Need to Run a Precision Field .22 Rifle Match - Help?

Will be interested to see what happens here. A couple buddies and myself are planning on doing a similar thing as well.

I have 6 30% steel targets we are planning on using. Trying to find other targets that will show impacts well

Tag

Set up an NRL 22 Match. The preset target pack is only $249 and they provide all the clubs a Course of Fire each month....that's worth it. Fun stages, challenging stages, stages that let newcomers and young guns hit some targets while it challenges the top shooters to clean them.

https://nationalrifleleague.org/product/nrl22-rimfire-target-package/

Setting up an NRL 22 match to get things started here in AR as well. Hope to see it grow from there!

Ben

I know we have been looking at some plywood to build a makeshift roof, some downed trees and logs to make shooting difficult. Then just some shoot holes and restricted areas to make things interesting. Thinking targets from 30 -200 yards would be more than enough.

Hi Lash

We are restricted to paper targets, biodegradable targets (bermed) and set distance steel in a containment box. This gives us the ability to shoot 25/50/100 and 125 (berm and steel containment). This limits our ability to shoot steel so we sub with paper targets. This is an example of one of our 50 yard stages below. We try to mix in shooting holes and barricades when possible and force magazine changes in strings of fire as well.

• 50 yd - Range B - Max Score 255 points - (280 with bonus)
  • Standing - Max Score 50 points
    • Standing Five Shots ( 6" bull target for score, we use typical off the shelf shoot-n-see 6")
      • Standing unsupported
  • Target Transition - Max Score 100 points
    • 10 targets (RT-047 Target)
      • One shot per target
        • First 5 targets bench (block barricade)
          • Left to Right
        • Last 5 targets prone
          • Right to Left
  • Know Your Limits - Max Score 105 points
    • 5 stage KYL targets (Printed target version)
      • Must break outer ring
        • 2 points per target
          • A miss removes points for entire KYL stage
          • Prone or Bench
• Bonus “Sucker Stage” - Gamble 25 point bonus against all points for stage (1 shot)
  • DumDum sucker @ 125 yards

These can be timed individual stages, or an overall timed complete stage. Where you insert mag changes, positional transitions and barricade impediments can be adjusted to about anywhere in the stage. We have also included distance transitions between targets such as 5 shot at paper at 50 yard, followed by steel shoot at 125 yard.

Hope this helps give an idea of how we have worked around club rules and potentially get you a good start that maybe some participants may invest in the NRL22 target package in the future.

I would suggest taking into consideration the average skillset of your intended participants. One thing I noticed in our first local match was we started with 24-25 shooters and a number of new shooters dropped out basically out of frustration not knowing the ins and outs of positional shooting and adding into the the mix not being prepared with thier chosen ammo dope and windage calls. 22Lr at 200-300 yards is a challange even for experienced shooters if the wind is a in play even with 2-3 MOA targets. It made it a long slow day even with guys dropping out midway through 6 stages.
We had a KYL at 50 yards, a spinner at 74 and a 2 MOA standards stage also at 50. Props included a barricade, a barrel and tank trap.

About 5 months ago our local NRL22 started up. It's fun and not too hard. One thing I see happen is new people come out that aren't match level shooters, more so regular guys with run of the mil rifles an scopes. Then there's the hard core shooters with expensive rifles, scopes, etc. Yeah, it is a pattern that those normal guys don't show up again. In a way I don't blame them. So I suggest a novice class and a expert class. You'll need to figure out how to work all the details but if someone can win a stage then they should be put in the expert class the next match. You could also put an ammo cost restriction to even things up, like no more than $10 a box a 50.

We have additional stages during and along with the standard NRL22 official match which works great. I really wish we could shoot farther than 100Y!!!!

Use the same steel you use for centerfire at the longer distances for a 22rf. Paint them white, you'll see impacts and still hear them.
I'll tell you some of the funnest targets are different shapes and sizes of light weight steel that hang from fire hose from a simple rebar frame!!! Very reactive and always bring a smile when hit.

