Not surprised. I run a 700 with a remage barrel, in a Bravo. I can tell by the way they look at it, "usually" works out in my favor. Most can't take getting beat by cheap equipment, especially if it's 223.
I have the expensive toys now.... 20 yrs ago I disnt even competing other shooting disciplines.... I find it more fun to win with a sleeper than the cool toys! I love my toys and have worked for them so I'm still going to play with them though...
This is supposed to be fun
Were they actually serious, or were they trying to include you via ribbing you a bit?
Most of the time when I see something like that, it’s just playful ribbing and no one actually cares what you’re running.
Nope MOA shooters are tape measure carrying, inches and yards, knuckle dragging, commie democrat socialists!
and they all shoot better than me ??
They were serious and it caused some issues but I have big shoulders so I expressed my opinion of them and left to go to another match location where the people were nicer and finished 2nd. I shoot some local stuff but no more PRS for me. I don't hold a very high opinion of them so no need to be around them. There still are some good matches at the local level with friends that will challenge me so I enjoy those.
And for the record, MOA and 9mm is where it's at. I use to be the MIL and 45 guy but a pair of skinny jeans woke me at 53 years old!!!
And for the record, MOA and 9mm is where it's at. I use to be the MIL and 45 guy but a pair of skinny jeans woke me at 53 years old!!!
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For a noob in Long range shooting who also actively race cars, I see all your points very well and it gives me the info what people feel in the match. I personally love competing both with myself and peers. Pre race anxiety can be tamed by going through your routine with visual rehearsal and block out the rest of the world. I love that feeling of readiness and give my best no matter what happens
I feel like the only pressure in a match is the pressure people put on themselves. That's how it is for me. It gets easier each time with routines set in place and knowing the practice will keep you on point.
I went to a PRS match this morning, but not to shoot. Sadly, I found out about it yesterday, no spots left. I went anyway to drop off a rifle with one of the competitors/shooters for work at their shop. Everyone I spoke with was actually pretty chill, friendly. The squads I witnessed weren't engaging in any dickish behavior or jackassery. It reminded me a lot of when I started shooting USPSA.
I don't have the gear for it, but the next time there's a match within a couple hours of me, I'll go embarrass myself...it honestly looked like a lot of fun.
I don't have the gear for it, but the next time there's a match within a couple hours of me, I'll go embarrass myself...it honestly looked like a lot of fun.
I've given up on shooting PRS type matches. I used to run them at our club but the attitude of some people has turned me off. I still shoot other disciplines at our club, plus my kids are getting into it with rimfires and I'd rather spend that time teaching them.
There is no hunting like the hunting of man, and those who have hunted armed men long enough and liked it, never care for anything else thereafter.
Ernest Hemingway
there might have been another one about fishing or drinking but this one seems context appropriate...
Just like Strongman competitions, you're never going to be "ready" for it. Even Jersey Boi's aren't ready for everything the MD is going to throw at them. I finally decided to compete in my first match last year in March. It was cold, I couldn't feel my hands, never shot anything past 400 yards before, running a 20" 308 in winds gusting upwards of 20 mph, and did I mention I didn't have accurate chronograph data??
I landed 8 out of 100 shots. It was a huge letdown, but I kept coming back. After a few matches I started being midway up the pack. These last few matches I finished in the top 1/3. I'm hopefully going to earn a trophy this year, even if it's 3rd place.
Things like wind calls, observing mirage, and ballistics all come with time.
I find grinding towards an objective far more rewarding than going to your first competition and getting a trophy.
As a person who has big time issues with putting myself out there, this community has been aboslutely amazing, at least in the North East. I only met 2 individuals out of a solid 300 shooters, who I didn't like. Keep an open mind, listen to everyone, try new things for a while before you decide it doesn't "work" for you, and have fun!
I landed 8 out of 100 shots. It was a huge letdown, but I kept coming back. After a few matches I started being midway up the pack. These last few matches I finished in the top 1/3. I'm hopefully going to earn a trophy this year, even if it's 3rd place.
Things like wind calls, observing mirage, and ballistics all come with time.
I find grinding towards an objective far more rewarding than going to your first competition and getting a trophy.
