I wanna try shooting at longer ranges but they make it sound like unless you are fulltime long range shooter there to take part in a match, you are not welcome.
You are not alone in forming this impression, and this is unfortunate. Those of us already "in the game" somehow have to figure out a way to convince people like you, who have gear and have an interest in shooting at longer ranges, that by and large you should come out and shoot with us.
Part of your impression is mistaken, part of your impression is simply due to the nature of long range shooting, and perhaps a small left over part probably has a kernel of truth to it.
THE NATURE OF LONG RANGE SHOOTING
By and large you can't see a bullet hole at long range. This simple fact of atmospheric optics has a pretty substantial influence on how organized long range shooting events end up being conducted, and how "friendly" or "accessible" they are perceived by other shooters. To allow the shooters to see their bullet holes, we have a person (either hired for they day, or a shooter taking his turn) mark the targets by inserting a disc & spindle into the shot hole. We use physically large targets, which typically have to be set up and taken down every day. This means we need to be relatively organized, in the sense that the event as a whole needs a definite "start" and "finish" time. Long range shooting events end up not having the "walk up" character that is feasible with so many other kinds of shooting, and I think this this turns off many people
UNLESS YOU ARE ... THERE TO TAKE PART IN A MATCH, YOU ARE NOT WELCOME
I can easily see why people get this impression. To set up, run, and shoot a long range shooting event takes a fair bit of commitment and effort, therefore it's pretty easy to get the impression that most of the people at the range are pretty hardcore. In one sense they are, in the sense that they absolutely love long range shooting and they put a lot of time effort and thought into it. But "hardcore" does not mean "hardass"... despite outward appearances (and boy do we have our share of "characters"!!!), I think I can honestly say that the culture of long range shooters is remarkably open and giving. I have heard that in some competitive shooting disciplines, shooters are very jealous of their own success, will not share their route to success with others, and will even play "games" or sabotage the advancement of their fellow competitors. I have no idea if those things are true in some forms of shooting, but I do know that it is absolutely not the case in competitive long range target rifle shooting. You can (and I have done this) literally walk up to a world champion or an international giant of the sport, strike up a conversation, and be treated magnificently. You can ask anybody what ammo/barrel/etc they are using, and how you can make your ammo better - they'll tell you, and if you use it against them and outshoot them, they'll be smiling just as much as you are.
Another comment - on most organizations' calendars, you'll see most or even all long range events are labelled as "matches". This is because we have comparatively few opportunities to put on long range events throughout the year, basically one or two weekend days from late spring to early fall, and since it takes a lot of overhead and effort to open up and run the range for the day. the thought process goes, maybe rightly, maybe wrongly, "why waste all that effort on running/shooting a practice?". An outsider/newcomer naturally asks, "where are the practices? I can't shoot a 'match' until I have set my gear up, practiced a bit, and am good enough to be able to shoot a 'match' without embarrassing myself". The truth of it is, you should think of a "match" as simply "this is a day I can do some long range shooting". It is simply some long range shooting being done in a somewhat structured format. Some of this structure is intrinsically necessary (i.e. organizing when firing is happening, when we change shooting distances, when we swap people from the firing line to the target line). Some of this structure is not inherently necessary, for example "we're now going to fire 2 sighters and 10 shots on score at 600 yards", that's there because that's what most of the people out there are agreeable to doing -- if you want a different format, it is pretty straightforward to organize a different shooting format, if you are willing to volunteer as an event director or if you are able to sweet-talk somebody else into doing so.
KERNEL OF TRUTH
If I am to be honest with you, there probably is a small kernel of truth to your observations. Because a lot of effort is involved in running a long range shooting day, there ends up being a certain amount of bias in favour of "serious" or "important" shooting and this unfortunately manifests itself as a mild negative attitude towards "unserious" shooting (long range plinking; shooting without keeping score; shooting a rifle that was not built as a competition rifle). This is unfortunate, it is wrong, and it is not doing shooting any favours. Until are ranges and our events are so full that we need to figure out how to turn people away, we need to work against this and we need to welcome any and all who are interested in doing some long range shooting.
COME OUT AND SHOOT
It sounds like a lot of work and a bit of an uphill battle to make your schedule fit what's available/offered by your local Provincial Rifle Association or shooting organization that has a long distance range. But if you have an interest in shooting a rifle at longer ranges, the best way that I know of to learn long range shooting and then advance towards mastery of long range shooting, is to take up shooting "matches" with your local long range club/association.
