The Rangefinder Revolution

By Craig Boddington

Believe it or not, there was a time not so long ago when knowledge of distance was the primary limitation to long-­range field shooting. In fact, for the first 30 years of my hunting career, we judged distance by guesstimation. NATO and many of the world’s militaries standardized the mil-­dot system in the 1950s, which can be used to calculate estimated range, and some sporting reticles can be used through making associated size comparisons. Mostly, however, we used the “football field” method. Most American hunters know what a 100-­yard football field looks like, so it was easy to try and guess how many football fields fit between you and the target? This was never precise, but it had one huge benefit. Unless you bothered to pace it off, a shot was exactly as far as you said it was, and nobody could question you. So, when I read older accounts of 500-­yard shots (many from the pre-scope era), I factor in blue sky and accept that …Read the Rest

Source:: Guns and Ammo