[Newt]

I was reading an article I found on the web a while back about a guy who killed an antelope at over 1000 yds. He had a buddy there with a range finder that confirmed this. I think it was somewhere around 1100. This got me to thinking. I've never had the opportunity (especially around these parts) to take a shot that far, nor would I even attempt it. I've had the opportunity to take maybe one shot at over 500 yds. but declined. I am an avid hunter but no expert marksman in anyone's book. My question is: what is your longest confirmed shot whether it be at a pie plate or game?

Newt

[foghornl]

I can't even see 1100 yards! ! ! !

Seriously, though, my longest game shot is a measured (using the 1-yard per step method) 179 Yds on a white-tail using a scoped Marlin lever action in .35Rem. Next longest is 75 Yds using a reproduction 1858 Army Rem 44 BP revolver. Rabbit @50 Yds with my Nylon 66 off a combine cutting soybeans.

[Smoke]

I hit a large dirt berm at 1000 yards once. Took 3 shots. Seriously.

In my location (the above was in Monahans, TX) it is a rare chance to see more than 3-400 yards (where you can shoot). I don't shoot much at distances over 200-250 yards. Most work is inside 100, maybe inside 75.

[hillbilly]

Newt....You're in Northwest Arkansas?

You need to make the four and half hour drive to here.....

http://www.badlandstactical.net

Them boys down at Grandfield, OK, will fix your need for long-range shooting know-how.

Do an Internet on search on "Steve Suttles" and Vietnam.

He recorded the longest bolt-action rifle kill of the Vietnam war....over 1280 yards. Carlos Hathcock reached out over 2000 yards, but that was with a .50 caliber machine gun, not a bolt action rifle.

Oh yeah, thanks to the classes at Badlands, my longest shot is a 1000 yard hit on an IPSC silhouette with Remington 700 in .308. I've made that particular shot probably 50 times down there.

hillbilly

[echo3mike]

Shot in a couple of 1k BR matches at Quantico this summer thanks to The Virginia 1000yd Benchrest Assoc (http://www.virginia1000.com/frame_main.htm)...unlimited sighters + 5 record shots. Won the factory relay in one of them. It's not all that difficult to hit a 40" target at that distance.

Quite a bit of data for .50cal HTI shooting out to 1500 + yds. And I remember a G. David Tubb video about a 1 mile (1760yd) shot. The .408 Cheyanne Tactical project is claiming consistant sub-MOA groups out to 2000, MOA to 2500.


That's a mighty fur piece of real estate!

S.

[keederdag]

Longest on critter= Caribou at 650 with a spotter and a laser range finder
Longest on target= Well over 1000 with my .50, and belt gun's....Not all that hard with practice. Especially with a belt gun:)

[Mike Irwin]

Ground hog, 425 yards, with a .300 Wby. and a powerful scope.

Steel ram, NRA Blackpowder Cartridge Rifle Silhouette, I want to say 600 meters, but they may be at 500 meters, I simply can't remember.

[OEF_VET]

My best was 800 yards with an M-16A2 and PVS-2 Starlight scope. The target was a standard Army 'Ivan' pop-up target with an Chem-light taped to it to help us spot it. I actually hit 5 out of 8 of the targets, but it took nearly an entire 30 round mag to do it.

The targets were suppose to be engaged by the squad's two SAWs, but one didn't have a scope, and the other wasn't zeroed. I was the only one in the squad to have a properly zeroed scope, so I went after the targets when the SAW gunners kept missing.

Frank

[VG]

About 2,400 meters with a training sabot 105mm cannon round from an M60A3 RISE PASSIVE TTS [tank, in other words) - does that count? I had the assistance of a laser rangefinder, crosswind sensor, and the other ballistic calculations done by the fire control system. The M1 is a lot more advanced.

A Canadian sniper using a .50 cal McMillen had a confirmed kill in Afghanistan at 2,430 meters .That's 2,670 yards or about 1.5 miles. The flight time (think the muzzle velocity is about 3,000 fps) would have been three seconds or so.

I shoot my Garand as often as possible in High Power matches at 600 yards. I usually shoot the Danish boat tail, Federal AE, or Federal Match, USGI M2 is pretty tough to hit with at that range/rifle/shooter.

[Bravo11]

Another M60A3.
Gunner...Sabot...Tank

[Hkmp5sd]

My best is a wimpy 200 yards. Just not much of a long range rifle shooter. :( That's why I like submachineguns. :)

[Bob F.]

IIRC, that sniper shot was in the chest of a truck driver. Story didn't say if the truck was moving, seems it was in a small convoy. Don't guess moving slowly (heavily loaded, uphill), head-on would , make a lot of difference, but what do I know.

We got 500yds at our club, regularly slam the 30" steel disc with my .270 and 6.5x55. It's a hoot!! The 6.5 drops about 44" @ 500yds.

