Most rifles will do better then the owner can. Especially with this new pattern of buying a hunting rifle, having a gunsmith go to the range and sight it in, then only shooting maybe 2-3 rounds a year.

How I see it is if you can hit something at that range and you've actually practiced out to that range and arnt just trying to show off and just claim you can shoot that far go ahead.

This being said if I myself rather be safe then sorry so I never shoot out to my max (100 yards) havnt shoot firearms enough but I'm pretty consistant at that range

Dimitri

Dimitri –

You really need to find a place where you can shoot further! If you’re shooting acceptable groups at 100, its no big trick to hit things at 200 or even 300 or more. Plus it’s a lot of fun, and that’s what shooting is all about!

Get some water jugs, clay pigeons, steel gongs and set them waaay out there. Your self-imposed limit of 100 yards will soon be a thing of the past. Have fun!

Thanks Dallan...Yes...It's a popular target for handgun and rifle...Mostly because it can be seen out to the farther ranges. Add an orange dot and you have reference too...

Some day I'll get the hang of this photo thing and............

I think that 2" at a huntred is good for the average Guy.
But 1" is better , My understanding is for every 100 yrds the Moa increases
1" so that means 2"at 200 and so on.

How many of you ever shoot a deer or other animal from a bench rest or any other rest for that matter...I have had few shots that I could get to some form of rest...Most of mine have been standing or sitting shots. Range accuracy is great...But...Yes...I know...siting behind a rock shooting pdogs at 1000 yards Or in a treestand with built in rest...

Bushmaster wrote:

How many of you ever shoot a deer or other animal from a bench rest or any other rest for that matter.....

First deer I ever shot was about 300 yards. Used a tree stump as a rest. Antelope at 294 yards, prone with a backpack as a rest. Antelope at 176 yards, hood of the truck as a rest. First elk, tree trunk as a rest. Three other elk, prone with the backpack again. Longest shot was elk at 350 yards from a sitting position.

Lots of long shots at coyotes from rested positions. Not big game, but they're just as skittish, often more so, and the bullets connected just the same.

If you have spent any time at a range in the two weeks before hunting season you would know that the "average" hunter can't keep five shots in an eight inch black spot at 100 yards USING a BENCH AND SANDBAGS.

These people scare the living dung out of me!

I practice standing, sitting and prone (which I HATE) shooting without aids other than the body that the Good Lord saw fit to give me. I can hold my groups a lot smaller from the bench - and I have a portable bench that I can fit in my trunk but I don't want to try to hunt while carrying it around. Shooting off-hand I can hold MOA or slightly under for the first three shots. I only need the first one. To test the ammo I use a bench, a chronograph and an array of targets. In the field I have used trees, rocks, sticks and even my brother's shoulder once. If I have any doubt about the shot - I pass it up. I hunt from a stand when I can because I make too much noise in the woods to sneak up on anything. My shots are usually at least 100 yards - if I move slowly and spend a lot of time NOT walking.
I am not the world's worst hunter but close! My only saving grace is that I can shoot a lot better than I hunt.

i kill most of my deer while sitting using my knee as a rest, now i have a bipod. when i was a teen i have killed deer at 300 yards standing freehand but that was long long ago.

I am having problems trying to find any good place to shoot at a target more than 100 yards.
I think I would be very happy if I could just get to a range and shoot a days worth of ammo none stop. just to see how accurate I am at 150 to 200 yards. this would give me a real idea of how much a bullet will drop and where I need to aim to be dead on.

all the gun ranges around where I live are member only, and so many members can be on the list. right now there are no openings.
a friend of mine lets me go to his house but the farthest and safest distance I can get from his house to the back of his property is only about 65 yards to 70 yards.

I am not happy with shooting a 1 inch dot at 65 yards, with my 22 or 30-30. I would like to think I can to better.

I have a iver-johnson carbine 22 with adjustable peep sights. at 30 yards I can pretty much hit the 1 inch dot every time. 15 rounds. not much left of it after that.

I have droped birds from 80 yards with the same gun. and aproxmiataly from the same 80 yards I have droped a dop on a full dead run. no, I do not think it killed it. as soon as I pulled the trigger, the dog dropped , rolled on the ground head over feet , then landed on his feet, and kept running. but I never seen that dog again.
only shot that dog becuase it kept comming around the work place and tried to attact every worker if they was by them selves. not good.

