Thread: Longish range shooting.

Hi I have a .270 and was wanting to know the best way to start to learn to shoot out to 600m in the field. How do I get my rifle set up for this. What do I need?

Cheers

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Do you know your bullet capability i.e. Speed and bc? Then you need a scope you can dial or a whoop ass reticle. Then a range finder. The key to shooting range is knowing your bullets flight path. Once that is known you can dial the scope accordingly.

Side note; im what they call new to it so im probably all kaka

learn to shoot at 100 yards...when you are CONSISTANTLY under an inch THEN and only then move out further...if you are managing 2-3" at 100yards you are /should be limiting your self to 300 yards or risk wounding.
if you want to leap ahead keep some 3ltr plastic milk bottles fill them with water and see how far you can hit them.
plenty of ballistic charts/programmes out there. stick in info as best you can and go from there.

Originally Posted by Gibo

Do you know your bullet capability i.e. Speed and bc? Then you need a scope you can dial or a whoop ass reticle. Then a range finder. The key to shooting range is knowing your bullets flight path. Once that is known you can dial the scope accordingly.

Side note; im what they call new to it so im probably all kaka

How do to you work out your bc I am only using factory ammo at the moment to cheap to reload. What sort of scope would be a good one to get started.

Originally Posted by Micky Duck

learn to shoot at 100 yards...when you are CONSISTANTLY under an inch THEN and only then move out further...if you are managing 2-3" at 100yards you are /should be limiting your self to 300 yards or risk wounding.
if you want to leap ahead keep some 3ltr plastic milk bottles fill them with water and see how far you can hit them.
plenty of ballistic charts/programmes out there. stick in info as best you can and go from there.

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Just look up what type of projectile the factory ammo has, it's usually on the box. Then just look at the manufacturers details and they have it listed.
These are the Hornady ones: Hornady Manufacturing Company :: Bullets :: Rifle :: Choose by Caliber :: .277 270 CAL

You could always 'cheat' and get a Burris Eliminator

Originally Posted by Southhunter

Hi I have a .270 and was wanting to know the best way to start to learn to shoot out to 600m in the field. How do I get my rifle set up for this. What do I need?

Cheers

Sent from my SM-J500Y using Tapatalk

Join a NRA club, practice lots of shooting at 600yds even 1000yds. Wind will be 98% of your problem. (says he getting owned at 800yds last Saturday)

Would a 270 get that far? There seems to have been a bit of discussion in the past on this round.

Originally Posted by Marty Henry

Would a 270 get that far? There seems to have been a bit of discussion in the past on this round.

Go stand 600m downrange from a 270 and try catch the projectile....

Originally Posted by Ryan_Songhurst

Go stand 600m downrange from a 270 and try catch the projectile....

But rubbishing perfectly good calibres is all we have to pass the time around here!

I'm not an expert on this but here's what I've done:

Do a bit of reading.
300m is hard enough but beyond 500m is aspirational - another world esp wind but also slope, altitude etc need to be checked.

Look for two threads on the other NZ forum by 7mmMagic on 400 and 600 yd shooting.
Brian Litz "Applied Ballistics"
Nathan Foster "Practical Guide to long range hunting" (controversial so take with a grain of salt and try fr yourself)
Jeff Cooper "The art of the rifle" Classic but also some ideas there need a bit of salt too.

Gear:
range finder is going to be essential
Dial scope: Weaver super slam if on budget, Nightforce / Kahles / Leupold if not
cheap wind meter for training
You will eventually need to reload to get enough practice

Practice
1.5 MOA is good enough for a start (honest average of 5 shot groups)
A lot of dry firing . invest in 2 or 4 snap caps - will make you feel better about snapping off thousands of times
Some 4 position practice eg .22 or high quality airgun
Putting your new dial scope on a .22 is a really good idea. Getting familiar with your scope is a key to longer range hunting.
NRA ranges to learn wind and trajectory
Field target steel shoots
Come up to Gillie's medium range precision rifle shoot that he holds at New Plymouth in the spring.
Goat shooting if you can find some locally. Work up gradually in range. Respect the goat.

Not all projectiles will expand well at long range or slow velocity if your going to try hunting. You need something soft, In a factory ammo like a sst. Amax are good but I doubt you will find that already loaded.

How much do you have to spend? No point getting a scope that dials if you have no way of measuring the range to target. So you will likely need to spend at least $1000-$1500 just to get an average scope and range finder, could get better if buying second hand.

get a scope first that dials

put it on your .22lr and learn to shoot out to 200, 300 yards

then decide if you have the interest to carry on with the .270 at longer ranges

Where are you?

There are rifle clubs that shoot long range most weekends who welcome people who want to improve their skills.
You don't have to want to compete, a desire to improve is enough.