Based on the video that came out today, curious how everyone else feels they would have done on the Backfire challenge. What do you think your hit percentage would be? What gun/caliber would you have brought?
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First off, I donāt think I would ever bet that I could do a hundred of anything back to back without messing it up. Simple statistics is against you for that. Even shooting something at Short distances with a large target, all it takes is one Flinch and youāre done. I wouldnāt even bet that I could do 100 sit-ups, push-ups, driving to work without touching the yellow or white lines on the road without a mistake.
I would definitely score poorly on that challenge. Weāre very spoiled around these parts hunting almost exclusively out of box blinds either on the ground or elevated. Itās basically like shooting off of a bench the entire time. Shooting from positions Iām not comfortable with right now would definitely mess that up.
He did qualify his comfortable range though with under a particular conditions. He didnāt mention what those particular conventions were however. I can understand that. Again from a box blind itās like shooting from a bench and I know Iām comfortable at the 300 yards. After 300, my particular rifle/ cartridge/bullet combo is running out of steam so I donāt practice shooting beyond that anyway. But if you were to take me out with Jim and put me on that particular course of fire before I even started I would say my comfortable hunting range in those conditions of would be significantly less than 100 yards. After some practice and training, that would obviously change.
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6.5 CM, and with a heavier barrel contour. Would be able to see impacts easily. And even then, I wouldnāt boast 100%. I think out to 300 it might be 80-90%, but after that I could see it dropping off quickly. Here in the midwest I donāt have many opportunities to shoot (even at targets) at distances greater than that anyway. Honestly though that course still looks like a ton of fun; go get 100 jugs of water and set them out at different distances and see how you can do. On my own property the longest open area I have is about 200 yards (too many hills/trees). Maybe Iāll have to visit my family out in Western ND and see if theyāll let me set something like this up on their acreage for a weekend sometime.
Does 100/100 get me a free trip to see Jim? Nevermind - I canāt afford the ammoš¢
Would be a workout to place all those jugs and then go pick up all the plastic. That should be the reward- if you miss any you have to go pickup all the trash. If you hit 100, Jim will do it! Or his boys. I used to get mine to do stuff by saying good football practice. He caught on to that pretty quickly.
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Iām actually really impressed with the replies so far. My initial thought was that Iād be around 75%. I shoot out to 400 pretty regularly and feel like Iād do well up to that point. 400-600 is where Iād probably get crushed. Iād like to think I could do decent with some practice, but who knows. Most real life game shots have probably been 100-250 yards. 
@cchilds, totally agree about betting on 100% performance. I was highly dubious about anyone making 100 back to back shots, but I have to say, watching the video, I was really surprised how many times he missed. My intent is not to be harsh. In fact, I found it to be very eye opening and thought provoking. I already consider a 400 yard shot long, pushing my limits. I donāt get to shoot that far very often and this video made me think hard about how I would really do. Inside 200, I think Iād do fairly well, but from this, my guess is my hit % would drop off significantly from there.
Iām not sure but I want to find out! I just shot out to 635 for the first time the other day on a larger steel plate, and it was addicting hearing that steel.
But now I need to buy more ammo 
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For reference a milk jug is slightly larger than the X-ring in F-class (600yd); so unless you have a wall full of gold medals Iām going to call BS on hitting those even 90% of the time.
Even before counting a rifleās inherent accuracy or lack thereof just a 5mph crosswind will blow a .308 target round off target at 600. Heck, most āmatchā ammo will have enough velocity spread to cause you to miss at least some shots even if you did everything perfectly.
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Getting popular!
I have killed deer at 250, 487 and 496 yards with a 30.06 but those are the exceptions in all of my 40 years of hunting.
Every other deer harvested has been within 100 yds or less.
Just normal shooting on a bench at a long range venue is hard enough to hit consistently past 250 yds. Now get into field situations and so many more variables are introduced to the equation; even if you practiced for very long shots is it ethical?
It does depends on the situation.
I think with a 7MM PRC or 7MM Magnum you can improve your hits significantly out to 600yds but 100 out of 100 is probably left to a very few shooters.
I also think if you are hunting for real and you are on an animal at a distance between 100 and 600 yards you will probably be a little more relaxed than when you are shooting on camera as a challenger. This calm will increase your ability to make a good decision as to shoot or pass on the animal. Which is always your choice in the field. I have walked away from many an animal to avoid a bad shot.
Under pressure and being rushed never aligns well with accuracy.
For me personally if I can stalk the animal and get as close as possible to line up a shot then that is what returns the greatest reward.
CHEERS!
