Long Range Aiming ?

[edge]

Perhaps a stupid question, but I don't know how you guys can do it so well.

Long before I can shoot an animal at a long range I need to be able to accurately hit targets at long range.

I have never shot much past 400 yards, but many folks here shoot well past 1000 yds ( some double or more ).

I also see some pretty small groups on metal targets, but how do you see that well?
There must be some tricks that are used since even with fairly high magnification you can't see a 1 inch target at that range but yet your groups are small.

Thanks.

edge.

PS Here is a perfect example from the Eddybos Oryx rifle pretty much ready to ship.... thread.

800 yard target:

 

[royinidaho]

edge,

****'d if I know? I think the eye and brain coordinate better than we are aware.......

My first two shots at 1140 yds out of the 270 AM w/169 WCs had zero vertical and 4" horizontal dispersion and I was just aiming at a 23X36" board w/a 16X SS scope (Which is long gone BTW). It was one of "hold my beer, watch this" things. I didn't even consider the wind. I really don't have an answer for this. Not even a BS one.........

I think we actually know stuff that we don't knowlight bulb Just let the body parts do their thing.

How many times, when you are driving down the Interstate, and know what a road sign says long before you can actually read it clearly, as an example.

 

[royinidaho]

edge,

****'d if I know? I think the eye and brain coordinate better than we are aware.......

My first two shots at 1140 yds out of the 270 AM w/169 WCs had zero vertical and 4" horizontal dispersion and I was just aiming at a 23X36" board w/a 16X SS scope (Which is long gone BTW). It was one of "hold my beer, watch this" things. I didn't even consider the wind. I really don't have an answer for this. Not even a BS one.........

I think we actually know stuff that we don't knowlight bulb Just let the body parts do their thing.

How many times, when driving down the Interstate, you know what a road sign says long before you can actually read it clearly, as an example

 

[J E Custom]

Edge

It's not a stupid question,its a good one.

No you cant see a 1" black dot at 1000 yards but you can see a
10" or 12" black dot and the trained eye tends to center the crosshairs
or sites in the bulls eye.

So as long as you can see the bulls eye and can center your sites good
groups are very possible.

A good scope or set of aperture sites can be very accurate on a round
target but on a animal siting can/is more difficult.

J E CUSTOM

 

[eddybo]

What do you mean you cant see an inch at 1K you better get your eyes checked With good contrasting colors and good optics you should easily be able to see a one inch spot at 1K.....or maybe I have good eyes and never realized it. I probably havent shot enough at 1K and beyond to know any better.
I was shooting at an orange 2 inch target spot with the scope on 32X. It was only 800 yards and I could clearly see the black diamond in the center of the target spot and called the shot that went right as being to the right. My group was purposefully 1MOA below the target spot to keep the bullet holes away from the other groups shot with other guns.

Shooting from a concrete bench with good rest and rear bag with a good rifle 2 inch groups at 800 are not that rare, if conditions allow.

Now when I shoot a 3 shot group along the lines of .480 at 600 yards I nearly faint. My gunsmith shot a unbeleiveably small group with his 6-6.5x47 at 630 yards a few weeks back....but then again he is undoubtedly one of the best shooters in the world and has the records and the HOF points to prove it. I think he tied the current f-class open record twice this weekend with 2 200-15x strings and a 60 shot aggregate of 599-40x. I am hoping that he will beat that at the state match and set another record. I also think he set 4 or 5 ARG rimfire records this year alone.

 

[J E Custom]

Sorry I should have said with a normal scope!!! not a 32x
"Just joking"

I have never owned any thing larger than a 18x and most of my shooting
at 1000yrds was with iron sites and a 10" bullseye is hard for me to see.

Also I though Edge was talking about hunting and with a "hunting scope"
of 12x to 18x max power.

At 68 I might be able to see a 1" dot at 1000yrds if I used the hubbel telescope.

J E CUSTOM

 

[edge]

Thanks for the replies, and I guess I need to set up something at long range and try. Most of my load workup is at 100 yards with a 9x scope. When I shot a little past 400 yards I used a 24x, but would in no way have concluded that you could zero in precisely at double or quadruple the distance.
I was shooting off of stix in a sitting position since the field was fairly overgrown. Perhaps if I could get prone it might look a bit more steady.

I know that my eyes are no longer young, but I just can't really picture it in my mind....I guess that I need to try it

Thanks.

edge.

 

[Buffalobob]

With a high quality scope such as a Luep V3 or Nightforce is it usually easy to see a one inch white square (or vice versa) on a black center at 1000 yds. Sometimes mirage is really bad and you are not really certain what you see but most times you can see it. The same scope that can see that dot can see a half inch diameter and 3 inch long spike on a yearling deer at that range. High quality optical glass is important for hunting

It is also important to make sure you have the eyepiece focus ring set correctly.

Hitting such a little dot is something different as Eddie mentions. It is usually easy to get the rifle still and get the trigger broke well. Reading wind and mirage, getting consistent position on the rifle, getting high quality ammo in the chamber are challenges.

Also it helps if you have a rifle that shoots well.

Finally and most importantly, you need to find some place to practice. It is much like a basketball game, you need to practice your free throws is you want to make them when it counts