As a person who has big time issues with putting myself out there, this community has been aboslutely amazing, at least in the North East. I only met 2 individuals out of a solid 300 shooters, who I didn't like. Keep an open mind, listen to everyone, try new things for a while before you decide it doesn't "work" for you, and have fun!
More like 98-99% of shooters have no interest in competing. There are more recreational shooters than ever (around here) but all of the shooting sports are struggling for new blood for a variety of reasons. FWIW, I started shooting competitively in 1968 and I am still trying out new venues. Watching the pendulum swing back and forth with the shooting sports has been interesting to say the least.
Competitive shooters are in the absolute extreme minority.
The biggest reason isn’t “fear.”
I would offer a few reasons why most shooters don’t compete.
TIME
LACK OF INTEREST
Travel with firearms is increasingly difficult.
Don’t want to turn fun into work.
Have enough rules and red tape in business life so don’t want to add to the drama.
For 25 years I competed very successfully worldwide in one shooting discipline .
Economics of travel and equipment could be a barrier to many.
I’m sure there are others that have nothing to do with fear.
TIME
LACK OF INTEREST
Travel with firearms is increasingly difficult.
Don’t want to turn fun into work.
Have enough rules and red tape in business life so don’t want to add to the drama.
For 25 years I competed very successfully worldwide in one shooting discipline .
Economics of travel and equipment could be a barrier to many.
I’m sure there are others that have nothing to do with fear.
Im with you on this one. Not against competing by anymeans, and like to compete. But I enjoy being by "myself" more, especially when outside, being present with each shot. And generally speaking, I am skeptical and/or want to create distance between typical "gun people" per se., portryaed by some other stories in this thread.
when i was learning to golf, i didn't want to actually play on a course and make a fool of myself, even though i could hit the ball pretty well on the driving range.
after some time, i finally stepped onto a golf course and found out most people suck worse than i did.
I’m currently unable to compete because after I finally got a different powder than what I really wanted to shoot pretty dam good, it’s gone now too. Oddly, was able to find the original powders I wanted to use so when I get some time, I’ll start over and maybe since I bought in bulk, I might get to go to a match again lol
Just go have fun, you might surprise yourself. I've seen guys with way cheap stuff hang with the deep pocket guy's with the latest greatest.
With ya bro. I love buying and beating up new kit, but I got negative fucking time for reloading. I only got time, barely, for one hobby.
I’m afraid to compete because of team squadding. Teams of paid shooters all shooting the same equipment and loads and giving each other dope and wind calls is queer as fuck. Why waist my money? Some folks are good at positional shooting but suck ass at wind reading. Letting their team members call the wind for them is cheating
Way to grow the sport, buddy.
Ehh. I went to my first match with a glorified savage and a swfa scope. I landed in the top 35% (I think it was 35, somewhere in there anyway). I can guarantee you I wouldn’t have done much if any better with a vector and a S&B. If your rifle can shoot 1moa, you know your dope, and your scope tracks consistently you are at minimal or no disadvantage.
The biggest hurdle for me, and for most I believe, is time. I shoot a couple a year that are close enough to make a reasonable drive. I don’t have time to go practice 3 times a week. Family and business are just more important. But I look forward to shooting the couple that I do becaue it’s fun as hell!
There are tons of parallels between golf and precision rifle.
The drive is also an issue for me, of course having only a .308 might hamper me as well. I miss the west, my closest range over 100 is 1.5 hours one way. So yeah, time is a problem as well.
Lol. He and I are friends, and I’ve been begging him to come shoot a match with me. My comment was in jest.
i was more encouraged by the old "tactical" divisions for basically military calibers.
i'd like to limit it to factory ammo - M118LR/M852 - basically any factory ammo with 168gr or 175gr SMK bullets.
but then, if there were enough people showing up, it would have survived i guess.
I love competing. Ever since I was old enough to hold cards, I’d play with my parents and their friends. Learning the game and the strategy was my favorite part. Then as I got older I loved sports. Team sports were ok but I didn’t like relying on any one else, that’s why I liked wrestling so much. I only did as good as I was able, if I lost it was because I didn’t work hard enough prior to the match or the other guy did. Losing made me work harder.
