Tips for efficient practice and teaching the kids to shoot further

[CMF]

We haven't shot past 300yds, but I'm wanting the kids to start getting more practice at longer rangers, both to increase their range and increase their accuracy at shorter distances. We typically are getting within 100-200yds if rifle hunting, but most of our wester hunts have been Muzzy, so even closer. and I mostly bow hunt.
My daughter drew a late rifle elk in AZ and I'd like to see her proficient to at least 400 if possible. I've seen her shoot smaller than baseball groups at 200yd with just a tripod.
We do a lot of outdoor activities so we don't shoot as often as we should. That said, how can we make the time we are shooting the most efficient and get the most rounds down range. I'm working in New Mexico currently so we actually have plenty BLM to practice on(very few places back in MS to shoot further than 2-300).
We typically shoot a few rounds walk down and check it out, cover up the holes etc, but the farther out you get the more time this takes.
I'm thinking of finding an area we can jump in the truck and run back and forth.
Maybe putting multiple targets and using more than one rifle before going back and forth.
I have an 8" steel target. and I have a mobile target stand I built. Should I get some bigger steel for further?
I'm guessing at some point the gun heating up will be a limitation?
What's your tips for getting the rounds in and teaching the young n's to shoot further?

 

[RWT]

IMO any new shooter it has to be fun with immediate feedback. I’ve use full cans/ 1 liters of beer or soda and shook them up between 100/200 yards.
I am also a big believer in clay pigeons. Easy to see, easy to hit, easy to spot with binos of you hit them. Once they can hit a clay consistently then make a game of tic tac toe out of it. Loser has to go down and clean up and winner determines where we eat dinner.

 

[eric1115]

Steel is great for the immediate feedback, but be careful of getting too large a piece and ending up either bored or overconfident. Your 8" is great for 300-400. If you wish to go larger, paint a vital size "hit" zone and use the extra size to be able to call miss locations more accurately.

What rifle(s) is she using? What scopes (how are you accounting for drops/corrections at distance)?

 

[CMF]

Steel is great for the immediate feedback, but be careful of getting too large a piece and ending up either bored or overconfident. Your 8" is great for 300-400. If you wish to go larger, paint a vital size "hit" zone and use the extra size to be able to call miss locations more accurately.

What rifle(s) is she using? What scopes (how are you accounting for drops/corrections at distance)?

good point on the bigger target with smaller vital.

So we have a Ruger Predator that we just got in 6.5CM with a GPO scope, I can dial it if I pull the cap. We'll probably do most of our practice with it. Still need to get more familiar with it, but I dialed it to 300 and hit steel. It shoots the 143eldx great and my 14yo son just took an oryx with it with no problem. We may end up hunting with this combo, but I feel the the 300 below will better if we need to dial.
We also have my fil's 300 win mag Hell's canyon with Weaver Grand Slam scope, it has little colored indicators to dial to at different yardages. I have them in place and have tested it out to 300, but not further.
We have a supressor, but I still need to find an adapter for the Browning since the Hells canyon is older and an oddball thread. I'm thinking of ordering more of the 300wm barnes reduced recoil to practice with(my 11yo shot a cow elk with them this season). And then hunting with some other 150 or 180grn bullet. She shot the 300wm two years ago on an Oryx hunt with 180's and did fine, but I don't want her to be affected by practicing with the heavier. The 300wm reduced loads don't kick much at all with the muzzle brake. I also think this gun will just be too long with the supressor, so we'd probably just hunt with the brake.

 

[CMF]

IMO any new shooter it has to be fun with immediate feedback. I’ve use full cans/ 1 liters of beer or soda and shook them up between 100/200 yards.
I am also a big believer in clay pigeons. Easy to see, easy to hit, easy to spot with binos of you hit them. Once they can hit a clay consistently then make a game of tic tac toe out of it. Loser has to go down and clean up and winner determines where we eat dinner.

good ideas

 

[Scoggin12]

You don’t necessarily need longer range to be more accurate. At that age long range shots are more your responsibility (correcting for drop/windage.) shorter distances with smaller targets is what I am doing right now with my son as well as target acquisition. That seems to be the bigger issue than hitting further distance.

 

[ResearchinStuff]

a lower recoiling rifle and a scope that holds zero + dials reliably will help quite a bit with first round hits at all ranges. that set up will also make practice more fun, and the more practice you can get the better the results will be in the field.

 

[eric1115]

a lower recoiling rifle and a scope that holds zero + dials reliably will help quite a bit with first round hits at all ranges. that set up will also make practice more fun, and the more practice you can get the better the results will be in the field.

I second this 100%. Recoil makes a massive difference for kids. How old/how big is your daughter?

For the vast majority (I'd probably be inclined to say all) kids mid teen and under, 6.5CM is still more recoil than they should be shooting (or at least practicing with).

If a different rifle/scope is in the budget, I would definitely be looking at a RSS (Tikka .223, SWFA fixed 6x scope). Going to that setup from his old 7mm-08 (along with the massive increase in practice that comes with ammo cost and recoil difference) has made him a much better rifleman. Thankfully I learned enough with him that my younger kids started with lower recoil setups from the start.

