Long Range shooting?

[Steve Myers]

Anyone ever do any long range SA shooting? Beyond 100 yds? I know you silhoutte guys do this. I wish I had access to a longer range. Hard to find those longer ranges back east.

At 100 yds, I can usually keep them all MOD (minute of deer/paper plate) with irons. Feel very comfortable hunting with it at this rate. 240-265 grn bullets.

Funnest thing I think I ever did on a range was run off two guys shooting scoped 30-30s. While in CA (of ALL places) we had a 300 yd range. There was a 24" square steel plate at 200 yds. After some KY elevation, I could ring it 5 out of six shots. The 30-30 bubbas relaized it was me (10" SBH 44 Mag with 265 grn "volkswagon" bullets - they reminded me of the front end of a VW bug!) and SBH with irons ringing the gong. THey couldn't touch it - HORRIBLE shots! They gave up and left!

 

[TEXASFIVEGUN]

Watch my 5 part video series on youtube, its on long range revolver shooting with iron sights. (http://www.youtube.com/texasfivegun) Take some liquid paper, a needle, a brass "tooth brush" and a beach chair
if you can find one.

Use the liquid paper on your front sight. Make a line with the needle to use as a reference and brush of the
dried paper with the brass brush to start over if your marks are wrong or when your finished.

The chair I am talking about puts your butt about 4" off the ground and lets you lean back. You pull your legs up
put your hands/wrists between your knees. It works better "much better" for me than a bench rest or any thing else.
I have a Caldwell HAMMR machine rest and I can out shoot it with my chairs.

You must have "0" flinch for this, a good spotter helps and if you can get the sun behind you the bullets are easy to see in flight.

You may run out of front sight with a long barrel, short to medium barrels and tall front sights are easier to work with.

I have never shot a 500 or 460 S&W but we have found with 500 & 475 Linebaughs, 414 & 445 Supermags, 454 Casull, and
44 Remington Magnum. A heavy for caliber cast lead bullet works best. A gas check is easier to see in flight. A high velocity
is not needed. About 1200 FPS is what we use the most.



Good Shootin and Good Luck! Chad

 

[2 dogs]

Yep. A good load in a good sixgun will fly true till
WAAY out there.

 

[maxpress]

we have a 175yd gong at the range thats fun to shoot at with the .44 when we get bored.

and we have nailed a couple coyotes around 150 with vaqueros and sbh's

 

[Bucks Owin]

Here's the best long range shooting I've accomplished with a sixgun. Three out of five sod poodles! (I figure bullet spash would have got one!)Was shot off bags at 140 yds with a 10" Flattop .44, cast GC 225 gr RCBS over SR 4759.....

 

[pvtschultz]

TexasFiveGun: Thank you for the tips on the sight. I had wondered how people shot LONG range with revolvers without covering up the target. Now I know!

 

[J Miller]

I have done some long range revolver shooting. Somewhere around 300 +/- yards using my 7.5" OM BH .45 Colt with 268gr Keith bullets over 9.0grs Unique. I didn't have my sight marked as in TexasFiveGun's pic, but I used the same sight picture. It took a bit of doing but I got good enough that a 2' diameter rock was in grave danger of repeated hits.

The funniest thing was I also have a Win 94 Trapper in .45 Colt and even with the aperture sights I could hit the rock more often with the Ruger than the Winchester.

Joe

 

[dougader]

The first time I shot silhouette I used a 4 inch S&W 686 with Keith style 168 gr swc's over 10 grains of blue dot.

I hit the 200 yard rams with pretty good consistency, about 6 out of 8 IIRC. It surprised me as much as it did the other guys on the firing line.

I can't understand why anyone can't hit with a T/C Contender in 30-30. Mine had open sights and I could hit better with that single shot than any other pistol I owned, and it fairly slammed the 200 yard rams.

 

[2 dogs]

Note thatBucks group is only 3 inches wide. Pretty dang
good considering he is using pretty coarse sights!

Absolutely no flinch and perfect follow thru on his part.
That's what it takes boys!

 

[ltbarber]

Years ago,after reading Elmer Keith's book,I was inspired to try 300 yards. Gun was a S&W 629,4-inch. Load was factory 240gr. JHP. Target was a cardboard box used to hold a case of wine bottles. Bottom was white in color. Box was placed on the ground at the 300 yard backstop of our gun club rifle range. Just as Keith described it in his book,I elevated the front sight,out of the rear groove,centered. Firing from a rest,out of a cylinder-full,I hit the box three times,all in the upper left-hand part of the box. The box was stood-up longways,tallest part up. This was witnessed by another shooter. No one was as surprised as me!!

 

[Bucks Owin]

Note thatBucks group is only 3 inches wide. Pretty dang
good considering he is using pretty coarse sights!

Absolutely no flinch and perfect follow thru on his part.
That's what it takes boys!

