Before Moving On To Expert Long Range Marksmanship

At this point in our discussion, the weekend rifleman should have a good idea of whether or not the discipline of precision long-range marksmanship is worth exploring. If it is, they will also know what they need to begin their “study”.

Briefly, these will include:

• A reasonably accurate rifle. Although a purpose-built long-range rifle is nice, almost any modern bolt-action rifle can be pressed into service as a precision firearm.
• Ammunition. The advantage here goes to the experienced hand loader with the time and resources to find which works best in an individual rifle. Note here that branded factory ammunition will work for most shooters. Save the expense of “match-grade” ammo for actual match shooting.
• A Place to Shoot. A formal rifle range may have some helpful coaching available. But, if a “place in the woods” is more convenient and is a safe place to shoot, you are likely to get in more practice.
• Shooting Aids. These are in addition to a bench or pad for prone shooting, and a steady rest for the rifle. They include instruments needed to evaluate the shot and the environmental conditions.
• Spotting Scope. To allow the target to be accurately observed from the firing line and evaluate shot placement and conditions
• Spotter. Hopefully, someone who is experienced with precision shooting to help establish DOPE for each shot
• Range Finder. Determines precisely how far the bullet must travel between the shooter and the target
• Wind Gauge/Weather Meter. To evaluate the wind conditions at the firing line. As we will discuss in an upcoming section, wind and air resistance have the greatest influence on whether the shot hits the point of aim after basic marksmanship principles.

With these basics in hand, you are ready to begin practicing long-range marksmanship. As long as you have the proper tools, an understanding of the science behind them is not strictly necessary. However, if you do take the time to learn and understand the science, you will better understand the tools and be able to use them more efficiently.

The Hard Science of Ballistics

Great shooters understand that long-range precision marksmanship is a combination of art and science. Up to this point, we have mostly been discussing the artistic part of the shot. Every great artist begins by understanding his tools and how to use them.

These tools include the rifle, the ammunition, a place to shoot, and shooting aids including environmental sensors like wind and weather gauges. Like any other artist, the long-range rifleman needs to practice to become proficient with his tools. A chef needs to sharpen his knives and cook, a musician needs to tune his instrument and play, the rifleman needs to get on the range and use his equipment to put rounds on target.

Taking some time to understand the ballistics basics will definitely improve your shooting skills.

Science is observing and understanding the factors which contribute or detract from success. The chef learns that the best ingredients are spoiled if the pan is too hot or too cold. The musician knows how to strum the strings of his instrument, but if his fingering is not correct the notes may be sour. A shooter needs to understand the science of what happens between the time he pulls the trigger and the round impacts the target. The science of shooting is called ballistics.

Ballistics is a science of mechanics which deals with the launching, flight, behavior, and effects of projectiles through space. These mechanics are based on measurable and predictable Newtonian physics. They will apply whether the projectile is a bullet, a bomb dropped from an aircraft, a stone launched by a kid’s slingshot, an intercontinental ballistic missile, or a baseball thrown by a major league pitcher. The mechanics and the physical laws are the same for all of them.

Scientists further break ballistics into three or four distinct categories.

• Internal Ballistics,
• Transitional Ballistics,
• External Ballistics
• Terminal Ballistics.

Internal ballistics deal with everything to do with launching the projectile. Another definition is everything that happens inside the gun itself.

Transitional and external ballistics are often discussed together and include everything which occurs from the time the projectile leaves the gun until it impacts the target.

Terminal ballistics study what happens at the end of the bullet’s flight and how the projectile’s energy is transferred to the target. It may seem somewhat academic to the target shooter on the range whose goal is to simply hit the target precisely. However, it is of terrific importance to the tactical shooter or hunter as what the bullet does to what it hits is the whole reason for the shot.

Some observers consider internal ballistics as everything that happens from the time the trigger is pulled until the bullet leaves the muzzle. Actually, it begins with the primary design of the firearm.

Every firearm which uses cartridge ammunition goes through an eight-step cycle of operation. They are:

1) Feeding – stripping a round from a magazine or manually placing it before the breech or bolt face,

2) Chambering – pushing the round into the firing chamber,

3) Locking – the firing chamber is locked closed and the mechanism of the firearm is aligned to fire the round,

4) Firing – the trigger is pulled and the firing pin impacts the primer, causing the propellant (gunpowder) to ignite, the expanding gasses of the burning propellant push the bullet through the bore where it engages the rifling, imparting spin to the projectile,

5) Unlocking – occurs with the backward motion of the bolt or slide in an automatic or semi-auto weapon, manually in a bolt, pump or lever action,

6) Extraction – the spent cartridge is pulled from the firing chamber,

7) Ejection – the spent cartridge is thrown out of the firearm, and

8) Cocking – the firing mechanism is readied to fire the next round.

