Shooting Fast @ 1000 Yards

[C.O. Shooter]

Throwing this out there for opinions. What is your take on shooting fast for groups @ 1000 yards? I'm tentatively going out Monday and the guy I'm going with recommends shooting as fast as possible for the best results. He shoots weekly and is an accomplished shooter with a 338 Lapua and a 6.5 SAUM. I'm not calling him a liar, I just believe a slower rate of fire would be better. Understanding the wind will change between shots.

I will be shooting: http://www.longrangehunting.com/forums/f53/my-6-5-x-284-a-124876/

My load was:
Bullets: Berger 140 Grain Hybrid Match (.618 BC)
Brass: Lapua 6.5 x 284
Powder: 49 Grains - H4350
Primers: Federal 210 Match
Velocity: 2925 FPS

 

[westcliffe01]

A benchrest shooter perhaps ? Or a different form of competition ? One often hears competitors shooting at paper wanting to shoot fast to take advantage of a lull in the wind or whatever. No need for hunting I would think.

 

[C.O. Shooter]

A benchrest shooter perhaps ? Or a different form of competition ? One often hears competitors shooting at paper wanting to shoot fast to take advantage of a lull in the wind or whatever. No need for hunting I would think.

Nope just a recreational shooter.

 

[DocB]

In the words of my old SOTIC instructor, "Shooting fast at long range is like having sex fast, you're just wasting ammo!"

DocB

 

[lovdasnow]

i've shot next to a guy shooting 1000 yd matches over in montana, that shot his 10 shots for record between 30-40 seconds total the guys holds a few world records, so obviously he knows what he is doing.

in real world shooting, where the first shot matters(aka, hunting) going fast doesn't change anything. you need to work on reading wind before you make a shot. of course if something goes wrong with the first shot, don't take any more time than you need to make a quality follow up.

i'm not sure how shooting fast for practice would help at all. what's the point.

 

[Greyfox]

This is a great question. If it's not neccessary to shoot fast, you should take advantage of the time to optimize set-up, read wind, etc. Also, if you are shooting in volume, a slower rate will keep your barrel from overheating. I think increasing shooting speed comes with practice, as is the case with your buddy. It will develop naturally, and at a pace that matches your proficiency. I think that developing accuracy should be a priority over speed. I personally find the skill to shoot fast to be an advantage. In long range competition, where strings are timed, you can take advantage of a wind, or favorable mirage condition. Being primarily a whitetail hunter, I have had numerous situations where time has been a factor, The big guys don't hang around, particularly during the rut. Add this aspect to same need to at tmes take advantage of wind, or mirage conditions, the ability to get an accurate shot off in a small time window can be a major factor in making the kill. It's for this same reason that I switched to the G7 rangefinder which very effectively cut out a few steps in determining scope setting.IMHO.

 

[C.O. Shooter]

Thank you for your responses. My goal is to see how my rifle and load perform at that distance.

 

[yobuck]

If you were to take a trip to williamsport you will find most shooters will have all
10 shots off in under 1 minit. Reason would be condition changes.
In a hunting situation the same thing could happen. Not only with wind, but just a
step or 2 could put the animal behind a tree or trees where good follow up shots arent possible. Send lead, otherwise it's coulda, shoulda, woulda.

 

[Broz]

I go by the slow hit is better than a fast miss concept for hunting. Take all the time need for the first one. We have great tools today in 2014 to calculate that shot. Use it all to your advantage. Also practice to become proficient at spotting your own shots. Then in the event you do need a second shot or a follow up send it as soon as you can with a correction. While in a hunting scenario if you are way off on the first one, stop and see what is wrong, or go practice more before engaging animals.

Jeff

 

[C.O. Shooter]

I'm still babying the barrel @ 52 rounds. I'll probably do 2 fouling rounds, dry patch the barrel, then shot 5 rounds, then clean, repeat!

 

[4xforfun]

Thank you for your responses. My goal is to see how my rifle and load perform at that distance.

If your goal is to "see how my rifle and load perform at that distance", then shoot fast and reduce the effects of a wind change. You are testing your equipment, not your wind reading skills. This is not a true hunting senerio..this is an equipment test, and it is a good idea.

