practicing long distance

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Hey all. I had a question about target shoooting at high-power competition distances (200m+)...

I've been to a numbr of high power matches over the past few years, and love it, without a doubt. But I must say that giving up at least half a day, working the pull pits, adhering to the format, etc. etc. etc. is not the most efficient way to practice target shooting in the off hours. Don't get me wrong- it's great for competition, but if I get an AR, I'd want the ability to also go plinking or target shooting at ranges comparable to what I'd expect on competition days. But I'd want to do it at my leisure, my amount of ammo, and not having to pull targets for half the time I'm there.

So.....

What do you guys do? What's done in general? What are my options? Are there any ranges in MA that have good options, at 200m+?

Thanks so much!!!
-ZA
 
The best thing to do is to join a club with at least a 100yd range and then get some reduced targets to shoot on. It wont help you with your zeros, but you can practice everything else. The other thing to do is shoot smallbore or air rifle. You can shoot air rifle in your basement and a lot of guys shoot smallbore leagues in the winter. You get way more trigger time without all the other inconveniences of shooting HP. Also the fundamentals of marksmanship don't really have much to do with what distance you are from the target, so you can learn most everything you need to no matter if the distance in 10 Meter or 200 Yds.

Spend most of your time shooting standing as that is the place where matches are won, and you most likely can pick up more points in that position than in any other.

B
 
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Well, from your answers I think I might need to clarify my question-

When not in the context of a competition, where someone is both pulling your target and spotting your shots (aka, you're shooting alone on a random Sunday), what do you do in that case? You guys pointed me to some outdoor ranges (MRA, for example). Well, there are clearly no cables to pull your target back in :), so my original question remains- how do you practice in off-hours?
 
The answer is probably exactly what you don't want to hear; shoot ten or twenty shots and then hoof it!
But seriousely, a good spotting scope should allow you to see bullet holes at 200.
 
But then aren't there ranges that are built for bench-style honing of your skills, and, ergo, have some sort of alternative mechanism, like steel plates, to shoot at? I could have sworn I've shot at ranges like this out in California.

Or, maybe of the type where everybody goes out and retrieves their targets after X amount of time?

Just anything alternative to the pit system- I have too many memories of firing outdoors not with pits to indicate there are alternatives......
 
I'm a little confused, do you mean electronic targets?

As far as steel, you wont find a lot of places that have it due to the danger of having one get off the property. Out west where there is a lot more land surrounding clubs they tend to do more of that.

I mostly just take some targets to the 200yd line and staple up two or three SR centers and shoot a couple of strings on those. I built some target frames with a circle cut out of the back so that when I staple a center on the frame the black is centered on the circle and I can see the holes in the black from the 200yd line with my scope. With three targets, I can go to the pits and set up and shoot three strings before I have to go down and change targets. I would like to get a Noptel though.

B
 
I walk to the target frames and attach my targets. Especially now in the winter, there is hardly anyone else there so should I want to I could use all six target frames at both 100 and 200 yards on my own, with 2-3 targets on each. That's way more than I'll ever shoot at one time (especially with the lack of .308)
 
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