Mid-Range Shooting

[StephenPerry]

Mid-Range Shooting
This to me would 200-600yd shooting. The targets could be paper targets, ground squirrels, beer cans, soy beans at 600 yds. Now avoid the occasional lying here, Mother Nature has a way sorting out the lying Thomas in the shooting game. Rifles that can fit into this shooting could be any caliber you can pull a trigger on. Some examples could be .222 Rem 200-300. 22-250 200-400, 6PPC 200-600, 6 BR 200-600, 6x47 Rem 200-600, 6x47 Lapua 200-600. The list goes on. Try and think of this as a time to fit your calibers in where you feel comfortable with them. Scopes and shooting technique will dictate how consistent your shooting will be. I will be away my customary 10 hours for work so maybe we can connect later.

Stephen Perry
Angeles BR

 

[Asa_Yam]

Mid Range Shooting
This to me would 200-600yd shooting.

Stephen,

One correction: NRA defines "mid range" as 300 yards < X < 800 yards. Anything 300 and under is short range. Anything 800 and over is long range.

Choice of caliber for such work is usually anything that remains supersonic at distance. If you're doing anything other than shooting at game or nongame animals,and maybe, even if you are), maximum MV is not important. That's right, within limits, maximizing the speed does NOT matter. Beyond 300 yards, the following happens:

- Most shooters cannot judge distance beyond 300-400 yards using the unaided eye. Perspective and the loss of binocular vision result in the mind being fooled as to just how far away something is. There's only one cure: know the range to target. Either shoot at targets a known distance away, or use a rangefinder.

- Beyond 300 yards, projectile drop becomes important. Even the flattest shooting caliber requires some elevation correction. Get the range wrong, and you'll miss the intended point of impact. Don't believe me? Consider this: Why does an M1 Abrams main battle tank come with a laser rangefinder if the sabot round leaves the barrel at nearly a mile per second? It's because even the gun on the Abrams doesn't shoot flat enough to avoid adding gun elevation to compensate for range.

- Beyond 300 yards, wind drift causes larger changes in point of impact. Heavier, more ballistically efficient projectiles drift less in the wind than lighter & less efficient ones. For example, when fired from a .223 Remington rifle, a 77 grain match projectile @ 2775 FPS has roughly half the wind drift of a 40 grain hollowpoint @ 3650 FPS - at ALL distances.

- Retained velocity. In our .223 Remington example above, the 77 grainer also retains more velocity, despite starting nearly 900 FPS slower. By 300 yards, it's travelling faster than the 40 grainer, and maintains a speed advantage at all further distances. In fact, the 40 grainer is subsonic by 600 yards, whereas the 77 doesn't get there until between 900-1000 yards.

- Even adding speed to a heavier projectile may not make THAT big of a difference. Add 200 FPS to the 77 grainer, and compared to the original round, you get about a 1 MOA crosswind advantage,i.e, about 8") at 800 yards,8.8 MOA vs. 9.75 MOA) - assuming the crosswind is 10 MPH. Fail to correct for the crosswind with either load, and you'll miss the 800 yard target by at least 6 feet.

 

[flatlander]

Stephen,
Our club runs BR Varmint Silhouette matches, with small targets at distances of 200,300,385,&500M. The targets are all much taller than they are wide,eg - the 500M jackrabbit is 5" at its widest point, but is about a foot tall), so doping the wind is critical. There have been some respectible scores shot with a 223, but the 6mm cartridges dominate - mainly BRs & Dashers, with a 6x47 Lapua thrown in for a good mix.

The club down at Hutchinson shoots 600yd. any rifle/any sights prone fun matches after their monthly across the course HP club matches; this is a good venue for testing loads in my Dashers & 6x47 Lapua before making the trip out to the CRC range near Byers, Co. for their LR weekends - they run a 3x600 any/any on Saturday, and a 3x1000 on Sunday, which makes it worth the 275mi. drive for me. I need one more 600yd. mid-range match to get a NRA classification in this 'new' catagory.

My Dashers & 6x47 have been limited to 600yds. in the above mentioned games, as I also have a 6.5x55 & a new straight 284 Win. that I like to shoot at 1000. However, if the 6x47 will hold tight elevation at 1000, I'm going to have to give it a shot. It really likes DTAC 115s at 600, and at 2990fps, this load will give the two larger cartridges a run for the money at 1K.

 

[ConnorExum]

I like clay piegons at 300-600yard ranges. Well actually usually only get to shoot 500 yards max due to the physical limits of the range... But I do that with 223... after 440yards the little 52grain bullets which is all my Howa will stablize accurately at that range get squirrely to say the least... But at 350-440yards clays or my new favorite do my laziness a steel spinning target that is 3.5x3.5 inches square is no problem at 500 yards it gets a bit tricker unless you have a clam day.

