Rifle- maximum effective range by shooting position?

[BCD]

I'm just curious what everyone's max effective rage is prone, sitting, kneeling, and standing? I realize it is different for everyone but I am very curious.

Thanks!

 

[waitforit]

Great question and this drives my practice sessions with the steel plates. For me, im good on an 8 inch plate to 100-150 standing or sitting sling supported, up to 250 on sticks or pack or solid tree branch, and up to 400 (so far) prone.

 

[KNASH]

An equally good question would be "by what denominator should we divide the distances reported by people who can't be fact checked?" 2? 3? Seriously, I have not practiced enough to give a valid response. Working on that now.

 

[Meanderthal]

Standing/offhand 75-100. Sitting 150-200. Sitting with sticks/bipod or standing with solid rest 200-300. Sitting with solid rest or prone 300-400. In theory I might take a 500 yard shot under ideal circumstances but that hasn't happened yet.

 

[Laramie]

Offhand, 100 yards max. On shooting sticks standing 300. On shooting sticks or bipod sitting 400. Prone with stock support I can ring steel at 600+ but limit hunting shots to 500 under ideal conditions. I really need to practice offhand shots more. 95% of my rifle harvests over the past 10 years have come from a prone position. Even when animals are close, I am just more comfortable laying down to shoot. I try choose my stalks with a prone shot in mind and it has cost me a couple of times by pushing too far trying to get to high enough ground for the shot.

 

[TFAvalanche]

Farthest shots I have harvested standing was 80 with a .308, kneeling was around 140-150 with a .308 and farthest prone was about 200 with a 6.5 grendel. According to the Army though I can kill a green plastic guy prone at 300 no prob!

 

[Jack321]

Before I answer, I am glad guys are similar to me. I really thought there was something wrong with me that sitting or standing using a bipod I could only go out to 200 yds max! I have been worrying that I'm not "good enough" sitting/standing with shooting sticks/bipod. Kudos to BCD for asking a really great question!

Now I feel more "normal"

For me ringing 8" steel:
•Standing Offhand: 100 yds max
•Sitting/kneeling arms on knees: 150 yds max
•Sitting/Standing w/bipod: 200 yds max
•Prone w/bipod: 450 yds (possibly further as the range I shoot only goes to 450)

I'm really trying to work out different options & shooting positions while on the range to get better & see what works best for me. Right now I have a simple Caldwell 4-8" Bipod for laying prone, my Slumberjack Bounty 2.0 for an option, I own a tripod to try out for standing or sitting. I've also tried the tripod out front & monopod supporting the butt stock, still a little wobbly (and means more gear/weight I have to pack & get ready when I want to shoot--might not have the time to set all that crap up.). My brother has the outdoorsman pack that has the V-notch to shoot off the upright pack. I've shot off a hog saddle & really surprised me how the butt stock not being supported by a monopod or tripod still wobbles a lot. Even if you rig your sling under a leg & pull tight, it still wobbles.....All of those options I've found to be less than ideal for me, so I'm still trying to tinker & see what's best for me. Don't know if I am expecting too much or not?

Really looking at the Swagger Bipod--anyone have experience with them? Their crazy-legs seems to be about the only option for laying prone & being able to sit/kneel in just about any possible situation.

My favorite position is to shoot prone or use a rock/boulder to sit/lean against, but I'm worried that I might have to sit or use an upright pack or something else, so I'm trying out different options & good shooting fundamentals. Maybe sit with a Swagger bipod & "hug" my pack while sitting Indian Style. Basically this would allow me to rest the butt stock on top of the pack & into my shoulder......?

As you can probably see, I'm a bit of a perfectionist and trying to figure out what fits.

 

[S.Clancy]

I can hit the 10" plate @ 200 yds standing 50% of the time, a 10" plate @ 300 off the stood up pack (sitting) 80+% and the 10" plate @ 400 prone 90% of the time. That's just practice though. I've never taken a standing shot more than 100 or so yards at an animal. All my shots are almost always prone.

 

[NateK]

For me there are a lot more variables when standing. Wind blowing you around, heart rate, footing, and so on. I hunt pretty much everything with one rifle and have been for the last 15 years or so and have shot it quite bit both in practice and at game. On any given day 100-120 yards is about max on standing (sling supported) but I have passed shots under 75 due to heart rate etc. I will pull down on a critter and (now) have pretty good self control to not squeeze off a round if the crosshairs don't settle regardless of position. I've probably shot half a dozen critters over 100 yards offhand (longest being 175) and haven't missed any at those ranges but there are plenty more that I couldn't get steady enough to shoot at. Kneeling may buy me an extra 25-50 yards but not great. Sitting I'm solid out to 175-225 all things being equal and prone it really comes down to my crappy wind calling so I'm a 500 and in guy until I improve that aspect. Biggest thing is the ability to not take a shot when your crosshairs are bouncing all over the place. While I may be outside the norm for shooting standing/standing supported a lot and taking the occasional shot at moving/running game (typically very close range) I am very surprised when I do occasionally miss since I am not pulling the trigger if I don't have confidence in my ability to make the shot.

It's probably worth noting that I do actually practice in varied positions as the vegetation/terrain were I grew up hunting doesn't allow for an awful lot of prone shots.