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So we all agree canāt be done basically. So what is the confidence level that is proven out by such a challenge that lets you shoot an animal at 600 yrds? Or said another way - what is the hit percentage that becomes your cutoff for range? 70-80-90 % as a cutoff to set your max range? 70% is 1 in 3 animals wounded or missed but not down. Your second shot is lower - maybe 50% or less unless running at you.
And your range max goes down as wind goes up so never a fixed number? How many of us practice with known wind to dial that in? I bet very very few. Right now for me 400-450 max for
perfect conditions though I could not give you my percentage of hits within that range. Most of us have a hard time finding a range that has those distances. The reality of this is so sobering.
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I shoot out to about 550 yards almost every time I take my rifle to the range and on a 10" gong I can make more than 75% of my shots. That number goes down if the wind is gusting. I donāt think I would do quite as well in Jimās test. One issue I had with the test is that you have to shoot at every target, but when you are hunting you have the option to pass on a shot. A couple years ago I passed on a 425 yard shot on a bedded bull elk. the biggest reason was that I couldnāt get a steady rest. A week later I filled a deer tag with a heart shot at 475 yards but I took that shot because it was a better situation, and I was confident I could make a good shot. I donāt know how you could modify the test to replicate being able to pass on a shot, but the decision of whether a shot is ethical has to do with a lot more than the distance.
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I think like most things you try to be good at - every time you get to your hunting spot you set the limits based on conditions. Today is a 175 yrd day due to wind or fog or whatever. The point is to not make the decision emotionally- in the heat of the moment. So much expense and time and effort to get to that spot in time and space. Somehow make the choice and promise and have the discipline to stick to it before it happens in real time.
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I used to hit black on paper and steel on pop-ups all day long and with 0-3 misses on 30-shot strings out to 300 yards with 5.56x45mm, but Iāve no experience regularly shooting out to 600 yards and have never shot on a range that was deeper than 300 yards. (Iāve hit 30/30 multiple times; 10/10s off-hand at 200 yards; never shot a 100-rd string.)
Also, Iām not particularly good at judging windā¦given that a gallon water jug (as used in Jimās āTrollā says he can back up his long range hunting claim video) is a about the width of a dollar bill, I doubt Iād do very well at 600 yards with even a little wind.
I could hit 100% within 200 yards
90-100% to 300
60-80% out to 350
a lot less beyond 400 unless the air was still or nearly so
(if the wind is heavy, gusting or swirling, Iām still good to about 275, but beyond =??)
I live in Georgia suburbia, and nowhere Iād shoot outdoors has ālong rangeā opportunities. My brotherās farm used to have longer shots over pasture, but now heās got the whole place in pineā¦
Coincidentally, last year I looked at wind drift on 12 different cartridges, but only out to 400 yards. Based on that, Iād probs go with match ammo in 7PRC if I could borrow & practice with someone elseās gun, a 6.8 Western if my own.
PS - 100 shots, or even 50? Iād want to shoot just a few at 100-200 yards, then go long and work my way back in. That many shots in a row is mentally & physically tiring even with periodic breaks, so I wouldnāt want the hardest shots at the end.
PPS - the comments section on that video, although not too surprising, made me a little sadā¦mostly snide remarks. too bad. I was reminded of TRās āman in the arenaā speech.
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That video was comical. Good on him for even trying.
But when he scoped homself on the firat shotā¦ i went and made some popcorn. 
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Zero chance I could pull it off.
I think I could hit 50-60% of the shots
Adding on - To answer the question hit percentage - my overall percentage I am guessing would be 25% - it might start out higher than that on close targets - once you get to 200 yards that percentage is going to continue to drop as the number of variable increase. Just breath control alone will make a huge difference.
It is true in reality each hunter has to assess the situation then make a decision about whether they believe they can ethically make the shot. That means sometimes passing on a shot. However, I think the point of the test was to give a realistic look at long range hunting and give careful consideration to what is ethical.
I think weāve all seen videos or heard talk about how this cartridge or that with high BC bullets is capable of making shots out to 700, 800+ yards on game. Iām not knocking the new cartridges at all, they are great. And yes, maybe they are capable, meaning enough retained energy to make a kill on a game animal at those distances, but is the shooter capable? Iām not.
I have appreciated the series and I think it underscores the fact that we all have to be realistic about our ability as a shooter. It has also prompted me to think about the difference between shooting at the range with a solid shooting platform on level ground at known distances, and shooting under field conditions. It has also encouraged me to practice more under field conditions to get better.
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I totally agree that the series has been a good reminder to be realistic about our own abilities and to beware of our own hubris. My point wasnāt trying to take away from that.
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