What do you call long distance shooting/hunting?

[8mm RUM]

​ Long-distance Hum.
I JUST got back from shooting what I conciser long distance.
.3 miles, 1500 feet, 500 yards, whatever you want to call it. It's a LONG way.
Longer than I care to walk out and check the target for sure.
I set up a life-size target of a coyote, printed on letter paper, It takes 14 sheets to print it out with feet, tail, and ears.
38 x 44" is the target backer.
To look at it without a scope you say crap that's a LOOONG way.
The wind was blowing, can you get your hands around that? in Montana?
Maybe a 45* ish and like 18 mph. Hard enough to blow my target over just before the first shot.
I Just tested 12,220 gr 8mm rounds with different powders and loads.
I found a match that at 100 the bullets almost all touched, and around 2950 fps according to the book.
I had the 8 zeroed at 3" high at 100 yards which is dead nuts center at point-blank of 240 yards with the 200 gr Barnes up around 3100.
That is what I was shooting, I adjusted the parallax to 500 yards, Put the third hash on the coyote's nose.
Shot 3 times, when we checked that put a left to right string about 5" with less than a 1/2" up or down Center coyote but up at ear level. I was surprised at the drop or lack of it. I know in my heart if I had used the second hash it would have been dead center coyote.
I was going to do it again after the check but my buddy shot his 375 Ruger and he hit the supports and blew the target over and we could not stand it back up.
I was a happy camper. Come to find out he had aimed over the target and off the target into the wind. His bullet dropped the 44" target and them some and the windage was well over the 38" wide target.


All that said:
500 yards is a LOOONG shot with any gun in the wind, in the field.
My 6mm and his 6.5 CM at that range and wind was lucky to hit the 11 1/2 sq foot target backer.


Remember: Four boxes keep us free, the soapbox, the ballot box, the jury box, AND the cartridge box

[nksmfamjp]

Short: the distance I can aim center of reticle and make hits without worry about wind or elevation.

Medium: When I need to worry about wind and elevation

long: over 600 yds

[Robinhood]

I want to focus on how you set your parallax again.... Can you explain?

[8mm RUM]

On my Burris scope there is an adjustment ring
on the front of the scope , just dial up the range and go.

[Stumpkiller]

"Long range" for me is anything over 250 yards. And that wound be woodchucks and coyotes over open fields.

Last check I had killed something like 47 whitetail deer (plus one fallow deer) and my average distance is about 40 yards. Longest was 160 yards. That's not including bow - where I limit myself to 25 yards & under.

I started out hunting deer in woodlots and on state forest lands and that is my "comfort zone" for patterning them; even now on my own land (wooded).

[Txhillbilly]

The long range that I shoot on goes out to 2k yards. The farthest target that I shoot at is 1793 yards,it can be a challenge if it's windy,but when it is relatively calm,it's pretty easy to ring the plate. The first target is at 700 yards on this range. They have several other ranges from 200 - 1000 yards.

https://www.triplecrange.com/

[Robinhood]

On my Burris scope there is an adjustment ring
on the front of the scope , just dial up the range and go.

Before you can hit a target consistently at 500 yards you need to understand how to set parallax. The numbers are never on the money unless you paid $4000+ for the scope. Setting it on that number may get you close but your groups will be inconsistently large. A 6.5 creedmoor is capable of staying on a 11.5" target at 500 yards all day long in a variable wind if your scope is set correctly and you do your part..

To set Parallax:

First point your scope at the Sky or the wall in your house. Set the ocular adjustment by focusing the reticle. The Reticle must be clear and sharp. Once you set the ocular lens you will probably never move it again...maybe a super fine adjustment only, then done for ever.

Next when setting up for a shot use the parallax adjustment to get the target clear. Now, without touching the stock move your head up down back and forth. Adjust the parallax until the reticle doesn't move at all on your point of aim. Every time you change distances this needs to be done again. If it moves an inch your groups will be at least an inch extra in size.

[Fuj']

A 6.5 creedmoor is capable of staying on a 11.5" target at 500 yards all day long in a variable wind


Yes Sir !!

I tend to believe anything over 600 is the marker for long range
shooting. I mostly shoot 300 yards in testing. 500 yards is fun
and try to get that done about once a month. I was testing the
140 RDF's early on at 300 with my Creedmoor, and was getting
bored. Ran it out to 500, cranked the Bushnell XRS to full 30 power,
dialed and checked parallax. I was extremely lucky that the Mirage
cleared up. Mirage can really suck as you jack the power up.

[yobuck]

Before you can hit a target consistently at 500 yards you need to understand how to set parallax. The numbers are never on the money unless you paid $4000+ for the scope. Setting it on that number may get you close but your groups will be inconsistently large. A 6.5 creedmoor is capable of staying on a 11.5" target at 500 yards all day long in a variable wind if your scope is set correctly and you do your part..

To set Parallax:

First point your scope at the Sky or the wall in your house. Set the ocular adjustment by focusing the reticle. The Reticle must be clear and sharp. Once you set the ocular lens you will probably never move it again...maybe a super fine adjustment only, then done for ever.

Next when setting up for a shot use the parallax adjustment to get the target clear. Now, without touching the stock move your head up down back and forth. Adjust the parallax until the reticle doesn't move at all on your point of aim. Every time you change distances this needs to be done again. If it moves an inch your groups will be at least an inch extra in size.
Not disagreeing on your explanation or opinion.
But i do have a question on the subject.
Is parralex a natural thing inherent in scopes, or is it a thing that is caused, and could vary in severity from shot to shot?


