Posted on 09/18/2022 11:35:14 AM PDT by PROCON
Journey to the World-Record-Shattering 4.4 Mile Long-Range Rifle Shot
Scott Austin, Shepard Humphries, and half a dozen friends surpassed the previous record for longest target hit with a long range rifle on September 13, 2022, but their journey started long before that day.
Scott and Shepard both have a passion for shooting rifles at long ranges. Extreme long ranges. For many years they have operated Nomad Rifleman, a boutique extreme long range shooting experience, out of Jackson Hole, Wyoming. In 2020, they guided a client to set the Wyoming state record for longest hit on a target at a whopping 3.06 miles!
Not long after helping their Nomad Rifleman client break the Wyoming record, Scott, Shepard, and a group of their friends who also share a passion for long range shooting decided to attempt to set a new world record extreme-long-range shot; the record at that time was four miles. But this time it wasn’t business; it was for the challenge, fun, and bragging rights.
In late 2020 they began planning, with a target date of June or July 2021 for the attempt. A shot like this requires a custom-made, one-of-a-kind rifle. Because of the complexity of such a build, with custom parts coming in from Canada, New Zealand, Arkansas, South Dakota, Washington and elsewhere, there were many challenges to overcome in trying to get the rifle completed on time. Summer of 2021 turned out to be wishful thinking; the rifle was finally completed in May of 2022.
416 was mentioned but it didn’t say which one although the rounds in the mag do not appear to be the Remington. Rigby?
.416 Barrett
Technically it’s not artillery if the shooter can see the target. But artillery in this case would have been more productive. I don’t know what this bunch think they accomplished.
69th attempt doest strike me as much of an accomplishment.
Having said that, there are some here who argue that a 400 yard shot is next to impossible.
XLNT !
This long range shooting is fascinating
and I’m just getting into it but on a more down to earth level. These guys shoot subsonic .22 caliber because it’s more stable in flight, Amazing.
350 moa scope base,,,Wow!
I’m fitting a 20 moa to a 10/22 and a scope will be my basic build.
I’m cheaping out at a couple hundred.
Not military apparently.
We used to qualify up to 300 & 400 yards with iron sites on the M-14 and M-16 in Army Basic Training in 1969.
300 yds. Consistently with .22 long rifle Subsonic Lapua ammo,
Awesome, I’ve seen it.
Paul Begala.
Except nowadays, although can still see the front sight jump with each heart beat, they are closer to each other than they used to be, and a little more forceful (the beats, lol)
With glass, range is much further, and the closer shots much tighter.
That’s indirect fire. The hallmark of modern artillery. This is more like naval direct fire guns. If you cannot spot the impact, it is weirdness. Corrections based on sound and guesstimating does seem rather silly.
wasn’t speaking to you, however, since you answered...
...or, as the saying goes “throw a rock into a herd of sheep and the one that bleats is the one ya hit”
A man hits a bullseye four and a half miles away and people actually put the man down. He deserves credit, not low-t curmudgeonist scowling.
That was possibly related information, true, and I saw that. If you look at my first comment on this thread, though, you’ll see that I was referring to the 69 shots of the shooting for the record. That information was not given, and I think it would have been good to know.
Shepard and Scott are quick to point out that their hit is not scientifically consistently “repeatable” even with the same several hours spent walking the shot in to the target. The temperature outside and within the barrel, the speed and direction of the wind at various distances between the shooter and the target, especially at max ordinate above 2,500 feet, will not ever be the same again. Those factors, as well as other environmental conditions, make a shot like this very challenging each time it's attempted.
“We could obviously put a few more shots in the bullseye right in a row right now, but we are tired, so we will stop shooting and strut away now,” Shepard joked. “‘Luck’ isn't the right word; perhaps ‘probability’ is a better word. Had Winston shot another 50 shots, none might have hit the target, or at best, perhaps a few would have, and they probably wouldn't have been in the bullseye.” In a strange coincidence, it was their 69th shot that hit the target, breaking Paul Phillips’ 4-mile record shot which also landed on the 69th shot.
You can't say they were dishonest about what they were doing.
No, which is why I have not said any such thing.
People having fun with guns, that’s the story here and what we should all focus on.😀
Sure, why not? Unlike other commenters on the thread, I haven’t criticized these people in any way, but I still think it would have been interesting to know how widely the other 68 shots fell at that distance. That’s all. I don’t know why some people seem to think that that particular question justifies their hostility, and I don’t much care.
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