Many thanks 2 dogs. I wish a "golden moment" like that occured every time I went to the range! Alas, I think there must've been a little "divine guidance" of those bullets that day. :wink: That 8.5"x11" paper made a mighty small white speck over the front sight at 140 yds. Also makes one realize that a shot at a bucks ribcage at that range would be "possible" but not worth the chance if sportsmanship is considered. (Unless maybe the deer was wearing a nice white patch on his side and one was toting a bench and sandbags along on the hunt and had perfect light conditions! :lol: )......Dennis

 

[tomiswho]

I returned to Eagle, Alaska this past summer, where I again entered the 4th of July rifle competition. I didn't want to shoot my brothers M-44 in the iron sight category, and instead opted for my 4 5/8" Blackhawk .45. Target was a 15"x15" steel plate on an island in the Yukon River. Distance 400 yards.

I had checked the ballistics for the load I was going to shoot, and knew I'd have to "hold-over" in the area of 40 feet at the target.

I fired 12 rounds, standing, two-handed. I wish I could brag on my 2" group...... but.....

No one ever spotted where I was hitting. No visible splashes in the water, and no puffs of sand. Drat. I did better with the rifle, especially back in 2007. It was fun, nevertheless. :lol:

 

[2 dogs]

Not all loads will stabilize at long range.

Most people who work at it are better shots than they
think. Keep trying and test everything!

 

[c.r.]

this question is going to be a little difficicult for ME to word. but it deals with exposing more front blade, and holding over and covering the intended target.

in this example. Let's say you know the drop of your particular load at a particular distance as tomiswho did in his example.

Let's say, you are able to visually identify an aimpoint that is the correct height above your intended target. So using "Kentucky widage" actually this would be Kentucky Elevation. you'd aim at the defined point.....covering your actual target.......then "lob" the bullet into the target.

this is where i'm going to have difficulty clearly expressing myself..........

if you were to place the front sight at 6 o'clock in reference to the aimpoint..........THEN........While maintaining that 6 o'clock hold with the front sight. adjust the gun to lower the rear sight so the top horizontal portion of the rear sight is at the base of the intended target

Would that give you a ballpark idea of how much of the front blade to expose above the rear blade, so that you could hold a 6 o'clock picture on the actual target.........having the sight picture be similar to Chad's 2nd and 3rd pic up above?

now i don't think it works this simple, but just thought i'd ask

 

[Bucks Owin]

this question is going to be a little difficicult for ME to word. but it deals with exposing more front blade, and holding over and covering the intended target.

in this example. Let's say you know the drop of your particular load at a particular distance as tomiswho did in his example.

Let's say, you are able to visually identify an aimpoint that is the correct height above your intended target. So using "Kentucky widage" actually this would be Kentucky Elevation. you'd aim at the defined point.....covering your actual target.......then "lob" the bullet into the target.

this is where i'm going to have difficulty clearly expressing myself..........

if you were to place the front sight at 6 o'clock in reference to the aimpoint..........THEN........While maintaining that 6 o'clock hold with the front sight. adjust the gun to lower the rear sight so the top horizontal portion of the rear sight is at the base of the intended target

Would that give you a ballpark idea of how much of the front blade to expose above the rear blade, so that you could hold a 6 o'clock picture on the actual target.........having the sight picture be similar to Chad's 2nd and 3rd pic up above?

now i don't think it works this simple, but just thought i'd ask

I'm not quite sure what you are asking here but I'll give this a try. You don't cover the target with the front sight. You keep the 6 o'clock hold, and lower the rear sight. Instead of the top of the rear sight lining up with the top of the front sight, it will be DOWN on the front sight somewhere, depending on the range. Some folks have a line painted on the back of the front sight blade as a reference of how much to drop the rear sight. I don't know how to explain it any better, Chad's illustrations are spot on. For instance, my sight picture for the target I posted was like the illustration on the far right. At any rate, you still keep the front sight at 6 o'clock, you don't cover the target with it. You merely drop the rear sight so the top of the front sight is above the top of the rear sight instead of straight across......(If that's what you're asking) Dennis

 

[tiger955]

Back in my younger days I carried an old Marlin 22 everywhere and made some pretty amazing long range shots by estimating bullet drop at range and picking out a suitable aiming point the right distance above my intended target.
These days shooting muzzleloaders with fixed sights, I am sighted for a fine bead at 50 yds, a full blade at 100, and at longer ranges I raise the front sight even higher in the notch like was mentioned earlier in this post. The only way I found to get good at it was to shoot a lot with the same loads to get a good feel for the amount of holdover. The idea of shooting at known yardages and marking the front sight sounds like an excellent idea, I will have to try it.

 

[RonEgg]

David Clements sight

 

[c.r.]

Dennis,

Thanks for the try.

I understand the sight picture that we want. that being a sight picture similar to pics 1 and 2 of chad's post.

my intended question was if there is a way to get a ballpark idea of how much front sight to expose for a given load at a particular distance in a particular firearm.........other than random trial and error.

 

[M'BOGO]

Good topic

 

[Steve Myers]

Bucks

I was on a dirt range. Use a six o'clock navy hold - ie, the target "sits" on top of the front post.

Normal sight pix is top edges of front and back sights level. Now, put 1/2 of the front sight ABOVE the TOP of the rear sight. Shoot 2-3 shots and have them called. Make adjustments accordingly. Low - add more front sight blade above the top of the rear blade. High - put less front sight blade over the top of the rear sight.

You can get the hang of it pretty easily and quickly. Or, you can mark your sights as mentioned above. Another option is what I want to do - a ramp front sight with 3 brass/gold/silver horizontal bars inset into it.