Paper stages IMO should be kept to a minimum, I think the NRL has a good balance going, like one per match. I suggest doing a paper stage right off because people can use it to sight in if necessary. This really helps new shooters when they have a good zero.

Splitting playing cards and match sticks at 25Y are a lot of fun too.

These things are cheap and simple for rimfire practice and you can always see them spin vs a large steel plate. No fancy target hangers or anything, just stick them in the dirt. Minimum labor involved.

For 22 I like the reactive stuff. I could shoot these and bottles full of water all day. Sploding water bottles are a one hit and done thing though so likely not what you want to do with a bunch of shooters.

Midway and the other online retailers have them but they are always on the shelves at academy or walmart around these parts. Or at least they used to be last time I went into one of those stores. I think they were 10-15 bucks or so? Self healing is how they are often described.

https://www.midwayusa.com/ballistic-polymer-targets/br?cid=19456

Should have researched more before posting originally- Looks more like $15-20 nowadays instead of 10-15

Get steel for the far targets, preferabley with some kind of flasher system. It’s hard to ID hits at that distance. The plastic self healing targets can also be a challenge to id hits at a distance. I recommend trying out the targets before you shoot with the same equipment the spotters will have.

What part of Florida would this take place in and is it open to anyone?

Great, thank you very much.

spife7980 said:

Midway and the other online retailers have them but they are always on the shelves at academy or walmart around these parts. Or at least they used to be last time I went into one of those stores. I think they were 10-15 bucks or so? Self healing is how they are often described.

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Not to be an ass but a friend bought a similar target and eventually the frame got hit and "bent" right where the target rides on it. That caused the target to get stuck, more like hung up so it was at an angle and not showing the full side of it. It's no big deal when you are plinking but could be a PITA during a match if that happened.

lash said:

Steve, I posted my reply before I saw yours. More good input. This thread has been very productive so far. Only problem now is that I need to get going right away so that people have a chance to plan and practice.

As to having two different classes, I will take that on advisement based upon what I see at this 1st match. While I do want it to be challenging for the seasoned shooters. it is always the intent to attract new and newer shooters and keep them coming back. If they are not having fun along with their personal frustration, then we won't see them again. And that is not the spirit nor intent of this match.

I have always started my matches with a few short and quick paper stages. Like you said, it helps to ensure that people are dialed in and on target. Plus, done right, they can be fun by themselves.

As a slight aside, while practicing with my friend and our .260s last weekend, I came up with an interesting way to combine barricade and paper that I'm going to try out in my next regular match. Mount a rooftop simulator barricade and fire three rounds at steel targets at 200 and 300 yards respectively, alternating 200-300-200. Drop mag and dismount from roof and run to range bench (about 15 ft). Sit down and engage my special "Shapes" target and shoot the five shapes you can find that match the shape called out at the beginning of your stage. The "Shapes" target has about 8 different geometric shapes, roughly 1", in black, aligned in rows and all mixed up. You have to find your shape mixed about on the target and shoot all 5 of them in the remaining time after your rooftop shooting. Total Time = 2.5 minutes. It's sort-of like a macro-micro stage.

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Well that's a nice public service you are doing for your shooting community!

That would be a fun stage, good for learning holdovers going back and forth from 2 to 3 hundred!

Wish you and the new club all the best of times.

Can I ask why you say you make zero dollars from this and have to pay for targets yourself? I would seriously consider charging a fee for participation if you arent. We run action pistol matches and run an NRL22 event and charge $20 for the action pistol and at present $15 for the NRL matches. The fees arent about anyone getting rich but are to help out improving the matches. I receive little if any complaints on price.

Also to clarify when I say "anyone getting rich" 100% of the funds are used to support the matches themselves so no ones getting anything.

It's starting to look a lot like Brit-ain...

