I used to consider anything past 350 to be LR...

Is there a general consensus our there as to what Long Range is?

I don't think there is any general consensus.

I'd say if you are shooting past MPBR of your weapon, it's long range.

My defination is any range that hitting becomes iffy,it may be 200 yds or 500 yds depending on the circumstances. The weather,wind,daylight,groundcover, and angle all play a major factor. Personally I think a sheep at 300yds would be a fine shot and lesser as the range increases.I seen perfect hits on brown bears at 250yds and weather (wind) induced near misses at 100yds. This bear was killed (1 shot) at 269 yds!

Not really a a set distance, but beyond 600 yards is where things really start to matter IMO.

I think it's a personal thing. In my mind, conditions and other influences really start to play a role after 400. I call LR 600 and beyond. Altho I'm capable, and have the equiptment to do it properly, I'd rather not take a shot past 400...if I can close the distance.

That's an incredible animal right there.....WOW!

Nice bear.

In the hunting field anything over 50 yards with my 45 Colt, 150 with my Model 94 or 300 with my '06. Just me.

If I can't hit it offhand,and need a rest,it becomes long range to me....

Depends on what your shooting at or with.

That there works for me.

I would say past 500 yrds.

To me this is kind of like going to the gym and asking how many plates is a lot of weight...

Dober

A big time Amen to that!

Dober

yep yep...

All depends on how you've maintained your condition and how many reps you've done.

If it's beyond my comfort zone, it's long.
On paper, I take the shot.
On game, in wind... If I have to think about it, I need to get closer.
If I get busted while moving up, that's hunting.

A question better answered with a 12" piece of steel and a hundred rounds....

Long range is anything that can't be hit using a simple crosshair as a point of aim.

If you need to hold-over or adjust your turrets for E or W, it's long range.

So, if my crosshairs are set for the center of a target at 500 yards thats not LR?

Might want to try - if the bullet takes => than .5 seconds to arrive at the target thats LR for a small arm.

It's a safe bet you'll be be adjusting for Wind, so that makes it long range. If your rifle is zeroed for 500 yards, and you never have to make any adjustments for windage, then I would say 500 yds is not long range for your particular rifle.

400+ yards

A 500 yard zero will only be precise in one atmo condition. Change temps (vel), elevation, pressure, and your 500 yd zero isn't going to be in the same place.

So you will need to apply some fundamentals of LR to get back on target.

Bullet flight time covers all bets and ranges, rifle/pistol, rimfire/centerfire, elevation and windage.

I think past the five is when things get interesting, and you need to truly look at BC and what not to be consistent.



Travis

That is how I feel about it, if you cant hold on the animal you are hunting it is long range to me.
Gary

I would say 742 yards. Anything past that is long range.

Of course, my wife thinks anything longer than 7.23" is huge. (Something I've never decided to ask how she knows?) Its all about practice, whats "long range" to one man, may not be to another.--Confucius BC .264

I consider long range anything beyond 300 yds. That's where I begin making elevation adjustment. When I hunted mostly with my old 45/70 I considered anything past 100 yds long range.

Shod

Sometimes guiding has it's moments,,This fellow insisted that nothing less than a 10'brown bear would do! He claimed his Lapua's sweet spot was from 380yds to 800yds!! On the waning hrs of his hunt a 9'er showed up and he missed it cleanly ay 80 yds.

LR to me is a p/dog beyond 700 yds.....

Geezus........How?

He looks like he is having a lot of fun,but also looks like a gear freak,equipped to "fail".

I never have viewed long range as a set distance,it continually changes from one rifle to the next and is more about a comfort zone after zero and practice.LR for my 444 vs 264 are not even on the same page.

Woody I agree with that.

My only crack at the biggest whitetail I ever killed (or have ever seen)in New England was about 300 yards and had to be taken off hand,or not at all....fortunately,I do practice wierd stuff like that now and then, and got him.But that was really long range, that day...and something I would not care to repeat.

i am always suuprised at the number of deer hunters that i see that can not hit a target at 200-250 yds. they go out and buy a deer rifle and then sight in at 100yds and hunt. then when faced with a 300yd shot they have no idea where the bullet will hit.

i shoot all my rifles to what i feel is there max on the range or out to what i feel would be a safe range to get clean kills with that gun.i just couldn't see my self hunting with any gun that i haven't done some long range shooting with.

i say for me with most average deer calibers longe range is anything over 350-400yds. for some hunters i know it could be as close as 150yds.

Perzackly!

So, I say, for the common gunnut, its => .5 seconds. Of course for the learned, the time can be expanded for their group. Also, bullet TOF includes environmentals and BC in its calculus for distance. The only further discriminator is target/group size. .5 seconds is not all THAT far. Here is some data from QuickLoad & QuickTarget with high desert environmentals:

~.5 seconds vs distance

5.56 mm NATO - 5.56 x 45 mm
Bullet : .224, 69, Nosler HPBT 17101
Bullet weight : 69 grains, MV 2870 fps, 380 yds

5.56 mm NATO - 5.56 x 45 mm
Bullet : .224, 80, Nosler HPBT 25116
Bullet weight : 80 grains, MV 2680, 380 yds

