300

In my rifle classes, I teach Marksmanship out to 300 yards as part of the fundamentals. Many students will ask, why 300 yards? There are several good reasons for this distance.

Accuracy
An 18 inch Target at 300 yards is 6 minutes of angle. The standard battle rifle with ball ammunition is about a 4 minute of angle combination. A shooter who can hit all shots at 300 would, therefore, be shooting with a margin of error of 2 minutes of angle or less.

Practical
The parking lot of a typical grocery store or Walmart is usually around 300 yards wide. So a shot from this distance is very possible.

Practical II
A Rifleman who can make a shot on a 300-yard target, can make vital Zone hits at 200 yards, and head shots at 100 yards. 98%+ of all military and police sniper shots are taken under 200 yards.

Zeroes and hold overs
The most common zeros for the AR-15 rifle are the 100-yard zero, the 200-yard (also 50) zero, and the 300-yard zero (also 36). Holdovers and hold unders for these zeroes are very easy to teach side by side.

Wind
Even a strong wind is only going to have a minimal effect on the bullet in flight out to 300 yards.

Enjoyment
This is the most important one. You should see the smiles on people's faces when they hit a steel target at 300 yards.

Skill
Very few casual shooters ever shoot past 100 yards. For some reason, this is the longest that most ranges go. When a shooter knows they can engage out to 300 yards, the 100-yard target seems much easier.

Why not?
The only reason to not shoot out to 300 yards is if you do not have that much space available. The 300-yard shot can be made with a standard AR-15, a standard AK-47, and even AR and AK pistols.