Then in college I started shooting 3 gun, about 2009. I got completely ate up with shooting sports, shooting two matches most weekends and sometimes 3 matches. It wasn’t a paycheck race for me but I did slowly upgrade my equipment as I went. Same with precision rifle now.
Once I moved away from OKC I got too far away from the 3 gun and pistol matches and discovered precision rifle. I drive up to 5.5hrs for matches now, my closest match is 2hrs and I try to make every one of them. I don’t win. I haven’t ever won a precision match, but I feel I hold my own. Just doing as good as I can and learning something every time. Figuring out what works, what doesn’t, and what I can do better next time. It isn’t always about winning and there’s no reason to be afraid, for me anyways.
I like talking to the other competitors and to be honest some of my best friends after college are guys I’ve met at matches. I know guys all over the country because of shooting sports. Sure there’s some guys that are loudmouth dickhead assholes and I do my best to avoid them, but you know some of those guys are really freaking good shooters and learning from is an easy way to get better. I just try to imitate their shooting and not their style. Lol.
I’ll add that I want to grow the sport. All shooting sports. I’m constantly asking friends and family to come with me and the buy in rate is less than 1% probably. But those that do come get hooked. All the ones that just want to come watch, I let them at least shoot one stage with my stuff, or give them my loaner equipment and have them shoot the whole match. I’ve never had any of them say ‘that sucks I hate it I’ll never come back’.
Then in college I started shooting 3 gun, about 2009. I got completely ate up with shooting sports, shooting two matches most weekends and sometimes 3 matches. It wasn’t a paycheck race for me but I did slowly upgrade my equipment as I went. Same with precision rifle now.
Once I moved away from OKC I got too far away from the 3 gun and pistol matches and discovered precision rifle. I drive up to 5.5hrs for matches now, my closest match is 2hrs and I try to make every one of them. I don’t win. I haven’t ever won a precision match, but I feel I hold my own. Just doing as good as I can and learning something every time. Figuring out what works, what doesn’t, and what I can do better next time. It isn’t always about winning and there’s no reason to be afraid, for me anyways.
I like talking to the other competitors and to be honest some of my best friends after college are guys I’ve met at matches. I know guys all over the country because of shooting sports. Sure there’s some guys that are loudmouth dickhead assholes and I do my best to avoid them, but you know some of those guys are really freaking good shooters and learning from is an easy way to get better. I just try to imitate their shooting and not their style. Lol.
I’ll add that I want to grow the sport. All shooting sports. I’m constantly asking friends and family to come with me and the buy in rate is less than 1% probably. But those that do come get hooked. All the ones that just want to come watch, I let them at least shoot one stage with my stuff, or give them my loaner equipment and have them shoot the whole match. I’ve never had any of them say ‘that sucks I hate it I’ll never come back’.
You can compete just fine with factory ammo in a $1200 RPR topped with a $650 Athlon scope and a $100 Game Changer bag. You don't need a $3000-5000 rifle topped with a $3500 scope and you don't need reloaded ammo to get sufficient accuracy. You do need to learn your rifle and get familiar with a decent ballistic calculator (o dear, another $15).
Is $2000 for an entry-level rig expensive? Well, yeah, compared with other entry-level gear for other hobbies, maybe so. But you don't need all the cool toys to compete and enjoy.
While I agree very much in principle, there are literally dozens of golf courses within 30 mins of my home, the "closest" PRS venue is 3 hrs one way, most over 5 hrs. I understand the very nature of the sport requires that they be in the middle of nowhere, but it's still a drag.
What state?
That’s one good way to get started.