I have read many of your guys storries about shooting 200, 300 and 400 yard shots. I think that is amazing. I also think that if you sight your gun in for that and have a good straight shooting gun and a nice scope . it should be done with eas. as long as a person takes the time and shoots from those distances and gets good.

one thing I have noticed in my self. back home when I shot a gun all the time, it was easy for me to hold steady and not miss.
now, its been about 15 years or more since then. I find it alot harder to hold steady and hit a target every time. I am not as good as I was and do not have a steady hand anymore. also. I have noticed that I can not see little targets as good as I use to.

just shooting a gun regulare will help alot .

ripper007 wrote:

I am having problems trying to find any good place to shoot at a target more than 100 yards.

ripper -

Don't know what part of Cholorado you are in but there the Ben Lomond Gun Club (www.blgc.org) that I belong to has about 500 members, no wait list, and I'm often the only person at the range. The facilities are 17 miles east of Kiowa and another 5 south. Lots of members from the Denver and Colorado Springs areas. Ranges out to 500 yards.

If you live near a US Forest or BLM land, which is 50% of the state, it isn't that hard to find a place to shoot.

I live down the road from fortmorgan colorado. closer to brush colorado.
we are around a hour or so from denver. maybe a hour and a half. ?

My personal view is this. my rifle needs to be as accurate as i can get it. that means that i do a lot of bench work off the sandbags. however. when that is accomplished. then we go to work on me. I still maintian that a danged good shot with a crappy rifle still can't hit crap. Both the rifle and the hunter have gotta capable of hunting accuracy. I know i've spent time at the range in the two weeks before hunting season. lol saw a fellow one time set up a piece of old siding at 35 yrds with a lil black square on it. he put five shot in about 2" at 35 yrds and had what he claimed to be a "sweet shooting rifle" I think that that is your typical hunter. I'm sorry but i gotta be way more precise than that. Another thing for all you 100 yrd sight in guru's. Here in the last couple of years my father and i have had access to a range that we could set up out to 400 yrds. thats quite and eye opening thing. Dead on 100 yrd zero turned out to be 3 & 4 inches to either side at 200 and 6&8 inches to either side at three hundred. I'm personally believe that that accounts for a lot of missed shots and wounded game. Now after being zeroed at 300 yrds both my rifles were still dead on at 100 & 200. i check the zero on my gun like that about twice a year. that way i can have full confidence in my weapon when i raise it to take that 300 yrd shot at a big game animal. I know that if anything goes wrong that it was my human error. Another note is this. when one gets into shooting at 300 yrds you may notice that the ballistics tables in your reloading manual DO NOT accuratly tell you what your particular load is doing. Another cause of missed shots. the book cannot account for every combination of gun/bullet/powder/primer. the come reasoneably close but you may find that the downrange performace ballistically of your reload can only be accuratly accumulated by going out and shooting at 300 yrds and intermediate ranges.


Watch yer topknot

Well this has certainly been an eyeopener for me! After a 2 1/2 hour drive in heavy traffic I flopped down on the ground and fired two rounds at a 100yd. target. Deermanager told me to stop firing and went to retrieve the target as he had seen enough. When I saw it I apologised for my poor marksmanship and used the excuse that I had never held his rifle before but I would do better with practice. He gave me a funny look and told me that I was ok. I had placed both shots 1/2" apart and felt embarrassed by my poor shooting..........................

Jimminie Christmas Delboy! Ya think you might be putting a little pressure on yourself?? Ain't a dang thing wrong with that sorta grouping! As long as you can be consistent and come close to that kinda group you'll be doing just fine. Nice shooting!
Yotebuster

delboy wrote:

Well this has certainly been an eyeopener for me! After a 2 1/2 hour drive in heavy traffic I flopped down on the ground and fired two rounds at a 100yd. target. Deermanager told me to stop firing and went to retrieve the target as he had seen enough. When I saw it I apologised for my poor marksmanship and used the excuse that I had never held his rifle before but I would do better with practice. He gave me a funny look and told me that I was ok. I had placed both shots 1/2" apart and felt embarrassed by my poor shooting..........................

Wow Delby....1/2 MOA ain't bad at all. Yotebuster is right....could you be putting too much pressure on yourself? Settle down mate, enjoy your shooting and certainly enjoy that standard of shooting....not everyone can duplicate it mate.

Cheers, Vince