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HeliBif

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My apologies if this topic has been covered in other threads, but my brief search yielded no results.

I'm eager to get into longer range (500m+) precision shooting, and with a Remington 700SPS Tactical .308 on the way, I want to start building my knowledge base...

Can anyone recommend some good "required" reading on the subjects of long range shooting, ballistic calculations, etc? Forums are great, but so hard to sift through the mountains of opinions and 2nd hand info to find reliable data. Texts or websites or downloadable documents would be preferable.

I should probably start off with basic intro stuff so I don't fry my brain on "overturning moments" and "yaw of repose" and "Coriolis effect" ;)

Much appreciated!

HB
 
I'm of the opinion that you cannot learn long range shooting from a book, You can augment your own experiences, but getting out and shooting is the best teacher. I also advocate mastering short-range before long range. The best way to learn is to shoot with someone that is skilled at long range shooting. Give some thought to entering an F-CLass shoot. I guarantee you will learn more in three hours hanging out and shooting with those guys, than you will from any book or internet forum.

Long range success requires shooter skill, reloading skill and firearm precision to come together. Starting at short range will allow you to work out these three variables individually instead of trying to diagnose why you have a 3-foot group at 600M, if you can even get on paper at all.

Don't get me wrong, long range shooting is great fun, but do NOT underestimate the value of experience and short range practice.
 
Obtunded said:
I'm of the opinion that you cannot learn long range shooting from a book, You can augment your own experiences, but getting out and shooting is the best teacher. I also advocate mastering short-range before long range. The best way to learn is to shoot with someone that is skilled at long range shooting. Give some thought to entering an F-CLass shoot. I guarantee you will learn more in three hours hanging out and shooting with those guys, than you will from any book or internet forum.

Long range success requires shooter skill, reloading skill and firearm precision to come together. Starting at short range will allow you to work out these three variables individually instead of trying to diagnose why you have a 3-foot group at 600M, if you can even get on paper at all.

Don't get me wrong, long range shooting is great fun, but do NOT underestimate the value of experience and short range practice.
Click to expand...


Agreed, I spent two years learning mostly on my own at my local range with my Rem700. I did learn quite a bit shooting out to 300 yards, but my learning curve went up exponentially when I joined F-Class. Depending on where you live you may be able to link up with experienced shooters, I have never seen and F'er who was not willing to help out a fellow shooter.

And I cannot recommend a better book than the one by Brian Litz.
 
While I agree there's no substitute for practical experience as a learning tool, I'm not sure how productive my first range session would be if I just went out and said "well, if it's further, I'll just aim higher!" lol
I'd at least like to know the basics of windage and elevation adjustments, how much of each to use, and when?

Interestingly, I'd just started browsing an excerpt from Applied Ballistics on the net when these replies came in :)
 
You might want to check out the lessons Frank (Lowlight) has on Snipers Hide. He was some very good info there, practical field-type stuff vs. the canned target shooting perspective you will get in most of the books (and on most firing lines).
 
Try "the wind book for rifle shooters"
Written by Canadians and availiable from Paladin press.
I will also say that there is no substitute for live practice...
however getting to the firing line with a game plan is a good idea
and sometimes a book can help in that department.
 
Bed that rifle
Lighten the trigger
Mount quality optics that can track repeatably
Quality handloads tuned to the needs of the barrel
Shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot somemore, shoot, shoot....

Kombayotch has a great post in the Long Range precision forum about using a rimfire for LR practise. I will be doing as much as I can this off season to keep my finger and brain tuned. One of the best ways to gain real world experience without the costs.

Shooting LR is about wind doping skills NOT about how to shoot or how to reload. That you learn at short range.

Visit my website and in the Tech section, I have various articles from putting a rig together to optics set up and testing to load tuning.

BUT the most important thing that has to happen is you must be able to shoot consistently and repeatably.

If you and your rifle can hold sub MOA at 200yds CONSISTENTLY, shooting further away really is as simple as adding more elevation and leaning further into the wind.

