Author: nomadrifleman

Author Shepard Humphries is an extreme long range shooting instructor, founder of the Jackson Hole Shooting Experience, Nomad Rifleman and Shepard Security Solutions among other ventures.

Best long range shooting book?

What is the best long range shooting book?

Shepard first began reading about long range in the old classic book by John Plaster, The Ultimate Sniper. There have been many books since, and almost all have something good to offer.

We discovered that most had problems including the author’s desire to sound brilliant and “talk above” his audience and the inclusion of things that didn’t REALLY matter all that much.

We discovered that most covered basic details, some in a more understandable manner. Some, like Brian Litz books, serve as a great resource. Some were too technical, and some were a bit too simplistic.

We wanted to produce a book that combined all of the best, discarded things that were not as important and that was fun to read! We also wanted to address shooting from a target shooting sports perspective, not from that of a killer of humans who were born on the wrong team or other animals killed for their tastiness. Our book is not about sniping people or hunting animals.

Another issue we noticed is that all existing books primarily focused on mid and long range shooting, and that none did a good job focusing on the growing sport of Extreme Long Range (ELR) Shooting or Extended ELR shooting. One book with LER included in the title boasted shooting a 6.5 Creedmoor out to 1,000 yards. That is fun stuff, but it isn’t extreme long range.

What is “Extreme Long Range?”

Generally, mid-range shooting is considered 300 to 600 yards, 600 to 1,200 is considered long range, 1,200 yards to one mile is considered extreme long range (ELR), and one mile and beyond is considered Extended ELR. 

Some shooters have used the term “extended long range” interchangeably with “extreme.”

        • Mid-Range: 300 to 600 yards
        • Long-Range: 600 to 1,200 yards
        • Extreme Long Range (ELR): 1,200 yards to one mile
        • Extended ELR: Beyond 1,800 yards

Some serious long range shooters will disagree about the arbitrary distances we mention above, which is a good thing because it makes for excellent post-match arguments with these light-beer drinkers.

We borrowed from all of the good books, added our experience teaching thousands of people to shoot and hope we hit the mark. We hope that Extreme Long Range Shooting Fun is a worthwhile addition to your library and that you will rank it as the best long range shooting book that you own.

Best long range shooting book

 

 

Corrections Please!

Our book is coming along nicely. I am seeking 3 volunteers to help troubleshoot in a quick timeline.

I have been working on this book for years, and I really need “fresh eyes” and smart help catching things that are wrong. I don’t want the embarrassment of experienced shooters reading the book and finding obvious errors … Scott obviously wouldn’t have made any errors, but I bet I have!

Opportunity description:

I would like to send you our latest draft.

I will tuck a couple $20’s in the pages, one so you can send the marked-up book back and one so that you can buy lunch while celebrating participating. I will also send you a free copy of the final book when it is released, and you will notice that your name will be in the acknowledgments. 🙂

Within 10 days of receiving the book in mid Feb, will you commit to reading it and marking it up with a red pen, then ship it back to me within a week?

  • Math corrections, eg … did we say that 3moa at 300 yards is 6 inches?
  • Just plain wrong stuff
  • Does it all make sense how we wrote it? Did we talk about something in chapter 8 that we didn’t ever properly introduce earlier?
  • Don’t worry about grammar and spelling and commas etc … unless you feel like it. We will have a professional editor go over the final version.
  • Did I forget something to mention some aspect that is important?
  • Other stuff?

(I will give more details when I send the book.)

A very important part for me is that you please only commit if you will really follow through on time. If you won’t REALLY make the time to do this, I respect your busy life, please just don’t promise to do it and then leave me hanging… 🙂 If you would like to take advantage of this opportunity, please send an email to me ASAP. 🙂 Thanks!!! -Shepard

 

 

Best long range shooting bookBest Extreme Long Range Shooting Book

Leupold Impact Reticle ELR Spotting Scope Review

Buy the Leupold 120373 GR HD HERE.  See reviews of other spotting scopes HERE.

Leupold Impact Reticle ELR Spotting Scope Review by Scott Austin

Have you ever used a particular piece of equipment in your hunting/shooting repertoire that never seems to be as good as you would like, no matter how much you spend? For me that “hunk-o-hardware” has been the spotting scope. Whether it’s too heavy, too long, too bulky, not bright enough, clear enough, too shallow of an eye relief, it has never come close to meeting my expectations.

I’ve owned spotting scopes from low budget big box stores to top of the line European, with glass that was supposedly more rare than the Hope diamond, but nothing has even come close to what has been on my wish list – until now.