These eight steps are most readily observed in the cycling of automatic and semi-auto firearms. They can be applied to muzzleloaders as well as launching arrows from a bow, perhaps even a pitcher throwing a baseball. The steps are most simple and controllable in bolt action rifles, and why they are the preferred tool for long-range marksmanship.

Although there are differences between rifle models, the basic steps can be seen in the video below of a bolt action mechanism. They do not apply to the discussion of precision rifle shooting, observing the cycles of a Glock pistol, a Colt 1911 pistol and the M16 semi-automatic rifle can aid in understanding internal ballistics.

The cycle of firing a rifle is only the beginning of internal ballistics influence on accurately placing the round on target. The construction of the piece will govern how precisely it shoots.

A mass-produced surplus infantry weapon or sporting gun is generally thought to be less precise than a tightly fitted custom-made firearm. This is due to the slacker tolerances necessary for mass production versus the tighter control of one-off construction.

Modern manufacturing techniques allow tightened production tolerances, and why modern hunting rifles make acceptable tools for precision shooting and long-range marksmanship.

Barrel length is another important internal ballistics factor. A longer barrel is thought to be inherently more precise and accurate than a shorter barrel. As the bullet travels down a long barrel, the expanding gases of the propellant have more time to build pressure and transfer more energy and velocity to the projectile.

Understand Precision vs. Accuracy For Long Range Marksmanship

Ammunition selection is considered as part of internal ballistics. The powder charge must be sufficient to propel the projectile to its target. However, an excessive charge can damage the firearm and even injure the shooter.

Every rifle, even those from the same production run, will have an optimum combination of powder charge and projectile. This gives it the greatest accuracy and is an advantage of handloading over factory ammunition. However, higher grade factory ammo may be even more precise than hand loads and this consistency can have a greater effect on overall accuracy.

This is a good place to discuss the difference between precision and accuracy. The long-range marksman needs both, of course. Precision is related to how small a group you can shoot with your rifle and ammo. Generally, precision is thought to be the mechanical qualities of the rifle and ammunition combo.

A precise rifle will place the shots in a tight grouping every time. Accuracy is a function of the shooter himself, and depends on his ability to achieve a proper sight picture, maintain breath control while pressing the trigger, and understanding and compensating for the influences of external ballistics as the projectile flies toward the target.

Most people assume that when a rifle is fired, the bullet travels in a straight line to the target. In fact, due to the effects of gravity, the projectile needs to follow an arced path toward its target, flying slightly upwards first until gravity forces it to begin falling towards the earth, impacting the target on its downward path.

An advanced shooter, especially when engaged in long-range marksmanship, realizes that there are many other factors that affect external ballistics. These include air resistance, humidity, wind speed, even the rotation of the earth (the Coriolis effect). Since a bullet flying 300 yards or further spends more time in flight than a pistol round at a range of 15 feet or so, external ballistics are of great importance to the long-range shooter.

External Ballistics Begins in Transition

The physics of every shot fired is essentially the same, no matter the weapon or the range. One thing not very obvious to the shooter is that the spinning projectile which we expect to fly true all the way to the target actually wobbles a great deal during the first part of the ballistic arc.

We can see the same effect in slow-motion replays of a long-distance football pass. The quarterback’s fingers impart spin to the ball, just like the rifling in the barrel, but the ball will wobble in flight. What is important is that the further the ball flies, the steadier it becomes.

This wobbling is less noticeable in pistol rounds since the projectiles are usually shorter in comparison to their length. This means they stabilize much faster. A rifle bullet may fly as far as 50 feet before it stabilizes on its axis of rotation.

Wobbling can be minimized by matching the load to the rifle, but never completely eliminated. This is why increasing the powder charge to a round may increase its velocity but can destroy its accuracy.

These rotational effects are identified as;

1. Yaw
2. Precession
3. Nutation

We have only “scratched the surface” of ballistic science here. If you are looking to study the subject in depth we recommend you to start with “Applied Ballistics for Long Range Shooting 3rd Edition” by Brian Litz.

If you’re only interested in knowledge regarding the specific subject of Long Range Shooting, then you can check the “Long Range Shooting Handbook” by Ryan M. Cleckner. This #1 Best Seller on Amazon will guide you through all aspects of long-range shooting; from calibrating your rifle to using your wind speed instruments and calculators.

Flies Through The Air with the Greatest of Ease

We can use the quote “What Goes Up Must Come Down” and claim to understand bullet trajectory. But, we know there is a lot more going on that influences a projectile’s flight than gravity.

Granted, gravity is a pretty big deal any time a shot is fired. The moment the projectile leaves the muzzle, gravity begins pulling it toward the center of the earth. Most shooters understand that the bore of the rifle is aligned so that the bullet will fly slightly above the line of sight. In this way, the bullet will arc back down to impact at the point of aim. What is harder to see is that the downhill side of the arc is slightly steeper than its climb.