 

[elkguide]

Trigger time. Get everyone behind a rifle and let them shoot from 50 yards to whatever as long as there are lots of trigger pulls with feedback. I used filled milk jugs and even the old archery trick of balloons with my kids and the years that sports and other activities didn't get in the way, they were amazing shots. I found that shooting a .22 a lot was just as helpful as shooting a few long shots from a larger caliber.

 

[CMF]

You don’t necessarily need longer range to be more accurate. At that age long range shots are more your responsibility (correcting for drop/windage.) shorter distances with smaller targets is what I am doing right now with my son as well as target acquisition. That seems to be the bigger issue than hitting further distance.

Target acquisition definitely needs to improve, especially for my boys. What are you doing for that?

 

[ResearchinStuff]

Target acquisition definitely needs to improve. What are you doing for that?

man that is a real issue. my kid missed a shot opportunity because he and I could not get on the same page about which tree was the "big one with the V." I'm trying to fix it outside of range/hunting time by just pointing stuff out, or making him point stuff out, and getting both of us to see the same thing. Birdwatching is actually great for working on it.

 

[CMF]

I second this 100%. Recoil makes a massive difference for kids. How old/how big is your daughter?

about to be 17yo, probably 5-5, 150 if I had to guess. She killed her first deer at 8, so she's been shooting a little while, also shoots skeet. Shes shot elk with a 50cal muzzy and her oryx with 300wm.

 

[CMF]

man that is a real issue. my kid missed a shot opportunity because he and I could not get on the same page about which tree was the "big one with the V." I'm trying to fix it outside of range/hunting time by just pointing stuff out, or making him point stuff out, and getting both of us to see the same thing. Birdwatching is actually great for working on it.

Yep, many of missed or delayed opportunities when they can't find something in the scope or even visually. Squirrel hunting is great practice, but we just don't do it enough.

 

[flyboy214]

if they are patient enough, print out a reticle and get on the same page about what you call the tick marks, where to hold on the animal and some basic wind holds. -- this will streamline your communication.

Then you can give them different shooting problems to work through and make it into a story.

You can already have the solution worked out and reveal if they would have made a good hit. If you make it into a story kind of like D&D they can be into it.

For BLM hunting practice get them on some jack rabbits and your steel targets. Sounds like fun to me.

 

[Scoggin12]

Target acquisition definitely needs to improve, especially for my boys. What are you doing for that?

That’s tricky especially on Coues deer down here in southern az. I am in the process of modifying an old gun stock to put a scope/bipod on then the plan is to go glass and find different animals and have him make a “shot” with the practice rifle.

 

[CMF]

For BLM hunting practice get them on some jack rabbits and your steel targets. Sounds like fun to me.

The jack rabbits have been few around here, but we've been looking. They did have fun shooting some prairie dogs back in Sep when we were scouting for my 11yo elk tag in AZ. He was the "prairie dog sniper" after a few solid shots made by him and a few misses by his older brother.

 

[seand]

NRL22. Get the kid shooting a low recoil rifle, understanding drop and wind effects, handling their own gun and getting into different positions and getting shots off under time.

 

[TaperPin]

I’ve always used 10” targets. You either hit it, which would be a kill, or you don’t - kids understand that. Shooting odd size targets and trying to explain the math of what it would equate to in the real world makes their eyes roll back in their heads and it looses the instant feedback. If building up for long range I wouldn’t spend any time at 200 yards if she’s shooting softball size groups. Set up a ten incher at 300 and another at 400. In windy conditions the 400 yard target might be hard to hit, which is good information to know. Smacking the 300 yard gong right off the bat is good warm up and confirms your zero is in the ball park.

You can also buy a pack of 10” paper plates and go around stapling a dozen of them to sagebrush at different distances. Paper is boring to kids, but you gotta use what you have. Each kid is different and some like paper, some hate it. One nephew surprised me and he really enjoyed shooting bare cardboard boxes at distance. Thrift store pie tins or cookie sheets can be dirt cheap.

You might try steel T posts and a post driver from tractor supply for steel targets. Just leave them in place until next time. Worst case and someone steals or shoots them, they are dirt cheap to replace. Many hangers are designed for T posts and it makes life a lot easier to not have to struggle hanging targets.

If your barrels are getting hot you can bring additional rifles, or do what many high volume varmint shooters do and just use a wet rag to suck the heat out. Give it a minute for temps in the steel to equalize and keep going. Kids get bored easily, but as much as they can stand it, dry firing inbetween shots is almost as useful for developing muscle memory and it helps keep barrel heat down. 5 shots dry for every round down range isn’t too much.

On a budget you might get an older used rifle with any old scope and leave it sighted in for 300 yards. I’ve always kept a 243 set up like this and kids have done well with it for practice as well as deer/antelope hunting. With very little practice and tall bipod that can look over sagebrush, many teenagers can shoot 2-1/2 MOA right off the bat with this gun - that’s good enough for 400 yards holding on the deer’s back.

If your other kid isn’t quite up to shooting 300 yards I’d highly recommend an accurate 17 HMR or 22 mag. It will easily start at 100 yards and be accurately dialed to 200 yards or more. I avoid short range 22 targets when teaching kids to shoot long range. Short range is good for trigger control and follow through, but it doesn’t get them in the mindset of long range shooting.

 

[CMF]

good tips