Enter the Leupold 120373 GR HD Impact Reticle Spotting Scope, Shadow Gray, 12-40 x 60mm. Every time I use it I am thoroughly impressed.

For more technical aspects check out Leupold’s website @ https://www.leupold.com/spotting-scopes/hd-spotting-scopes/gr-12-40x60mm-hd?selectedSku=120373

From a practical perspective there are a number of things that make this spotting scope really stand out.

Have you ever looked through a spotting scope at maximum magnification only to find you feel like you’re looking through a coffee stirring straw? This scope has the most generous eye relief (maximum 30mm) throughout its magnification range of any scope I have ever used. Particularly for those who wear glasses or sun glasses this becomes a huge asset.

Along with that generous eye relief it has a huge eyebox. Ok, what’s the eyebox? Believe it or not there are tons of threads discussing how to accurately define the term.  Simply put the eyebox is the lateral and axial space behind the eyepiece. All of this technical jargon basically means it’s very easy to acquire a full field of view, which ultimately means less fatigue when spotting. You really have to see it to believe it.

As far as size and weight go, it doesn’t get much better for a top tier scope. Leupold gets their subcompact design through what they call their Folded Light Path System – again, something beyond my technical paygrade to explain. At only 12.4” and 37oz performance is unparalleled.

For years I carried a straight 30x Leupold Golden Ring as my window mount spotter or for high country hunting, not anymore. That old scope served its purpose but now it collects dust in my loft.

OK so I’ve got a super compact, super clear, super bright, super easy-to-view-through spotting scope. Big Whoop! Anything else for me “optics boy”? I’ve saved the best for last.

Leupold has incorporated their Impact reticle which is situated in the lower half of the field of view. While a number of other companies have added reticles to their scopes (no big news here), this one provides both MOA and Mil-based dots and hashmarks which allows our instructors (http://nomadrifleman.com) to walk student’s bullets into their intended target regardless of which scope platform they are using. Talk about efficient!

This is revolutionary as no other company I know blends both systems.

Leupold Impact Reticle ELR Spotting Scope Review

This is the perfect scope for the long range shooter/spotter to work with. For those of us who like to hunt this allows us to reverse engineer some fancy math and actually be able to determine the size of animals (and their headgear). Some of you know what I’m talking about.

See https://www.tacticalclassroom.com/moa-reticle-formula-ranging-made-easy/ for more information on this.

Is there anything not to like? This really isn’t a huge complaint, but by virtue of its design (Folded Light Path system) it doesn’t lend itself easily to rotate the scope for measuring purposes. I simply overcome this by having a tripod head that has plenty of lateral adjustment – such as a ball head.

I’ve finally found the perfect spotting scope.  I hope that this Leupold Impact Reticle ELR Spotting Scope Review has helped you.  See up-to-date pricing here:  https://amzn.to/2DkXeAk 

 

Gunmen Attack Gersh Kuntzman

Why Did Gunmen Attack Gersh Kuntzman

Of course, when we say “Gunmen Attack Gersh Kuntzman” we are referring to an intellectual and mocking attack, not a physical attack.  In a June 2016 article, Gersh proclaimed that he tried shooting an AR15 to, “better understand the firepower of military-style assault weapons and, hopefully, explain their appeal to gun lovers.”  Had this been a true statement, and if he had tried out shooting an AR-15 and then wrote a piece saying he did not like it and honestly describing his experience, gunmen and women and children the world over would not have attacked him.

In fact however, Gersh walked into the experience not having an open mind, having already decided that only governments and their agents should have effective combat tools.  He wrote a “gun violence” propaganda piece that did not honestly describe his experience firing the AR-15.  In his article, he described the experience in such a dramatic and ridiculous way that shooting enthusiasts the world over simply had to mock him.  A series of memes soon made the rounds:

Gunmen Attack Gersh Kuntzman

Gunmen Attack Gersh Kuntzman

Aftermath

Oh my Gersh, even in his “make things right” post at the bottom of his piece, after being attacked by firearms enthusiasts, he was unable to be intellectually honest.

