Range
72 • SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE
betterunderstood.Onefactorthat
is keytoshootingat longerdistances
isn’tsimplyaboutknowinghowto
takea shot,butwhennottotakeit.My
personallimitis toholdoffshootingat
anytimethatI calculatemyeffective
aim-offleavesthereticleoutsidethe
animal’ssilhouette.HenceI tendto
stickwith“Kentuckywindage”— the
practiceofadjustingyouraimto
compensateforthecircumstances.
Highvelocities
Highvelocitiesareflatteringat,
say,200mto300mwithflatinitial
trajectorybutbeyondthat,
efficientexternalballisticsare
crucialtoretainingtrajectory
andmuzzleenergy.
Calculatingdropis far
easierthancompensating
forwindage,a keyreason
tofavourhigh-ballistic-
coefficientbulletsover
speedalone.Mycalibre
ofchoiceforlongshots
is the 260 Remington.Its
externalballisticsaresimilarto
othermid-capacity6.5mmcartridges
andit’stoppedwitha MinoxZP5
3-15x50opticwitheasilyadjustable
milli-radianturrets— welltested
andtrustedtoengagemydialled
correctionsperfectly.
I’mconfidentthathand-loaded
ammunitionwillconsistentlyput
bulletswithina 125mmkillzone
out to 500m if I get my distance and
windinformationcorrect.Crucially
thelimitsoftherifleandammoare
thankfullygreaterthanmyown,
soI onlyhavemyselffactorin.
Consideringit asa “killzone”
is morallyflexiblewhenyouare
dealingwitha livinganimalthat
maywelltakea halfstepafteryou
squeezethetrigger,turninga perfect
shotintoa dismemberedabdomen
andanadrenalin-fuelledboltto
a lingeringdeath.Nobulletarrives
instantaneously,andasmuchaswe
thinkananimalis stationary,it might
justchangeitsmindinthatquarter-
secondofbulletflight.
I stillshootmostfoxes
between15mand200musing
a sporting .243 rifle andscopewithpoint-blankzero
set-up,fromanyimprovised
restavailable.Longershotswould
beutterlyreliantonmebeinghappy
withmyposition— mostlikelyprone
— andcompleteconsiderationofthe
location,foxactivityandweather.
Ona still,calmdayI mightconsider
rangesto400mand450m,yetwhen
it’sblowinga galeacrosswidestubble
fields,complicatedwithverticalwind
bumps and other factors, I’d limitmyselfsignificantly.I’ma confident
shooterbutknowmylimitsandhow
easyit is tomessup.Sometimes
needsmustif aninjuredanimalhas
tobere-engagedandthatis theonly
timethatI havepusheddistance—
opportunisticlong shots are risky.Precision
It’sallverywelldiscussingthe
accuracyofrifles— whatmattersis the
precisionwithwhichthebulletcan
beplaced.Practicenotonlymakes
perfect,it is thegaugeofwhatyoucan
andcan’tjustifyintermsoflikelihood
ofa clean,single-shotkillandthat
dictatesyourmaximumrange.
Mylastnoteis tobewaryof
ammunition manufacturer’s ballisticcoefficientandvelocitydata.Never
trustit,measurespeedthroughyour
ownrifleand,personally,I’duse
a third-partyballisticsolver, such
asAppliedBallistics.
I findopticsmanufacturers’
appsmorefocusedondesignthan
functionality,withoutthecapability
oftruingballisticcurvesandrefining
ballisticdataandresults— every
practiceshotaddsunderstanding
and confidence.“Eyeshineis thefirstsignofpresence,butaimingforsparkly winks is best avoided”Chris’sset-upinvolvesusinglaser
rangefindingbinocularsalliedto
optics like this Minox rifle scope