 

[Huntin wv]

This is for deer sized game.
Standing 100 yds
Sitting off a bipod 250-300 yds
Prone 500 yds


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Marble]

I always look for a rest, even if it's a tree to lean against. Witha decent rest and wind dependent I can go a little over 400. Anything to the point where I need to dial or think about my hold over I get a good solid rest from whatever position is available.

I've used a standing tree, my pack upright leaning on a tree or laying down, a rock or log, bipod, or whatever else nature has available.

With a good rest and time I am comfy to 700. The times I have missed is because of extreme angles and forgetting to take into account the angle.

Last year my buck was at 650 something and the angle made it like 560. Which is significant.

 

[kcm2]

Depends on the shooter. At what distance can you hit a trash can lid reliably? For me, offhand is at least 250....but I practice it. From a rest, double that. I have killed most of my elk from 300-519 yds. Having a very accurate rifle with a 2 lb trigger helps a bunch.

 

[Cmaxlewis]

I will go by what animals I’ve shot.

offhand I killed a bull elk at 80 yards a couple years ago. I’d maybe feel okay to 100.

sitting with my elbows on my knees does not feel great to me. I shot a buck at 200 yards once from that position but that took me a few shots.

sitting down with my back against something solid like a rock or a tree and the front of my gun supported with my tripod (I carry around an extra plate with a v shaped rifle rest attachment) I shot a cow elk at 390 yards a couple years ago. The shot felt dead solid and it only took one shot.

Prone a friend and I killed a couple cow elk with head shots at 475 yards (we could only see their heads so we were either going to miss or kill them. We got them both and didn’t waste any meat). If I was a better shooter I feel the most comfortable prone.

 

[Dave0317]

I have a 8 inch steel plate I shoot on at my range. With my hunting rifle, 90 percent or better hits:
Standing 100-150
Kneeling 200
Sitting 250+
prone with sling 300+

I don’t really shoot my hunting rifle past 300. Definitely have more of a stalk closer rather than shoot farther attitude. And that’s not from a lack of long range shooting experience, more because of a familiarity with it and knowledge of what it takes to be 100 percent sure of a first round hit at long range. I do enough of that for work, I like to hunt to relax. No worrying about dialing and less extreme wind calls.

 

[Ross]

After I missed a bull decades ago off hand started practicing at the range standing and actually had a long time range goer say he had been coming for many decades and seldom if ever saw anyone do this...standing good around 100 sitting knees locked 250 prone 550

 

[CAElkhunter]

off hand - 75 yds
Sitting with my shooting stix I have killed multiple Elk at 400 with longest at 450 yds.
Prone 500 yds

I am sure I could shoot farther prone but I limit myself to 500 yds. My gun is capable out to 1000 but I don't practice enough for me to feel ethical shooting at an animal at that distance. At times I have practiced at 1000 yd ranges and know I am capable of it but I don't have the opportunity to do it enough in the off season thus my limit.

 

[BCD]

Wow you guys can shoot a LOT further seated than I can. Im comfortable in the prone to 300 but have not shot much past that but did ring some steel at over 600Y recently but not consistent enough.

Can you guys talk about your shooting form for the seated position with sticks or bipod as there is no way I would consider shooting past 150-200 seated at this time. Also the tall triggerstick in the standing position doesn't feel like it is giving me a lot of stability.

 

[BCD]

off hand - 75 yds
Sitting with my shooting stix I have killed multiple Elk at 400 with longest at 450 yds.
Prone 500 yds

I am sure I could shoot farther prone but I limit myself to 500 yds. My gun is capable out to 1000 but I don't practice enough for me to feel ethical shooting at an animal at that distance. At times I have practiced at 1000 yd ranges and know I am capable of it but I don't have the opportunity to do it enough in the off season thus my limit.

Can you talk about your form when seated and which shooting stick you are using?

Thank You!!

 

[CAElkhunter]

Can you talk about your form when seated and which shooting stick you are using?

Thank You!!

First off I have elk hunted for 26 yrs and the sitting shooting position turned out to be my go to due to hunting mainly in Montana where the sage height is prohibitive to shooting off bipod or prone. I started using the steady stix when they first came out and now use the Primos Magnum stix. Some people like tripod but I find them heavy. These stix collapse into 3 pieces for each leg and come back together quickly when taken off your belt. Additionally you can go from hiking to sitting quickly without having to situate your pack etc for prone. Also there were no real other alternatives when I started using them so I am used to them and like them. There are alot of options now including ones that have a rest for your elbow. A lot depends on how far you are hiking and how easy to carry. I personally don't like monopods due to stability.

I typically sit with my legs out at a comfortable angle, left hand on the sticks, leaning into the sticks for stability and eliminating weave. I sometime will sit with cross legs depending on terrain but like the legs straight out better because of less tension and better stability. I practice this religiously at the range and have killed 20 plus bull elk like this routinely at 300 yds and out to 450 as I mentioned. You can easily use this position and these sticks when shooting downhill or uphill where it is a problem for prone.

If Prone is available, comfortable and shot is over 400 yds and Bull is unaware I would probably chose it for obvious stability reasons. I practice shooting sitting more than prone though.

 

[CAElkhunter]

Sorry not to be full of myself but practice is the key to all of this. I only shoot off the bench to zero then go to
sitting or off hand and don't use the bench anymore.