Been watching an otherwise forgettable documentary on the Boer War in 1900 but they discuss the Boer soldiers armament and shooting expertise.

Using the new Mauser rifles, the Boers "demonstrated a consistent accuracy at 1200 yards" and were able to stifle the British with this accurate fire and careful use of entrenchments.

Anybody shoot with iron sights these days at anything close to that range?

I'm no great **** but I used to hit cow patties at 400 plus yards with flip up iron sights on a 30-40 krag pretty well.

cbr said:

---

****

---

Quote:

---

cow patties

---

checks out

When I got my Garand, we (the guy that did my transfer for me and I) cruised out to the desert to play with it and some of his rather interesting toys.

After a few walking in shots (mind you, I had never shot a Garand before), and some sight adjustment, i was hitting man-sized targets at 800-900 yards. Took me about 2 en blocs to get it walked in, after that it was surprisingly easy. Granted, I was shooting minute of man, not minute of angle, but I remember being surprised at how well peep sites could do at longer ranges.

And hitting someone with a bullet or bullet fragment will defintely slow them down or cause a few others to completely stop and render aid.

cbr said:

---

I'm no great **** but I used to hit cow patties at 400 plus yards with flip up iron sights on a 30-40 krag pretty well.

---

30-40 Altagracia was one of the first guns I shot as a kid. The thing kicked like a mule.

2240 yards....open sights

World Record Attempt Open Sight Shot 2240 yards Ernest Jimenez Unmodified K31 Swiss - 7.555mm Swiss

schmellba99 said:

---

When I got my Garand, we (the guy that did my transfer for me and I) cruised out to the desert to play with it and some of his rather interesting toys.

After a few walking in shots (mind you, I had never shot a Garand before), and some sight adjustment, i was hitting man-sized targets at 800-900 yards. Took me about 2 en blocs to get it walked in, after that it was surprisingly easy. Granted, I was shooting minute of man, not minute of angle, but I remember being surprised at how well peep sites could do at longer ranges.

---

This is probably a pretty good description of what was actually going on. At 1200 yards spotting a man sized target laying down or behind cover isn't easy. But if you have someone with binoculars or a telescope to walk you onto target then it because a drill of holding the same point of aim.

Billy Dixon made a 1 mile shot at the battle of Adobe Walls in 1874, right down the road a few miles...

Also need to take into account the tactics used at the time. Maneuver units were still packed tightly together. If they had their range dialed in they were bound to hit something.

If you have time to walk a shot in, without the intended target hauling ass, hitting a man sized target isn't difficult at any range w/in reason).

Now if you have to hit him on the first shot, completely different especially if you don't have the exact range.

I'm not being a badass, hell, I missed a deer at 425 with a scoped rifle that I've shot to 600 yards regularly.

No way I could see cow **** looking down rifle sights at 400 yards

SunrayAg said:

---

Billy Dixon made a 1 mile shot at the battle of Adobe Walls in 1874, right down the road a few miles...

---

And is on record as saying it was a very lucky shot.

Luck helped by skill, but still a lucky shot.....

US Marine riflemen broke up enemy attack formations at distances that had previously been considered perfectly safe by the Germans. Entire infantry attacks were disrupted and halted by accurate Marine rifle fire well beyond what had occurred prior to the arrival of Americans in Europe.

The Germans learned quickly not to be visible to American riflemen. Add in the whole issue of the Germans considering the use of shotguns to be "war crimes" and American use of machine guns in indirect fire and you get the picture the Germans didn't like us much.

1000 yards ain't that far once you have done it a few times. I take students with carbines to 600 just to demonstrate both they andvthe rifle are capable of it.

I live down the road from a 1000 yd range. I can usually hit the man sized steel targets with 2-3 sighting shots with my Garand. Like Puryear said...after you do it a bit it's not THAT far. Still takes a bit of concentration but is easier than you'd think.

I used to bullseye womp rats in my T-16 back home. They're not much bigger than two meters.

BenderRodriguez said:

---

SunrayAg said:

---

Billy Dixon made a 1 mile shot at the battle of Adobe Walls in 1874, right down the road a few miles...

---

And is on record as saying it was a very lucky shot.

Luck helped by skill, but still a lucky shot.....

---

Yep. Took him 3 shots, with a borrowed .50-90. Shot was something like 1540 yards, he was literally lobbing rounds in like artillery and finally knocked an indian off his horse. Didn't kill him, but it was enough for the comanches and kiowa's to say "welp, I'm out".

I seem to recall that it was the medicine man, who had promised them success, who got unhorsed.

So much for his medicine.

They were already thinking about moving on, the shot sealed it.

The threshold of the doorway where Dixon took his shot was still there in the early 90's when I was able to visit the site with the property owner at the time.

To the east about a mile out is a short bluff. The vertical side faces Adobe Walls.

On top is the perfect spot to have a commanding view of the area, but as a shooter I looked at that vertical face as the perfect backstop for shooting practice, the exposed dirt makes seeing hits easy.

I will bet you dollars to donuts they used that as a practice target and had a good feel for elevation and wind. An Indian on top would have been a much simpler shot if you already had the dope to hit the bluff just below him.

The Panhandle-Plains Museum sometimes organizes trips to the Adobe Walls site. I couldn't make the last one, hope to make one in the future.

Bringing this thread back from the dead, to link my thread on the Panhandle Board. The Adobe Walls 2nd Battle site is open to the public, first battle site is not. We went there this Saturday to have a look.

https://texags.com/forums/39/topics/3290730

9 Hole Reviews on YouTube is a great channel to see how rifles from different eras perform. They shoot each one from 100-500 yards, then some they'll stretch out to 1,110. Channel is based out of the Houston area so some of you might recognize the ranges. Oldest rifles I remember them shooting are the Martini Henry Mk 1/2 and Winchester 1895.

The Last Cobra Commander said:

---

Also need to take into account the tactics used at the time. Maneuver units were still packed tightly together. If they had their range dialed in they were bound to hit something.

---

Also remember that blending in to your surroundings back in 1899 wasnt a thing - usually units wore colors that stood out relatively easily, thus making for good targets.