New to REAL distance...questions

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220Swifty

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Hey guys, been shooting for 15 years, no stranger to the rifle, but i am very interested in shooting the real long range stuff (500 yards plus). Was wondering if you could point me in the direction of any books/videos that would help me learn some techniques?

Also, would like to get a setup together for these ranges and further, likely to be used for targets to deer. Something heavy barreled, but no 30 pound bench sitter. Any recomendations on calibers? I was thinking anything from 308 to 338 RUM (not scared of recoil) Help is appreciated, especially on the learning part, as i am fairly familiar with my ballistics.
 
yahoo the gf says i can get the 8.6 x 72 Swamp Donkey Magnum, I gotta go clean out the safe:dancingbanana::dancingbanana:
 
I am putting together a series of article for setting up LR hunting rifles that can double for LR plinking. Visit longrangehunting.com. The site is being updated so you may not see the articles yet.

will cover rifle builds to optics and reloading.

Best cal for dual purpose Target out well past 1000m and deer inside 800yds is the good ole 7RM pushing 162gr Amax or 180gr Bergers at 3000fps. 28 to 30" pipe with a muzzle brake - read the article and you will understand why I recommend a brake.

The new 208gr amax brings new life to the mid size 30's. Min would be a 300WM going 2850fps but better the 300WBY going close to 3000fps.

The 338 are indeed nice but more then you are asking for.

There are several hunters I know that cleanly harvest deer at 500 to 700yds using the good ole 308 (CCW culls in Sask).

If you want lots of trigger time to learn how to shoot LR (and you should), the 223 and 6BR are THE cals to start with. The mid sized 6.5's like the 6.5 Mystic/260AI are also excellent. All are capable of 1000m target shooting.

Do a quick search for lots of info already on this board. 6mmBR.com for some other input.

Jerry
 
Thanks Jerry,

i believe we have spoken before, and are both former members of a certain savage website. I have the 223, a 10 FP that i am hoping to toy with this summer, and was looking for more bang, looking forward to reading the articles, thanks again.
 
I think the most important thing is not your firearm but knowing exactly how far your shooting. RANGE FINDER! It's my most important tool, If I don't have it then I go hunt the timber cause theirs no point shooting if you don't know the distance.
 
simulate said:
Try " The Ultimate Sniper' by Maj. John plaster, USAR.
best book on the subject and used for many long range shooting courses.
Good luck.
Click to expand...

ditto

There is no substitute for trigger time. Go to the matches. Start shooting!

I shot DCRA target rifle for many years, had to let it slide and shot the long ranges at the OSA M14 clinic. There is nothing a person can learn in the books, than the knowledge will come from exposure to the 10,000 opportunities for screwups.
 
I suggest you use any moderate caliber (243 to 308) to shoot a scoped rifle off sandbags at your locla rifle association shoots. There is shooting most weekends. You will quickly discover how easy it is shoot short ranges like 500 yards.

You will learn to see shifts in mirage through your scope and then aim a bit left or right to compensate.

You will learn more in one day of shooting than in a winter of reading... more fun, too.
 
I would suggest the book "Handloading for Competition" by Glen Zediker. It doesn't focus on the shooting, but on the reloading.

Also, take a look at Zack Smith's site and writings. He's an avid "Practical Long Range" shooter. This is a flavor of long range competition that is very applicable to long range hunting. It focuses on making first round hits on targets at various unknown distances (meaning not fixed 500, 600, 800, etc... distances - but, you still determine the distance via rangefinder/mil-dots/etc...).

You probably want to go to the magnums if you're thinking of taking large animals past 500 or 600 yards. 243/260/308 are fine for paper, but for a clean kill at really long distance... iffy.
 
If you plan to shoot this rifle in matches think 50+ rounds a day. I would reconsider "(not scared of recoil)" and think about cost.
 
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