After lurking, learning, reading and posting (and occasionally having my ass handed to me because I said something ignorant or unintentionally arrogant), I have come to a realization. True long range shooting is not for me. I will never be a 1000 yard rifleman. It isn't because I am incapable of learning how. I've learned enough here to know that with the right training and equipment, I could do this and it wouldn't be terribly difficult. I really enjoy Frank's podcast and have learned a lot just from that. Mostly, I learned that I have A LOT to learn. I'd love to take a class from him but if I'm honest with myself, I would never use the skills he teaches.
My thing has always been the scout rifle concept. For the past 30 years, I have been dabbling in Cooper's concept of the general purpose rifle. I've taken several classes for this and become reasonably proficient with a 7 pound rifle from bad breath distance out to 300 yards. But for the past couple of years, I've wanted to stretch the limits with this platform. I entertained the idea of taking a long range class with the Scout rifle and even thought about trying one of the NRL Hunter matches with one. Then reality sunk in and I have come to the conclusion that this would be a complete waste of time and money. The Scout rifle platform just can't work at truly long ranges without changing so many things that it gives up the handiness that makes the rifle so appealing to me in the first place. Yes, I could put an Atlas bipod and a 20X mil/mil scope on it and it would be capable of 1000 yard shots under the right circumstances. I could learn everything about how to use a mil reticle and use weaponized math and all the rest. But it wouldn't be what I really need and that is a general purpose rifle.
So now I'm concentrating on figuring out exactly what I can do with a scout. I recently gained access to a property where the landowner allowed me to cut a small stand of trees to make a longer range. So far, I can get out to 360 yards. Over the winter, I think I can work on it a bit and get out to 470 yards.
I got to shoot it at 360 yards for the first time yesterday. The results were very encouraging. I have two Steyr Scout rifles and one did considerably better than the other but both show promise. The best was with my heavily modified Steyr. This rifle has the barrel shortened to 16" and threaded. I added a Rugged Micro 30 suppressor, removed the folding bipod and dropped about half a pound from the stock. The scope is a Leupold VX-R Scout 1.5-5X with a Kenton Turret. Total weight including sling and suppressor is just over 8 pounds. Shooting Hornady ELDX 178 grain ammo, I was able to consistently get 2" groups. With M80 ball ammo, that opened up to about 5" which is still less than 2 MOA. I was ringing steel (10" and 12" plates) with boring regularity even when I moved off the sandbag and was just shooting slung prone off my elbows. At 360 yards, the Hornady ammo needed 6.5 MOA and the M80 ball was 6 MOA from a 100 yard zero.
So it is a good start. That particular scope is VERY clear and crisp and I didn't have trouble seeing the target or the steel at that range. I'm looking forward to moving out another 100+ yards and see what happens. I wish I could find a 600 yard range around here as I think that is probably the limit for this package. I also wish there was training for this kind of intermediate range. It doesn't have the bragging rights of a 1000 yard shot but it can be done with a common hunting rifle without adding a lot of weight and complexity. If anybody has a suggestion on that kind of training, I'd love to hear it. I'd also take suggestions on how to adapt what is taught at the true long range classes for this kind of shorter range shooting. For instance, I discovered that while wind isn't as big a deal at 360 yards as it is at 800, it isn't a non-factor either and I'd love any pointers on that.
My thing has always been the scout rifle concept. For the past 30 years, I have been dabbling in Cooper's concept of the general purpose rifle. I've taken several classes for this and become reasonably proficient with a 7 pound rifle from bad breath distance out to 300 yards. But for the past couple of years, I've wanted to stretch the limits with this platform. I entertained the idea of taking a long range class with the Scout rifle and even thought about trying one of the NRL Hunter matches with one. Then reality sunk in and I have come to the conclusion that this would be a complete waste of time and money. The Scout rifle platform just can't work at truly long ranges without changing so many things that it gives up the handiness that makes the rifle so appealing to me in the first place. Yes, I could put an Atlas bipod and a 20X mil/mil scope on it and it would be capable of 1000 yard shots under the right circumstances. I could learn everything about how to use a mil reticle and use weaponized math and all the rest. But it wouldn't be what I really need and that is a general purpose rifle.
So now I'm concentrating on figuring out exactly what I can do with a scout. I recently gained access to a property where the landowner allowed me to cut a small stand of trees to make a longer range. So far, I can get out to 360 yards. Over the winter, I think I can work on it a bit and get out to 470 yards.
I got to shoot it at 360 yards for the first time yesterday. The results were very encouraging. I have two Steyr Scout rifles and one did considerably better than the other but both show promise. The best was with my heavily modified Steyr. This rifle has the barrel shortened to 16" and threaded. I added a Rugged Micro 30 suppressor, removed the folding bipod and dropped about half a pound from the stock. The scope is a Leupold VX-R Scout 1.5-5X with a Kenton Turret. Total weight including sling and suppressor is just over 8 pounds. Shooting Hornady ELDX 178 grain ammo, I was able to consistently get 2" groups. With M80 ball ammo, that opened up to about 5" which is still less than 2 MOA. I was ringing steel (10" and 12" plates) with boring regularity even when I moved off the sandbag and was just shooting slung prone off my elbows. At 360 yards, the Hornady ammo needed 6.5 MOA and the M80 ball was 6 MOA from a 100 yard zero.
So it is a good start. That particular scope is VERY clear and crisp and I didn't have trouble seeing the target or the steel at that range. I'm looking forward to moving out another 100+ yards and see what happens. I wish I could find a 600 yard range around here as I think that is probably the limit for this package. I also wish there was training for this kind of intermediate range. It doesn't have the bragging rights of a 1000 yard shot but it can be done with a common hunting rifle without adding a lot of weight and complexity. If anybody has a suggestion on that kind of training, I'd love to hear it. I'd also take suggestions on how to adapt what is taught at the true long range classes for this kind of shorter range shooting. For instance, I discovered that while wind isn't as big a deal at 360 yards as it is at 800, it isn't a non-factor either and I'd love any pointers on that.