Long shots on game here would be powerline cut or ridge top to ridge top!
Read years ago about some boys in PA with milsurp range finder and big bores doing that ridge top thing around 1000yds.

[Brian Williams]

9 shots Okinawa Marine Corps Rifle Range @ 500m 4.5" with my issue Matel-16 in 1975. 10th shot opened the group to 7". The first nine were in the head of a silouette target and the 10th was a pierced ear.

Nope did not make a smiley face:), just a nice group.

[444]

I once had the opportunity to shoot an M14 sniper rifle (I don't remember the correct nomenclature, M21 or XM 21 or something like that). Anyway, we were firing from a foxhole with sandbags on a military range with popup targets. I made quite a few shots at 1000 yards.
On big game, my longest shot was probably 75 yards.
A couple years ago I made an aimed shot of 102 yards (I think, we had a rangefinder and lazed it after the fact) on a coyote using a Ruger P89 9mm handgun. This wasn't just a hail mary shot, we do a lot of shooting at longish range with handguns. I spotted the coyote while bird hunting, put my shotgun between my legs, and fired an aimed shot with the appropirate holdover. The coyote began running kind of towards me, but at an angle. I fired several running shots at it and only managed to clip it's front legs twice. It then turned to run down a hill and I shot it through the neck dropping it. The first shot had hit right where I wanted it to, but the 9mm wasn't up to the task.
I have made some pretty long shots on groundhogs using a .22-250 and a Leupold scope on 18X from sandbags. Probably close to 400 yards.

[dakotasin]

on deer 458 yards. (7 rem mag)
coyotes 604 yards. (7 rem mag)
prairie dogs 815 yards. (308 win)
antelopes 104 yards (300 wsm)
paper targets 800 yards (multiple rifles).

think that wraps it up...

[Newt]

Hey, great replys. Exatcly what I was looking for. Keep 'em comin'.

Newt

[Larry Ashcraft]

Pronghorn - 296 yards
coyote - 450 yards.

Both with my 1903 25-06 and Weaver Wideview 3-9 scope.

I have a gunsmith friend who is into 1000 yard benchrest competition. He regularly shoots 6-7" GROUPS at 1000 yards with a .308.

In the early 80's, when my eyesight was much better, I shot IHMSA handgun silhouette. Rams at 200 meters, open sights. My best score was 37x40 with a Wichita 7mm International.

[Art Eatman]

I zero my '06 for 200 yard, so the only way I can "know" range is from the holdover for a shot. So far, a holdover of about 3-and-a-little feet was my longest shot on a deer; I figure maybe 450 yards. (For my sight-in, I figure about two feet at 400 and four feet at 500. Roughly.) That's one deer out of over 40 or 50...

:), Art

[Dr.Rob]

Longest was an antelope.. just over 400 yards but less than 425. LONG ways for me. It was walking when I hit it.

Prettiest was just over 325 in a high wind.

Savage 116 fsak 30.06, handloaded sierra gameking 165gr sbt.

[Steve Smith]

Singular shots on a target aren't as indicative of skill as they are of luck. I'd trust Art to put that deer down every time at that range. Other guys might hit a soda can once in 10 shots at 10 feet, but they'll dance around and brag about that one time.

Not sure if any of my experiences even fit in here. A "lucky" shot doesn't even stay in my memory.

[Shane]

Jeez, I have a hard time seeing past 100 yards. My furthest shot with a rifle was hitting a milk carton filled with water at 90 yards (using a .22-250). Most of my rifle shots are 50-75 yards at most.

[kudu]

3 shots in a paper plate at 900yds. .300 Win Mag
Coyote, 490yds. .300 Win Mag
Groundhog, 430yds. .243 Win

[CB900F]

Newt;

Longest on a game animal was 470 yards on a pronghorn antelope. Winchester new model 70 stainless with BOSS/CR in a McMillan stock, .30-06. Put the bullet in about 2" from my ideal hit point. He was rolled over dead as I recovered from recoil. Winchester brass, CCI lg rifle primer, 59 gr of IMR 4350 & a 150 gr bullet. Leupold VariX III 3.5 X 10 50mm. Measured, after the shot with a Bushnell yardage pro 800.

Read 'One Shot, One Kill', about Carlos Hathcock. The shot he made was indeed with a Browning M-2. Loaded single shot, using a Unertl 8 power scope he adapted to the MaDeuce. He had also sighted in on the spot earlier. However, the important point is that he did not use the typical belt-fed, 'mow em down' technique, it was a single aimed shot.

900F

[duckfoot]

Tank hull at 2500yds with the 25mm bushmaster off a USMC LAV

[redneck2]

when I was 16 I had just gotten my first 22-250, fixed 10x. Calm summer evening. 1/2 grown fox standing at the other end of a 1/4 mile field (440 yards). 0ffside had a hole the size of a golf ball.