 

[StephenPerry]

Flatlander
I purposely didn't include the .223 only because I would rather keep this a mid range bolt action Thread. I know the .223 will compete at 1000 yds but that is way beyond the intent of this Thread. I have a nice .223 medium taper 788. This Thread is for the good shooter that has a nice rifle, doesn't need to be a competition gun just a rifle. For example a guy has a Ruger Varmint old style in .220 Swift. Now that's a nice gun. Have they tried it with paper targets or silhouhette's at say 500 yd. What did it do. I write allot and shoot BR but besides that I am like most of you I have a few accurate rifles and I want to shoot them at mid range distances.

Flat we shoot Varmint Silhouette at Pala 200-600m, this Sunday. I like this because it is not a BR event either you knock down the silhouette or you know that Mother Nature got you. I'll put this event against any 600 yd shooter. Come on down and taste the elements in 200-600m shooting.

Stephen Perry
Angeles BR

 

[Asa_Yam]

I purposely didn't include the .223 only because I would rather keep this a mid range bolt action Thread.

Stephen,
Why so closed minded? An AR-15 with a floated 1-8" twist barrel can be quite accurate out to 800 yards - many such rifles,straight from the factory) are sub-MOA with the right loads. I've seen production bolt action rifles that couldn't do that.

If you want to talk about custom guns, it's true a highly tuned bolt action will outshoot your typical AR. But there are a few custom ARs out there that are truly sub-1/4 MOA rifles. As in a 1/4 MOA group isn't a freak occurance or a fluke.

 

[StephenPerry]

Asa
The popularity of the AR-15 could be written in several volumes. I feel a separate Thread authored by a knowledgeable person would be more appropriate on gas guns used in mid-range shooting than included here. I am not the person to comment on the .223 in a gas gun. Now in a bolt gun I can because I have one.
Asa I know it's hard to call your gun on a Forum, I guess this Thread will have to go as is now. I was really looking for a comparison of informal shooting with good mid-range cartridges.

Stephen Perry
Angeles BR

 

[ConnorExum]

Flatlander
I purposely didn't include the .223 only because I would rather keep this a mid range bolt action Thread. I know the .223 will compete at 1000 yds but that is way beyond the intent of this Thread. I have a nice .223 medium taper 788. This Thread is for the good shooter that has a nice rifle, doesn't need to be a competition gun just a rifle. For example a guy has a Ruger Varmint old style in .220 Swift. Now that's a nice gun. Have they tried it with paper targets or silhouhette's at say 500 yd. What did it do. I write allot and shoot BR but besides that I am like most of you I have a few accurate rifles and I want to shoot them at mid range distances.

Flat we shoot Varmint Silhouette at Pala 200-600m, this Sunday. I like this because it is not a BR event either you knock down the silhouette or you know that Mother Nature got you. I'll put this event against any 600 yd shooter. Come on down and taste the elements in 200-600m shooting.

Stephen Perry
Angeles BR

Well I my Howa 1500s Varmint Supreme should still fit the thread topic after all it has a bolt-action...

 

[ConnorExum]

Flatlander
I purposely didn't include the .223 only because I would rather keep this a mid range bolt action Thread. I know the .223 will compete at 1000 yds but that is way beyond the intent of this Thread. I have a nice .223 medium taper 788. This Thread is for the good shooter that has a nice rifle, doesn't need to be a competition gun just a rifle. For example a guy has a Ruger Varmint old style in .220 Swift. Now that's a nice gun. Have they tried it with paper targets or silhouhette's at say 500 yd. What did it do. I write allot and shoot BR but besides that I am like most of you I have a few accurate rifles and I want to shoot them at mid range distances.

Flat we shoot Varmint Silhouette at Pala 200-600m, this Sunday. I like this because it is not a BR event either you knock down the silhouette or you know that Mother Nature got you. I'll put this event against any 600 yd shooter. Come on down and taste the elements in 200-600m shooting.

Stephen Perry
Angeles BR

Well I think my Howa 1500s Varmint Supreme should still fit the thread topic after all it has a bolt-action...

 

[JER]

NRA Mid Range Prone is quickly becoming my second most favorite discipline right after NRA SB Prone. In fact, excelling in SB Prone is the easiest way to excel in Mid Range and Long Range with slings and irons, IMO.

I chose a 308 for several reasons, namely it is an extremely easy to load and proven caliber and it provides the longest barrel life of any competitive caliber.

Out of my 30" sleeved M700, Sierra 155s are clocking just under 3000 fps propelled by 45.5 gr of Reloder 15. With that load I can shoot from 300 to 1000 yards with x ring accuracy and moderate recoil.

