Whats the deal with long range shooting...

[Sgt Nambu]

You might consider trying a service rifle match, such as they have out at Douglas Ridge. I've shot 2 so far and learned a lot about shooting at distance with open sights. My eyes aren't horrible, but they're getting worse as time passes. So, I tend to shoot with glasses.

One thing I learned is that you shouldn't be focusing on the target, rather, you focus on the front sight. If you're not used to doing this, it will take some practice. The target will be blurry, but you can make out the black center of the target - and you simply dot the 'i' as someone else noted above, over the front sight.

In a service rifle match, as distance increases, the size of the target increases, so your sight picture is the same, regardless of distance. My first match, I did a fixed 100 yards. The second match, we did 200, 300 and 600 yards. For a first timer, you take a class the night before the match. They teach you about sight picture, how to adjust your sights for distance and how to score your targets. At DRRC, they have club M1 Garands you can rent for the match - in the class, they'll also teach you how to shoot the Garand.

As @Joe13 recommended, Appleseed would be a good choice too. I'm planning to do one one of these days myself.

One more plug for the service rifle match - if you're new to it, you can count on some experienced folks to give you some great tips and help along the way. No pressure, just learning new techniques.

etrain, has it absolutely right about only focusing on the sights and not the bullseye. I should have mentioned that little item in my post too.
When we're young we can often focus on all three, at least to a certain range! Aging eyes lose all ability to focus on sights and a target at any distance! As I taught my kid and grand kids "focus on the sights, put them on the base of the blur."

 

[USMC-03]

1x per 100m.
1000m = 10x scope

That's the old standby rule of thumb.

 

[74bronco]

thats the standby rule for young eyes, old eyes need
2x per 100 yards
20x min @1000 yards lol

 

[x2ndxall]

You walk up over a hill with your trusty 10/22 and there they are! Hundred of them.

You start rapid fringing from the dozens of pre loaded 25 round magazines you have on hand.
As fast as you can pick a target and pull the trigger.
Sometimes you will see a group of six or so young squeaky pigs at the opening of a borough.
So you dump as many rounds into them as fast as you can pull the trigger. Hoping to gun them down before they understand what's going on.

In a few minutes, all your magazines are empty. But the rodents are still running everywhere.
So you stuff five rounds into your last empty magazine, but cant take the time to fill it because rats are popping up now 20 feet away.

You blast the best targets then your out again. So you stop and load five more rounds.
Now your shooting at a rat running straight towards you! You nick him, because he's so close your just aiming down the side of the barrel. But he makes it into his hole. The hole behind your right heal!

That's right. The littlie SOB just ran between your feet!

This goes on for more than an hour. And your thumbs are killing you from loading rounds.
Slowly over time your able to keep one 25 round magazine mostly topped off. and you just work the place over.

Your two hours in now. And shooting slows down to a shot every 20 seconds or so. So you just stop.
Load up all your 25 round magazines. And walk over the next hill to take a look.

Crap! Here we go again!
And you spend another couple hours doing the same thing all over again!

That's what it's like.

The bulk of the shooting is from 22 rim fire.
I only shoot a few hundred .223 rounds at the bigger prairie dogs.
Still we walk the little .22 out there a long way. It's great practice.

Thank you.

 

[Boboclown]

thats the standby rule for young eyes, old eyes need
2x per 100 yards
20x min @1000 yards lol

Nah, 3x is fine out to 600 yards for me.

 

[IdahoBangBang]

I'm 57 ...My eyes don't adjust well to different distances, so I have a collection of glasses ...each pair for a different distance. Front sights are blurry as heck for me. So ...long story short, I finally sprung for some custom glasses that are precisely made for the distance between my right eye and that front sight when in shooting position. NOW, I can see the front sight clearly enough to notice the scratches and defects in the sight itself, and I find that when I am focused on that front sight, I can also see the target plenty well enough to hit it too. My 'general use' glasses that were aimed at infinity and worked for all other outdoor use weren't good enough. I had to have my special "eye to front sight distance" glasses made.... fixed my problems.