Best shot was just 2 years ago deer season. Trotting coyote, 130 yards...with a Remmie 870 rifled barrel, copper solids, 4x. Not bad for a shotgun

I have three friends that all have certificates for getting prarie dogs at 1,000 yards or better.

[Spot77]

I can't wait to be 1/4 as good as some of you guys.

My best shot? Bullseye on a 14" target at 50 yards.

Ok stop laughing. This was on Friday; the first time I ever shot a rifle, and it was an old SKS with stock sites that I bought for a whopping $139.00

And I'm almost blind in my right eye, which is what I was trying to sight with...I think I'm going to need a scope to even SEE a big orange target at 75 yards.

Oh well, it was still the highlight of the week:D

[litman252]

Oh well, it was still the highlight of the week
Thats all that matters;)

I have shot praire dogs around ~300 yards, benchrest and all the goodies
Little white tailed deer ~125 yards mod. 70 .243 sitting and calm 3-9 scope
Tony

[Art Eatman]

:D Redneck2, one question, with respect to "I have three friends that all have certificates for getting prarie dogs at 1,000 yards or better.": Was the PD that was hit the same one that was aimed at? :D

Art

[VG]

Shot in a couple of 1k BR matches at Quantico this summer thanks to The Virginia 1000yd Benchrest Assoc...unlimited sighters + 5 record shots. Won the factory relay in one of them. It's not all that difficult to hit a 40" target at that distance.

I read the book "Jarhead" in which the author, reputedly a Marine Sniper, wrote that they were expected to shoot dime sized groups at 1,000 meters. I posted that on the Firing Line forum at Jouster to find out how likely it was to be true, and was told that the world record for a five shot group is 2 point something inches (and some other choice words about the author).

So while "dime sized" isn't an option, can you imagine shooting under 3" groups at 1,000 yards? I mean, the guy probably puts them all in one hole at "only" 300 yards!

[Spot77]

I can't wait to be 1/4 as good as some of you guys.

My best shot? Bullseye on a 14" target at 50 yards.

Ok stop laughing. This was on Friday; the first time I ever shot a rifle, and it was an old SKS with stock sites that I bought for a whopping $139.00

And I'm almost blind in my right eye, which is what I was trying to sight with...I think I'm going to need a scope to even SEE a big orange target at 75 yards.

Oh well, it was still the highlight of the week:D

[TechBrute]

I've never shot paper past 300, but the max distances I've "rang the bell" on a 12"x12"steel plate in different calibers.

.50BMG: 900 yards - Windrunner XM107
.300WM: 900 yards - Remmy 700 custom build
.308: 900 yards - Remmy 700 rebuilt and rebarreled PSS
.223: 600 yards - Remmy 700 custom build

Probably could have gone farter with the .50 and .300, but 900 was the max distance at the range. I'm pretty sure 900 was the best I could do with the .308 since I was only shooting about 66% at that range. With the larger guns, I was doing better than 90%.

[Beetle Bailey]

Spot77, don't worry. There's plenty of us that want to be 1/4 as good as some of these guys (and gals). Well, here's my best confirmed:

Last week BamBam-31 and I went out to the range on a weekday and had the entire rifle range to ourselves. It was great, as I was finally getting the hang of my M39 Mosin Nagant. I was making 1.5" groups at 50 yards consistantly, which is good for me. Then I started taking out bowling pins at the same range. The range-master only came down out of the shade one time to check up on us and told us all the measured distances. I think it was a friendly suggestion to challenge ourselves, so I looked down range and someone had left two bowling pins standing at 165 yards. Beyond that at 175 yards some also left four bright orange clay pigeons. I just figured the guy who set them up couldn't knock them down (more of a challenge :D ).

Well, I'm down to my last five rounds and since I'm doing well, I figure I'll adjust the rear sight on my M39 for 200 meters (or is it yards; I don't know offhand and actually have never moved it before).

First shot: One bowling pin disappears! :)

Second shot: The other bowling pin goes down and I spot it rolling down the embankment! :D

Third and fourth shots: Dirt flies up near the clay pigeon. :o

Last shot: Said BamBam-31: "Wow, I just saw the orange disintegrate!"

Too bad I was aiming for the clay pigeon placed about one foot directly above it . . .:rolleyes:

[Jiles111]

I practice everyweek at 150yards with my .17HMR
I can pick off bull frogs at 150, birds at 200, and on a calm day rabbits at 250-300. (Marlin .17HMR 22" Heavy Barel with a 3X9 scope)
Not many prarie dogs around here, but there are plenty of other things to shoot at.

[Bob F.]

