re: Long / Medium Range Shooting

Just rereading through this. Had quite a bit of charter last night and wasn't very clear in my point. I have shot out to 500 yards on 2 occasions at animals. But I shoot those distances at the range. There are folks who do it in hunting situations regularly. But that wasn't the issue in this thread. It was beyond 500, and in the OP, 500-750 yards. I understand he was talking about just shooting for the fun of it. I made the hunting inference that he was attempting to hunt that far, which he never implied. I blame that on the charter.

The number of folks who can accurately kill animals beyond 500 yards is infinitely small. Yes, there are folks who can do it. Yes, there are folks who do, do it. But there are wayyyyy more folks who "think" they can do it, who have never tried, and who wouldn't come close. I am not insinuating that is anyone in this thread. But I see too many guys who shoot a 1 1/2" group at 100 yards off a bench who think that is great. And , for 99% of hunting situations, it is, and more than adequate to efficiently and ethically put down an animal. But that's not what we're talking about.

On the "off the shelf" rifles....there certainly are rifles, off the shelf, that you can buy and long range shoot very accurately. You aren't buying those at Walmart....let me clear that up also by saying you aren't buying them and shooting them as they come off the shelf. You can put the work into them to get them to that point though. I took it in my half drunken state as "take it off the shelf, buy a box of core lokts, and start shooting". That obviously wasn't the intention.

As you know, there is a TON that goes into long range shooting. Not only practice, but proper break in of rifles, triggers, bedding...all that kind of crap...but also building rounds that are the best for YOUR gun by not just shooting reloads, by micing chambers and what not, optics, etc, etc. There are so few people that do this sort of thing, that my default reply is to simply laugh and say "sure you can".

So I hope I did a better job of explaining what I meant this morning. I certainly don't doubt there are those of you on here who can do it accurately in a hunting situation. But I think we'd agree that 99% of the folks who pick up a hunting rifle and go sit on a power line would be using pure luck to hit a deer at 500 yards much less beyond that....and not that there's is anything wrong with those hunters. Just the vast majority never need to do it, and thus, can't. As I've gotten older, I know I've certainly reigned in my "need" to reach out and touch them. Cause while my rifle will cut holes at 300, I don't bring that lead sled in the stand with me, and I've got an awful coffee habit.