Brian

 

[oldcorpgunny]

Long range shooting with open sights or optics is one of the most fun activities I ever done! By yourself a spotting scope, pay attention to the tips that these fellows send your way.

 

[Goosebrown]

Nah, 3x is fine out to 600 yards for me.

For steel.

NRA 600 U.S. Is a 6" 10 ring and a 3" x ring. Competitive scores are above 198 with 30% or so scoring 200 8-15x.

No one can do that with 3x

 

[osprey]

at $800 the leupold vx3i in 6.5-20x50 is pretty damn nice glass, just set one up on a bull barrel 5.56 AR rig for a friend.
I was amazed that with a bit of practice it is not that hard to ring a 6" steel plate out to 400yds with a Fal and irons. Of course it has been a number of years ago I did that. I would like to think I could still do it but my eyesight has definitely shifted for the worse since then. Might have to give it a go again and see. I'll bring scope equipped ordinance as well. Just in case .

 

[Boboclown]

For steel.

NRA 600 U.S. Is a 6" 10 ring and a 3" x ring. Competitive scores are above 198 with 30% or so scoring 200 8-15x.

No one can do that with 3x

The 3x scope is on Aug. Don't think its meant for that kind of shooting.

 

[orygun]

I've shot at 400 yards some. I sure would have liked more than 9 power then!

 

[Goosebrown]

at $800 the leupold vx3i in 6.5-20x50 is pretty damn nice glass, just set one up on a bull barrel 5.56 AR rig for a friend.
I was amazed that with a bit of practice it is not that hard to ring a 6" steel plate out to 400yds with a Fal and irons. Of course it has been a number of years ago I did that. I would like to think I could still do it but my eyesight has definitely shifted for the worse since then. Might have to give it a go again and see. I'll bring scope equipped ordinance as well. Just in case .

I have that VariX on my 204 and it is a great scope. I agree.

 

[Myk357]

Long range shooting with iron sights is a ton of fun but def takes some practice and developed technique, and you wouldn't believe the distances you can get out to. The group I shoot with warms up at 400 yards and goes out to 1000...using single shot rolling blocks or high walls and lever action rifles, some over 100 years old. Practice trigger control, breathing, and LEARN to read the wind; regardless of what kind of rifle/ammunition you're using or what type of sight you have, those three things will ruin an otherwise good shot every time.

 

[Bon Sauvage]

Long range shooting with iron sights is a ton of fun but def takes some practice and developed technique, and you wouldn't believe the distances you can get out to. The group I shoot with warms up at 400 yards and goes out to 1000...using single shot rolling blocks or high walls and lever action rifles, some over 100 years old. Practice trigger control, breathing, and LEARN to read the wind; regardless of what kind of rifle/ammunition you're using or what type of sight you have, those three things will ruin an otherwise good shot every time.

Fun. Where do you do that?

 

[Myk357]

Fun. Where do you do that?

North Central Washington, about 20 miles south of Canada in Okanogan County...lots and lots of wide open space!

 

[IdahoBangBang]

Long range shooting with iron sights is a ton of fun but def takes some practice and developed technique, and you wouldn't believe the distances you can get out to. The group I shoot with warms up at 400 yards and goes out to 1000...using single shot rolling blocks or high walls and lever action rifles, some over 100 years old. Practice trigger control, breathing, and LEARN to read the wind; regardless of what kind of rifle/ammunition you're using or what type of sight you have, those three things will ruin an otherwise good shot every time.

I agree ...nothing points out your mistakes in trigger control and the rest of your technique like long range shooting. Practicing slow or timed long range shooting will improve your shooting across the board by forcing you to develop good habits, good technique. I noticed the same thing after shooting a lot of clay ... my ability to get on target and get my animal quickly when hunting went way up. Who'd have thought that shotgun practice would improve in-the-field rifle shooting?

Brian