Target Engagement Preferences for Long Range Rifle Stages

[Jesse Tischauser]

Guys,

Please watch these two videos from our rifle match this weekend. The first one is yours truely shooting the long range stage. The 2nd is my Buddy Chris Andersen shooting and winning the stage.

BTW, this was Chris' 2nd attempt at any sort of long range rifle in competition. Nice shooting Chris!

Me shooting long range stage

Chris Andersen shooting long range stage

Each position required us to shoot a MGM flash target at 100, 200, 300, and one paper target at 100 yards. There was one paper target for each position. One paper target was a headshot and the other two were half body shots.

After watching my less than perfect performance on the long range stage I had a few questions for yous guys.

I struggled with the 300 yard shots on the frst two positions. It took 4-5 shots on each of the 300 yard targets when I engaged them first form postitions 1 & 2. Furthermore, It took me 8 seconds to get my first shot off on the first 300 yard target. The same problems occurred on the 2nd position. The 3rd position I hit every shot one-for-one by working short to long.

What do you guys do for long range shooting as far as distant target engagement is concerned?

Is is faster to work long to short or short to long.

__________________

Edited June 22, 2010 by jtischauser

[kurtm]

I like to engage long range targets with bullets as fast as I can, if I can't, I at least like to engage them with harsh language in order to avoid the penalty. I have found that if you hold your breath you can't engage them with harsh language sooooo.......remember to breath!

[Jesse Tischauser]

I like to engage long range targets with bullets as fast as I can, if I can't, I at least like to engage them with harsh language in order to avoid the penalty. I have found that if you hold your breath you can't engage them with harsh language sooooo.......remember to breath!

When can we expect more totally tacticool training like this in a long range rifle class from Redneck Tacticle?

[RiggerJJ]

Guys,

Is is faster to work long to short or short to long.

__________________

I prefer left to right...

jj

[kurtm]

Soon Jesse! I will be back around the 1st, and we will definetly get dates hammered out for the RedNeck Tactical Rifle training.

BTW J.J. is LEFT handed!

Edited June 22, 2010 by kurtm

[bigbrowndog]

Jesse, as my cohort has said, remember to breathe!!! but also get into a GOOD, SOLID position quickly, rather than a hasty position quickly, (this is my issue a lot) I prefer to shoot the hardest stuff first, however I do not hold to that for every array, left to right, or right to left or close to far it makes no difference you have to figure out what YOU prefer to do, sometimes I'll take close targets first so I can get into a rhythm on press, breathing, and sight picture.

Trapr

[J.Schmitt]

Jesse, That stage looked fun.

I usually prefer to go right to left regardless of distance but it is all stage dependant. When shooting prone I find it a little easier to pivot to the LEFT on left elbow. (right handed shooter). When going to the left the right elbow moves forward, when going to the right the right elbow has to move to the rear. It looked like there was some pretty good separtation between target arays.

Thanks for the post, this really made me think about what I do and how I want to run my stages.

Jay

[1chota]

Guys,

Please watch these two videos from our rifle match this weekend. The first one is yours truely shooting the long range stage. The 2nd is my Buddy Chris Andersen shooting and winning the stage.

BTW, this was Chris' 2nd attempt at any sort of long range rifle in competition. Nice shooting Chris!

Me shooting long range stage

Chris Andersen shooting long range stage

Each position required us to shoot a MGM flash target at 100, 200, 300, and one paper target at 100 yards. There was one paper target for each position. One paper target was a headshot and the other two were half body shots.

After watching my less than perfect performance on the long range stage I had a few questions for yous guys.

I struggled with the 300 yard shots on the frst two positions. It took 4-5 shots on each of the 300 yard targets when I engaged them first form postitions 1 & 2. Furthermore, It took me 8 seconds to get my first shot off on the first 300 yard target. The same problems occurred on the 2nd position. The 3rd position I hit every shot one-for-one by working short to long.

What do you guys do for long range shooting as far as distant target engagement is concerned?

Is is faster to work long to short or short to long.

__________________

and try not to close both eyes at once.

[No.343]

lollipop, flat tire, center mass. I can't remember it backwards, so I start close up.

[Jesse Tischauser]

lollipop, flat tire, center mass. I can't remember it backwards, so I start close up.

???343,

I didn't ask anything about how you get those young boys into your van.

[Bryan 45]

Like Trapr, I usually engage from near to far to get in a good rhythm. If the targets are at the end of a long stage, this also helps you catch your breath on shorter targets before you get to the longer ones.

Not real applicable to the stage in your video, but if I'm winded when I get to the last position, I take a big breath and slowly exhale while breaking each shot, kind of like when lifting weights. Of course w/ irons my transition isn't quite as quick as an optic shooter, so I have a little more time to do this between targets.

