- Thread starter white_rushin
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Here's how this should read: "Signed up for my first match. Can't wait to learn and make some friends."
Just an FYI for new shooters: Once you tell your squadmates that you are new, they will have zero expectation that you are going to shoot great. Everyone there knows very well how difficult this sport actually is, and are very understanding that it takes time to develop those skills. Nobody shoots great at first. None of the other shooters in your squad are even going to care if you only get 1 or 2 hits per stage. The folks that shoot these matches will be rooting for you, will offer to let you borrow appropriate gear to help with the stage you're getting ready to shoot; and will offer solid advice to help you shoot better throughout the day based on what they notice while you're shooting. No one is going to judge you. Relax, bring what gear you have at that time, bring a smile and be coachable, and you will have a great time. Ask the experienced shooters, "How would you shoot this stage? What would you do and why?"
The best advice I can offer new shooters is always the same:
* Don't try to get all the shots off in the stage. If you try to get all 10 shots off, you're going to rush shots, miss, and develop bad habits. Take your time on each shot, and get GOOD shots off. If you only can get 3 or 4 shots off, THAT'S FINE. If you only get two shots off and you get two hits, that's a good thing.
* Don't judge your performance by your score relative to everyone else at the end of the day. DO Judge your performance by your hits you got off the shots you took. if you took 4 good shots and got 3 hits, that's a 75% hit ratio. Speed will come later automatically as you practice and develop these skills.
What match ?
More importantly, you don’t need to wait until February to make some friends. Start today. It could be a process.
I bought one of those, but haven't actually used it yet. Been putting painter's tape on my wrist instead.
OP: I'm new at this too, so take this as a n00b's 1st year discoveries
You really don't *need* anything other than a rifle, ammo, eye and ear pro, and a good attitude. Your squadmates are likely to let you borrow their stuff. Can't promise anything, but I've been offered bags, etc during matches when I didn't have em The rule of 3 applies here just like tools: if you need to borrow something 3x, you need it, go buy it.
At some point, you'll probably want a big, square 'take up space in your position' bag. Helps keep you stable. Try a few first before you buy
You don't really need a rangefinder to start off. IME MDs are usually pretty good at estimating their target placements.
I WOULD recommend a bigger scope. Venom 5-25 x 56s are what are on my rifles. I rarely shoot over 14-16x, but with the bigger scope, you have a much larger field of view. Less 'where'd the target go?!'' wasted time. AMHIK I started out shooting MARS matches with a 4-12 BDC scope and got lucky making hits over 100yds I figured out why most of the guys shoot 'Christmas tree' reticles quickly
IME PRS is more about 'building stable positions' than it is 'ultimate accuracy.' Watch what the other guys are doing (the ones making hits!) and do what they do. There are tricks that aren't immediately obvious to a n00b like 'brace the rifle against the side of the barrier if you can' that'll help with stability and accuracy. There are videos on YT that show some of this...
More IME: if you can't spot your misses, you can't make meaningful corrections..
Even more IME: if you're on the wrong targets, your hits don't count. If your scope is set to one distance and you're shooting the right target at a different distance you won't make hits either unless you miss 'just wrong' and get lucky
There's more, but I'll stop there
M
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