HOW TO GET STARTED IN LONG RANGE BENCHREST

R

rsmithsr

Well-known member
as the title of this forum says long range benchrest is 600 and 1000 yard shooting. if you think you might like to shoot this, i suggest TWO things,
ONE) do some research, how close is the nearest range for 600/1k? are you willing to travel to shoot ?
TWO) go to some matches, see what is involved, check out the gear, get involved.( if they have pits, volunteer and learn)

look at the costs involved in gear. front rest $600 to $2000, rear bag, a rifle in a competitive cartridge, powder, primers bullets cases. yes you can start cheap..it just delays the spending and may hurt early shooting.

you can shoot from almost any front rest, but the truth is you will need a top end rest eventually. rear bag is not a major expense, but still likely to be $200.
components use to just be a cost, but today things are hard to find and costs are up. there is a waiting list for top end bullets, a shortage of brass, small primers seem to be available, but match lr are not, powder is a big issue today. some just aint available with no known delivery date.

rifle...welll you can start cheap to shoot, not compete. not a bad thing if budget is an issue. i do not recommend it. one can build a 6 dasher/6BRA and be competitive you can start with a entry level single shot action( kelbly mcbros), a top end bbl (krieger, bartlien) not sure on a trigger source today. a stock could be used but you need a long range stock, likely a 4" wide front end, tho a 3" will work. SCOPE there aint no such thing as a inexpensive lr scope.( there are CHEAP SCOPES, but cheap is not good). while i use NIGHTFORCE, VALDADA/IOR, AND MARCH, others use things like vortex and leupold, sightron
 
i started with a year of watching/talking. i then built a 300 win mag lite gun(today the clear choice is a 6dasher/6bra) i shot from a basic tripod front rest all in a masterclass stock with a broughton bbl.
brass was the only issue at the time but i was in the brass biz and did locate what i needed. i started with production bullets to learn with and a low power Leupold scope. everything but the stock has been sold and upgraded. its cheaper to start higher end..resale is better.
 
Mike, will you add to the above some info about the LR format (maybe something similar to the link on the Forum Revival thread), pit duty, etc.?

Maybe I can arrange for your write-up to be included in that link.
 
a note to new long range shooters, do not compare your results to other shooters at other matches. conditions, conditions, conditions. what matters is how did you do that day in those conditions vs the other shooters at the match.
 
what is long range br ??
shooting from a bench with front and rear rests( no one pc rests) at either 600 or 1000 yards. typically 2 gun classes heavy and light, 40 cal or less.
light is either 17 or 22.5 lbs, heavy only requires the shooter carry it to the bench..some exceed 100 lbs!
there are two major orgs ( IBS AND NBRSA),and two minor orgs ( global and freedom) both shoot 5 lg at 600 and then heavy gun is either 10 or 5. unlimited sighters in a given time frame. at 1000 both shoot 5 light gun and 10 heavy gun.
you shoot GROUP AND SCORE at the same time on the same target. if you win group, someone else wins score. the match has a group winner and a score winner, and overall winner for each gun class, light and heavy and then an overall match winner combining both heavy and lite shooters. a match can be as little as 2 targets per class shot on one day or 4 or 6 targets typically over several days.
again go to matches and watch what is going on.
go to the org sites and read
(personal opinion here: i will NEVER go to a match that does not have working pits. ranges without pits favor shooters that shoot there often(locals) and not the occasional shooter at the range. been there done that never again)
 
today the popular cartridges in long range br are:
6mm dasher lite and heavy
6mm bra lite and heavy
300 wsm heavy and some lite
there are some 6.5 shot, some 7's.
the small lite 6's allow very fast shooting...all 5 shots in one wind condition is a big plus.
at the 2024 nationals, of 55 lite guns, 51 were small 6's, two 25's ,one 6.5, and one 300 wsm.
in heavy gun 36 lite 6's , followed by six 30 cals, four 6.5s a couple of 25's and one 7mm.
lots of shooters shoot their lite gun as a heavy, or may have a second gun but still as a 6mm.
wind is a decider in picking a cartridge. if you shoot in windy conditions a lot, bigger can be better.

if you end up shooting 600 yards only, you can shoot a straight 6mm br. its is not great at 1000, tho a couple do try.
 
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until you have been there done that its tuff to understand. in a working pit range your sighters and your record target are at the same distance and elevation. in a no pit situation you shoot left or right of your target at some object that is at a different elevation and may also be at a different distance. zero no reference to the center of your record target. you have to guess how much up and over....guessing is not part of a national championship,
 
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In regards to this a scope with a reticle you can bracket a corner of the steel with is almost a necessity.
You bracket a corner, take the shot and measure with your reticle as bracketed on the corner. This tells you whether you are hitting exactly where you're aiming or not and corrections can be made.

Shooting several sighters at the center of the steel with say a fine cross hair scope will not usually cut it, the steel quickly becomes cluttered and you are in fact lost.
That's why you work the corners or stay on the same horizontal then as it gets cluttered you move to "fresh" steel.

I realize this is your thread Mike and I'm certainly not trying to discredit you but I've had a different experience concerning steel vs pits and thought it was worth noting.

I'd hate to see someone not trying the sport because they did not have access to a pit range.
 
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