Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Long Range Hunting 1 mile

Decided to extend our 1000 yard range out to 1760, we have a lot fun shooting out to 1000 yards so why not 1 mile ? gave it a try this morning Whew, thats a long shot was kicking up dirt all around my pig target but after about 10 shots the wind got up to 15 mph and kicked my butt, wind kept picking up so I quit, sure fun to try 1 mile. Rio7

You need a mastodon target!!

Sounds fun. What were you shooting?

Sure do need a bigger target maybe a box car, was shooting a 6.5 PRC with 139 scenars, that's all I had loaded for it. think I will try my 300 Win mag in the morning before work, if there's not much wind. Rio7

That'll humble you. I was gonna say "separate the men from the boys" but that'll separate the men from the men.

Blue, you're one wild and crazy guy. That just sounds like it would be a blast.


Once you get the 6.5 tuned in, you need to try your trusty .22 lr.

Owl, No .22 gave them all to my grandkids, think I will load up some 147 gr. Eld-m for the 6.5 and see if they buck the wind a little better than the 139 Scenars. anyone got any advise on shooting a mile? Rio7

Yes I do have some, "get more gun" lol.
If your really serious about that, be thinking about the long and heavy 300 gr bullets traveling at 3000 fps or better.

You don’t need a bigger gun, you just need to keep practicing at a mile. The further you go, the more critical your wind reading skills become.

My .243AI/105AM has outshot a .338LapuaAI/300Scenar at a mile, due to shootability, familiarity with the load and DOPE, and the ability to easily spot shots through the scope due to much less concussive blast at the shot.

Heavy is better?

Jordan Smith, I do have 2 .243 A.I. rifles, that I hunt with, would have to change out scopes to give them a try, that could be fun, predator hunting is over till next fall, and I have a couple of good scopes in the safe, what the hell might give that a try also, after all it's just for fun. Rio7

Your 1 mile range must be quite a bit different than my 1 mile range......
At 1000 yards my most accurate guns are a 6-284 with 107SMK's and a 6BR AI shooting 95gr VLD's........ at 1 mile at my range I have never spotted a miss with a 6mm bullet and I always have a spotter with an alpha spotting scope.

I have a 338LapuaAI shooting 300gr SMK's, I can always spot my own shot through my rifle scope. My 338 out shoots my 6's 10 times out of 10 at a mile

I’m not saying that the .243AI is the ideal 1-mile rifle, I’m just pointing out that there are larger factors at play in your ability to hit at a mile, than the size of your gun or bullet. The 147ELD in your 6.5 PRC is a great option.

It’s quite possible. A 1-mile range with the target set amongst a lot of vegetation makes spotting misses with the smaller bullets difficult. Shooting against a disked crop field, rocky cliff face, etc, makes spotting misses easy, even at very long range and with small bullets. The ~3-second flight time makes it pretty easy to spot misses even with larger rifles, but not as easy as with rifles that smack you with less concussive blast, etc, as long as the bullet makes a big enough splash to be seen in the terrain behind your target

I’m a fan of the 7WSM with 180ELD or 195 EOL for extended distance as a pretty great compromise between ballistic efficiency and “splash on target”, and reasonable recoil and blast. Having said that, I have had good luck with 6mm, .224”, 6.5mm, .308”, .338” bullets, etc, as well, so I’m not offended if other guys have different preferences.

I must admit that I have never shot into a disked crop field at a mile, but have shot at many a rocky cliff face seldom seeing a splash with 224" or 6mm bullets at a mile, guess leica and Swaro don't make glass like they used to or mabey the soil is not as splashy to the south

So far all the advise and comments on shooting a mile have been very helpful, we are having a great time trying to hit the steel pig at 1760 yards, so far no luck, with daylight savings time we have time at the end of the day to blaze away with our hunting rifles, and laugh at each other. As Jordan Smith, commented learning the wind has a lot to do with shooting 1 mile, and the wind is making it very interesting. Rio7

no Blue, but I can give you a lot of advise on MISSING BY A MILE!

I'm real good at that, in a lot of things...

Best of luck with it all and have a great day!

cheers and best regards...

and give Smoke a scratch between the ears for me if you please..

In a word yes, especially when coupled with velocity. As for wind reading, it's much easier to do after the last one lands.
Check out the serious extreme distance shooters and see what they are using.

Them aint my rules, but they are the rules if your serious about shooting those kind of distances.

Soil type makes a huge difference. (Or I guess rock type too.) I know coarse, sandy soil doesn't show near as much as dry clay.

I don’t know what to tell you, man. Maybe you’re shooting at granite cliffs and I’m shooting at crumbly, porous rock. Maybe it’s a difference between the eyesight of myself/my shooting partners, and you and yours. One thing is for certain, it ain’t the alpha glass’s fault