-Nate

Thanks for the explanation. That makes sense depending on what your pool of shooters can bear cost wise. I know clubs are all over the place with cash resources but while we are self sustaining now, we lobbied the board of directors to fund our initial purchase of the nrl22 steel target set.

I am the match director for the match that Boxerglocker spoke of above. It was a hoot to set up and play that day. I came to the club board with a presentation of what I felt the match should look like, what we hoped to accomplish, and a budget to get an entire discipline started. I have been a USPSA, and 3GN match director, and recently got bit by the PRS bug. Unfortunatley in our area there are no long range clubs, closest club to me is about 150+ Miles. Therefore after shooting a handful of PRS matches, I wanted something we could use for practice for the big matches. Here is a break out of what we did, and how we planned it out.

We decided to go with an outlaw set of rules. We basically use PRS rules that have been scaled to .22. I looked at the NRL22 rules, and match desings, and decided we did not want to use any paper targets. We went all steel. We purchased a few target sets from d-m targets . We bought (2) 9 Target Sets, (2) KYL Racks, and (2) Spinners.

We run (3) stages simultaneously. When everyone is done shooting said stage, they rotate to the next stage. When the (3) squads have all shot the 3-stages, we take a short break, and pull the props from the shooting line, and add in new props, and then shoot the same targets in a different order, or orientation. So the match will be a total of (6) stages. This way, there is no reason to reset targets, or paste/change targets. It keeps things moving, and there are no slowdowns.

At the first match, we had a set of tires, a barrel, a barricade, a shooting tree, a tank trap, and a prone stage. Boxerglocker is right, we started with 21 shooters, and (2) dropped before we done. (1) because he was just having a bad day, and knew he was not even place in the top 15 (it was a ego shot). He is a master class USPSA and 3Gun guy, and was humbled. He also did not have the right equipment for the job. (3x9 scope with a duplex reticlue, and nothing for hold-overs). The other guy quit before a shot was even fired once he saw the targets, and what we needed to do.

The targets were set from a close distance of 50-yards out to 210 with 2" plates to 6" plates. We typcially had 3-4 targets per stage, with each target being shot 3-4 times.

The stages are pre-written in a "generic" template and laminated. Then the match director can simply choose the "tire" stage or the "baricade" stage and write in, or cross out the information not needed on the sheet with a dry erase marker. Then a quick diagram can be drawn at the bottom and I am a nice guy and list the ranges.

Our entire discipline (Targets, Stands, Hangers, Spinners, Kyl's, spotting scopes, and tri-pods, paperwork paint etc) fits in this:
We charge $20 per shooter, and those proceeds go back to the club. If we wanted to, we could make it a travelling road show as everything is in the rolling box.

I wanted to make this discipline at our club a K.I.S.S system. (Keep It Simple Stupid). I want anyone that wants to run a match to be able to show up 1-hour before the match, and have 1-2 buddies help him, and get everything set up and ready to go. We pull the roller out, open it up and lay everything on the ground. We choose what targets we want to use, and what props. We set up everything, and then place colored plastic flags at the base of the target stand. ( We just changed to colored tennis balls that can slide over the target stand bases) to designate what "target pack" will be shot on each stage. At the top of the stage description is written (Green Flags, or Orange Flags, etc). That way we can place the targets across the entire width of the bay, and force transitions. The match is set-up in practiscore, and we take ententry fees, shoot tiny targets, and then pick it up at the end.

We currently have (6) divisions:
Bolt Action Optics 0-9 power
Bolt Action Optics 9+ power
Bolt Action Irons (Not recommended)
Auto Optics 0-9 Power
Auto Optics 9+ power
Auto Irons (Not Recommended)

This way it allows bolt guns to be scored different from autos (10-22's, and AR clones)

We wanted this to be a "PRS Lite", to let people see if they want to jump into big bore. This way you don't have to drop Thousands on gear just to see if you like the sport. We have plenty of guys to lend equipment, and "try" stuff out. It looks like it is going to be a hit. Just about everyone has a .22 to start with, from Varmint guys, to silhouette, benchrest, to 3Gun, It seems to appeal to everyone. We also make it family friendly, so Dad's and Mom's can come and shoot with their kids to get the fundamentals down and grow the shooting sports.

