TL/DR: Not telling you anything you don't already know, LaRue shoots lights out, shooting at 1000 made me giddy.

An ARF member invited me out to Quantico to shoot at 600 and 1000. I've basically not shot past 100 yards for 30+ years so I was very excited to get out and stretch a bit.  I've been shooting a new LaRue tOBR in .260 and decided to take that rifle to the range. It's a bit intimidating looking over a 49 position line at a full 1,000, but it couldn't have been a better day.  It started out overcast but it warmed up and became a full sun 90 degree day.  To start there was relatively NO wind, but the humidity was quite high for springtime.  The wind picked up and by the time we went to 1,000 it was a bit tricky coming in the range at the 8 o'clock at the 600 yard line and then again over the top of the berm at 1,000 at 9 o'clock.  There were only four of us shooting on the 600/1000, a dream since there are usually 20 shooters on the line, and others shooting two ranges over at the 300 yard line.

Here's a picture of the Quantico ranges:



I just can’t say enough positive about this experience, it was great!  I ran some range cards for the Prime 130gr based off my velocities.  After setting targets (steel, 4" clays and targets) we went to the 600 yard line, and with the luxury of parking right by the line, didn’t have too far to hump gear (note to self, I need one of those fancy shooting cart things).  We were shooting from the south to north with east to our right (obviously).  The wind was coming from 8 o’clock and while initially negligible, it was 10-15mph when we were at 1,000. Once we set up, I dialed in using my range card which had me at 12.75 MOA for elevation and we began at 0 for windage.  My shooting buddy was spotting and walking my shots in until I was busting the 8” steel and hitting the 4” clays we scattered on the berm!  I ended dialing back to 12.25MOA and 1.75MOA left and just continued dinging away.  I shot about 40rds from 600 and was just having a blast.  I wasn’t concerned about shooting groups but did shoot a 3-round and a 5-round group. I should have actually taken my time as they came out to 1.5MOA and I know this rifle can do better when I do my part.  My shooting buddies were firing a 22-250, and 308s and my guy had a sweet AI in .260 with an incredible piece of glass in a Schmidt & Bender with the Horus reticle.

After a couple of hours, we moved back to the 1,000 yard line and everything changed.  What SEEMED easy at 600 suddenly became hard at 1,000 due to the changing wind and heck, it’s a 1,000 friggin yards!  I set up and again was shooting the Prime. I dialed in the range card suggested 32MOA and left the windage at 1.75MOA left.  Again, my guy was spotting my shots and walked me in so that on the third shot I killed a 4” clay at 1,000!  I honestly wanted to stop right there, you know, what you do when you make that once in a lifetime pool shot at the bar. It was mic drop time, but I kept shooting. I was all around the steel and clays, mostly a bit high, but did not get any further hits. We finished up with me spotting for my guy as he also killed some clays and called it a day around 2ish.  We cleared the line and then went down to 1,000 to pick up the remaining clays and take down the targets.  We took the stuff back to the club house then is was a short drive back to the estate, all the time thinking, why didn’t I do this earlier???

Okay, some pictures:

A view from 1,000 yards. This is a very mature range, I'll have to look it up, but this range has been here for 50-75 years:



Even zoomed in it's a long way:



For our Marine friends, we were in Weapons Battalion territory:











The rules, they never change:



That guy Don is everywhere:



The pits:



Some pictures showing the elevation of the berms, something you just don't grasp at distance.



The grasses they are a waiving...



You can see we had steel and targets at 1,000 and set up the clays at about 1025y in the impact area:



Steel we were killing at 600.  The steel is 8" with a 6" orange center.



Getting set up at 600 and a view down the firing line:





The groups from 600, I'm disappointed I didn't take the time to fire tighter groupings as I (and the rifle) easily could have performed better:




 
We had a wildlife hold when we got to 1,000.  Found this guy hanging out and we decided to cool him down by dumping a gallon of water over him and letting him dig into the mud we created.  Wherever he came from it was a long walk, so we freshened him up a bit and got him ready for this walk to water.  We came back after firing and he was gone, most likely across the road and towards a marsh.



