The photos of a stock Smith & Wesson M&P 10 reaching out to 1,000 yards say it all...

It's almost canonical among long-range shooters: you can't really stretch out your precision at distance with anything other than a bolt gun.

Now there are those that are coming around to the idea that semi-auto AR-style gas guns can accurately reach out beyond 500 yards, but that's a die-hard minority. 

And simply forget about it for long-range hunting out West. No way, no sir.

That's...