This is what we do in Upper corner of the country (10-minutes south of the border in Washington), and we plan on running a charity match in October to benefit toy's for tots. Like I said above, I have run a charity 3-Gun event for the last 7-years, bringing in just over $18K last year alone. 3Gun burnt me out, so I wanted to try something new. Hope this helps with ideas. Any other questions let me know, and I will be happy to explain more if I can.

Matt

Matt great work. We have tried to do something similar at our range with keeping all our targets in a plastic chest. We have some more severe limitations about target placement than you do based on our location. We are right in the middle of a residential area. Because of this we cant just place steel like that. We have to run our steel in mobile enclosures we built with rubber backstops to trap rounds and wood surrounds to block glancing blows and keep everything on range.

Running only steel is a great move. We run some paper just so we can maintain alignment with NRL but the paper stages definitely slow things down.

How has the representation in your divisions been? Most of us run pretty similar rigs so i dont have much perspective on the necessity of classes when the amount of shooters grows.

So far we've run three events, and have had low turnout. However were new, and weathers been horrible (hailed at our last one). However I believe it will pick up when summer gets here.

We are located a few hours south of you. I assume you guys are running at custer?

I do have a small complaint that comes to mind. It involves the hanger targets in the NRL package. Two things, the hanger post is directly above and under the steel target, so sometimes a hit is scored even though the post was struck and the opposite happens as well. Of course the mistake happens when the paint is worn off from accumulated hits.

The next is the smaller steel targets on the hanger itself get's hung up all cock eyed which means the stage must be stopped and a reshoot done. This slows things down and can be a PITA if the same thing happens over and over. I really think spinners or steel hung from straps are a better way to go.

bkcorwin said:

Matt great work. We have tried to do something similar at our range with keeping all our targets in a plastic chest. We have some more severe limitations about target placement than you do based on our location. We are right in the middle of a residential area. Because of this we cant just place steel like that. We have to run our steel in mobile enclosures we built with rubber backstops to trap rounds and wood surrounds to block glancing blows and keep everything on range.

Running only steel is a great move. We run some paper just so we can maintain alignment with NRL but the paper stages definitely slow things down.

How has the representation in your divisions been? Most of us run pretty similar rigs so i dont have much perspective on the necessity of classes when the amount of shooters grows.

So far we've run three events, and have had low turnout. However were new, and weathers been horrible (hailed at our last one). However I believe it will pick up when summer gets here.

We are located a few hours south of you. I assume you guys are running at custer?

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bkcorwin where are you running matches?

steve123 said:

I do have a small complaint that comes to mind. It involves the hanger targets in the NRL package. Two things, the hanger post is directly above and under the steel target, so sometimes a hit is scored even though the post was struck and the opposite happens as well. Of course the mistake happens when the paint is worn off from accumulated hits.

The next is the smaller steel targets on the hanger itself get's hung up all cock eyed which means the stage must be stopped and a reshoot done. This slows things down and can be a PITA if the same thing happens over and over. I really think spinners or steel hung from straps are a better way to go.

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Can confirm we too have seen the issue of impacts on their hangers. We have however moved to a hanging targets off a wooden dowel (no breakage yet). We've been using pieces of thhn wire to hang the targets but found that they would twist. I'm in the process of bending up some more permanent hanger hooks out of 1/4" round bar I have laying around. Just need to dig my torch out.

Boxerglocker said:

bkcorwin where are you running matches?

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We are running at Interlake Sporting Association. I am on the board of directors there and also run the action shooting program. We run ASI matches and have moved the NRL 22 under the umbrellas of our action shooting special interest group (SIG).

