Innehållsförteckning för Long Range Shooting SIP No3 från Gun Digest

“Shooting is a game of milliseconds, and if you divert your attention from the target, you risk drifting off target. In so many cases, shooters will not even notice this. They will establish their sight picture, consider the cross-hairs on target and then begin to think about something else. It’s during these moments where we miss the movement caused by a poor trigger press or a subconscious shift in our body. We need to carefully watch the reticle so we can answer: Where are our sights during the firing sequence?” I recently came across this paragraph in Frank Galli’s new book, Precision Rifle Marksmanship: The Fundamentals, and it grabbed me for some reason … especially his statement about breaking down the art of shooting to a game of milliseconds. I’ve…

When it comes to shooting a precision rifle, a lot has changed. I lament that in each class I teach, I point out that from the turn of the last century to just before 9-11, precision rifle technology and techniques moved at a snail’s pace. What our grandfathers passed on to our fathers was passed on to us; and, from there, we passed the same thoughts down to our children. After 9-11, everything changed; it became the new “space race.” Each week, we read about a new way of addressing old problems. As a result, it can be hard to keep up. I’ve found that there are three types of students: • Those looking to compete in NRLand/or PRS-type competitions • Those looking to be well-rounded marksmen for personal reasons…

For most of the past century, the lever gun was considered a short-range weapon. That wasn’t always the case. When the .30-30 Winchester cartridge was introduced in the 1894 Winchester, it provided much more reach than most lever guns of that age. Of course, it wasn’t long until we had cartridges such as the .30-06 in bolt-action rifles, and “long range” suddenly become a lot farther than it had ever been. Now, it’s true that lever guns such as the Savage 99, Browning BLR and, most recently, the Henry Long Ranger, have been chambered for modern, flat-shooting cartridges such as the .308 Winchester and even 6.5 Creedmoor. But, these rifles are not traditional lever guns. It’s also true that in 1982, Winchester introduced the .307 Winchester in the Model 94;…

I was lying prone in the Oregon desert, having just broken the trigger of the Ruger rifle and watching the vapor trail of the Hornady A-Tip bullet through the Leupold Mark 5 riflescope, when the air in front of the target started to distort, and I saw the impact on the left quarter of the steel plate 1,500 yards away. In spite of the three aforementioned pieces of excellent gear, my mind wandered to the cartridge—one of the first of the revisionist cartridges, the 6.5 Creedmoor. Now, before you turn the page, this article is not focused on the Creedmoor; instead, it’s about the concept it embraces. We’ve discovered that the high-BC bullets, which retain their energy so well at longer ranges, are key to hitting a target at extremely…

Today, we have a skewed perception of exactly what “long range” is. The definition is fluid, but “long range” can be boiled down to two things that are inseparably connected: rifle type and target type. This relationship determines the bullets, cartridges and general support equipment that are used. Long range for a hunting-class .30-06 on deer is very different than long range for a .338 Lapua on steel plates. With the old aught-six, you must be concerned, not just with hitting the deer, but also hitting it in a vital place ... and you’ll want to know what your bullet does when it gets there. With the .338 Lapua, you’re only concerned with simply getting the bullet to contact steel. In general, “normal” range for rifles is considered to be…

When was the last time you gave as much attention to your firearm’s lubricant as your ammunition, magazines, optics or lights? Because lube can’t attach to a Picatinny rail, get laser-etched or dipped in the latest absolute invisibility camo pattern, probably very little. When was the last time you considered what’s in your lubricant and how that impacts the performance of your firearm? Probably the same answer. 100-YEAR-OLD LUBRICANT Sadly, many American firearm owners lubricate their guns with “what they’ve always used” and live with its shortcomings. In fact, the top-selling firearm lubricant in the United States was introduced in 1913—before World War I! It was designed first and foremost to prevent rust; lubrication was a distant second, and cleaning only happened with aggressive scraping and additional harsh chemicals. However,…

01 RCBS MatchMaster Powder Dispenser There’s nothing so rewarding—and simultaneously time-consuming and occasionally frustrating—as loading precision ammunition. Trickling perfect loads makes for long hours. RCBS speeds up this process without compromising precision with its MatchMaster Powder Dispenser. Not just another electronic dispenser, this machine uses a twin-tube design to throw charges to within .10 grain in fewer than 20 seconds. That’s impressive, to say the least. Additionally, it boasts user-adjustable powder settings to tune its operation to particular propellants, along with adaptable feet, which makes shimming a thing of the past. Completely programmable and as precise as they come, the MatchMaster should be on every serious reloader’s bench. MSRP: $1,082 02 Vortex 1000 Rangefinder A key factor in connecting at distance? Knowing the range. Vortex makes this vital…

Imagining settling yourself in behind a rifle as tall as a 6th -grader, taking careful aim, pressing the trigger to the rear and launching a bullet that might weigh in at over an ounce. Your rifle barks, and the muzzle brake and 40 pounds of mass soak up some of the recoil. As you settle back in from the rifle’s recoil for a second sight picture, seconds pass. Your spotter is silent. Four seconds pass … 5 … 6. You hear a bell cut through the air, indicating an impact on the 48x60-inch target 3,525 yards away. Congratulations! You and your team managed to hit the final target in the King of 2 Mile extreme long-range shooting competition. Your spotter calls, “Same shot!” The rifle bucks, and the process starts…

Leupold has a long and storied history of innovation in the optics industry. While it was certainly not the first company to come out with scopes for rifles, it could be argued that today, it’s one of the most extensive and most widely trusted brands in that industry. For a great many shooters, the scopes with the gold ring are the only choices when it’s time to embark on that annual tradition that sees late nights around the campfire and early mornings with a cup of coffee in the stand. I’m a big believer in Leupold’s quality. It’s hard to find scopes that hold up in tough field conditions, and it’s even harder to find them with useful features that create confidence for diffi cult shots. Now, for the first…

Everyone needs a buddy like Chad. A.J. Stewart, a 34-year-old industrial technician from Mobile, Alabama, had dropped three .22 LR shots onto a steel target at 825 yards—and into a group about the size of a dip can. Now, with a ridiculous 120 mils of elevation doped into his rig, he sent it to 1,000. But, it wasn’t going well. The splashes looked to land in front of the 30x30-inch steel square, so Stewart spun up more elevation. “With .22 LR, at that distance, to get it to travel another 5 yards, you need a whole mil of elevation,” Stewart told me. “That’s how steep the bullet is coming down. One meter of elevation for 5 meters of distance.” He went to 122, 123, 124, 125. Still, no hits. “Aw,…

Detailed fundamentals are the building blocks of all great shooting. There are plenty of “good-bad shooters,” as I like to call them, out there—shooters who have learned to adapt their bad habits into successful shots. Most people focus on results, but the results don’t always tell the entire tale. Properly executed, the fundamentals make the difference between a hit and a miss when it comes to long-range precision shooting. There is no “voodoo” when it comes to engaging targets at long distances. But it does require that you know and focus on the fundamentals of marksmanship down to the millisecond. All shooting is a game of milliseconds and how you control the time between each one matters. SETTING UP THE RIFLE TO THE SHOOTER Many shooters are limited by the…