Grow Your Long Range Shooting

5 Useful Tips to Shoot Like a Sniper

In any hunting situation to survival, you need to go long to shoot better. That is why firearm and optic companies develop new products to make your hit at extreme ranges easier.

You have your weapon equipped with the best scope for the 308 rifle to handle magnification and recoil. However, while both your rifle and scope has fantastic features, is it enough?

Yes, it does provide precision shooting, but to be the best shooter you need to understand the basic creed of shooting. While you have selected the correct rifle, ammunition, and caliber,you need to focus on the diopter and parallax adjustments.

Furthermore, this is not all you need to concentrate on your body position and trigger control as well. So what can you do?

Here are five practical tips to help give you a better shot at long distances.

1. Collect Information

When at the range it is not all about the shooting, but you need to collect figures on the rifle. You need to record data with every shot as it helps you understand what your gun is capable of doing in any condition.

You can do this with the Data of Previous Engagements (DOPE) book to check back on references before making each shot. With the book, you can answer questions related:

• To how many rounds you have fired.
• What is your come-up to 600-yards when shooting at 70 feet?
• How often do you clean your barrel?
• Are you becoming better at shooting or worse?

2. Regulate the Diopter

If you have a long-range scope, you have a diopter adjustment ring allowing for quick modification of the focal length to the eye. You may find your optic comes with a threaded eyepiece to focus the reticle and lock in place.

Use it to bring the reticle image into a clear focus. It only takes a couple of seconds, and having it focused makes a difference for accuracy at long distances.

You can do this by looking at a light-colored background to focus your eyes on the crosshair to find the perfect diopter setting.

3. Get to Know Wind Direction

One thing that is never consistent is the wind. For long-range shots, the wind consideration is two-thirds of the way to your target. As there can be different wind directions and speeds, you have to recognize these and make adjustments accordingly. The reason is that the wind drift complicates things and can cause the bullet to drift off target.

The best solution is to use your scope and watch the area around the target to determine wind speed. Look at what the grass and dried leaves are doing at this range. Alternatively, you can be fancy and use a SpotOn Wind Meter from Nikon to use with your phone.

4. Get to Know Your Bullet and Learn the Kick

An essential factor is to find the best bullet to use with your gun. You will find that some calibers are not accurate, so you need to do some testing. Furthermore, shooting with your .308 the kick of the rifle tells you when you are doing something wrong. For long-range shots, you want your weapon to come straight back into you.

On the other hand, the riflescope should also fall right back on target to make a perfect shot. Alternatively, try to shoot with a respiratory pause on your breathe out. Take three deep breaths, and once the airs out of your body give a 3-second pause on the last exhale and follow through.

Once your shot burst, keep on squeezing to the back, and let go the trigger gradually to the front.

5. Taking the Long Shot

Make sure your gun is zeroed in,and you get three uninterrupted rounds within a one inch square out to 100-yards. Never settle for less. Furthermore, for quick engagement use a 500-yard zero to reference the reticle for hold over and hold under. However, for 1000-yard shots and you do have the time consults your dope and dial into the 1000-yard range to hit your first round.

Final Thoughts

For taking long-distance shots like a sniper, you need to understand your rifle and scope. Furthermore, you need the proper body position and breathing as well. To master trigger control takes time and is a learned skill to help eliminate jerk. However, just as important as the tips are for improving your long-range skills finding the sweet spots essential as well.

A fact is that a freshly scrubbed barrel does not shoot as consistent as one that has shot more than two or three shots. Finding that spot takes time, and according to most competitive shooters, a barrel slightly dirtied is the best. Only you can establish what level of contamination works best and once you find it stick with it.