What would be my best distance to practice at?

[JimSC]

I have one year of competition under my belt shooting at 300 - 800 yards with very inconsistent results. The obvious goal is to get better. My main problem seems to be wind/mirage. The ammo/gun, and even my techniques can get me good and even excellent groups of 10 - 20 rounds at 100 - 300 but the farther out I go the more it looks like a shotgun pattern. My vertical are decent with a fler or two but often the horizontal resembles a ribbon with flyers in the vertical

I am shooting Savage actions with aftermarket barrels stock and triggers, 6MM CM and .260 Rem both capable of sub .5 MOA 5 shot groups at 100

If you were my coach what would you recommend. A lot of practice on the 800 line or mix it up from 100 to 800 or concentrate on 300 and 600 to improve environment/technique skills with some occasional 800 practice?

 

[prwhite]

Practice at 800...for all the reasons it gives you problems.

 

[6MMsteve]

100 yds with a barrel that shoots .100 then go to 300 if you can hold it under .3 to .4 your on your way...300yds is technique if your gun shoots good at 100 ,meaning .150 or better...technique will kill and bags and rests and recoil technique will get ya.my brother took my 308 shot a .876 group at 500, then I took it and shot 2.5 inches..he can shoot and I'm all over the place..meaning my technique is needin help. me with the 308 at 100yds is in the .1s to low.2s not so at 500 it's a confidence thang or something

 

[JimSC]

@prwhite that was kind of what I was thinking also.

@ 6MMSteve This would be for F Open not bench rest, my bad I was not specific. I want to try some long range benchrest later on but that will be with a custom built rifle and won't be this year. My main focus right now is getting the groups consistently centered on the X. Reducing the size will come after as I master the environmental aspects

A good friend who is HM long range suggested that instead of the F class target I should shoot at 2 inch red dots paced 10 inches apart on a piece of poster board at 600 and 800 for practice.

 

[Doug Beach]

It’s easier to scale down your wind call for shorter distances, than it is to scale it up for longer distances. At shorter distances, you tend to have fewer wind indicators to look at (F-class & prone), and the wind’s effect on your shot placement is often somewhat hidden by the rest of the group / other factors. If you shoot from a distance where the wind changes you see will consistently show on the target, you will learn much faster.

 

[Ned Ludd]

I'd suggest practicing at all the distances at which you will compete. Each one can emphasize a different aspect of your shooting game. For example, shooting at 800 yd will generally emphasize honing your wind-reading skills, as the effects of wind will likely be the greatest at the longest distance you shoot, even taking the larger scoring rings into account. Shooting at the longest distance you will compete is never going to hurt you.

However, don't overlook the potential benefits of practicing at shorter distance, such as on the reduced target (MR-63FC) at 300 yd. Shooting on the 300 reduced targets in a monthly match in San Diego really helped me improve my X-counts and up my mental game. Because the distance was shorter, the wind was usually less of a factor, although not zero, and even with the reduced scoring rings, it was a game of high X-counts and very few dropped points. Usually, if you dropped more than even one or two points, you weren't going to win. So that match required a very high degree of attention to form behind the rifle, trigger pull, pretty much working on fine-tuning everything in a way that seemed to me to be a different focus than shooting at longer distances. So if approached in a constructive and positive manner, I believe that practice at any distance can be of benefit.

 

[Immike]

A good friend who is HM long range suggested that instead of the F class target I should shoot at 2 inch red dots paced 10 inches apart on a piece of poster board at 600 and 800 for practice.[/QUOTE]


I like to shoot a reverse target with thin black rings on off white target paper for instant feedback during practice. Same principle, I just make my own with a black marker.

IBS matches throw enough targets away to supply your needs. Just use the back sides.

 

[DirtySteve]

The further the better..

 

[JimSC]

I'd suggest practicing at all the distances at which you will compete. Each one can emphasize a different aspect of your shooting game. .

I think this pretty much how I will play this year. I will be concentrating my practice that month on whichever distance the local club match will be shot that particular month. That should give me a chance to mix it up a bit. Last year I concentrated mostly on 100 and 300 with a .223 and oddly enough that is where I saw most of my improvement. Go figure. I would only do a group or two the week before the match with my main rifle to check the settings. This year I will do some serious practice sessions at the longer ranges using the match rifle

thanks to all of you for some good advice

 

[6MMsteve]

@prwhite that was kind of what I was thinking also.

@ 6MMSteve This would be for F Open not bench rest, my bad I was not specific. I want to try some long range benchrest later on but that will be with a custom built rifle and won't be this year. My main focus right now is getting the groups consistently centered on the X. Reducing the size will come after as I master the environmental aspects

A good friend who is HM long range suggested that instead of the F class target I should shoot at 2 inch red dots paced 10 inches apart on a piece of poster board at 600 and 800 for practice.

you got this..and good shooting have fun

 

[JSH]

I would not rule out ammo. Not always but I have seen a recipe shoot well at your 100-300,only to fall apart beyond that.

Buddy’s Palma rifle, groups at 100 look miserable. Yet at distance it settles down, hard to argue with end results on paper.

As mentioned above, don’t be above having a good shooter try your rig at distance. May very well be something simple and over looked.

If it was real easy no one would be doing it.
Jeff

 

[JimSC]

If it was real easy no one would be doing it.
Jeff

Yep, and the buddy shooting a few is on my list. I really do think my biggest problem is environmental reading. Only way I know to cure that is burn up a few barrels over wind flags. As far as equipment, I am pretty darn sure it is me not the gear. I can post pics of a 20 shot 300 match target at where the 19 of the group has a .3 MOA vertical and 2 MOA horizontal. The 20th round was a inch above the 19 round ribbon. Would have been a semi decent score if had not been centered over the 8/9 ring. The guy shooting next to me cleaned the target with 13 or 14 X's so it wasn't that bad conditions wise.The same rifle shoots .2' to low .5's five shot groups at 100 consistently on a calm overcast morning

 

[Immike]

The big hurdle in competition is usually ourselves... removing anticipation and emotional factors comes from seasoning and repetition. Burn up a few barrels but continue the calculated approach and it will come together for you just fine. Stand back and watch the experienced shooters take advantage of opportunity and you will see the strategy of winning. Soon you will be saving great barrels for important matches!

 

[Papa Charlie]

There are two parts to this. First is learning to be consistent with muscle memory. Cheek pressure, shoulder pressure, body position, eye and head position, and trigger pull. This is better done at 100 yards where you can see how you are affecting the shot and not the environment. I can't stress how important this is.
Second is reading and addressing the environment. That hast be done at distance.
I have been at this game for only three seasons and this was a hard learned lesson. We all want to jump to 1000 yard practice, but what good is it if your mechanics are all wrong?

 

[JSH]

As Immike points out there is a lot of mental to it. I think gets over looked or maybe not shown as much attention as it should be.

Several years back I wanted to go to a match. Last minute getting ready and found I did not have a complete lot of ammo. Several partials, enough to shoot the match and then some. Wanted to see old friends as much as anything.
Went in just knowing I was going to do lousy, this is just for fun and clean up the odds and ends of ammo to start fresh.
Shot clean and ended up in a shoot off. I did not have 10 rounds of the same load. What the heck burn up some more, just for fun. Ended up winning for that month.
I think that was completely mental, as I was totally numb to thinking I was going to do well.