EDITORIAL october 2019G&A^13
ERIC R. POOLE
How I learned to shoot beyond 2,000 yards.@GUNSANDAMMOMAG
WHAT’S THE FASTEST speed that you’ve ever driven? As
if it were an achievement, most automotive enthusiasts I
know can come up with such a number and recall the cir-
cumstances. s 144 mph.) Likewise, most marksmen
can recall their o gest shot. I’m perfectly satisfied with
how fast I’ve piloted a car, but the quest to shoot
farther with intent has been ongoing.
“How far” didn’t matter to me until I had served
several years in the U.S. Marine Corps. We
renewed our rifle qualification annually
out to 500 yards, which was farther
than I had shot growing up.
While training to be a
primary marksmanship
instructor (PMI) at the
Stone Bay Ranges at
Camp Lejeune, I
watched scout-
sniper students
on the adja-
cent Hathcock
range repeatedly
engage targets
out to a grand. I
was in awe.
It wasn’t long before
I read a borrowed copy
of Charles Henderson’s
book on Gunnery Sergeant
Carlos Hathcock, “Marine Sniper:
93 Confirmed Kills.” In it, the 1967 record-setting
sniper kill where Hathcock employed a scoped M
.50-caliber machine gun at a range of 2,500 yards was
detailed and fueled my intrigue for long-range shooting.
I spent the next few years training and competing in air
rifle, three-position smallbore and high-power competi-
tions. Air rifle competition improved my offhand shooting,
while shooting smallbore enhanced everything from trig-
ger management to patience. Eventually, I was selected
to become a designated marksman and made my longest
shots in 2003 with a Barrett M82A3 in .50 BMG on pieces
of Iraqi armor. I estimated the targets between 900 and
1,000 yards, but the unit was in a hurry to move on and
left us no time to set up the laser rangefinder.
As a gunwriter, I’ve had many training opportunites toshoot past 1,000 yards. I bought an ArmaLite AR-30 in
.338 Lapua and started handloading for it in 2004. The
more I learned, the easier that effort became.
While working at Blackwater circa 2007, I met Tom
Beckstrand, a former U.S. Army Special Forces sniper team
leader. Once I became a magazine editor, I invited
him to write his first article reviewing any product
that he was passionate about, which is when he
introduced me to Kestrel weather meters. I’ve
had one since and recommend it.
My interest in long-range shooting was
ignited and I extended my longest-shot
distance to 1,400 yards under the tute-
lage of former Marine sniper Caylen
Wojcik, and then to 1 mile at Sniper
Country in Utah while news of
Hathcock’s record was broken (six
times between 2002 and
2017). The Precision
Rifle Series started
in 2012 with 164
shooters, and cur-
rently has more than
2,000 competitors.
Our pursuit to shoot
farther means that rifles,
optics and ammunition
have been pushed to
higher performance levels. Training benefits
all of us, as it is easier to prove what works. Along
the way, I learned spin drift is not theoretical.
For the last two years I’ve made my way to Sportsman’s
All-Weather All-Terrain Marksmanship (SAAM) school at
FTW Ranch in soutwest Texas (ftwsaam.com) to bring it all
together. I was a member of Kestrel’s beta-testing team
and helped sort out the best weather station yet: the
5700, now loaded with Hornady’s 4DOF ballistic informa-
tion. This year, I used it and Ruger’s newest Precision Rifle
loaded with Hornady’s Match ELD-M in .300 PRC scoped
with a Leupold Mark 5HD 5-25x56mm to extend my per-
sonal best to 2,200 yards. Such a number doesn’t come by
one gadget, one rifle, one bullet or a particular brand of
scope. It’s a combination that requires training and lots of
practice. Get out there and put time on the trigger.
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