Now, the SHOOTER test is the one I like to do. True hunting test. When I am "practicing", I LIMIT HOW FAST I SHOOT. I take at least 5 min between shots, and usually never shoot at the same target twice in a row. This will give you a whole new respect for the military snipers' ability to make that all important 1st round hit!!

 

[Canadian Bushman]

To test a load i shoot a slow 3 or 5 shots. Trying to plot the wind to the best i can and paying a lot of attention to how the gun is resting on the pod, bag, and my shoulder.
You can always just throw out the horizontal dispersion in a group and take the vertical as gun performance.

I think shooting fast is more common with target shooters using a rest to fire short strings within given conditions.

 

[yobuck]

Well lets remember snipers could well have return fire coming back at them also.
Therefore its imperative for them not to be giving up their location.
Preparing for a solid first round hit is one thing. But a miss is a miss, and wether caused by an unseen tree limb or an error in calculating is of little consequence its still a miss. Evaluate and shoot again asap works better for us than lolly gagging around. Were dealing with trees on every situation. You could be following a deer
for several hundred yards without a shot oppurtunity. Especially with a buck in rut.
The nice wide openings between trees are as a rule not where he will stop. So when an oppurtunity presents itself take it now and dont be waiting for a better one that may never come.
This year on opening morning about an hour into the glassing my
son picked up a nice buck that had come out of a hollow. Within a few seconds 3
more appeared in close proximity. The gun was already setup on a heavy duty
shooting tripod. I ranged the first buck at 635 yds. my son shot and hit it well on the first shot but it didnt go down. Within about 3 minits without another range or touching the scope 3 shooters had 3 bucks on the ground with the same single
shot gun. 9 shots total, 2 hit twice, last one was 750 plus yds. Would i have wanted it on tape? No i wouldnt especially with sound as im sure it was tense and intence. Now the year before for the entire season we never had an oppurtunity to fire a shot.
Closing the deal is the most important part of any deal wether its selling something or hunting. Find what works for you where you hunt and dont be worried about what others think or do.

 

[4xforfun]

Well lets remember snipers could well have return fire coming back at them also.
Therefore its imperative for them not to be giving up their location.
Preparing for a solid first round hit is one thing. But a miss is a miss, and wether caused by an unseen tree limb or an error in calculating is of little consequence its still a miss. Evaluate and shoot again asap works better for us than lolly gagging around. Were dealing with trees on every situation. You could be following a deer
for several hundred yards without a shot oppurtunity. Especially with a buck in rut.
The nice wide openings between trees are as a rule not where he will stop. So when an oppurtunity presents itself take it now and dont be waiting for a better one that may never come.
This year on opening morning about an hour into the glassing my
son picked up a nice buck that had come out of a hollow. Within a few seconds 3
more appeared in close proximity. The gun was already setup on a heavy duty
shooting tripod. I ranged the first buck at 635 yds. my son shot and hit it well on the first shot but it didnt go down. Within about 3 minits without another range or touching the scope 3 shooters had 3 bucks on the ground with the same single
shot gun. 9 shots total, 2 hit twice, last one was 750 plus yds. Would i have wanted it on tape? No i wouldnt especially with sound as im sure it was tense and intence. Now the year before for the entire season we never had an oppurtunity to fire a shot.
Closing the deal is the most important part of any deal wether its selling something or hunting. Find what works for you where you hunt and dont be worried about what others think or do.

All a moot point. The OP was asking advice for shooting groups on paper at long range for the porpose of evaluating the equipment. Hunting situations were never mentioned. I am not saying that you are wrong, mind you.

I stand by my first post....if you are evaluating equipment for accuracy, shoot as fast as you accuratly can. The statement was made earlier...."You can always just throw out horazontal dispersion in a group ane take the vertical as gun performance" ..Really??? I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but WIND can and does cause vertical on target!! lightbulb And gun/bedding/crown issues can cause horazontal stringing.

It is hard enough to get a gun to shoot well at extended ranges, why would you want to factor the wind into the equasion more than nessary? RUN EM!!

Just my .02.

Tod