Setup at 1,000:



A view from 1,000. LaRue tOBR in .260, 22" barrel with a Vortex HD 5-20x50 shooting the Prime (Norma) 130gr OTM (Norma Golden Target bullet):



My shooting buddy with a super nice AI (the one with the removable barrels) and that S&B:



A nice pile of brass:





I think you can see some of the clays on the berm under 6; this is a picture from about 25 yards.



Former co-worker checking steel.  He was having some issues with one of his loads (308) that was clocking at over 2800FPS and not delivering consistent accuracy:



Again, not telling most of you anything you don't already know, but for us first timers, it was heaven.  

great read op,wish I had a 1000 yd range nearby

great read op,wish I had a 1000 yd range nearby .nice looking stick to. big fan of larue  products here

Sounds like you had a ball. Wouldn't you like to mow the range for them? People don't realize how the dense timber on either side of the range creates micro climates at different distances and other times creating funnels

Funny you mention mowing.  You have to do so many volunteer hours and I signed up to mow the shotgun range on Thursday.

It was interesting to learn more about the wind.  The clouds were tracking south west, the tree tops were blowing east, one range flag was blowing east and the second was moving north east.  There were winds coming onto the range at the 600 yard line at 8 o'clock while wind at the pits was 15 mph and blowing dead east. My shooting buddy broke a shot just to the right of a 4" clay and dead on in elevation. He took the next shoot in the time it took to cycle the bolt and do a bit of a hold and that shot was 12" right.  I guess that makes it a bit sporty, but it was still a blast.

ETA - Seeing you're in OK, you must be pretty used to wind.

Yeah wind and mirage here can make you into a monkeys uncle. I have rested across the hood of a vehicle and a gust of wind moved the vehicle so far the miss was outstanding. I shoot down a pipe line right away that kinda makes it's own climates.

Nice post, OP.  Great looking range, great looking rifles.

Interested to see how the tOBR in .260 shoots.  I've got a JP LRP 07 that I always hoot and holler about, it's an amazing rifle, truly amazing.

It's shooting better than me right now, I know it has more in it than I'm giving.  

Totally unscientific measurements of my 600y shots (Shooting buddy with the AI had the headshot and right string):



100y from a bench, I know I could do better, need some prone time:

Very good read. Nice looking rifle and great write up. Thanks for taking the time.

Can I ask how you are able to shoot at Quantico? You mentioned volunteer hours.

Quantico has a Shooting Club that allows a ratio of active military to civilians.  Even though I'm mil retired, I have to fit the ratio to get a slot.  Once you're in, you can use the pistol, rifle or shotgun ranges (on weekends) as long as no Marines are slated for that range.

Huh, that's pretty cool.

Nice write up!
I've been reading your other thread with interest.
I have a FDE 308 and a 260 barrel ordered and looking forward to using and reloading for it.
God knows when either of them will actually ship 

Cool.

That's the shooting team's gear hauler.

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??????????

Sorry for crapping in your thread

nevermind

Fun times, reaching out is a lot of fun

I remember my first time out to 1000 with my SR25. Definitely a rewarding feeling knowing you and your rifle are capable. Glad you had a good time..

any idea when this range was built?  Lots of history, bet that range could tell some stories!!
Semper Fidelis

I think the ranges were established during WWII, that's when the War Dept bought 50K acres to enlarge the base and do training.

Merry Christmas to you and the crew Mark! Now that I have some free time, I'll have to get the 260 back out for some low temp range time.

Here's one of my favorites from my childhood, the Johnny Seven OMA.  That, and my Man from U.N.C.L.E stuff was the best!

My wifes 1st time shooting the .260 today at 500, 800, and 1000. Did well at the 1st 2 distances and we only got 5-6 hits between the both of us at 1000 today. She did extremely well for her 1st time with the .260!

Very nice write up, shooting and rifle set up. What a great opportunity to shoot on that range as well.

Geez, I missed this post.  Just my opinion, but shooting at 500-600 yards gets to be almost routine with the tOBR. Maybe an occasional miss due to a bad wind call, but ringing that steel is easy. Stretch out to 800 and it's a bit tougher, but a whole different ball game at 1,000. Some days I can be killing the steel and clays, and some days I'm all around the steel but can't buy a hit on a 2/3rd ISPC.  I should probably put up a KD at 1,000 so I can track all the hits.