Hey Spot: can you learn to shoot left handed? or left-eyed? still need a scope to see anything and my eyes aren't that bad-just old. I can see the target but not the sights-or vice versa.

Usta shoot at qt oil cans-anyone remember them?-at 200yds- with open sighted 4" .357's. Never hit any but we had a ball trying!

[voilsb]

I shot a satellite down with an AR while spraying from the hip. Good thing it was post-ban, or else I might have hurt some children!

More seriously, though, I've never hunted critters, but I've killed paper at 300m with an M16 and with an M4, both with irons. My farthest pistol shot was 75yd, I think, with a Beretta 92FS ... it was one of about five shots to hit a 2L bottle. That's really all the long-range stuff I've had opportunity for. I'm quite lucky if I can get somewhere and have 100m available to shoot!

[Gordon]

I've never shot GAME animals at more than 350 yards(I think) but I never lost one either! I shot a ground squirrel or two at 600+ yards with a .22-250 custom with 6-24 scope, but wind was right and I was lucky. Longest shot ever on a animule was at a Coyote with a 7mm mag Ruger #1 I was using 168 grain Sierra match kings at 3000fps with 12x leupold fine reticule. I hit it amid ships and we had to run it down(it was real sick) and shoot it from jeep on a big ranch. That was 20 years back. I did shoot at some people on a hill side across Ashau Valley with a 40 mm Duster: Boffors cannons on a track( Well I watched ) That was 3000meters as I recollect. I can still remember being awed at tracer arc over such incredible distance.

[Newton]

Three round cloverleaf at 1373.6 yards with a full auto conversion Romanian SAR-1, fourth round opened the group to 1.4 inches, probably because I had it set to burst fire.

Longest hunting shot was a 516.8 yard eye shot with a laser equipped H&R single shot in .22 Short on a running grizzly in a snow storm, now that was tricky.

Sorry, couldn't resist, I have serious accuracy envy going on here :D

[Smoke Rizen]

My longest on a game animal was a Pronghorn at 440 paces. I figured it was 420 yards. Only after a 500 yard crawl over a 2" high grass pasture. My longest shot was in 1971- 23 Kilometers,from a 175 mm Howitzer.F.S.B. J.J.Caroll to a bridge somewhere No. of there.(it took 42 rounds for a direct hit!)

[Cosmoline]

Howitzers? Honestly, this is like trying to swap fishing stories with an Eskimo who hunts whale :D

[JohnKSa]

I hit a life-sized metal silhouette of a prairie dog at 84 yards offhand.

That was using a .20 caliber Beeman R1 air rifle with aperture sights.

...it might have taken me a few shots to figure out the hold-over. ;)

...ok, it might have been as many as 10 shots...

[madmike]

Just a note: The Canadian sniper was aiming for the ENGINE BLOCK and fired 6 rounds before hitting the driver.

Still a hell of a shot against a moving target, using a weapon not intended for extreme precision (3 MOA, IIRC), but rather for anti-materiel shooting. And you take your confirmed kills where you get them.

But Gunny Carlos still holds the record on intended shots.

Info courtesy Commander, US Army Sniper School when I interviewed him in July.

My longest...400 yards, stock H&R cotnract M-16, as many times as you care to raise the target. Haven't shot further. Sure I could.

Best live target...70 yards, longbow, deer. Back of skull. I confess to a certain amount of luck.

[308win]

11" tall Miracle Whip container at 357 yards. Dead center off of shooting sticks. Head shot on a groundhog at 263 yards off of same shooting sticks.

[Art Eatman]

308win, whatever you do, don't sell those shooting sticks!!!

:D, Art

[Jaeger]

My longest confirmed shots were at 800 yds. on siluettes while attending Presicion Rifle 2 at Thunder Ranch. That was with 308 GMM (168) in a stock Rem PSS.

My most impressive shot was at 640 yds. using a stock, iron sighted M1A and Portuguese surplus. I dusted a claybird on the first shot! I couldn't even see the bird without optics. It was centered on a freshly cut tree stump so I sighted on that and gave myself an extra click or two.
Now, I'm not a bad shot but I know there was a heaping portion of luck in that shot! I quit for the afternoon after that one. :D

[emc]

Hmmmm....not as much rifle experience as the rest of you gentlemen but here are two separate instances with smaller weapons

1. 10 inch sighter gong at 100 yards. From a standing position with a Colt Mk IV Series 70 in .45 ACP, hit it 2 times in 3 shots. No sighter shots. These were the first rounds fired that day at that distance.

2. From a braced standing position (leaning against a large fence post), hit x-ring on a 25 yard NRA slow fire pistol target at 200 yards with a MAC 10 on semi-auto. Pretty crude sights, so went through about 8-10 rounds before I could do that. More luck than the previous example, but it's nice to know that it CAN be done.

FWIW,


emc