Also one last comment. We purchased one of these konus spotting scopes and have been happy with the performance relative to cost.

https://www.amazon.com/Konus-20x-60...19082441&sr=8-3&keywords=konus+spotting+scope

Its not as nice as the stuff people buy for personal use, but for a match operating on a budget its seemed great so far.

bkcorwin said:

We are running at Interlake Sporting Association. I am on the board of directors there and also run the action shooting program. We run ASI matches and have moved the NRL 22 under the umbrellas of our action shooting special interest group (SIG).

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PM sent

Those are the exact spotters that the club purchased for our matches. We got three of them with tripods, basically 1 for each stage. Granted many of our shooters bring their own as well. I use a pair of 15X Vortex Vultures in a tripod mount.

And yes, we are at custer. You will need to come up and play some time!!! 4th Sunday of each month.

Lash,

I have never shot a positional match on paper. But shot positional practice using paper. Also, with a 22, keeping it close about 100 and under is good because it is easy to know where things hit. Side note, Jake’s targets are a nice value; I keep them in a small tripod bag.

Anyway, some of my personal favorites are dot drills. These can be colored, numbered or shaped. You call out the corse of fire, hits = +, missed = 0 and a wrong color, shape or number = -.

Running the time shorter than realistic, is for some real fun. It should be easy to make multiple stages out of this classic drill.

Off hand works, but most hate it.. even with a 22.

Anyway, not much help here, but keep it fun, get laughs because that is what is making all of of us love this crazy 22 positional thing.

Kudos for to you for stepping up!

I am a little late to this discussion but some feedback based on the Rimfire Challenge at Peacemaker last year: The polymer reactive tgts can be a PITA. Sometimes the bullet just passes thru and nothing happens and since there is no sound like with steel it ends up being scored a miss. My squad had at least 3 of us out of 8 who had issues on that stage. Include a long distance stage with shots out past 200-250y and a "Improvised" shooting position such as off of a log or a large rock or other obstacle. Define a shooting box and let the shooter solve the problem as opposed to telling them how to shoot sitting, kneeling, prone, etc. Make them adjust from closer <100y out to longer >250y in the same stage. It is a test of knowing their ballistics and tables and having the ability to dial or hold over for elevation. Give them a 6x5 challenge tgt at 50y and use the results as one stage. Let them shoot it prone from bags or bipod or from bench off bags. Score it however works for you. Perhaps a bonus score for the shooter with the smallest group. It is always good to have each stage have some element of time in it. A time limit and ammo limit to complete. Lots of PRS matches use a 2-min limit and 15 or 20 rd limit. This keeps things moving. Would not work on a 6x5 stage where a limit of about 15 min is more appropriate. For long range stages, steel plates with lighted indicators is the cat's meow. It makes scoring hits simple and fast. Spotters are also a must for the long shots. We used a 65x Vortex spotter scope and it was awesome. Don't publish the distances or just tell them the approximate distances +/-5-10y. This will reward those who are prepared and detailed enough to range each tgt in advance of shooting. Include some stages that involve off-hand shooting and moving, reloading on the move. i.e. Jungle walk, IPSC style. One stage gave the shooter the choice of off-hand at 25y for 2prs ea or taking rest off of the barricade for 1 pt each. Decide how confident are you of your off-hand skills. If you have some silhouette tgts like the pigs, chickens and rams, those are fun and if you place them out further than normal and let them shoot off of an improvised barrier, it is fun and a challenge. i.e. Prone on a door inclined 45 degrees from horizontal, shooting thru a portal or window or whatever. Shooting from inside a vehicle (but this can be rough on lefties). The trick is to blend fast n close stages and ELR stages and some with judgment or risk elements in them. If distances are limited, shrink the tgts.

Irish

I welded up these rebar steel 22 targets in an hour last night. Maybe use something like this if you have someone who can weld and cut....
I'm planning on running them into the ground about 2feet because they will be in a sand quarry..... make them shorter if using in harder ground.