  We show that finite-range alternatives to the standard long-range BKS pair
potential for silica might be used in molecular dynamics simulations. We study
two such models that can be efficiently simulated since no Ewald summation is
required. We first consider the Wolf method, where the Coulomb interactions are
truncated at a cutoff distance r_c such that the requirement of charge
neutrality holds. Various static and dynamic quantities are computed and
compared to results from simulations using Ewald summations. We find very good
agreement for r_c ~ 10 Angstroms. For lower values of r_c, the long--range
structure is affected which is accompanied by a slight acceleration of dynamic
properties. In a second approach, the Coulomb interaction is replaced by an
effective Yukawa interaction with two new parameters determined by a force
fitting procedure. The same trend as for the Wolf method is seen. However,
slightly larger cutoffs have to be used in order to obtain the same accuracy
with respect to static and dynamic quantities as for the Wolf method.