If the shot is delivered poorly at short range, it will not get any more accurate far away.

I get a chance to take shooters out LR shooting through the warmer months and I have yet to see a shooter not reach out well beyond their goals IF they can shoot reasonably well and have their rifle set up properly at shorter distances.

Bryans book is superb if you want learn more about ballistics and it really is geared towards shooters.

Let me know...

Jerry
 
Thanks guys!
I'll be looking into both Brian's book and the wind book that longshot mentioned.
Jerry, I'll definitely start looking through the info on your site.

I used to have a CZ452 that was amazing at 100 yds, so I've had a little practice at the short range stuff. Now my only .22 is an SR-22 with a 1x Bushnell red dot, but it's still pretty good at short range. I also have a Norc M14s coming back from getting tuned, that I'll be shooting iron sights on.
My range goes out to 500m though, so I hope to put the Remington to decent use :)

P.S. I found this article fairly informative: h ttp://demigodllc.com/articles/practical-long-range-rifle-shooting-equipment/
 
Yes, as Mystic points out; a good .22LR can give you invaluable long range practice at shorter distances. A .22LR at 300 yards is a 308 Win. at about 1050 yards. As opposed to short range practice, it forces you to consider the wind as well as the velocity spread of your ammo. Two things that are critical in order to be successful at long range shooting.

I take it seriously enough that I put nearly as much money into my .22LR trainer as I did in my long range rig. It sports a Manners stock nearly identical to my A5 and I run the smaller Premier Heritage scope on it so that both rifles have nearly the exact same feel. I haven't regretted building it for a second, its been an invaluable training tool.

Info for long range .22LR and about the match I run can be found in this thread:
http://www.canadiangunnutz.com/forum/showthread.php?t=488108

HeliBif said:
Lowlight's lessons require you to purchase access?
Click to expand...

Yes, however, so do books and the lessons can be printed to .pdf or paper and saved.
 
One of the things I frequentlyhear from newbies is that they would like to come out to a shoot, but want to make sure they have a perfect load first. While it's good to have sound equipment, you don't need to have every bit of your kit ironned ouot before you can benifit from range time. I know others have asked, but where are you located? Chances are there is somebody nearby who can help out and get you sorted in pretty short order. If you have an average Rem 700 in .308, and a sound optic and mounting system, you should be able to pick a load for a 155-175gr match bullet, plug the data into one of the free online balistic calculeters,and be on paper in pretty short order out to 500 yards. One of the benifits of the .308- it will shoot most loads pretty well. I've been competing for the last 10 years, and I still havn't stopped tweaking, so don't wait- come and shoot!
 
I'm up in Peace River, AB
The rifle I bought off a fellow CGN'er is a 700SPS Tactical and comes with a Bushnell Elite 3200 Tactical 10x40mm Mil-dot on Leupold 2-piece dovetail base and medium rings. I think I should be fairly well set up as a starting point for the rig... I don't have the equipment for reloading yet, so I'll have to start off with factory loads. But I do look forward to putting it to work on the warmer days this winter!

One question I had after doing some reading. Is it not a bit annoying to have a turret in MOA graduations but a reticle in Mil-dots? Seems like it would be unnecessarily complicated were you to sight in using a combination of elev adjustment, and reticle hold-over...
 
It depends on what you're doing and what you're used to.If you're shooting a tactical match with a spotter who can give you corrections then mils is a faster better way to go.
If its just you shooting by yourself then it doesn't really matter as long as you're comfortable with what each click generates.
Some folks who have "grownup" on moa find it difficult to switch.I personally haven't had any issues at all and prefer a mil/mil system over moa.
 
You are bang on with it being more complicated, especially with a mismatched reticle/turret setup. However, in order to take full advantage and use a combination of adjustments and hold-overs, you need a scope that is First Focal Plane (FFP). Otherwise, the reticle graduations are only accurate at one magnification. Its a much simpler system to use and it allows you to engage targets more rapidly (very advantageous for field use).
 
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