how about shooting far? - Page 2

unclebilly · unclebilly's Garage

Not the furthest shot ever... I'm still proud.

We have a 1/4 section, its 1/2 a mile x 1/2 a mile for you city folk.

My house is about half way along the east side of my land.

I have shot and killed a coyote out of my bathroom window - this was about 500 yards. I also shot one off of my kids' playground in the front yard which was more like 400 yards.

I'm shooting a sporterized Swedish Mauser 6.5x55.

tevake · 12-21-2016, 04:43 AM

That is really reaching out there UncleBilly, well done.

There is a hunting show that features long range hunting, shows some very challenging shots being taken in the field, where there are so many issues to deal with.
Wind variables, light to shadows, elevation changes, etc. add the heart thumping circumstances of hunting and it shows a high level of skills to succeed.

Cheers Richard

targa911S · 12-21-2016, 05:05 AM

Love the swede..

tevake · 12-21-2016, 05:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jeff Higgins

In traditional rifle match shooting, 200-600 yards are considered "mid range", and 800, 900, and 1,000 yards are "long range". That said, most shooters would consider 600 yards pretty damn far away. Any real hunter would consider that too damn far away - that places one well outside the sensory perception of the target animal and in no way pits the hunter's wit and skill against the animal. But I digress...

My "long range" experience is almost purely with the black powder cartridge rifle. When I first started shooting these matches, we were all shooting our favorite rifle chambered in the .45-70 (also known as the .45-2.1"), utilizing duplex charges of smokeless under black to achieve the necessary velocities. Later, as the game took off and brass and dies became available for other chamberings, I went to the .45-2.6", or .45-100 with straight black powder, for long range work.

Here are my two "long range" rifles. You will note there are no scopes on them. There is a scope class, but us iron sight guys usually beat them. With the very distinct, very visible official NRA target, even at those ranges, a scope is not required to shoot well. Top photo is an 1875 Sharps from C. Sharps Arms in .45-70, bottom is an 1874 Sharps from the same company in .45-2.6". Both wear #1 heavy 34" full octagon barrels and MVA spirit level globe front sights.

I will tell any erstwhile rifleman that if you ever get the chance to shoot at long range, on an established range, do not pass it up. It is a learning experience that you will never forget. It doesn't even matter what you bring, what glass is on it (or if it even has any), what it is chambered in - none of that. Just go with what you have. If you subsequently get bitten by that bug (and I sure did), you have plenty of time to put together a dedicated long range rig. Decide what you want to do - compete or just target shoot, antique or modern - there is a wealth of knowledge out there to get you on the right track. Be aware, though, this gets expensive fast. If yours is just a casual interest, just use what you already have.

Wow Jeff, looking at the height of the rear sight on that beautiful piece, makes me wonder if you have to tuck it into your armpit to get a bead at long range.

Tho not a shooter myself, I appreciate the details that you share of your hobby.

Mele Kalikimaka

Jeff Higgins · 12-21-2016, 08:48 AM

Another form of "long range" shooting I used to get a real kick out of, and make a fair amount of spare change at, is varmint hunting. Coyote pelts used to bring $50-$100 apiece...

One other go-to critter for Western varmint hunters that is easily accessible up here in Washington is the rock chuck, known in the East as the wood chuck. Prairie dogs are, of course, the main staple, but it's a pretty fair buggy ride from here to get to them. We used to load up the heavy barreled .223's and head to the Rosebud in Montana once a year, but I quickly lost any taste for that.

Back to the chucks and coyotes... shots can be extremely long on these critters. High velocity and flat trajectory are paramount. Good glass is a must as well - they tend to be about the same color as their surrounding environments. So, enter my pet long range coyote and chuck rifle - a custom Ruger #1.

This rifle sports a 28" Lilja barrel chambered in .220 Swift with a 1 in 12" twist. It launches 60 grain Hornady V Maxes at over 3,800 fps with a stiff load of either Reloder 22 or IMR 4350. I keep it zeroed at 300 yards (my club range actually has a 300 yard line), and pretty much don't even have to start thinking about range until over 400 yards.

The scope is nothing fancy, just a 6.5-20X Leupold with adjustable parallax and a plain old duplex crosshair. No mil dots, no range finder, no illuminated anything, just a basic scope. I will say this is at the absolute upper end of real field utility, and often wish I had mounted a 4.5-14X.

That might sound like an odd thing to say in the face of today's headlong rush to 30X and above. What I've found, however, is I can rarely set the scope above about 12X and that only when shooting chucks. Mirage just gets to be too much on the hot summer days when we are out doing that. Increasing magnification just makes the mirage worse and worse until you can no longer see them. Granted, we hunt coyotes on the coldest winter days so mirage is not a problem, but they move too much to keep them in the field of view, sometimes all the way down at 6.5X.

Don't ever think increasing magnification will help you shoot better. It only helps you see better. In match shooting, the iron sight guys will often beat the scope sighted guys, because the targets are so distinct. In the field, a scope helps on indistinct targets, or under poor lighting, or foul weather, etc. Again, though - scopes only help you see. They will never help you shoot.

Jeff Higgins · 12-21-2016, 08:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tevake

Wow Jeff, looking at the height of the rear sight on that beautiful piece, makes me wonder if you have to tuck it into your armpit to get a bead at long range.

Tho not a shooter myself, I appreciate the details that you share of your hobby.

Mele Kalikimaka

Thank you, Tevake.

A lot of us use a "strap on"

leather pad on top of the comb to raise it for long range. The sight as set in the photo is on my 200 yard setting. It's about 3/4 of the way up the staff for 1,000 yards, so any hope for a "cheek weld" on the comb would be gone by then without the additional pad on top.