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So, I am a member of what I feel is an excellent private shooting range facility here in SW Ohio. They have enough shooting bays that I can usually get one to myself except on a really busy weekend. And when I say bay, I am talking an area probably like 25 yards across, and then 25, 50, 100 or 200 yards deep. They also have a dedicated shotgun area, host 3-gun, IDPA & SASS matches, etc... Anyway, nice range.
I have however noticed a phenomenon whenever I go there. I have been a member for a number of years now, and can count on one hand all the times I recall there being someone on the 200 yard range when I wanted to use it. In fact, the 200 yard line is usually not being used at all based on my observations. It isn't that the club members don't shoot rifles, I see all sorts of rifles being fired in the shorter bays. I just don't see them being used much on the 200, and the 100 yard bay is generally the second least busy. Now, on one hand this is great news for me, because I can usually drive on out to the range, and get in all the 200 yard shooting I want.
That being said, I really cut my teeth on shooting longer distances starting in Parris Island, where everyone who goes through has to have some proficiency with hitting a man sized target on a pretty consistent basis at 500 yards. I remember doing a SAW training range later with my unit that was iron sights out to about 800 yards (it helps when you are using the SAW as an area weapon vs point weapon). And shooting at vehicle sized targets at over 1,000 yards with Ma Deuce. So, 200 yards to me seems like a relatively short distance to be shooting a centerfire rifle. It is actually the shortest distance of the Marine Corps known distance range qualification, and is shot from offhand, sitting and kneeling (no prone).
I get that there are plenty of reasons to shoot rifles at shorter distances. Today for instance, I started with a 50 yard bay, because I recently swapped some scopes and had to re-zero as well as wanting to do some pistol work. I also worked on some shooting on the move, reloads, transitions, shooting from cover, and things like that on the shorter bay with the AR. All perfectly valid (to me), reasons to be using a rifle in a short bay.
I guess that I am just a bit dismayed that I don't see more people utilizing the longer distance range. It is a bit more of a pain to walk the targets out, but with hi-vis targets and a scope you can spot hits from the firing line, so I just put a bunch out at once. Any centerfire rifle with decent iron sights or a scope should be able to make 200 yard shots. Even a properly zero'd no magnification RDS is perfectly capable of a 200 yard shot. 200 yards is short enough that the wind should have a pretty negligible effect on a centerfire bullet unless you are in a hurricane. With the trajectory of most rounds, there isn't much of a need to adjust scopes or sights for the distance either.
I realize that I have had some formal instruction and lots of experience shooting at longer distances, so maybe that skews my perception that 200 yards isn't a really long shot? Does anyone else see similar trends at their local shooting spot? Lots of close (<50 yard) shooting, and not a whole lot beyond that? Does the average shooter feel that 200 yards really is a long shot?
I have however noticed a phenomenon whenever I go there. I have been a member for a number of years now, and can count on one hand all the times I recall there being someone on the 200 yard range when I wanted to use it. In fact, the 200 yard line is usually not being used at all based on my observations. It isn't that the club members don't shoot rifles, I see all sorts of rifles being fired in the shorter bays. I just don't see them being used much on the 200, and the 100 yard bay is generally the second least busy. Now, on one hand this is great news for me, because I can usually drive on out to the range, and get in all the 200 yard shooting I want.
That being said, I really cut my teeth on shooting longer distances starting in Parris Island, where everyone who goes through has to have some proficiency with hitting a man sized target on a pretty consistent basis at 500 yards. I remember doing a SAW training range later with my unit that was iron sights out to about 800 yards (it helps when you are using the SAW as an area weapon vs point weapon). And shooting at vehicle sized targets at over 1,000 yards with Ma Deuce. So, 200 yards to me seems like a relatively short distance to be shooting a centerfire rifle. It is actually the shortest distance of the Marine Corps known distance range qualification, and is shot from offhand, sitting and kneeling (no prone).
I get that there are plenty of reasons to shoot rifles at shorter distances. Today for instance, I started with a 50 yard bay, because I recently swapped some scopes and had to re-zero as well as wanting to do some pistol work. I also worked on some shooting on the move, reloads, transitions, shooting from cover, and things like that on the shorter bay with the AR. All perfectly valid (to me), reasons to be using a rifle in a short bay.
I guess that I am just a bit dismayed that I don't see more people utilizing the longer distance range. It is a bit more of a pain to walk the targets out, but with hi-vis targets and a scope you can spot hits from the firing line, so I just put a bunch out at once. Any centerfire rifle with decent iron sights or a scope should be able to make 200 yard shots. Even a properly zero'd no magnification RDS is perfectly capable of a 200 yard shot. 200 yards is short enough that the wind should have a pretty negligible effect on a centerfire bullet unless you are in a hurricane. With the trajectory of most rounds, there isn't much of a need to adjust scopes or sights for the distance either.
I realize that I have had some formal instruction and lots of experience shooting at longer distances, so maybe that skews my perception that 200 yards isn't a really long shot? Does anyone else see similar trends at their local shooting spot? Lots of close (<50 yard) shooting, and not a whole lot beyond that? Does the average shooter feel that 200 yards really is a long shot?
