It cracks me up how many guys grab the old hunting rifle, strap on a Bushnell mega power scope and want to shoot 600 yards or more. Seriously, 99.99% of shooters couldn't hit an 8" plate at 600 yards with the most accurate rifle in the world. They don't have the ability or trigger time to do it right. I have some accurate rifles and have let guys try and try to hit stuff at 400-1,000 yards. They can't do it, even though the rifle and equipment are up to it.
I ran a .22-250 AI a while back at the 8" 1000 yard gong shooting 75 grain Hornady AMAX bullets. Wind was calm but would kick up in spurts. I had a 3 shot 3" group going and was really impressed with the little round. Shot #4 missed, due to a light wind and #5 ticked the edge. Just about any caliber can do long range, but the rifle and the nut behind it better be up to the task.
I recently ran into a guy that had a fancy custom $3,000 .308 and was shooting Federal Gold Medal match ammo through it. He hit all the forums and read everything on the internet about building an accurate rifle. The trouble was, he had NO ability to shoot it. He and his buddy went through two boxes of shells trying to hit clay pigeons on a hillside at 200-250 yards. I watched them with amusement as they talked amongst themselves about how poorly the rifle was shooting. I could tell they were flinching REALLY bad and had no ability to shoot well. They had the fancy range blanket and were shooting off a bipod. I asked them if I could have a whirl at it, since they were so frustrated. They kept tweaking the scope dials to "get it in". First shot I fired was a couple of inches left. I dialed in the scope and centered the next pigeon and did the same with the next three. I handed the rifle back to the two guys and told them it was "on" and to stop adjusting the scope and learn to squeeze the trigger. They still couldn't hit crap. I tried to teach them how to squeeze the trigger. Nope, couldn't do it. I gave up and left them there tweaking on the scope some more.
Working at the local rifle range, I see this all day long. It amazes me to no end. I have gone out with several guys that "think" they are 1,000 yard shooters. When I range their 1,000 yard targets, they are in the 400 yard range. Pretty embarrassing for them, to say the least. 1,000 yards or even 600 yards, is a long ways out there! It takes years of practice to hit consistently and LOTS of ammo down range. Flinch
