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500 yards USMC Known-distance course. Man-sized target. Series high-shooter in Boot Camp.
Never had cause to shoot that far otherwise...

I shot NRA High-Power matches for a while. 600 yards was the longest range for iron sights. Most of the time we used a target that was scaled down to simulate 600 yard shots at 200 yards. Smaller bullseye etc.Marines have the right ideas on the matter: Every Marine a rifleman. Every Marines qualifies at 500 yards. Even cooks.

I shot bench rest matches too (back when my eyesight was a LOT better). I shot quite a few 1,000 yard matches. I enjoyed it then. It is far too technical and demanding of physical ability for me to enjoy it today. I think probably the longest shots I ever made were around 1,400 yards using a .300 Win Mag. These were not on a measured range since none had those distances back then. Those were the good old days!

All in all, what is your target size in MOA?

In my younger days I shot a couple of Palma matches (800, 900, and 1,000 yards iron sights and .30 caliber service cartrage) and a 1000 yard any sight match. All I can say is all my rounds went down range and some actually hit the X ring.

ShootDontTalk wrote:I shot NRA High-Power matches for a while. 600 yards was the longest range for iron sights. Most of the time we used a target that was scaled down to simulate 600 yard shots at 200 yards. Smaller bullseye etc.Marines have the right ideas on the matter: Every Marine a rifleman. Every Marines qualifies at 500 yards. Even cooks.

I shot bench rest matches too (back when my eyesight was a LOT better). I shot quite a few 1,000 yard matches. I enjoyed it then. It is far too technical and demanding of physical ability for me to enjoy it today. I think probably the longest shots I ever made were around 1,400 yards using a .300 Win Mag. These were not on a measured range since none had those distances back then. Those were the good old days!

I shot a few of those scaled down matches back in my younger days. The "purists" in our club objected to the concept because all else being equal you were still only fighting 200 yards of wind and mirage instead of 600.

One of the toughest match series I ever participated in was shot on international 50 meter reduced targets at 50 feet. The bull was actually larger than an NRA (B-50?) 50 foot target, but the ten ring was tiny and the x was just a dot.

Funny, the only targets I have kept over the years are my series toward my Distinguished Expert Smallbore Rifle Award, which I was only a few targets short of completing when illness and surgery took me off the range, and I just never found the time to go back at it. Sold my 52D target rifle long since, because it was being nothing more than a safe queen and do not think I could ever finish it up these days. I had completed prone (a breeze), sitting (a little less breeze) and kneeling (not so much) and was working on standing (EEEK!) when I got sick. The standard was a five bull target with two shots on each bull, all of which must be a minimum score or the whole target is bad. 18 for prone and sitting, and 16 for kneeling and standing, and I hate to tell you how many standing targets got thrown away because one bull had a score <16 on it. Also you could not plug them, so if there was any question on the score, you just decided to shoot another. I don't recall the required number of targets to be submitted, but I had way more than the required number of prone and sitting, and a few extras for kneeling, I was just working on standing. Your shots also had to be fired under the watchful eye of an NRA instructor and witnessed by him, but match score would count if they were the correct format.

I don't know why I keep the stupid targets - "Glory Days" I guess.

275 yds. +/- on my first deer. A young doe. She sure did taste good.

"I shot a few of those scaled down matches back in my younger days. The "purists" in our club objected to the concept because all else being equal you were still only fighting 200 yards of wind and mirage instead of 600."

Boy are you right about that! That is what long range shooting is really all about. Anyone can do it with no wind or mirage. Well...I had a lot of problems on those rare days when there was neither.

Went to the panhandle a few years ago on a prairie dog shoot. We were not exactly ranging them, but I made a few shots past 800 yards. I was using a AR15 in .204 Ruger with a Shileen 24" barrel and 24x scope.

Kilt a monster buck on Cabelas Deer Hunter XBox at . . . . yards

Pistol - 200meters - IHMSA - Rams - S&W .357 hand loads HOT. One time shot the turkey at 150m with a .44, but I was up and handing the pistol off to Dad before the turkey fell - That is the only pistol I didn't enjoy shooting! Well, that and a .40, but I would shoot the .40 again before that 44 with Dad's hand loads for silhouette pushing 1600fps with a 250gr projectile.

Would love to do IMHSA again, that was great fun!

cconn wrote:Went to the panhandle a few years ago on a prairie dog shoot. We were not exactly ranging them, but I made a few shots past 800 yards. I was using a AR15 in .204 Ruger with a Shileen 24" barrel and 24x scope.

Did you or somebody get a general range reference with a rangefinder, or was 800 a "guesstimate"? I ask because the first time I visually estimated 800 yards on something, I was testing my estimating ability against a laser rangefinder (Leica 1200). My 800 estimate turned out to be 531 yards lased. Honestly, I'm not trying to call you out. I was just curious because you said you weren't exactly ranging them, but then came up with "past 800 yards", and I was just wondering how you figured the distance.

The Annoyed Man wrote:

cconn wrote:Went to the panhandle a few years ago on a prairie dog shoot. We were not exactly ranging them, but I made a few shots past 800 yards. I was using a AR15 in .204 Ruger with a Shileen 24" barrel and 24x scope.

Did you or somebody get a general range reference with a rangefinder, or was 800 a "guesstimate"? I ask because the first time I visually estimated 800 yards on something, I was testing my estimating ability against a laser rangefinder (Leica 1200). My 800 estimate turned out to be 531 yards lased. Honestly, I'm not trying to call you out. I was just curious because you said you weren't exactly ranging them, but then came up with "past 800 yards", and I was just wondering how you figured the distance.

We weren't ranging each dog, they were too small. But we did range larger objects in the shooting field such as barns and trees to use as a reference. One of the fields had some old junk cars that ranged out to be about 780 yards from our shooting position, and we hit a few dogs that were on the other side of the cars.

A bunch of us were in a bar in Subic swapping sea stories and the conversation eventually turned to marksmanship. Well, one of the guys was a rather salty GM from the Navy and after everyone had finished with their bragging and he hadn't said anything, one of the guys decided to rib him a bit for keeping quiet. Things like "well, I guess they don't let you squids play with guns" and stuff like that. Turns out that his longest shot was over 20 miles. He was stationed on the New Jersey and worked on the 16" guns. Of course, one of those rounds will level an entire city block.

cconn wrote:

The Annoyed Man wrote:

cconn wrote:Went to the panhandle a few years ago on a prairie dog shoot. We were not exactly ranging them, but I made a few shots past 800 yards. I was using a AR15 in .204 Ruger with a Shileen 24" barrel and 24x scope.

Did you or somebody get a general range reference with a rangefinder, or was 800 a "guesstimate"? I ask because the first time I visually estimated 800 yards on something, I was testing my estimating ability against a laser rangefinder (Leica 1200). My 800 estimate turned out to be 531 yards lased. Honestly, I'm not trying to call you out. I was just curious because you said you weren't exactly ranging them, but then came up with "past 800 yards", and I was just wondering how you figured the distance.

We weren't ranging each dog, they were too small. But we did range larger objects in the shooting field such as barns and trees to use as a reference. One of the fields had some old junk cars that ranged out to be about 780 yards from our shooting position, and we hit a few dogs that were on the other side of the cars.

Ah! Thanks for the explanation. If found that my estimates are only more or less reliable out to about 300 yards. Beyond that, I gotta either use my reticle or my Leica.

I shot some targets past 2000m with my Terrapin after I got it just to prove something to myself.