308 Win.
Bullet : .308, 168, Nosler BalTip
Bullet weight : 168 grains, MV 2820, 410 yds

308 Win.
Bullet : .308, 180, Nosler BalTip 30180
Bullet weight : 180 grains, MV 2650, 390 yds

30-06 Spring. (SAAMI)
Bullet : .308, 168, Nosler BalTip
Bullet weight : 168 grains, MV 2860, 410 yds

22-250 Rem. (SAAMI)
Bullet : .224, 60, Nosler BalTip 34992
Bullet weight : 60 grains, MV 3600, 450 yds

9 mm Luger (SAAMI)
Bullet : .355, 115, Nosler JHP 44848
Bullet weight : 115 grains, MV 1120, 160 yds

45 Auto (ACP) (SAAMI)
Bullet : .451, 230, Nosler FMJ 42064
Bullet weight : 230 grains, MV 850, 135 yds

357 Magnum (SAAMI)
Bullet : .357, 158, Nosler JHP 44841
Bullet weight : 158 grains, MV 1366 fps, 190 yds

22 LR
Bullet : 22 LR high vel 40g
Bullet weight : 40 grains, MV 1260 fps, 175 yds

22 LR
Bullet : 22 LR subsonic 40g
Bullet weight : 40 grains, MV 1080, 155 yds

I agree with this too but that said I try to use a rest anytime I can and if one isn't available I get the most stabile position I can. Getting out and practicing on a tactical range and going to F class shoots helped me extend my range just from a confidence factor.

Tulie I agree of course and grab a rest anytime I can get it;that is just my way of saying, that I need all the help I can get...

As a rifle shot I consider myself somewhere between "passable" and "middlin' "...things get too far away, and they look awfully small!

Bob is being modest; he's an expert using any of his gear.

If you look at NRA competitions anything 600 and beyond is considered longrange. Those are Highpower long range matches and Palma matches.

The cross course matches which are 200,300,500 or 600 are considered midrange.

For whatever that is worth.

Oh trust me, I need all the help I can too but I'm too lazy to attach a bi-pod anymore. I sure wasn't suggesting anything toward anybody else. I figure I have enough of a time with myself that I don't need to point at anybody else..........well generally that is and of course the other half sure won't agree!!!

Ouch, that means anything over fifty yards is long range for me.

It's a good thing that field expedient rests abound in the areas I hunt.
Oh, also there is that bipod in the saddle bags.

Idaho I was kinda thinking 100...

I was being a bit facetious...but not by much.I am a pretty conservative sort.

I think you'll get a different answer from everyone. To me, 300 yds is long range... and I won't take a shot longer than that, only because my eyes are not what they used to be, even with modern optics. 25 yrs ago, that was closer to 400 yds. I'm a hunter, not really much of a "marksman". I shoot well enough to make good clean kills most of the time. I'm not out to hit a quarter off a fence post at 1,000 yds, not that their is anything wrong with that so no offense to those who can (envy). So to me, 300 yds is "long range" as in long range= the limit of my effective shooting limits. Many on here, who can shoot the eye out of a crow at half a mile with a modern rifle and optics, will scoff at that, but I'm ok with that. Doesn't keep me from punching tags very often.

Long range is the distance whereby you're NEVER sure of where the first shot is gonna hit!!

I think colodog has given the best answer to the OP question.

My comfort zone is 0-400 yds. My longest shot & kill is 389 yds. lasered. No ??, no qualms, no hesitation.

OTOH more than once, deer considerably closer than 400 yds offered no clear, conscionable shot and I HAD to get closer.

As stated PAPER (targets) is one thing, animals are another.

#1 TOOL! I deal with guys like this all summer too. I bet that TRG has less than 100 rounds through it. Long range to me depends on the rifle. My "long range" steel plates are at 850, 1000, and 1150 yards and are MOA size.

More dollars than sense...

In Montana 100 yards is close range.
In Washington state, 100 yards is long range.

I have learned that most wood hunters that don't regularly shoo at 300 plus yards are surprised at the results when they first try 300-500 yard shots, and especially how the rifles recoil changes the impact

Depends on what I'm shooting, in terms of firearm, load and target.

200 yards is long range for my iron-sighted .44 Mag carbine unless the target is really big. 300 with my scoped leverguns, more because of load limitations than accuracy as I can hit pretty consistently with them at 500. Clay pigeons at 600 is long range even with my most accurate bolt rifles, although I get enough hits to be addicted to trying.

Game I'm more conservative on. Longest to date is 350 yards but back then I was only practicing at 200 with any frequency, 300 rarely and 400 less than that. Now I practice regularly at 500 and 600 and would consider those 'long' if game was in the sights while 350 would pretty much be a given unless the wind was howling crosswise.

Maybe you should look on the east side of Washington before making such a airhead statement. Have you ever been out of your back yard?

I've been hunting and range shooting for 40 years and for me anything over 200 yards with a hunting rifle is long range.

I'm slowly getting into longer yardages but I find there is a whole new standard of equipment and practise required to be profficient in the field.

I am going to guess you are not a highly paid consultant.

[I can see all the way over the mountains by reading the mannerisms of your post.]

IMHO long range starts at 600 yards

A short range shot opportunity may be difficult due to circumstances, difficulty doesn't define long range IMHO

By reading your profile I understand what your logic is. Its us surveyors that fix all the problems that engineers create.