Long-range shooting is a discipline that fascinates as much as it awes. Whether you're a beginner or an experienced shooter, this article will provide you with the keys to understanding and mastering this demanding art.
I am Jérémy COMPIÈGNE, an experienced long-range shooter, former ammunition development engineer, expert reloader, and host of the YouTube channel LES ARMES ET LA SCIENCE
In this article we offer a glossary allowing us to deal with the different subjects one by one. If you want personalized advice, it's here: Personalized advice
What is long-range shooting?
Definition and history:
-Long-range shooting involves hitting targets at considerably longer distances, generally exceeding 500 meters and up to several kilometers (yes, yes, it's possible in 2025!)
-This practice has evolved over time, moving from military applications to high-precision sports competitions. Example competitions: TLD Competition: Lord of Steel 2024 Episode 1
- Technological advances in weapons, ammunition, and optics have made it possible to reach increasingly impressive distances or smaller and smaller targets! Recent years have really accelerated the disciplines.
The different long-distance shooting disciplines:
Precision Rifle Series (PRS):
PRS is a dynamic discipline that emphasizes precision, speed and adaptability.
PRS competitions involve varied courses with targets at different distances, often in unconventional shooting positions.
Shooters must manage factors such as wind, distance and time to hit their targets.
It is a discipline that is expanding rapidly and attracting more and more people.
F-Class:
F-Class is a precision shooting discipline that focuses on maximum accuracy on stationary targets at predefined distances.
Shooters use high-precision rifles and top-quality optics.
There are two main categories: F-Open (allowing the use of tripods and large calibers) and F-TR (limited to bipods and 308 Win and 223 Rem calibers).
Shooting distances are often 600 yards or 1000 yards, and the center zone is 16 cm at 600 yards and 26 cm at 1000 yards respectively.
NRL Hunter:
NRL Hunter is a discipline that simulates realistic hunting scenarios, emphasizing accuracy, equipment management and quick decision-making.
Competitions often take place outdoors, in natural environments, with targets at varying and unknown distances.
This discipline requires realistic equipment management, rapid decision-making, and specific constraints on the equipment, including the calibers used, weight, etc.
One of the specific features of the NRL Hunter is the introduction of the Power Factor (PF), a criterion aimed at ensuring that the calibers used are suitable for realistic hunting scenarios.
Our full article on the NRL Hunter
Recreational shooting:
Recreational shooting encompasses a variety of long-range shooting practices, ranging from plinking (shooting at informal targets) to long-range target shooting for personal enjoyment.
This discipline offers great flexibility in terms of equipment, distances and types of targets and budget!
Recreational shooting allows shooters to develop their skills and enjoy the satisfaction of hitting targets at long range in a relaxed environment.
This allows you to train without necessarily having the pressure of competition and without breaking the bank.
Essential equipment for long-distance shooting:
The rifle:
Caliber: Popular calibers for long-range shooting include the .308 Winchester, the 6.5 Creedmoor, and for the more demanding, the .338 Lapua Magnum. For recreational shooting, any caliber will do!
Articles on long-range shooting calibers
Barrel: A heavy, quality barrel is essential for accuracy and stability over long series, however in a recreational setting or short shooting series it is not mandatory.
Stock: An ergonomic and adjustable stock allows the weapon to be adapted to the shooter's morphology, this allows for greater comfort during long shooting sessions. Hunting-style stocks can be used occasionally.
Action: The type of rifle action is important, with bolt actions being the most common for precision shooting.
Some examples of TLD weapon articles: TIKKA T3X , ANSCHUTZ 1782 APR , Victrix SCORPIO T
Which rifle scope for TLD?
Magnification: From 10x zoom you can shoot accurately at 600 meters, 15x zoom is sufficient for 1000 meters. 5-25x zooms are the most common in our practice
The choice of reticle depends on the shooter's preferences and the type of shooting being done, sometimes very simple so as not to pollute the target, sometimes complex to read shooting corrections.
Reticle Position: 1st focal plane for gong shooting practice, 2nd focal plane for target shooting practice.
Turrets: Adjustable turrets with external adjustment (without protective cap) are preferred
MOA or Mil? There are two opposing types of graduation: Mil is more common in gong shooting, while MOA is more common in paper target shooting.
ARTICLE on moving from MOA to MIL
ARTICLE on adjusting your rifle scope
Ammunition:
Projectile Type: Hollow Point (HPBT) and Polymer Tipped (PT) bullets provide better accuracy and a more stable trajectory.
Ballistic Coefficient (BC): A high BC indicates a better ability to maintain speed and resist the effect of wind.
Weight and Speed: The weight of the bullet and its initial speed influence its trajectory and its energy at distance.
Match quality ammunition allows for better grouping and better consistency of speed and therefore trajectory.
Article on understanding speed regularities
Article: Understanding the Probability of Shots on Goal
Articles on long-range shooting calibers
Accessories to improve your long-distance performance:
Tripods and bipods: They offer increased stability for shooting prone or seated on a table, some disciplines allow one or the other.
Rangefinders: They allow the distance to the target to be measured precisely. This is useful when the distances of the targets are unknown in order to facilitate the calculation of the correction.
Anemometers: They measure wind speed and direction, which is crucial for fire correction, most also take temperature and atmospheric pressure which are the predominant elements on air density and projectile trajectory
Ballistics software: These allow you to calculate the trajectory of the bullet based on environmental conditions and your system
Ballistic radar: A very important element in 2025, this allows you to have the exact exit speed of each of your munitions in order to guarantee good correction and regularity on target.
Tutorial article on the Strelok pro calculator
The basics of long-range shooting:
Internal ballistics:
Study of the behavior of the bullet inside the barrel, certain software like Quickload allows to predict based on a reloading “recipe” the exit speeds of the projectile and the pressures generated
We offer training on how to use Quickload software
External ballistics:
Study of the trajectory of the ball in flight, under the influence of gravity, wind and air resistance.
Article on the influence of the elevation angle
Terminal ballistics:
Study of the behavior of the bullet upon impact on the target.
Jeremy explains this part in more detail here: lethality of a munition / Terminal ballistics
Tips for improving your long-distance shooting:
Training, the key to success:
Regular practice on targets at different distances.
Breathing and concentration exercises to improve stability and accuracy.
Analysis of results and identification of areas for improvement.
Competitions, in order to measure yourself against the best
Participation in local, regional or national competitions to compete against other shooters.
Learning the techniques and strategies used by experienced shooters.
Conclusion :
Long-range shooting is an exciting challenge that requires patience, dedication, and perseverance. With the right knowledge, the right equipment, and regular training, you can achieve your goals and push your limits.