LR tips

[kcstott]

BS, you will learn about how inaccurate an optic can be.... first scope i got was an AIM sports 6-22 FFP for 100 bucks, thought i was cool stuff.... spent the next 40 rounds zeroing..... then i realized i made a mistake.

Been there. Try to adjust a Simmons for a 7X57 and the scope would wander all over the place. That rifle is getting a Banded hooded front sight and a three leaf express rear.

[Salt Works Rifles LLC.]

Buy a Horus vision.

[vliberatore]

And know when to call it a day.

If you start to get fatigued and your groups start to open up. Call it a day. You can take a break, or take a day, but wasting ammo and developing bad technique will not make you a better shooter.

Practice does not make perfect
Perfect practice makes perfect

Very true! First F-Class match I competed in I noticed this with some of the shooters. Helps to have a rifle that fits you.

[kcstott]

Very true! First F-Class match I competed in I noticed this with some of the shooters. Helps to have a rifle that fits you.

The single most over looked aspect of rifle building or buying is stock fitting.

Once you have shot a rifle that was built around your frame you will never want to shoot anything else.

[Sir Toast]

BS, you will learn about how inaccurate an optic can be.... first scope i got was an AIM sports 6-22 FFP for 100 bucks, thought i was cool stuff.... spent the next 40 rounds zeroing..... then i realized i made a mistake.

A $100 scope is skimping. Get a good scope like a Nightforce, Vortex or S&B. They hold their zero and you can learn how to adjust for wind, elevation, etc. One click really is one mil. You're not going to learn jack with a crappy scope.

[kcstott]

A $100 scope is skimping. Get a good scope like a Nightforce, Vortex or S&B. They hold their zero and you can learn how to adjust for wind, elevation, etc. One click really is one mil. You're not going to learn jack with a crappy scope.

Well that depends on what it's going on.

Now this is the long range board so I'm assuming 600yds/meters plus

Now say a AR15 designated marksmen rifle a leuplod VX1 3-9x40 would do just fine. No need to put a $1900 scope on a rifle that can't shoot past 800 yards worth a darn.

A Mk11 or Mk110 variant I'd step up to a Leupold Mk4 LR/T 4.5-14 or an equivalent NF, S&B

As for a good bolt rifle well that also depends. Caliber wise that is..

The longer the range the round is and the better the rifle is built the better the scope needs to be and Leupold Mk4 ER/T, NF, S&B, Vortex would all be top choices.

[micro911]

Learn how to read the wind. Every time you practice, use a log book to record your data. That helps a lot.

I use a Kowa TSN 821 spotting scope with 27X eyepiece. That is a great combination.

[LynnJr]

You will learn more by competing than any other thing you can do.

If you make a mistake learn from it or have someone with experience tell you about it then fix or correct for at your next match.

Once you have removed all your errors/mistakes you will have a weath of knowledge.

[vliberatore]

You will learn more by competing than any other thing you can do.

If you make a mistake learn from it or have someone with experience tell you about it then fix or correct for at your next match.

Once you have removed all your errors/mistakes you will have a weath of knowledge.

+1 on this too.

I competed in my first 2 matches last summer. I was amazed at how much I learned in those 2 days.

[brando]

Oh hey, there's a Long Range section now?

On reading wind, people seem to forget that we live in a fluid. We are figuratively "air fish" living in a sea of air and it moves similar to water with advection, currents and eddies (yes, I do fluid dynamics for a living).

So when reading the wind on a long range shot, pay close attention to your terrain and how the air moves through it. Too many people either get the wind velocity (direction and speed) at their firing point or at the target. This is important but not the only thing to consider.

- Long range trajectories tend to have a high max ordinate, so they often rise quite a bit above your line of sight to the target, so take a look at what the air is doing "up there."

- If you're around hills and valleys, look at how the wind is blowing brush. Sometimes you'll have the same direction at the firing point and the target, but part way there it will change as it flows over a ridge and down into a valley. This becomes an extra vector to add to your wind velocity.

- Strong winds can create wind "shadows." If wind is coming in laterally from a ridge or even a rocky outcropping, you may read the value stronger at that point without realizing that it's actually a bit lower in magnitude along your line of sight.

- Consider wind in bands. Firing Point / Halfway / Target. You can get an accurate read at the FP using a wind meter. Next estimate the halfway velocity (wind speed and direction) and at the target. The easy thing to do is just average these values but if you want to get fancy you can do what I do and bias it towards the FP. 45% / 35% / 20% From my experience that's roughly how much the wind values affect the trajectory along the wind bands. And keep in mind, this is really only important when your time of flight starts to exceed 1.5 seconds. In other words, I don't get into details like that until I'm shooting a mile or farther or working in a very tricky wind environment.


And on an unrelated subject, use a bubble level to get your rifle stabilized and not canted. Up close it won't make much of a distance but at a mile having even minor cant can be the difference between a hit or miss

[brando]

Oh and I'll add a bit about biasing the wind values along those bands:

The value at the FP is important because any directional force on the bullet at the start of its trajectory causes the most displacement (when assuming a constant velocity). And force at the target has the least effect because there's so little left on the trajectory to deviate. However as the bullet leaves the barrel it has maximum velocity and is therefore affected less by directional forces, while near the end of its trajectory that velocity has dropped and therefore its easier to push around.

So I bias towards the FP primarily because a decent wind can displace the bullet more and consider the halfway point nearly the same because force here has time to deviate the bullet AND it has lost some velocity and can be deviated easier.

[ratled]

Thanks Brando for all that

ratled

[TygerAR]

Tagged

[bsumoba]

A good rifle is only good as the driver behind it, so learn how to be a good trigger puller. once you are a good trigger puller, then learn to be a good wind caller and mirage reader.

the only way to do this is to get out there and shoot. you will also notice certain people who shoot well day in and day out at matches...watch how they do it and learn from them.

[jdoezha]

And know when to call it a day.

If you start to get fatigued and your groups start to open up. Call it a day. You can take a break, or take a day, but wasting ammo and developing bad technique will not make you a better shooter.

Practice does not make perfect
Perfect practice makes perfect

Well said!
I did this very thing over the weekend