“UPDATE: Many people have objected to my use of the term “PTSD” in the above story. The use of this term was in no way meant to conflate my very temporary anxiety with the very real condition experienced by many of our brave men and women in uniform. I regret the inarticulate use of the term to describe my in-the-moment impression of the gun’s firepower, and apologize for it.” – Gersh Kuntzman

“In-the-moment impression.”  Are you kidding me?  Like most journalists, Gersh did not have his laptop on the firing line.  He left the firing range, went home or to his office or his favorite place to write.  He put digit to key to write a piece for one of the largest egalitarian publications in the world.  Those that read that paper are ignorant of many things, just as the readers of most mainstream “news” are ignorant of many things.  He thought out his words to best appeal to the emotions of gullible readers that had never had the pleasure of firing an AR-15 modern sporting rifle.

We don’t take political stances….

…. that is not the place of a business.  We do however point out propaganda at times.  “Military style assault weapons” is an absolutely subjective and misleading phrase, and he uses it to pound gun violence propaganda into his listener’s heads.  Gersh is not an intellectually honest reporter, and his article is a huge embarrassment to the NY Daily News.  it is unfortunate and unethical.  The Jackson Hole Shooting Experience invites Gersh to visit them for a complimentary shooting experience, and see if he agrees with all of their past clients.  It is likely that he will never open his mind to new ideas, however they would enjoy helping him learn more about firearms.  

Swarovski Z5 scope review by Nomad Rifleman Scott Austin

Swarovski Z5 scope review

by Nomad Rifleman Scott Austin

Swarovski Z5 scope review

Scott Austin is a life-long hunter, and owns Swarovski scopes.  He has been testing this scope, and is grateful to Swarovski and to JD_High Country Outfitters for the long-term loan of this scope.  Our testing has proven solid, it seems like a great scope and a great system!

Book Introduction by Shepard Humphries

This book is not just a 6.5 Creedmoor ELR Book, though we do have some 6.5 Creedmoor rifles that we enjoy!

Shepard’s Introduction:

There are only a few foundational elements of extreme long range shooting.

  1. Good gear
  2. Aim the tube in the correct direction
  3. Keep the tube aimed in the correct direction as the bullet exits. (ELR Book 6.5 Creedmoor)

Simple, right?  Well, yes, the basic elements are simple, but not easy.  There are a number of aspects within each element that really take some knowledge and practice to master ELR shooting.  We will examine each of these elements.  

There are many small horses that must come before many carts in the study of long range shooting.  This book will hop, skip and jump from tangent to metaphor to core principle to anecdote. We decided to put the “Shooting Fundamentals” section almost at the end of the book.  We suggest that the reader relaxes and simply absorb the material with a calm and fun attitude.  

Extreme Long Range Shooting Handbook ELR BookMany excellent books cover the complex depth of the science of long range shooting, so why did Scott and I decide to take on the monumental task of producing a book?  We were not satisfied with any of the books currently available as being appropriate for the person who places a high value on their time, wants “just the facts ma’am” and prefers an easy-going style based on helping readers deeply understand.  Many existing books achieve their author’s goal of making the author look brilliant. Three months after putting the book down though, little was memorable.

We suggest that you have some highlighters handy, perhaps your yellow highlight means that you liked a section, the green highlight is a reminder to read again, a pink highlight means either the section was poorly written or that you do not yet understand it.  Maybe a red circle means that we are flat-out wrong, and you will be kind enough to let us know.

This book’s first edition is designed for the beginner to intermediate level recreational shooter interested in shooting out to 1 mile and more.  It is not perfect for hunters or hired killers of men, and is imperfect for experienced PRS competitors or for 3-mile shooters.  

The Ultimate Guide to Extreme Long Range Shooting Fun
The Ultimate Guide to Extreme Long Range Shooting Fun

We are shooting instructors, some say among the best in the world.  We are not mathematicians, scientists, metallurgy experts, physics brainiacs or gunsmiths.  We are not top-level competitive shooters in benchrest, Palma, ELR or PRS. To be a scientist requires different skills and natural abilities than being a high level competitor.  The guy that designs basketballs typically does not also serve as an NBA player, team owner, coach and sports physiologist. If you are looking for members of your long range competitive shooting team, we are not right for the job.  If you want to learn as much as possible from a couple guys that explain things in a respectful and understandable way that share your passion for the sport, we invite you to join us for a few hours and revisit these pages as questions pop up as your shooting career continues.

In this 6.5 Creedmoor ELR Book, we will assume use of the 147g Hornady bullets at 2,650 fps as a theme unless stated otherwise.  We will introduce you to three fictional friends, Bill, Bob and Randy. We anticipate that you will identify with more than the other two. You will follow these characters throughout the book, and as your years of shooting pass by, you will likely meet many friends that remind you of one of them.

Author Shepard Humphries, 6.5 Creedmoor ELR Book
Author Shepard Humphries