New to long range shooting

[Mike38]

I’ve been a pistol shooter most of my life, Conventional and Standard Pistol, but a motorcycle accident left me unable to hold up a pistol one handed for any length of time, so now I have been concentrating on the rifle. I guess you could say I’m not really new to rifle shooting, but I am no doubt new to precision long range shooting. The longest I can shoot at ranges anywhere near me is 200 yards. My most used range is only 100 yards. Here this summer I plan on traveling to a 600 yard range, and get some formal training there. Problem is, I’d like to at least be “on the paper” before I even start. I ran a Ballistics Calculation on Hornady’s web site to see how my hits would be at 600 yards. I’m sure I punched in all the right numbers. The trajectory table tells me that to be zeroed at 600 yards, the bullet would be 12.0 inches high at 100 yards. It reads like this…

Muzzle / -1.5
100yards / 12.0
200yards / 20.9
300yards / 24.8
600yards / 0.0
800yards / -54.7
1000yards / -149.5

So… if I sight in my rifle to shoot 12 inches high at 100 yards, mathematically it would be zeroed at 600 yards, correct? I should at least be “on the paper” at 600 yards, right? Or am I doing something wrong? Thanks.

 

[Jimro]

If you sighted in 12" high at 100 and then verified that you were about 41" high at 200 with the same zero then I would say that your ballistics computation has a high probability of being on paper at 600.

Jimro

 

[themusgrat]

That's just a bad idea though, sighting in at 600. You should be absolutely fine sighting in at 200 yards, then compensating for the drop at 600. There's actually many more things that need to be accounted for before you even attempt a 600 yard shot, and the main one is your ammunition. So sight in your gun at 200, and make sure that you can put holes in a 1-2 inch target. Because at 600, that 2" of variance can blow way out. And even if you sight in at 600, what are you sighting in on if you're getting 15" spreads? That's too much variance to be able to sight in. You'd need like 50 rounds just to know what your spread is in the first place.

So first, sight in at 200 with your choice of ammo. The next part of your formal training is getting to know the usual drop for that bullet, as well as elevation. That's the way everyone does it, and it's because that's the way that works. You will have some trouble getting on paper at first, but all it will take is a few shots before you know what 50" of drop at 600yards looks like with whatever your maximum zoom is for the scope. That's where you start to learn the art of long distance shooting.

 

[Jimro]

15" spread at 600 is the same as a 2.5" group at 100. Nothing special, but if you can do it all day long every day, I wouldn't want you shooting at me.

Just curious Mike38, what sort of rifle/optic are you going to be using? The last time I was shooting out to 600 was an M16A2 with stock irons. I was more than happy just to hit the "iron maiden" steel target, forget about a tight group. M855 isn't exactly known for match grade accuracy.

Jimro

 

[.308shooter]

Put a 200 yeard zero on your weapon. Then redue the calculations with the 200 yard zero. When you get to the 600 yard range make the adjustments from the calculations and you should be at least on the paper.

What weapon are you using? Caliber? Optics?

 

[Mike38]

I’m certainly not capable of 600 yards with iron sights, though I wish I was. My eye sight just isn’t what it used to be. 400 maybe?

The only rifle I have that would be a 600 yard shooter is a Remington 700 AWR chambered in 7mmSTW. 162gr Hornady A-max bullets at 2900 fps. Leupold Vari-X III, 4.5-14x40. It will shoot 0.5 inch groups at 100 yards, so I’m thinking if the wind is favorable (little to none) and I do my part, I should be able to place some 6 to 8 inch groups at 600 yards. Or maybe that’s expecting too much?

Thanks for the info so far everyone, keep it coming.

 

[Jimro]

Mike38,

Pretty much the only rifles I wouldn't even try to shoot at 600 are rimfires. Even a 30-30 will reach that far without much fuss. A 150 grain "LeveRevolution" pill has about 22 MOA of drop at 600 from a 200 yard zero. Not a barrel burner by any means, but still much less than shooting a 308 Win at 1K.

My advice? If you have a 223, take that. Low recoil, lots of fun.

Jimro

 

[emcon5]

First, if you haven't, chrono your loads. You need to accurately know your average MV or the output from any ballistics program is useless.

Hornady's calculator is good, but use this one, and make sure you put in your altitude and accurately measure your sight height (centerline of sights/scope to centerline of bore). It does make a difference.
http://www.jbmballistics.com/cgi-bin/jbmtraj-5.0.cgi

Make sure you have a good 200 yard zero.
Reality check your sights/scope. Just because the manufacturer says they are 1/4 or 1/2 MOA, doesn't mean they are. If the click that is supposed to be .5 is really .4, you may not notice at 100 yards, but if you need to put in 10 MOA worth, it can add up.

Go to your 600 yard shoot and just put in the required elevation as reported by the ballistics program and you will most likely be on paper. If not, you will be pretty close.

 

[Mike38]

Jimro, I thought seriously about taking a .223. The 7mmSTW beats the heck of of that old motorcycle injury. Shattered collar bone, not just broken, but shattered. I've tried shooting left handed, but I look like the old saying about a monkey and a football, if you know what I mean.

Problem with my .223 is it has a 1:12 twist and will only shoot 55gr bullets. Will a 55gr bullet reach out that far?

I'm getting the impression most of you guys feel 600 yards is nothing special. Maybe I'm just letting my mind play games with me? Once I try it, maybe it will seem nothing more then a "chip shot".

 

[emcon5]

Sure 55gr will go that far, you will just really need to learn how to dope the wind quickly.

600 yards isn't "nothing special" but it isn't impossible either, if you do your homework, and don't let it intimidate you. And I know, it is intimidating, the first time I plopped down on the 600 yard line in a match, and looked WAY downrange at the tiny black dot of the target, I thought there was no way I could hit something that far away. When I finally touched off my first spotter, it seemed like an eternity before the target frame dropped into the pits. My first "10" at 600 yards was downright exhilarating, only topped by my first "X"

Almost sounds like if you decide to get serious about this, you may want to consider a new rifle, as both of your options are pretty far from ideal. The slow twist .223 is going to get killed with wind way out there, and the 7STW can be a little punishing for match work, plus it uses a lot of powder.

What kind of shooting are you planning on doing?