Max Range

[newtonian]

Great question by OP.
The ballistic answer is well defined above. As noted also, the practical answer begins with wind. In addition, terrain and time of day are just as important. If you shoot an elk over rugged terrain at 1000 yards late in the day, you will not find it; in fact it could be very difficult in the earlier part of the day.

 

[John Klingenberg]

It appears no one can answer your simple question.

Let's say the best shot in the world is shooting, what is the simple answer?

400 yards

 

[John Klingenberg]

I've been hunting a heck of a long time, and shooting off a bench even longer. I've guided hunts and worked at ranges. 99% of people do not put in enough time to get good enough at long range shooting let alone hunting. On game animals the hunt is so much more rewarding, to me, when you match whits with an animal on it's own terrain. Any fool can sling a bullet and hope he calculated right. A hunter tests himself in the other skills of hunting, the shot is the culmination of winning with the other skills. There are guys on here who regularly shoot at a mile and hit, there are guys that shoot tiny ragged holes at crazy distances. The thing is they dont do it every single time they push up to the bench. That would be boring and really...impossible. if I was guiding and my client was David Tubb and he told me he planned to shoot an elk at 800 yards I'd tell him to find another guide. Hunting and shooting are two different things to me.

 

[skipglo]

As previously stated..
. practice.... practice and more practice...if you can't put Five consistent bullets at 1 moa at the distance you are shooting..don't advance the next 100 yards until you can. The load, gun and you all need to be capable of reaching the distance. IMHO....The limit would be 1000 yards. Take your rangefinder to the countryside you normally would be hunting and just see how practical 1000 yards REALLY IS! You can save a ton of bullets by just squeezing your trigger, not dry firing ..just squeeze holding on a target 500 yards away. If you can perform this simple task and not move off the target...send a bullet..but you may be shocked when you move off by a foot or more...elr...limited to your ability

 

[Michael O'Connor]

Depends on the bullet, and Mother West Wind and the Merry Little Breezes.

Zephyrus, the god of the West Wind was not a Mother. I wouldn't shoot past 700-800 yds with a 175-180gr. VLD/Hybrid though. You have to practice at 1000 before you can be proficient at shorter distances, especially further than 500 yards.

 

[Hand Skills]

Clearly you are not a Thornton Burgess fan. Classic Americana reference there.

I practice in the field, from field positions. Keep at it from the 1000yd bench, you do you man, but there are no wind flags in the field...

 

[Ronald W Schaefer]

Gundata.org ballistic calculator shows you will have 1175 Ft Lbs remaining at 800 yds using a 175 gr Nosler partition fired at 2800 FPS. The bullet will partially expand at that range and energy and will still have considerable hydrostatic shock properties. Next consideration is, can you reliably hit a 10" circle at that range?...in calm winds, 5 knots cross, 10Kts cross...variable? Do you have a bullet drop compensator scope with a 16-18 power magnification? I personally shot a big bull elk at 500 yds with a 7MM Rem Mag with a 180 gr Berger leaving the guide's custom Greybull rifle barrel at 3030 (custom load--man I need to get that load). Long story on why I used his rifle. It was a perfectly still, snow covered, sunny day, 25 degrees in northern New Mexico across a ravine. Its the only shot I had and the guy was calm and broadside. I don't routinely practice that far nor necessarily a long range hunter but I do shoot a lot out to about 300 yds. I was solid on the shooting sticks and squeezed the shot off with as much discipline as I could muster and it was a heart shot. The guy went 30 yds. and fell down. Personally, I'd want to bust a lot more caps to do that again or routinely shoot any further. I personally had more fun stalking to within 30-70 yds in Africa on those big plains game animals.

 

[Toydy]

Maximum range you can hit 3 shots inside 4 inches, not once, every time including wind calls. Then come back to where your bullet still has 2000lbs energy, then come back to where your bullet is still travelling 100fps over minimum expansion level. Then take 100 yards off that.

 

[Pro2A]

I think the better question is how comfortable you are shooting in the wind? 500, 700, 900. This is the only variable you wont be able to control. IMO it is the most critical component to long range shooting, the more time you put into this the better you can make that judgment call on max range.

Amen, JCow14....wind separates the shooters from the trigger pullers.

 

[hunter0528]

Often times than not that max ethical killing range on game is dictated by you and your proficiency and skill with that given weapon. However, if you have put that trigger time in and know your weapon then you can simply look at where the energy level given your velocity and bullet weight fall to unacceptable amount for that specific game whether that is 1000 ft-lbs 1200 ft-lbs whatever it is. You can find this number on most any descent ballistics calculator.

also keep in mind the bullet it self and it's ability to expand and cause a quick and clean kill.

 

[hunter0528]

As I said, I'm old school. My suggestion would be to look at how far I could shoot into a 4" diameter target in all kinds of wind conditions, check that distance for the retained velocity and then check that velocity with the bullet manufacturer for reliable expansion and then call that my longest distance to ethically shoot at an animal.

If you reload and have access to a Chrono . Load you round with reduced loads and see how you bullet expands and 50 to 100 yards. This will give you a true value of the expansion. Just remember to use a filler to hold the reduced powder against the primer just as happens with a full power load.

 

[FEENIX]

The "NUT" behind the trigger remains the primary factor.

 

[Nowoolies]

In war a 22LR will kill at a mile, take the shot, for target shooting shoot as far as your real estate permits, against a trash animal (take the shot) but against a game animal (major trophy), be a better hunter get closer, be sure you can make the kill shot (the 4" target is a good standard). All the big magnums will give enough energy to kill beyond your ability to hit unless you are Elmer Keith with a 44 Magnum. My EDGE will still have over 1000 ftlb energy at a mile. I would only shoot at a trash animal or paper at that range.

Will
I would like to know what the HELL is a TRASH animal
If it's what I think you are implying you need to lose all your firearms immediately

 

[Don A Parsons]

The other question not asked is,,, how would you close the gap for a wizer shot on a Elk or critters,,, and at what point do shooters call it off...

Stand down in the sport of fair-game and chase... Ha...

What I can pull off at the shooting range is no where near what happens in the open fields of the wilds...

A free hand shot takes time,,, the more distance adds to this,,, a tree rest improves my odds,,, shooting sticks beyond that,,, and a quality ground set-up raises the stakes...

My next factor is cartridge and boolit selection,,, that and my personal skills put a cap on how far I choose to reach out there at that moment in time...

Part of the puzzle in life I guess