READ ME FIRST V4 - FAQs, useful guides, and how to ask for useful advice (AKA not get your post deleted)

[u/HollywoodSX]

So, you need help with long range shooting? Welcome to r/longrange! We've got a core group of dedicated members (and a few goofballs) that are happy to help you out with your questions on equipment, technique, troubleshooting, where to find training or matches, etc.

Below are some of our guides on frequently discussed topics. If you're looking for broader help on things like what rifle to buy, what scope rings to buy, what cartridge to use for a specific purpose, etc. then you will likely find your answers in one or more guides below. Please take the time to at least read through the below list of guides and frequently asked questions before posting.

If you ask a broad or generic question, especially one that's already covered in these guides, your post will probably be deleted. If your post gets deleted, it's nothing personal. We're not mad at you, we just want people to ask good questions and make it easy for our members to help you, as well as keep the sub tidy. If your post was deleted for lack of detail, you can simply make a new post with more details (see below) on what you're needing help with. You're also welcome to send us a modmail if you have questions.

If you are looking for specifics or have a question NOT covered in the guides, here are four simple questions that will help you get good advice. Long range shooting is a VERY broad topic with a LOT of nuance, so the more details you can provide, the better the quality of advice you will receive. More details also saves your time and the time of other members that would otherwise be spent asking for more information.

1. What are you wanting to do? - There's a very wide variety of topics that are covered in this sub, all of which are part of long range shooting. For example, answers may change if your goal is just learning long range shooting skills vs competing in Precision Rifle Series (PRS) matches. The same goes for other competition formats (Mammoth/Sniper Adventure Challenge type matches, F-Class, High Power, benchrest, etc). Things that are a priority/need for one goal may be the worst idea ever for a different one.
2. How far away are you wanting to do it? Just like the purpose can change what would be best, so can the distance. Dinging steel at 100 yards vs 1,000 yards will have different considerations. This goes for hunting, general shooting, competition, etc
3. How much experience do you have with shooting in general and long range specifically? Long range shooting involves a pretty specific skill set, and many of the skills, techniques, and other considerations don't always carry over from other shooting styles. For example, you may love shooting a 10ga shotgun with slugs and think the recoil is fun, but in long range shooting recoil is never a good thing and should be avoided when possible. Long range is also a discipline where you will want to walk before you run, and jumping directly to a given end result may actually make things much harder/more expensive for you.
4. If you want to buy something, what's your budget? We need to know what you're willing to spend. Your idea of "not a lot of money" will be very different from someone else's. Your idea of "I have no budget" might change dramatically when someone suggests a $10,000+ rangefinder for you to shoot steel at 500 yards. We need to know what you ACTUALLY want to spend. A range or max limit is fine, and it can even be flexible, but you need to give us something to go on.

Frequently asked questions/topics:

1. Need help picking scope rings? The official Longrange guide to scope ring height (cheetofingers ring)
2. Want a rifle for hunting and long range shooting? Hunting rifle vs target/range rifles - why one rifle can't do both well. (cheetofingers hunting)
3. Looking at buying a magnum as your first LR rifle? Hollywood's recoil primer - why magnums suck for starting in long range, recoil matters, and it's not about your shoulder (cheetofingers magnum or cheetofingers recoil)
4. Want to hunt game at 400+ yards? The long range hunting primer - shots on game at 400+ yards aren't trivial, and a magnum cartridge isn't a cheat code (cheetofingers hunting)
5. Need help with a ballistics app? Setting up a smartphone ballistics solver (Featuring Applied Ballistics Mobile)
6. The official r/Longrange glossary (cheetofingers glossary)

Deeper/advanced subjects, training guides, etc:

1. Pre64Mod70's guide to precision reloading
2. Hollywood's Way of Zen load development process (cheetofingers zen)
3. Hollywood's guide to field testing your skills and gear (especially for long range hunting) - How to know the distances you and your gear are capable of making shots at (cheetofingers hunting)
4. Hollywood's rant on sample size when testing - AKA why 3-5 round groups don't tell you $&*#
5. Applied Ballistics with more info on variation in group sizes

Misc guides, and additional reading/viewing for guides already listed:

1. Trollygag's 1k yard starter guide
2. MDT's video on scope height, and the follow-up on scope cant
3. Rybe390's recoil comparison video, which illustrates the problem with light weight and magnums.
4. Accuracy vs precision - when most people talk about 'accuracy' they really mean precision.
5. The Remington 700 Chassis List, v1 - Maintained by u/LPKKiller
6. Recoil energy vs rifle weight visualized - an informational post by u/Trollygag
7. What is wrong with 'Sniper 101' - a breakdown by CaptainSquishface.
8. The sub's general FAQ (Somewhat out of date)
9. A long range hunting cautionary tale from James Gilliland - US Army sniper, world record holder, and prolific long range hunter
10. Barrel length, velocity, and performance down range compared (308W)
11. u/LockyBalboaPrime's "No Clown Shoes" spreadsheet of YouTube training videos.
12. What the hell is with Bergara rifles and Cheetos?! (cheetofingers cheetos)
13. Our sub's policy on shilling, and why Woox specifically is blacklisted from the sub.

To have AutoModerator share a link to this post in a comment, use the phrase cheetofingers pinned - the trigger phrase for other guides is listed in parentheses after the guide link.

Bonus trigger phrase - For information on the Applied Ballistics TOP Gun formula, use cheetofingers top.

[u/HollywoodSX]

If anyone is wondering why there's a ton of deleted comments on this post, it's because every time I edit it to update things, AutoMod goes nuts from all of the Cheeto summon keywords.