Long-Range Shooting Isn’t About Skill—It’s About Processes

I often enjoy the debate over what makes someone a good shooter. People assign plenty of metrics. Certain drills should be shot, scenarios completed, group sizes measured, and experiences weighed. In the end, though, we don't have a simple litmus test for what makes someone a good shooter.

After teaching in the military, sometimes averaging thousands of students per year, then teaching elite professionals while working in private military contracting, and now teaching civilians, law enforcement, and federal officers, I have developed a different way of looking at it. The systems make or break us.

A good shooter has the necessary knowledge and processes rehearsed deeply enough that his brain can focus its bandwidth on the variables in front of him rather than the basic tasks needed to operate the firearm. To me, that's what makes a good shooter.

Skill Is Only Part of the Equation

A good shooter shouldn't have to stop mid-engagement and ask himself how his equipment works. What is my bullet drop? How do I dial my turret? Should I dial or hold? Where is my parallax set? What magnification am I on? I'm not saying you need to memorize every piece of ballistic data. I am saying that if you have to remember how to dial or how to use your reticle to hold for bullet drop, you're already behind the power curve.

Beyond knowing how to use those tools is knowing when to use them. When is it more appropriate to use your reticle rather than dial? When is it more appropriate to dial your elevation and then use the reticle for wind? When should you stay at lower magnification rather than immediately turning the scope to maximum power?

One might argue that one technique is always better than another, and I'm not saying that argument is completely wrong. I'm saying different tools fit different times and places. Possessing multiple tools makes a shooter more capable. Having systems for when and how to use those tools keeps that shooter organized.

What Does a System Actually Look Like?

A good example is the process of addressing your rifle when preparing to make a shot at distance. This is a relatively basic engagement. Obviously, things can become much more complicated from here. The shooter mounts the rifle and identifies the target while still at minimum magnification. He then increases magnification enough to identify the target positively and communicates what he sees. Next, determine the range using a rangefinder or another ranging method. Confirm the target with your partner or spotter when applicable. Now decide how you're going to compensate for bullet drop. Will you dial the turret or use the reticle? Determine the wind and communicate your engagement method.

Once you've gathered that information, bring the magnification back to an appropriate shooting magnification rather than leaving it at whatever magnification was needed to identify the target. Then establish the shooter/spotter dialogue and engage. Make corrections and follow-up shots as necessary, follow through on the target, and complete the engagement. But the process isn't finished when you hit the target. That is one of the most important parts.

You Aren't Finished When You Hit the Target

Before leaving the position, you need to unaddress the rifle and optic. Return the elevation turret to zero. Return magnification to minimum. Return parallax to its appropriate starting position. Verify the rifle's condition and make sure it is loaded and ready for the next engagement. Then—and only then—pick up the rifle and move. That sounds incredibly simple on paper. On the range, I watch shooters violate this process all the time. This is one of the basic processes I teach in my five-day Precision Rifle One course. Obviously, we cover considerably more during those five days, but establishing these systems early becomes incredibly important as the training progresses. Here is why. Imagine a shooter finishes engaging a target at 600 yards and gets up to move. His elevation turret is still sitting at 3 mils. His magnification is still at 15 power. Then I suddenly give him an emergency target at 100 yards. The first problem is that he has difficulty even finding the target because his magnification is too high. He finally gets the target into his field of view, presses the trigger, and the bullet sails over it. Why? His rifle didn't fail. His shooting fundamentals didn't necessarily fail. His process failed. He never returned his turret to zero after the previous engagement. The rifle did exactly what he told it to do.

Systems Make Success

I see this constantly in precision rifle training. When my clients succeed or fail, it often has less to do with their ability to press a trigger and much more to do with whether they followed the systems put in front of them. That is why I repeat the phrase: Systems make success.

In Precision Rifle Two, we start finding reasons to break some of these rules. That's part of advanced training. Once you understand a system deeply enough, you can begin understanding when the situation requires you to deviate from it. But you can't intelligently break a rule you never learned.

Without those basic processes, shooters enter engagements without really knowing the status of their rifle. Your turret might still be dialed. Your magnification might be wrong. Your parallax might be somewhere completely inappropriate. Your magazine might not be where you think it is. You may have everything you need to make the shot and still fail because you didn't know the condition of your equipment. It's like showing up to work with your shoes untied and not knowing it.

A Good System Doesn't Even Have to Be Perfect

Something else I've noticed after years of working around professional shooters is that their systems don't necessarily have to be the exact systems I teach. I've watched extremely capable operators use processes that I wouldn't personally consider ideal. But they're systematic about them. They repeat those processes every time. Because of that, they're constantly aware of the condition of their rifle, optic, ammunition, and equipment. That consistency creates success.

Long-range shooting certainly involves physical skill. Trigger control matters. Recoil management matters. Position matters. Experience reading wind matters. But those skills aren't worth much if you forget something as basic as your rifle's condition.

You can be an incredible shooter capable of tiny groups at 100 yards. But if you're taking a shot at 600 yards with the data for 800 yards dialed into your scope, you're quite simply not going to make your hit.

The rifle doesn't care how skilled you are. Your processes are what keep your skills pointed in the right direction.

About the Author

Rob Orgel enlisted in the USMC in 2004 as an Infantry Rifleman (0311), serving with 3rd Bn 1st Marines in Iraq, including roles as a point man in OIF-3 & team leader in OIF-6. Later, he joined the 1st Marine Regiment, achieved the rank of Sergeant in 2010, & continued service in Afghanistan. Upon returning, he became a Combat Instructor at the School of Infantry West. Transitioning to private military contracting with Securing Our Country (SOC), he instructed at the American Embassy in Iraq. In 2018, Rob became Chief Instructor at GPS Defense Sniper School, revamping their program. Now, as owner & lead instructor at Emergency Response Tactical, he focuses on training novice to advanced shooters on the range over 300 days a year. Rob also hosts the Silencer Analytics channel on YouTube.