The Arms Guide
  • Home
  • AR-15
  • Rifles
  • Handguns
  • Reloading Gear
  • Gun Safes
  • Gun News

Introduction to Long Range Shooting

vlcsnap-2013-10-03-23h09m50s105

Last Updated on June 13, 2020, Published on December 26, 2016 by Alessio Baldi 15 Comments

I have been practicing long range shooting for about ten years. When I bought my first scoped rifle, initially, for deer and wild boar hunting, I began to research and study material about rifle marksmanship, ballistics, and handloading. My intent was to be able to deliver the most accurate and effective shots possible at typical hunting distances (up to ~300yds). I soon discovered that with rifles just like mine, ordinary civilians were shooting at 1000yds, and beyond. I found those subjects fascinating, and the more I learned, the more I wanted to know. With this series of articles, I want to share what I’ve discovered in my research (and range experience).

Let’s start with these questions: what is long range shooting and what does it take to make a shot at long range?

Long Range Shooting

For these articles, we can speak of long range shooting as ranges of 500-600yds, and beyond. Shooting at such distances makes seemingly small factors, such as your heart rate, breathing, physics, and the effects weather, more significant. This adds to the challenge, which, for me, is part of the beauty of this discipline.

What does it take to make a long range shot?

Some of you may recognize this quote from the movie Shooter (2007):

“You know what it takes to make a shot at that range? Everything comes into play that far. Humidity elevation, temp, winds, spin drift. There’s a 6-10 second flight time, so you have to shoot it where the target’s going to be. Even the coriolis effect, the spin of the earth, comes into play.”

They were talking about a shot beyond one mile; however, these elements are still relevant for long distance shooting at closer ranges. There is a bit more involved, including some physics, a little trigonometry, and a few formulas to use for long distance shooting. This math stuff may sound nasty for some of you, but rest assured that’s nothing of too difficult, once you get familiar with it. I’m not a fan of mathematics, so I’ll try to keep it simple. The only other things you need are a willingness to learn, the discipline (and practice) to apply it. Oh, and a rifle, of course!

Speaking of rifles, you may think you need a super-precision-laser rifle, with an astronomical telescope mounted on it chambered in a powerful caliber to shoot long range… You don’t. There are budget solutions, and ways to set up your existing rifle to get started in this beautiful discipline. The same principles can be used effectively with a .22LR rifle with a $200 scope (although, you won’t get the same kind of range as with larger calibers).

What’s most important are solid rifle marksmanship fundamentals. We must endeavor to eliminate, or at least minimize, human error. If your marksmanship skills are flawed, you can go crazy trying to compensate for errors derived not by external variables, but by your hand. In the course of this series, I’ll give you some tips to improve your accuracy. I’ll divide the material into three sections:

Theory

We will examine the physics behind the behaviour of a projectile (bullet) in flight. It is essential to understand this to be able to predict the bullet’s trajectory in order adjust our sights and hit the target at varying distances and conditions.

Weapons System

I will discuss the setup of a typical long range weapons system (i.e., rifle, optics, etc.). I’ll also cover how to maximize the accuracy and consistency of your rifle, how to choose the right optic, and how to select the right ammunition.

Technique

This will be a sort of “how to” section where I’ll take you step by step through long range shooting techniques, starting from zeroing your rifle and building your own ballistic table, and finishing with the observation of the bullet going downrange.

If you have studied and practiced well, you will see your bullet hitting your target, like in this example from Shooter.

vlcsnap-2013-10-03-23h08m53s233
Beef stew before…
vlcsnap-2013-10-03-23h09m19s238
…and after.

Stay tuned!

Featured images are stills from Antoine Fuqua’s 2007 film, Shooter.

Filed Under: Firearms Training Tagged With: ballistics, formula, long range, Math, movie, Optic, outoor, physics, precision, precision rifle, rifle, science, scope, shooter, shooting, sniper

Related Posts

  • Reticle featured
    Long Range Shooting: Ballistics Terms Part 2
  • Vertical featured
    Long Range Shooting: External Ballistics – Bullet Trajectory Part 1
  • Featured static stab
    Long Range Shooting: External Ballistics – Bullet Shape

Comments

  1. Avatar for Alessio Baldihartcreek says

    December 21, 2013 at 12:46 am

    So have you used the Leatherwood ART set up yet?

    Reply
  2. Avatar for Alessio BaldiAlessioBaldi says

    December 21, 2013 at 2:23 pm

    hartcreek Not yet. I’ve used, on my 30-06, a Leatherwood/Hi-Lux Uni-Dial (the one with the elevation turret) with the No-Math Mil-Dot system. The system was cool, but the optic was not so good. The glass was pretty decent but the mechanics sucked! The elevation turret went of (it stripped the thread on the scope’s tube) during a shooting session, and it had very few excursion for long range shooting.

    In my opinion, the ART system is good for medium range military shooting. For precision long range shooting you’d need something different 😉

    Reply
  3. Avatar for Alessio BaldiTKHolter says

    December 23, 2013 at 10:28 pm

    Don’t forget to give Carlos Hathcock his due!  We have a link one YouTube..this is the 1st of 3 parts.

    Reply
  4. Avatar for Alessio BaldiTKHolter says

    December 23, 2013 at 10:34 pm

    The link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVJONj95so4

    Reply
  5. Avatar for Alessio BaldiAlessioBaldi says

    December 23, 2013 at 10:53 pm

    TKHolter  I red the book about him, “Marine Sniper: 93 confirmed kills” a few years ago, and watched that videos and other material about him after. He was not just a great sniper and a pioneer in this field in the US military, he was also a great man! 
    Now that you remind me of him, I’ll try to fit some talking about him in m articles.

    However, this is not meant to be a guide about sniping, so I’ll not cover the aspects where he was a master, like stalking, camouflaging etc 😉

    Reply
« Older Comments

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

In Case You Missed It

Hiders
AR-15

The 8 Best AR-15 Flash Hiders in 2021

April 10, 2021

Best Leupold Scope For Ar15
AR-15

5 Best Leupold Scopes for your AR-15

April 8, 2021

Ruger American Sig (1)
Handguns

How Guns Work: Striker Fired Pistols

April 7, 2021

Best Ar15 Pistol Case
AR-15

8 Best AR15 Pistol Cases & Range Bags Reviewed 2021

April 5, 2021

© Copyright 2021 Thearmsguide · All Rights Reserved.

  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use

Affiliate disclosure: As an Amazon Associate, we may earn commissions from qualifying purchases from Amazon.com.