Is it the firearm or the ammunition?

[Baronvonrort]

Hi guys,

I was chatting with a mate a few months back and he was telling me about his hunting fun. According to him, he routinely shoots foxes and rabbits at a range of around 800m, sometimes further. I have no reason to disbelieve this guy as, in the last 4 or so years he hasn't lied to me, but I failed to ask what he was using to do this.

When it comes to shooting over longer distances, does it come down to whether the rifle can shoot at those sorts of ranges, or is it the ammunition?

So guys, care to help me out on this?

My thoughts are that it's the ammunition more so than the rifle, am I right or wrong?

Jenna

PS. I try to stick to one dumb question a night at the club. I don't want them thinking I'm too blonde!

I am not going to call BS on shooting rabbits and foxes around 800m it's plausible,the saying the older I get the better I was could also be plausible in this case.
It's the shooter along with rifle and selection of ammo, if they can tick all the boxes then yes, they don't have to be world champ bench rest maybe top 500 or 10000 could do it.

Ask him what caliber and what projectiles he used that would be interesting.

A .243 w could do it if you had a customised rifle shooting 105 gr Amax with ballistic coefficient around .500 or berger vld hunting 105 BC .532 with a powerful scope.
If you have a decent load they will stay supersonic to around 1100m with over .500BC which is about max range for that combo.
A .243 shooting 105 (.500bc) Amax or VLD (.532bc) at 3000fps will hit harder than a 7.62 nato 150 gr ball (military ammo) at 1000m,plug that one into your ballistics calculators before calling bs.

The higher the ballistic coefficient the less the projectile will be slowed down by air resistance, which means it will go further and hit with harder, a crosswind will not affect a high bc projectile as much as a lower bc projectile,all things being equal I would go with the projectile with the higher bc for long range.
For this range you need something that shoots high bc projectiles so choice of gun and ammo is critical.

Here is a guy hitting a beer can at 1260 yards with a 338 lapua-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emJ0RToUYGE

[Noisydad]

Wonder if the alleged marksman is also a fisherman?

[Westy]

I'm just calling bulls**t on this one J and does he drink a lot???? Not many places you can see a rabbit from 800m away does he live on the nullabor plains at all????

[headspace]

Nice one Westy, I was beginning to wonder where your were on this one. Sorry but your mate is one of a number of things or a combination of them. a) A bull artist, b) someone who thinks 80m is a very long way, c) someone who takes very short little steps or d) an unbelievably good shot who should be representing Australia in the Olympics.
JD

[Westy]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
I mean Seriously 800m is a bloody long way in anyone's language

[jennageit]

Whether true or not, I have no idea. I'm leaning towards the "fish that got away story" myself. Either way, he's a nice bloke who my kids absolutely adore, and I like him.

I'm thinking he meant 800 feet, but that's still well out of my league. I can't even manage to score a 200/200 at 50 metres shooting paper tigers! Still, I love shooting, even if it has warped my brain a little lmao

Jenna

PS. Is it normal to think of distance as "range" rather than "metres"?Also, why is I love the smell of that little whisp of smoke so much, when I eject the spent round? lmao

[Jack V]

The term range is the distance to a target . or a place where you shoot . Metres and yards is how you measure that range . The two terms are linked but different .

If someone says , " what was the range to that pink fluro rabbit sitting on the black rock , you would respond with , " about 800 metres give or take 600 metres " .

The whole problem is with the word "routinely " It is possible to hit a rabbit at 800 metres but to do it routinely all the time is very hard to believe .

[Kelix]

I'm thinking he meant 800 feet

That'd be a different story then.

244m with a good varmint rifle is very doable.

[Lorgar]

Also, why is I love the smell of that little whisp of smoke so much, when I eject the spent round? lmao

You and Noisy will get along... Black powder junkie that he is.

[vonfram88]

I'm calling BS on it. 100m for a bunny is good work.