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I am a competitive long distance shooter; I am heavily involved in the sport of F-class. For those unfamiliar with the sport, John Kajfes has an excellent website . F-Class is a sport of extreme precision, shooting at distances of up to 1000 Meters (nearly 1100 yards).
Successfully shooting at these distances requires that a number of different facets all come together. One of the most important pieces of advice I can give you, regardless of your rifle, master short ranges first! I am just as satisfied shooting a .1MOA group at 100 meters. When you stretch beyond that, influences such as wind and mirage affect the bullet’s path more and more. If you can master the techniques of shooting successfully at short distance, making the leap to long distances is that much easier.
Ian Hames, 2008 BC Lt. Governor’s Champion
F-CLass Open Shooter
I have my own recipes for success that have allowed me to be successful at many different levels. I would like to share a few principles with you… take them or leave them, after all, they represent my opinion based on subjective experiences and observations.
I have broken them down into 10 “Golden Rules”…
- The barrel is everything. – The barrel accounts for the single biggest contributor to your potential accuracy. Bullets, powders, cartridges and wind reading are all variables that you can change. A lousy barrel will forever be a lousy barrel. Remember too, that a barrel is only as good as the installation. Lousy installations defeat good barrels.
- There are accurate cartridges and there are cartridges that resist being accurate. Stick with an accurate cartridge! Yes, wildcatting and self expression are fun. If you feel like experimenting, fill your boots. If you feel like winning or feel like minimizing the money and time you spend trying to find or make something WORK, stick with an accurate cartridge.
- Optics: You get what you pay for. There is no such thing as a top quality scope at a cheap price. Get over this. Today’s precision firearms are limited only by the accuracy of their scope’s repeatability. Also, reticules DO make a difference. It is very rare for cheap scopes to be supplied with the types of very fine target dots preferred by top long-distance shooters.... It takes a wealthy person to buy a cheap scope; nobody ever regretted buying a top quality rifle scope.
- Look at what winners use! I don’t have all the answers, but the shooters that win matches have the collective wisdom of centuries of trial and error leading up to their choices of equipment. Those who are in it to win don’t care about looks, color, how cheap or how expensive it is, they use it because it works. Hint: You will find VERY FEW actions from $300 sporting rifles in the hands of successful shooters. The surprising corollary is that one need not spend $2500 on a custom action either. A trued Remington action is pretty hard to beat.
- Function follows form! Your choice of stocks and other shooting accessories MUST FIT YOU PROPERLY!. A properly fitting stock is worth it weight in gold medals. Choose a stock that is designed for the style of shooting you do. Sporting and benchrest stocks make poor choices for prone shooting.
- You will never become a better shooter with a gun that is not accurate! Practice and trigger time are vital, but you will never become a better shooter if you cannot learn from what the gun tells you. A rifle must be precise and accurate in order for you to learn from a misplaced shot. If a gun shoots 1MOA, you will only ever be a 1MOA shooter.
- Excellent long range shooting skill must be learned at short range! It is surprising how many shooters think they can bypass the whole learning process and start shooting at 1000M, without ever having mastered short range shooting. Wrong! The further you shoot the more variables you must account for. These start right at the loading bench. Master your shooting at 50 and 100 yards before you move out to 200 or 300.
- Bigger is NOT better! Some of the world’s most accurate centerfire cartridges are small. The Ubiquitous 6mm BR Norma cartridge is a potent 1000M performer in the right hands. It shoots a 105 grain bullet using 30 grains of powder! Big magnum cartridges require very big bullets to give you the type of superior ballistics needed to overcome the excellent 6, 6.5 and 7mm bullets out there. Learning to shoot with a 300 Winchester Magnum hurts, it causes flinching, and it gobbles valuable powder (and barrels). Good things really do come in small packages!
- Accurate shooting starts with accurate loading! Using good quality reloading components and paying meticulous attention to detail will pay huge dividends on the range. If Lapua makes brass for it, USE IT!
- Three “B’s”: Barrel – Bullets – Bedding. The barrel is everything. Use a high quality cut rifled barrel, and have it installed by a pro. Use top quality match bullets in the proper weight for the cartridge and twist of your barrel (see rule 4!!). The action must be properly bedded to the stock to ensure optimal results. Cheque the torque of your action screws before every shoot and make sure there are no contaminants between the action and the bedding.
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