[Jeff Higgins]

Why thank you David, I thoroughly enjoy them all.

John, our 1,000 yard shooting was all done at Ft. Lewis, or now Joint Base Lewis McChord on their range "KD22", or "known distance 22". We always shot with highpower guys because neither discipline could rally enough shooters to fill the firing line. What was most interesting, and eminently satisfying, was every now and then our winner would outscore their winner. Same targets, same everything.

Brent, the highpower guys were a mix of service rifle and match rifle shooters. The Garand and M1A shooters struggled when using military ball ammo which, depending upon the particulars of a given rifle, would drop to subsonic and lose stability before reaching 1,000 yards. Those who were handloading with the 168 or 175 grain Match Kings had no such trouble. The match rifle guys almost universally shot Remington Model 700's in .300 Winchester Mag with 200 and 220 grain Match Kings.

I'll tell you guys what, after many years of pulling targets at 1,000 yards, I've got some strong opinions regarding what I would prefer someone use if they insist on shooting at me at that range. Or, more accurately, not use. It is simply astonishing how much harder the old black powder rounds hit out at that range than any modern .30 caliber.

Bullet weight and ballistic coefficient rule at long range. The NRA minimum performance level for .45 caliber to allow entry into a 1,000 yard match is a 500 grain bullet at 1,300 fps. Most of us were using 540 grains and heavier, somewhere in the mid 1,300 fps range. Doesn't sound like much of a "long range" load, but the darn things just keep trundling along, losing relative little velocity. They will still be doing 900 to 1,000 fps at 1,000 yards. And boy do they thump that impact area compared to 168 grain Match Kings that while may have started out twice as fast, are not all that much faster anymore, by the time they's flown 1,000 yards.