GOLFING & GUNS

Specific golf clubs are designed for specific distances. So are rifles.

For many shooters, there's a degree of skill declination at 300 yards. When I grew up, I shot matches at Camp Perry. We were shooting World War I and World War II-era rifles at 200 yards-at targets substantially smaller than these guns were designed to fire at, and I recall how far away 200 yards seemed in that vast space. Even when firing full-power 7.62x54R and .30-06 at what many shooters would consider a “short” distance, there was a noticeable change in point-of-impact across the line when wind came.

Never is a bullet free from the influence of its environment. If you think you’re going to get immediate and consistent first-round hits with high-end long-range rifles, you’re sorely mistaken. No amount of money spent can guarantee hits. All that cash does is decrease variables and, in theory, make your rifle more consistent shot-to-shot so long as your ammo is of equal consistency and quality. Accuracy features, such as “match-grade” parts, heavy or thick barrels, adjustable stocks or chassis and top-shelf optics are really consistency features that reduce the amount of variables in how you interface with your rifle.

Because environmental factors are always going to be a variable you can’t control, you end up controlling variables on the gun. The general trend is that the closer the target is to you, the less you need consistency features. Barrels get skinnier (weight savings at the price of heat buildup), calibers smaller (more ammo at the cost of projectile weight/ power) and sights/optics with bigger aiming points.

In turn, shooters end up making up their guns like golf clubs: “This is my CQB gun in .300 Blackout. This one is my DMR in 5.56. This rifle is my long-range rifle in 6.5 Creedmoor.