GA, Athens area. Cool Acres closest next Arena, Ala. Precision, Altus, K&N -- out there.
for people who dont live in gun friendly states:
local ranges (i live in NY), dont allow different positions but bench and maybe prone if your lucky
open land to go shoot could be hours away
lack of gun culture in general limits knowledge or personal experiences...go with friend
not in PRS because i have not shot in that series, but i hve been to several schools, hunts, invitation only shoots etc
being a new yorker, showing up with a expensive rifle with expensive scope you always get the "stares"
i personally dont care but im very thick skinned, i have seen the good old boys huddle together and the "east coasters" be left out..and no one was friends before hand
usually i just keep to my self and enjoy the shooting and instruction but on two different occasions i had to rub it in
both times i heard murmuring, which is weak. if you want to say something say it to my face
out shot everyone on both sections
once in a rifle class and once in a pistol class
guys started doing the "want to talk wandering circle" so i gave them a good stab and walked
In non-gun friendly states the focus today should be on 22 events
you can do the same thing, 22 matches can be done on most ranges in the US, 200 yards or in.
The positions are the same and with a 22 it's probably gonna be easier to convince a range it's okay
you can do the same thing, 22 matches can be done on most ranges in the US, 200 yards or in.
The positions are the same and with a 22 it's probably gonna be easier to convince a range it's okay
was actually looking for adult/youth 22 matches near or in NY
my daughter 12 loves shooting my vudoo, and is actually pretty good
was actually my wife's idea (which makes no sense lol)
I meant the parallels in the mindset and fundamentals, not necessarily the locations.
Ive shot 4 matches this year. I have a grand total of $1500.00 in my rig. Tikka T3 6 dasher in a Bravo with a 3-12 Bushnell LRTS. While I finish in the lower 3rd usually I have outshot several people that had much more $$ in there scope. Positional is my weakness but I am getting better. What I see a lot of is shooters not having good dope. They will miss the first 2 or 3 shots until they see there miss and adjust and shoot well the rest of that stage. My dope is usually on but I will miss from poor shooting form or not being steady. For some reason my wind calls seem to be pretty decent. You don't need all the high dollar stuff to enjoy this sport just some decent stuff and a lot of practice. The more .22 matches and practicing I do the better I get with my Dasher at the matches. You learn more in one match than you can practicing for a week. Being on the clock and having a audience changes things but its the only way you will get that experience. Just go shoot.
Absolutely.
I understand and agree, what is nice is that there are some .22 matches beginning to start up (NRL22 and others) that are at "local" ranges. You get a similar experience that's close by, no reloading, no lost brass and no muzzle brakes LOL.
Figured I would post this question up here since it seems to be about people getting into competing.
My wife and I would like to get into a two person team event, something like Mammoth or Competition Dynamics, but we would like something more "beginner friendly". By that I mean, currently we cannot make the rucking times for mammoth (my mile times are 28ish min/mile) and I cannot navigate by grid/map/compass for CD.
We don't mind coming in at the bottom, and I still want the event to be physically demanding/spend the day or weekend toughing out the elements, but we don't want to jump into the big events and DQ because we can't keep up. We don't mind learning new skills and would love an event like CD that has more than just shooting stages, but honestly any ideas at events to check out would be greatly appreciated.
As a final note, we are both paramedics, we are used to being in high stress suck and having to work together... so this is more of a "lets place us in new types suck and grow stronger together" kind of idea.
My wife and I would like to get into a two person team event, something like Mammoth or Competition Dynamics, but we would like something more "beginner friendly". By that I mean, currently we cannot make the rucking times for mammoth (my mile times are 28ish min/mile) and I cannot navigate by grid/map/compass for CD.
We don't mind coming in at the bottom, and I still want the event to be physically demanding/spend the day or weekend toughing out the elements, but we don't want to jump into the big events and DQ because we can't keep up. We don't mind learning new skills and would love an event like CD that has more than just shooting stages, but honestly any ideas at events to check out would be greatly appreciated.
As a final note, we are both paramedics, we are used to being in high stress suck and having to work together... so this is more of a "lets place us in new types suck and grow stronger together" kind of idea.
Agree to a point about the divisions that limit mods to a reasonable degree. Do not agree with the idea that iron-sight divisions somehow are all about skills.
At my age my pistol skills far outpace my vision when shooting iron sighted pistols. Adding a reflex sight to them changes the game and now my eyesight isn't holding my trigger pulling and movement skills back.
You can buy a $550 optics ready plastic pistol and a $250 Holosun 407 reflex sight and be competitive in either USPSA or Carry Optics right then and there IF you can shoot.
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