Not only is gravity pulling the bullet down, air resistance is slowing it down so that it has time to fall further. This means that the high point of the bullet’s arc is not at the midpoint of its flight, but closer to the target. It seems like a small point, but it is one that is magnified over distance and important to long-range marksmanship.

When we begin considering how air resistance affects a shot, we also see the influence of the weather. Air resistance is greater when the shot is fired at a lower altitude. Barometric pressure, or the amount of air that is stacked on top of you, is greater at sea level than it is in the mountains.

Air resistance will decrease as the temperature rises, as humidity rises, or as the barometer falls. These conditions combine to generate a figure called “density altitude”. An illustration of density altitude is the fact that a shooter on a sunny 90-degree day in Dallas will face about the same air resistance as a shooter in Denver on a cool 20-degree day.

As stated by NOAA, density altitude is “the pressure altitude adjusted for non-standard temperature.” Simply put, increasing temperature at a given atmospheric pressure will cause the air density at that pressure to appear as though it resides at a higher physical altitude.

Density altitude increases as barometric pressure decreases which reduces air resistance. Indeed, a falling barometer may also indicate approaching storms meaning increased wind, which will have its own effect on long-range marksmanship. It is commonly understood that a five-mile-per-hour crosswind (blowing directly perpendicular to the shot) can deflect the path of a .308 round as much as 3 inches over 300 yards. In fact, the wind is probably the most common excuse for missed long-range shots.

Judging the effects of wind for a long-range shot is fraught with variables. The first is determining just how much wind there is.

An old standard of wind speed is the Beaufort Scale. It provides a series of observations (how much leaves move, whether the sea is calm or rippled) to help estimate wind speed. This can be notoriously inaccurate unless the shooter has a good deal of practice with the observations and an accurate scale to go by.

The simplest, most accurate scale would be the anemometer of a weather station, but few firing ranges have one installed. A handheld wind gauge is an important piece of a long-range shooter’s kit. It may not be available to use in a tactical or hunting situation, but on the practice range, it will contribute to eventual success in the field.

A common complaint about handheld wind gauges is that they will only give you wind data at the firing line, and not at the target or in the space between. This is true and there is no way to accurately judge the wind velocity at the target. However, if you have accurate data at the firing line, you will be better able to make an estimation of wind velocity down-range.

Some ranges have flags to indicate wind speed and direction between the shooter and the target. At other times the shooter will simply have to base his estimate on how the vegetation is reacting to the wind at the target. Indeed, in both cases, accurate data at the firing line is the best data to have.

Check these quick tips to approximate the wind speed at the point of target:

1. Use a portable anemometer to measure the crosswind speed while you analyze your target. Now you have the wind speed at your current standing position.
2. With your high magnification rifle scope analyze the heat waves or “mirage” caused by the atmospheric distortions. With a crosswind wind speed of zero, the “mirage” is perpendicular to the ground. If the mirage waves tip at 45 degrees from left to right this indicates a wind direction from left to right at approximately 5mph. Horizontal waves indicate wind speed is at least 10mph. Be aware that higher wind speeds will still indicate a horizontal “mirage”.
3. Keep in mind your wind meter value and the “mirage” patterns while analyzing the environment such as grass, leaves, tree sways, floating seeds, or even spider webs.

This method combined with the right ammo choice should help you in approximating the wind speed and direction.

Improving Long Range Marksmanship Using Portable Wind Meters

Another reason for the importance of accurate data at the firing line is the wind will have its greatest influence on the flight of the projectile early in its flight. Remember our discussion of transitional ballistics? During the phase immediately after the bullet leaves the muzzle it is still wobbling in flight. It is at its most vulnerable to be blown off course. Then, gyroscopic stability sets in to help the bullet fly true.

What are the characteristics to look for in a shooter’s portable wind meter? The most obvious attribute is accuracy and consistency. As with everything in long-range precision shooting and marksmanship, small inaccuracies add up. Ensure that your data is correct before you begin to make corrections.

What do you need to read with your handheld wind meter before pulling the trigger? Crosswind, Wind Speed & Direction, Air Pressure, Density Altitude, Temperature and Relative Humidity.

The next thing to consider is the ease of use and ruggedness. You need to be able to gather the data easily so as not to have to waste concentration on things that have nothing to do with making the shot. This is where ruggedness comes in. Ideally, the portable wind meter can be turned on, provide the data needed, and then set aside with no further thought. A unit that can be closed to protect its impeller and then simply placed on the shooting bench or even the ground will be more useful than one which is so fragile that it needs to be carefully placed in its case after every reading.

While it is true that you get what you pay for, long-range shooting is an expensive pastime if you are not being paid to do it. A top-of-the-line portable wind meter may be a worthwhile investment for a tactical operator where lives are on the line. The extra expense is questionable if the purpose of the shot is simply to put holes in a paper target.

One of the reasons the price of the wind meter goes up is its list of features. The casual shooter probably only needs a simple gauge that will show little more than wind velocity.