Rimfire Barricade Matches and Range trends…
- Thread starter obx22
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300 yds to me is a decent distance for Rimfire especially here in the windy state of Texas.
Anything beyond 300 in rimfire PRS is just stupid.
Anything beyond 300 in rimfire PRS is just stupid.
I run my matches to max 310y for two reasons. Maybe three.
One - our range prefers that we use berms whenever possible.
Two - the switchy winds and three wind zones at the range make hits on even a 12” square plate at 307 yards tricky sometimes. I’m not putting out targets for the 1% that might get lucky at 400y.
Three - I want my matches to ensure that beginners and lower budget shooters make at least 30% hits. A 310-400y shot means a likely goose egg on a stage.
Okay, four - many of the less expensive setups and cannot dial much past 300y and I am not going to discourage anyone from a chance to participate and have fun willingly.
Eh, five - maybe if someone comes close to cleaning a match I’ll consider it. As a portion of a stage.
One - our range prefers that we use berms whenever possible.
Two - the switchy winds and three wind zones at the range make hits on even a 12” square plate at 307 yards tricky sometimes. I’m not putting out targets for the 1% that might get lucky at 400y.
Three - I want my matches to ensure that beginners and lower budget shooters make at least 30% hits. A 310-400y shot means a likely goose egg on a stage.
Okay, four - many of the less expensive setups and cannot dial much past 300y and I am not going to discourage anyone from a chance to participate and have fun willingly.
Eh, five - maybe if someone comes close to cleaning a match I’ll consider it. As a portion of a stage.
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It’s generally about the range length. Target size and prevailing wind conditions cover the rest. Until mid pack shooters stop using SK and lower ammo, past 250 they are lost. That means 60-70% of shooters in local matches. Generally their zero and dope are not precise either. No point.
We get a good amount of hits at 250-300y targets in matches. If it was just belly shooting at one distance, we’d have more people cleaning the 12” and 10” targets at those ranges. Even mid pack shooters using SK variants. It all depends on on the winds.
But longer stages are never just belly at one distance. There will usually be at least three major dialing changes and movement on such a stage, as most people cannot hold 7-10 mils of elevation accurately. I’d almost hazard to say that nobody can, accurately and repeatedly. Or should.
But longer stages are never just belly at one distance. There will usually be at least three major dialing changes and movement on such a stage, as most people cannot hold 7-10 mils of elevation accurately. I’d almost hazard to say that nobody can, accurately and repeatedly. Or should.
Why can’t you hold 7-10 mils? The reticle is there with it and all you have to do is hold over. Same as dialing. That comes down more to practice and becoming proficient and confident. It’s far from impossible to do and you will spend more time dialing than finding your hold and being rushed will cause more misses than holding.
To the original question, yeah some are and that 300-350 range seems to be a good area to test the shooter but not make it more luck than skill but it’s always a little fun to push the range. Everyone is shooting it so it’s fair enough to toss one in there at 400+. The MD can use a little larger target if he wanted to make it a little easier.
To the original question, yeah some are and that 300-350 range seems to be a good area to test the shooter but not make it more luck than skill but it’s always a little fun to push the range. Everyone is shooting it so it’s fair enough to toss one in there at 400+. The MD can use a little larger target if he wanted to make it a little easier.
The other thing is timing. Benchrest or belly flop is one thing, but if it’s your first prs stage or your last it makes one huge difference here depending on how much the wind increases.
Unless every stage has a long distance target, which some MDs have done timing can make or break your match at that distance.
Unless every stage has a long distance target, which some MDs have done timing can make or break your match at that distance.
I generally try to avoid holds over 6-7 mils, just because it gets a bit difficult to get behind the reticle and keep my spot. Razor Gen 3. I will sometimes dial the middle target and hold over or under as required for the others. Personally I see the long bombs from solid-ish positions as almost free points. The targets are so big that unless I make a stupid mistake, they are hard to miss. This is in the context of occasional 1 MOA targets at 100. A 16” target at 400 is comparatively enormous.
Absolutely, although 1 1/2” at 100 can definitely the same thing.
But comparatively group sizes and ammo account for smaller spreads than at distance. Longer time of flight etc.
Yeah the hold under and over is a good way and I do that a lot too in Rimfire matches. But given the need, a 10 mil hold is pretty easy especially with the 7D reticle.
Yeah a 16” at 400 is a good size but the wind at 400 versus 100 can be pretty rough. I like at least one long poke stage in a match. Just makes it fun and that’s why I shoot matches.
We shot a match in AZ this year with a new to me take on the long targets (228) and (320)
We shot basically a standard NRL match anywhere from 40 to 120 yards from Various barricades and positions then after that it was 6 stages at long range for bonus points, shoot anyway you like but each stage was 10 shots and 2 minutes, for example at 220 there was an 8in plate, 6in plate, 5 inch plate and you shoot 8 in plate for 10 points and can either continue on the 8 all shots or move on and get 15 points for the 6in plate and then 20 for the 5 in but if you missed you had to go back and re hit the last target, they had it all built into the tablet for scoring so you just mark the misses and each plate hit was seperate on the screen , everyone liked it and the whole group was spread out on each stage distance and it was alot of banter and cheers.
The ammo was a major factor, several of us were getting large SD spreads so one shot at 320 I hit the large medium and small then missed my next 3 shots by 20 inches, my Garmin showed those 3 at 80 fps higher so nothing I could do there, the SD was way more of an issue than wind.
We shot basically a standard NRL match anywhere from 40 to 120 yards from Various barricades and positions then after that it was 6 stages at long range for bonus points, shoot anyway you like but each stage was 10 shots and 2 minutes, for example at 220 there was an 8in plate, 6in plate, 5 inch plate and you shoot 8 in plate for 10 points and can either continue on the 8 all shots or move on and get 15 points for the 6in plate and then 20 for the 5 in but if you missed you had to go back and re hit the last target, they had it all built into the tablet for scoring so you just mark the misses and each plate hit was seperate on the screen , everyone liked it and the whole group was spread out on each stage distance and it was alot of banter and cheers.
The ammo was a major factor, several of us were getting large SD spreads so one shot at 320 I hit the large medium and small then missed my next 3 shots by 20 inches, my Garmin showed those 3 at 80 fps higher so nothing I could do there, the SD was way more of an issue than wind.
You got my holding ass on that hook! lol
Honestly, I’ve just recently started using split holds on large elevation jumps in a stage. That is after I picked up a scope with a reticle that was easier for me to see hold under holds with. The last match I went to had a few stages with major jumps and not enough time for dialing. It worked pretty well.
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