Is 100 yard testing a waste of time for long range loading?

[jmr40]

Have you ever developed a load that shot great at say 300yds, but awful at 100yds?

Sorta.

I've never had a load that was awful at 100 that did great at longer ranges. But in rare cases I've had individual rifles that would shoot 1 MOA or close to it at 100, but at longer ranges would consistently be slightly better than 1 MOA. The difference wasn't huge, but I've seen a few rifles that wouldn't do better than 1" at 100, but were 1.5-1.75" guns at 200 and would keep group size to 2.5" at 300.

Most of my shots are going to be 150 yards or less, but I still prefer to shoot at 200-300 when practical. I still zero at 100 and trust use the optics to shoot at longer ranges.

 

[cfullgraf]

The only long range shooting that I do is during my prairie dog adventures. My home range was limited to 100 yards and all my testing was done there. When we got out on the prairie dog towns, my rifle would work well out to longer ranges. But, not being able to at least test my ammunition at longer ranges seemed to leave something lacking.

Unfortunately, local home construction around my hobby horse farm has eliminated my home 100 yard range so I have joined a local club. I'll be able to test my ammunition at longer ranges before my next prairie dog adventure.

With access to the longer ranges, I'll be able to practice dealing with wind conditions and the such for getting ready for my next trip out to South Dakota prairie dog fields.

 

[Big Wes]

I shoot a lot at 100 yards, primarily because at my local gun club, walking to 200 yards takes too much time. However, now that I have access to CMP Talladega, I am zeroing my rifles at 100 yards locally, then get to CMP and shoot out to 600 yards if I fancy. Generally, I am shooting out to 300 yards with my hunting rifles. I do have some good 600 yard strings with hunting rifles, but, I am of the opinion that 300 yards is a long way, long enough for any game shooting that I might ever do.

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I was able to check a cold bore zero at 300 yards, very gratifying to hit center with the first shot, using zero's established on a previous shooting session.

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The rest of the story.

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This pre war M70 has proven itself to be an exceptionally accurate rifle, all things considered. Overall, you have to shoot your rifle at the distance you want a zero, and, you have to shoot it with the load you plan to use, lets say, for hunting. I read all the time in Gun Magazines about 600, 800, 1000 yard shooting, about the ability of someone to just line up and let go, and hit whatever they are aiming at, without established zero's. This is nonsense. Book values will not put you in the middle. At best, they will put you in the black, but that could be feet away from the middle. Bullet drop and trajectory are not precise, there are little differences from book values even close up, and you have to establish this. The further out you go, the worse it gets. I got to tell you, trying to hit the 600 yard target with my 35 Whelen, with 200 grain round nose bullets, that was an eye opener. It took lots more elevation than I had ever used in any 30-06 round, and the accuracy was awful. I would not have known if I had not tried it on paper.

Still, because of the convenience, I will still be doing a lot of 100 yard shooting.

Wow that gun range is the best I've ever seen !