New member in Northern VA

[AFG_vet]

Hey guys,

Im finally posting up and getting involved in this site after having heard about it for years. I am a 9 year military member in VA and an experienced shooter and instructor on pistols and carbines, a certified armorer on AR/M16/M4 platforms, Sig Sauer pistols, Glock Pistols, Beretta pistols and carbines, and Benelli shotguns. An area in which I have almost no experience is precision shooting and I very much want to broaden my horizons. Snipers I have known have referred me here to learn from the pros so here I am. I have a couple of (I hope) appropriate rifles to start with, and wanted to get some good starting steps in building up my knowledge, DOPE book, etc.

So far I have an Armalite Super SASS that I built with a few upgrades, and a Tikka T3 Tactical. Right now I have only one distance optic to start with, a Leupold Mk 4 LR/T 4.5-14x50 with a mil-dot reticle.

My gun club only has ranges out to 200 yards right now but is planning on a 650 range soon. I might be able to get on a 1000 yard range at a nearby base but it would take some doing.

Im assuming that I should throw out what I think I know and be open to new ideas (at least thats what I tell my handgun and carbine students).

So that said, what advice do you guys have for a newbie to this skill set?

-Sam

 

[ZLBubba]

There are a number of Hide members from Maryland and Virginia so you should definitely be able to link up with some of us. I'd definitely get an online subscription to the Hide and watch the videos. Great information to build a foundation on.

You should also get setup for some LR training: I'd go with Ed Shell at Central Virginia Tactical out in Louisa. I've found that outside of practice at the range, trying to get a couple training sessions per year is helpful to work on new skills. Finally, check out Peacemaker National out in Gerrardstown. They've got a lot of matches out there, plus 600 and 1000 yard capability once or twice a week.

Your rigs should be more than adequate to learn the ins and outs of LR shooting. It should be a while before you can outshoot those rifles. Welcome to the Hide, AFG.

 

[pizzamanny]

Welcome

 

[BPaulk]

Welcome to the Hide you might want to look into reloading also.

 

[AFG_vet]

Thank you very much for the replies guys. Bubba, thank you for the advice, I will getin touch with Mr. Shell and check it out. Also if there is anyone on here that would be interested in an exchange of skills I would be happy to do a one-on-one training swap day with some advanced defensive handgun training for someone who could teach me the ins and outs of basic ballistic calculations.

Pbaulk, I do reload but have not gotten into rifle reloading yet, when I prepare for and teach defensive pistol classes I am going through 500-700 rounds per class pretty regularly, so I reload 9mm in bulk, but its nothing like the tight tolerances that I understand are necessary for LR shooting. Do I really need to move to a single stage for LR reloading or is staying with a progressive doable?

 

[BPaulk]

I think when you really get into it I mean weighing the bullets and Cases and using the same manufacture for your cases powder measure down to the tenths you want a single station with micro dies. knowing how far off the lands you need to set your dies for bullet setting. I don't think you can do that with a progressive reloader. I shoot Rimfire Benchrest Nationally IR 50/50 and I am new to this Center Fire Long Range also. There is a lot of info here I think this is the best site to learn from IMHO. Good Luck to you and maybe I see you at a shoot.
Bob

 

[Macdaddy]

Welcome to the Hide from a fellow Virginian.
Suggestion to get in touch with Ed Shell is spot on. Ed provided some long range shooting instruction to myself and a fellow long range hunter a couple of years back at a location in MD where he had access to some farm land. Ed structured the training based on our needs which were real-world hunting scenarios and not off of a bench. On day two, we were consistently hitting targets at 1150 yards from field positions shooting over a variety of landscapes with varying winds. Ed is top notch. He's now down at Central VA most of the time but I plan on a visit with him soon with my son.
Welcome aboard.

 

[jbailey]

Thank you very much for the replies guys. Bubba, thank you for the advice, I will getin touch with Mr. Shell and check it out. Also if there is anyone on here that would be interested in an exchange of skills I would be happy to do a one-on-one training swap day with some advanced defensive handgun training for someone who could teach me the ins and outs of basic ballistic calculations.

AFG-Vet-
I'm happy to help you out with ballistics. I pretty much could help you with whatever you want to learn, as ballistics are my specialty. I'm in Arlington VA, and work in Bethesda. We could get together somewhere convenient for both of us. PM me if interested.

I also recommend, highly, Ed Shell. Could not recommend a better use of those funds than a day with Ed.

-James