 

[sscoyote]

I have a number of custom handguns,mostly XP's) i use for intermediate range shooting. Several years back tho i was out with my .17 Mach IV XP SP hunting coyotes. I had a tested "tactical-type" system established with the plex reticle in the 4-12X Burris Mini i was using at the time. A shot was presented at 300 yds. in windy conditions but i had some confidence with my "system". When i 1st got out of the vehicle i checked the wind with my Speedtech Weather Watch. It was recording 10 mph +/-. The shot was presented with a 3 o'clock wind. According to my range sticker at that yardage i had to aim .6 of the distance down to the lower post tip @ 12X, and 1.3 "stadia units" windage,plex post tip subtension=2.7 MOA). I got set up sitting with the bipod, found the interpolative zero, and nailed the dog dead in the chest. That was one of my more calculated "intermedaite-range" shots, that i'm quite proud of.

My next SP project,for coyotes) will be a .243 Win. built around a bullet that may be coming out soon-- a 117 gr. DTAC with polymer tip, BC +/- .6. I'll be putting my favorite scope/reticle for intermediate range shooting on it right here-- http://www.rapidreticle.com/22lr3-9x32.htm

 

[M700]

Dearly love this mid-range stuff. It's far enough to be a challenge. My local club/range has a 600 yard line - so I can practice at 300 - 600 yards easily. Shoot only a few NRA highpower matches a year, but love the 600 yard line, it just brings a smile to my face.

The past few years I've also been hunting mulies in some pretty open country, and the ability to make a good hit at 300+ yards has been very useful.

For competition I use the .308, generally with 155 grain bullets, but sometimes with 168's. For hunting, I've used the same rifle... Also favor the .25-06, 7mm Rem mag and this year I'll be breaking out the .300 Rem Ultra Mag - just for the heck of it!

Regards, Guy

 

[ConnorExum]

I like steel reactive targets for shooting at the range because well frankly the range I shoot at looks a bit like a war zone frankly the fewer times I have to cross no mans' land to get to my target the better I feel. So I've adopt the a 3.5x3.5inch square swinging steel target for 300-440 yard shooting and 500 yard shooting I use a larger 10 inch circular plate that swings. At 440yards the little target is great fun to shoot at with Black Hills 52grain Match HP's but at 500 yards it can be a fiendishly uncooperative little bastard that will cause no end of frustrations on my part. The 10 incher is far more appilicable to the 500 yard and beyond work... However, that is all I shoot... I would like to get into 600-1000 yard shooting but the budget isn't there.

 

[JER]

Guy, get yourself some ISSF 300 meter targets reduced to 300 yards for some challenging shooting.

 

[M700]

JER - I think we used those at a 300 yard match I shot in Bellingham WA, at the Plantation range. Seems that every relay we moved to a smaller, more difficult target. I could be wrong, that was a few years ago. I remember looking at that target and the tiny scoring rings and simply shaking my head...

 

[memilanuk]

Guy, your memory isn't failing you,yet)

Gary Rasmussen runs some Palma fund-raiser matches that start out w/ a SR-3,300yd RF target), then a MR-63,600yd SF reduced for 300), then a C-3...

We have some *C-2* targets up in the club house if you want to give 'em a swing,300yd UIT target reduced for 200yds). Nasty, nasty looking things. I imagine they separate the men from the boys right quick like!

Monte

 

[JER]

Monte, just like the 50 meter ISSF SB target does. A 200-0X on the NRA A23/5 50 yd SB target would be about a 180-0X on the ISSF 50 m.

 

[StephenPerry]

Connor
Falling Blocks would fit into a mid-range gun. Ruger seems to have made most of them in many calibers but the classic falling blocks are capable of pickem up and knockin em down, plus they look good doin it.

Stephen Perry
Angeles BR

 

[ConnorExum]

Connor
Falling Blocks would fit into a mid-range gun. Ruger seems to have made most of them in many calibers but the classic falling blocks are capable of pickem up and knockin em down, plus they look good doin it.

Stephen Perry
Angeles BR

I'm not a big fan of falling blocks. I've shot them and they okay but I like my single fires to be Bolts as well.

 

[ConnorExum]

Connor
Falling Blocks would fit into a mid-range gun. Ruger seems to have made most of them in many calibers but the classic falling blocks are capable of pickem up and knockin em down, plus they look good doin it.

Stephen Perry
Angeles BR

I'm not a big fan of falling blocks. I've shot them and they okay're. but, I like my single fires to be Bolts as well. I just thought that you were limiting your topic a bit abotu the .223 becuase of the AR-15 but I don't shoot the AR-15 because I'm not that big of a fan of semi-auto... I guess I really don't care how quickly I shoot my bullets just where they go.