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SI0319Photo by SIG SAUER Inc. ON LONG ZERO IN RANGE SHOOTING BY CAROLEE ANITA BOYLES “THE LONG RANGE TREND IS MOVING INTO REAL SCIENCE. SHOOTERS ARE LOOKING AT PARALLAX AND FOCAL PLANE; THEY’RE GETTING INTO THE SCIENCE OF OPTICS.” DOUG GIFFORD Director of Operations Core Riﬂe Systems and GTO Guns & Sporting Goods, Ocala, Fla. F or some time now, a certain subset of target shooters has been interested in — even obsessed by — long-range shooting. Recently, however, this interest has become a passion for a larger number of shooters, leading to increased potential for sales of guns, ammo and accessories for the long-range market. “For the past 12 months or so, I’ve seen a huge move toward interest in long-range accuracy,” said Doug Gifford, director of operations at both Core Riﬂe Systems and TO uns & Sporting oods in Ocala, Fla. “Speciﬁcally, people are asking for .5 rendel and .5 Creedmoor. Those are very popular and are probably the fastest-moving modular sporting guns at the moment.” Gifford added guns chambered in . Lapua, . 00 Win. Mag. and . 0 Win. also continue to be very popular. “Those are the long-range accuracy bolt guns consumers are coming in looking for,” he asserted. Although the interest in long-range accuracy isn’t new, Gifford lends it’s been overshadowed by sales of ARs and other, similar guns. “There’s been too much smoke in the air from the frenzy of buying any black gun,’” he shared. “People were afraid the Second Amendment was in jeopardy, and they felt the need to get one in their gun cabinet — whether they had a particular interest in the 26 MARCH 2019 Subscribe to SI DIGITAL www.shootingindustry.comPage 25Page 27

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