As for the distance question, as it applies to what is considered long where it applies to hunting, i dont think there is a universal answer to that.
Location and conditions tend to affect that at least to some degree, and possibly even to a large degree.
We tend to think in terms of 500 yards where we hunt in NC PA, because the vast majority is ridge to ridge shooting across a valley of some type, and not many shots would be much less than that.
Our camp as well as many others within close distance of ours is long range only.
Meaning that if it rains for 3 straight days we dont hunt, except some from under the protection of our porch roof.
And our driveway is apt to be full of visitors who dont have porches.
500 can be very long or not very long depending upon how you go about it, and the conditions at the time and place you do it.
Many of the deer killed at our camp over the many years were been doing this have been shot by young kids, or first time long range shot adult shooters.
So that alone proves that it isnt hard to do if the proper equipment is used for the shooting part.
Truth be told is that the vast majority of animals killed at long range anywhere in this country, is at a distance of well under 1000 yds.
As for the cartridges, we could have an endless debate here over what is necessary to kill a deer at say 1000 yds.
The old cliche of aint what with, but where you hit em, is no doubt a valid argument.
BUT, go on out there on a very cold kinda windy day and be glassing for hours across a pretty wide deep valley with a very large stream below, and finally after the last few boring days you find a decent buck chasing a doe around over there at say about 1050. Duck soup shot for (ahem) a guy like you with your one holer 6.5 whatever.
So you squirm around getting set up on your belly, but this thing just wont stop moving long enough in a decent size opening between trees for you to get a clean shot. Finally he does and you send one over there. It didnt fall right over as you expected, so you wait for the responce from your spotter, (you do use a spotter right? ), but he says nothing. Finally you ask sorta loudly where did it go? He says i dont know, i didnt see it hit, send anther one.
Now also realize that the wind can dissapate the vapor trail or trace, long before it reaches the target especially with smaller bullets.
Also, when the trajectory gets high enough, due to distance and scope compensation, you will be apt to lose it anyway at the apex of the trajectory and not see it at all on it’s downward path. So if you cant see the hits, it’s no different than driving at night without headlights. Best stop right now before something bad happens.
And thats where the big boomers can earn their keep. Send a 300 grainer over there and your gonna see the hit unless something is very wrong or the snow is over 6”. Im not advocating that bullets that large are a requirement, but hopefully my point has been made on that.
Are we here to fish, or are we here to just cut bait? Lol
Again now thats the way it is in my part of the world, in a place like NM it could well be considerably different.
But one thing never changes regardless of location, and that is that hero’s can turn into chumps real quick, so cheat all you can with your shooting method when hunting. That will trump a tack shooting gun pretty much every time, and real friends dont ask about shot count anyway.

Whole different ball game than ringing a bell at a mile on a nice day among nice friends who dont yell at you, and nothing getting hurt.

[Robinhood]

Is parralex a natural thing inherent in scopes, or is it a thing that is caused, and could vary in severity from shot to shot?


Yes, it has to do with the alignment of your eyes to the reticle.

Here is a wiki. There are others articles.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parallax

[shmelton]

I know this is an old thread, but the conversation of parallax setting sparked my interest. What if the scope is non OA and the parallax setting is set at 100 yds? Is longer yardage parallax hurt by a standard 100yd setting in a non OA scope?

[hamiltonkiler]

I know this is an old thread, but the conversation of parallax setting sparked my interest. What if the scope is non OA and the parallax setting is set at 100 yds? Is longer yardage parallax hurt by a standard 100yd setting in a non OA scope?

Yes and no.
You just need to hold your head more exact looking though the scope.
Like said before if you move your head:eye
Side to side or up and down and that hair moves you are experienced parallax. You have to hold it in the same place every time. A good way to do this is back your face eye off the scope where you have a thick black edge in the scope. Center this up with the out side of your scope the eye cup ring.

Your eyes adjust naturally on a fixed parallax scope but you will have parallax error.

Hunting scopes where 2-3moa is fine for general hunting no problem.
Rim fire where 25-300yds
And banging steel precision 100-1000+ yds
Yes an adjustable parallax scope makes life so much better and easier.

If you want to get into the awesome scope game at a decent price the vortex diamondback tactical or SWFA scopes are sweet. There are some other good brands also.


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[Robinhood]

Most scopes with 12 power or higher have parallax adjustment. If the scope is worth a crap and you have adjusted the ocular lens correctly, as you rotate the parallax adjustment to focus you will be close enough for up to several hundred yards in a hunting situation on larger game. Making more accurate shots at distance will require a stable platform for the rifle and the movement of your head to adjust parallax completely out.

You cannot shoot groups your rifle is capable of without having the parallax properly adjusted.

[yobuck]

As stated, even the ones with the adjustment for paralex wont be dead nuts on at the number on the dial.
Since all our shots will be long we use the infinity setting on the scope then fine tune on something at about the average distance of most of our shots.
We dont move it for each situation after that, it stays put.
Im not advocating that being the best solution for precise accuracy, but shooting from a bench as we do for hunting reduces some of the issues, as the cheek weld is more consistant.
I feel the side adjustment knob might well cause some of the issues, as many people use it as a focus knob rather than for its intended purpose. Whereas the adjustment on the front of the scope is harder to use for that purpose.

[Robinhood]

As stated, even the ones with the adjustment for paralex wont be dead nuts on at the number on the dial.
Since all our shots will be long we use the infinity setting on the scope then fine tune on something at about the average distance of most of our shots.
We dont move it for each situation after that, it stays put.
Im not advocating that being the best solution for precise accuracy, but shooting from a bench as we do for hunting reduces some of the issues, as the cheek weld is more consistant.
I feel the side adjustment knob might well cause some of the issues, as many people use it as a focus knob rather than for its intended purpose. Whereas the adjustment on the front of the scope is harder to use for that purpose.


Yup!