I have never been burned and have been more than pleasantly surprised when I finally got the firearm.

So think about it and start out on your quest to become a good shooter and competitor. If you (or anyone else) have any questions feel free to PM me.

 

[Sdvldog1371]

On the subject of sporter rifle competitions, NRL Hunter series competitions. My deer rifle is a 16.5" carbon barrel 260 Rem. I've folded deer like bad lawn furniture in Idaho at 811 yds and 686 yds. I've shot past 1000k on steel with lightweight rifles. It is a matter of finding spots to do so and practicing/implementing all of the fundamentals of marksmanship. Also, getting your reloading down to where you're shooting small at 1-200 with lower ES and SD.

 

[98s1lightning]

I can shoot my rifle to 1 MOA groups @ 100yards and probably 200 as well

Next time out I'll save my targets.

Have to save them anyways to teach myself and son. Record and study.

 

[memtb]

For some the distance is a moving target. Speaking for myself ……..the range is lengthened directly to the size of target.

If the target is large enough …..I can do pretty good out beyond 100 yards! memtb

 

[memtb]

Long range and Extra Long Range should include the words live or inanimate, as ethical and skill come more into play than "should I" or "can I". I will only talk inanimate in stretching of distances because my live animal distances are and were ethical. I shoot regular competitions with 22LR which are generally limited to 300 and under yards. I have hit 24x24" steel at 500 yard reasonably consistent, as I have never had cooperative weather conditions for tighter groups or my 80plus year old skill. Am dabbling in 6 ARC, 6.5 CM, 300 WM & WSM but area ranges end before a 1000 yards, thus the 22LR challenges the dabble. ELR is equipment, include caliber, and skill limited, to me thus defined. Ethics the only hard facts.

As quickly addressed…..discussing ethics is not ethical! memtb

 

[Huntslow]

To me - Long Range is shooter dependent. When I first started, I shot a Remington pump in .30-06 with a peep sight. Long range then was 175 - 200 yards. The uncle who taught me to shoot had a "test". He put an 8" paper plate at various ranges. I had to estimate the range and make 3 shots from a "field position". If all 3 hit then he thought that range was not long range. I traded up to a bolt action .30-.06 with a 2 to 7 scope. This got me to 300 and eventually 375 yards. I still think this is a good test of a shooters "range". I also think of scope power this way - 8 power at 450 yards is equivalent to about 56 yards at Zero power. This is not a hard and fast rule but a good way to start thinking about it. When I now take that .30-06 with the 2 to 7 to 600 yard competitions it looks like way more than 86 yards (=600/7) through that scope. With my .308 and 25 power scope it looks like I can see the grain of the paper. Good to see you are focused on learning!

 

[highfinblue]

I admittedly have not read all the posts so this may be redundant, but if your rifle is accurate, and you are practiced with it you can reliably hit game at distances beyond belief, at least your ability to believe when you first start. Guys started telling me what they were doing twenty plus years ago, and I literally called them liars, but I was only speaking out of ignorance. Guys in the next town northwest of where I live were going to Colorado in the sixties with 3x9 scopes, using the top duplex for one distance, the crosshair for another distance, and the bottom duplex for their last distance. They were shooting elk at obscene ranges with those rudimentary by today's standards tools. If you have a laser range finder, you know where your rifle hits at distance you can take game at amazing distance, but you should never attempt it until you are proficient with your setup. They practiced shooting rocks here in the Osage because they could see hits with little magnification at distances beyond 600 yards. Big parties went west and they returned with trucks full of elk taken at 400 yards and beyond. Bad things still happen, but they happen at one hundred yards too. My most haunting crippling loss came almost forty years ago at fifty yards with a shotgun and slug. I have never gotten over that nightmare. The only people that have never crippled an animal are those that have not shot many, or they possess skill that is far beyond normal. Some folks are just able to shoot better than others, and the older I get the more practice I need.