Edited June 23, 2010 by Bryan 45

[MarkCO]

Like Trapr, I usually engage from near to far to get in a good rhythm. If the targets are at the end of a long stage, this also helps you catch your breath on shorter targets before you get to the longer ones.

Not real applicable to the stage in your video, but if I'm winded when I get to the last position, I take a big breath and slowly exhale while breaking each shot, kind of like when lifting weights. Of course w/ irons my transition isn't quite as quick as an optic shooter, so I have a little more time to do this between targets.

Ditto, usually.

Sometimes there may be a close target that is better to take on the way into, or out of a position. L to R or R to L does not make much difference to me on most rifle courses. However, shooting from your strong side to weak side on some stages may reduce fatigue if they are awkward or cramped positions. Given that stage, I would have shot close to far at all three positions, and would not have gone prone at the middle position.

[Jesse Tischauser]

Like Trapr, I usually engage from near to far to get in a good rhythm. If the targets are at the end of a long stage, this also helps you catch your breath on shorter targets before you get to the longer ones.

Not real applicable to the stage in your video, but if I'm winded when I get to the last position, I take a big breath and slowly exhale while breaking each shot, kind of like when lifting weights. Of course w/ irons my transition isn't quite as quick as an optic shooter, so I have a little more time to do this between targets.

Ditto, usually.

Sometimes there may be a close target that is better to take on the way into, or out of a position. L to R or R to L does not make much difference to me on most rifle courses. However, shooting from your strong side to weak side on some stages may reduce fatigue if they are awkward or cramped positions. Given that stage, I would have shot close to far at all three positions, and would not have gone prone at the middle position.

Thanks!

For the record that Table and fence looking thing at position 3 are wobbly POS' which is why I went prone. We need some real barricades on this great new long range we have.

[bigbrowndog]

No Jessie!! you need to be able to determine what position is more stable for the shot and adapt to the circumstances.

trapr

[Bryan 45]

Leaning into or pulling back on a wobbly barricade can make it a stable position many times. Just don't lean into it hard enough that it falls over with you holding on!

[Chris_Andersen]

Leaning into or pulling back on a wobbly barricade can make it a stable position many times. Just don't lean into it hard enough that it falls over with you holding on!

Thats actually exactly what I did when I shot the stage. The table I was pushing forward when I rested on it, and the fence I was pulling back to stabilize it. I also wasn't comfortable with how close several of the weeds were downrange to the path of the bullet in the last two positions, and chose not to get prone as a result.

[mpeltier]

I could not see all the targets in your video, but from what I could see i believe i would have shot right to left. If there were only two targets I would have gone near to far.

For multiple targets spread out at those distances, I want to be able to see the next target (if its out of the field of view in the scope) with my left eye (I aim thru the scope with my right eye). were I to go left to right I might have to change my head position behind the scope to find them, or search around more thru the scope. Both of wich waist time.

I also find it much easier to keep track of the targets ive shot this way.

[Bear1142]

Jesse,

I generally prefer to go short to long.

1- It allows me more time to calm my breathing.

2- It allows me time to settle into my shooting position and hopefully stabilize the rifle better over time.

3- It allows me a couple of shots to determine if wind is a factor and by how much as I'm working through my distance progressions.

4- Getting good quick hits up close really helps build my confidence that I'm shooting well and making good hits (of course this can also work against you if you're not getting hits!)

5- If I'm having trouble hitting the longest range steel and I'm considering leaving the steel and taking the penalty, all of my other steel targets have already been hit and I can stay on the long range steel longer rather than

having to quit sooner to hit all the closer steel before I time out.

6- If I do time out, I will or should have engaged all my targets by then, so there will be no Misses and/or FTE's on the close steel because I didn't bail on the long range steel with enough time to hit all my closer steel

targets.

Erik

Edited June 24, 2010 by Bear1142

[HS101]

I prefer close to long, and left to right. However, as I have been working on technique, I also look for entry into and exit from the shooting position, and factor that into the equation... Economy of motion, trying to shave / save precious time...

If I miss more than 3 times, move to the next target. You can always come back... And if using time plus / FB scoring, you can loose a lot more by trying futility to engage a target instead of moving on. The only thing worse than a mike, is still getting the mike and timing out... Lesson learned the hard way...

[Tuukka]

I usually prefer engaging near to far, with some of the reasons given above. One additional thing is that I can engage faster against a nearer target and get the rhythm going.

Whether L to R or R to L, depends on the stage design and target placement. But usually if there are targets spaced out wider, I prefer to run L to R, as my body will not be twisted to an uncomfortable position ( left handed shooter )