Building A Long Rifle Range

[vtail]

I've got an area where I've layed out a 1,000 yard range for shooting a .50BMG that uses a large earthen dam for a backstop.

I've checked it with a surveyor's laser and I can make sure the bench is almost perfectly level with the target.

The problem is, it's not at all practical for targets at less that 1,000 yards, because the targets would have to be placed in the middle of a wheat field and I don't want to drive on the wheat.

I have another area where I can set up permanent multiple targets at multiple ranges up to 1,500 yards in a downward sloping pasture, but that would require using a downward angle of up to around 25 degrees or so.

My question is how important is it to have the target level with the bench? How much effect does the slope have on the overall accuracy?

I would want to use this sloping range with all types of rifles, not just the .50BMG.

 

[TurtlePhish]

The target doesn't have to be completely level with the bench. Just use sandbags or a bipod that can cant slightly to compensate.

Slope won't effect accuracy, just the amount of drop you have to compensate for. The distance you use to calculate drop from you to the target is the straight distance you'd measure from a bird's-eye view, not the line-of-sight distance. This basically means that you have to compensate for less drop over the same line-of-sight distance than when shooting on a flat plane.

 

[303tom]

Every body should have such a range...............

 

[Centurian22]

Turtle got it. There are plenty of pages with info on different methods of calculating the difference that the slope makes. Set up where ever will be the most useful to you and deal with the slope later if need be.

 

[vtail]

OK, so if I can ignore the slope, at what distances would you build target backstops?

Maybe 50, 100, 200, 400, 600, 1000?

 

[Centurian22]

I wouldn't say to ignore the slope, just account for it in your ballistics later. As for your target distances that depends on what you plan to do and what your resources are. That spread sounds reasonable. I might want a 500 and 800 in there too.

 

[essayons21]

You probably want have some targets between 600 and 1000. At these ranges the actual downrange performance gets further and further from what your ballistics chart tells you. Not really sure you need one at 50 or even 100 if this is dedicated for long range use. I use a 200 or 300 yard zero for most of my rifles, so I just get a good paper zero at 25m then go right to 200.

 

[allaroundhunter]

I would say a 100 yard berm for zero confirmation, then 300, 500, 800, and 1k.

It is much better to have the target below the bench than above. A little trigonometry and you can get the actual range. To get a 100 yard zero with a 25 degree downward angle, you need to build the berm 110 yards line-of-sight (LOS) from the bench. A 300 yard berm needs to be 331 yards LOS, the 500 yard berm at 552 yards LOS, the 800 yard berm at 883 yards LOS, and finally, the 1,000 yard berm would need to be at 1103 yards LOS.

So, in conclusion, the following statement is a no:

OK, so if I can ignore the slope, at what distances would you build target backstops?

Maybe 50, 100, 200, 400, 600, 1000?

Instead, build them at 110, 331, 552, 883, and 1103 yards.

 

[2000Yards]

OK, so if I can ignore the slope, at what distances would you build target backstops?

Maybe 50, 100, 200, 400, 600, 1000?

For long-range rifles there will be little difference between 50 and 400 yards. Personally, I would put targets at every 100 yards. If that's excessive, I'd emphasize targets beyond 400 yards, or even beyond 600 yards.

2KYDS

 

[allaroundhunter]

For long-range rifles there will be little difference between 50 and 400 yards.

There is as much difference between 50 and 400 yards for an M24 SWS as there is a Winchester Model 70 in .308 Win...

The difference is a drop of about 30".

Also, going from 50 to 400 yards isn't just about elevation, it is learning to read wind at an intermediate range from 100-1000 yards.