My buddy and I took our rifles to an f class shoot in south Jersey yesterday. I shot my M40 copy, he had his M70 clone. We wre on different relay so I didnt get any photos of his rifle. We were most definitely outclassed by the competition, but the target went in the pits every time I pulled the trigger, and that was happiness in itself. 
That Redfield scope made me work for every point, but it was pure fun.
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That's very cool, nice to see a historical legend in action.
I used my M40 replica with an M40 commemorative Leupold/Redfield 3-9x scope at a Quantico Vintage precision rifle match years ago, and I recall that the elevation adjustment bottomed out after 800 yards. So I had to use the Mil-Dot holdovers at the 1,000 yard firing position. I subsequently put an aluminum shim under the rear mount just in case I want to try that again. (It looked a little too Bubba-like left in-the-white, so I had that shim Creakoted flat black).
A couple shooters expressed interest in the rifles. There was a definite appreciation of the rifles and the fact that we were there shoot them. They shook their heads a little, but they got the idea. It 's a good bunch of folks. But haha odd man out is a polite way to put it with that crowd--equipment wise that is.
We were able to get some practice in on Saturday, and there I found I didn't have enough elevation for 600. So I took the scope off and shimmed the rear ring, that got me there. The biggest hinderance? The poor optical quality of that old Redfield. I was able to read the mirage, but the target itself even in good conditions was never clear. The lenses in the scope are look like theres some delamination going on. That and the fact that the elevation and windage knobs are friction not clicks. It meant getting out of position to make adjustments, so for , minor changes I just held off.
The last was head position, I am shooting the rifle the way it was used originally, that is no cheekpiece, so extra attention has to be paid to head position shot to shot.
Joe and I went there with the attitude that as long as the target goes in the pits every time we pulled the trigger we would be ok.
We were able to get some practice in on Saturday, and there I found I didn't have enough elevation for 600. So I took the scope off and shimmed the rear ring, that got me there. The biggest hinderance? The poor optical quality of that old Redfield. I was able to read the mirage, but the target itself even in good conditions was never clear. The lenses in the scope are look like theres some delamination going on. That and the fact that the elevation and windage knobs are friction not clicks. It meant getting out of position to make adjustments, so for , minor changes I just held off.
The last was head position, I am shooting the rifle the way it was used originally, that is no cheekpiece, so extra attention has to be paid to head position shot to shot.
Joe and I went there with the attitude that as long as the target goes in the pits every time we pulled the trigger we would be ok.
I bet you had to work for those points, but like you said, the goal was getting on target. I learned a lot from those guys when I started shooting Highpower and F-class. You got your feet wet, so keep at it.
I shoot F-Class and think it's awesome you guys took your 'historic' rifles out there and competed.
Guys will shake their heads like you should've bought about $2000 more dollars of equipment to get there. The point is with some concentration you can get shots on at 600-1k yds. There is so much to getting out there and just shooting. We'd all love to have a high score, let alone a perfect score. But, just getting out there and shooting is always good for you. Glad you guys did this and had fun!
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One other thing that many steel shooters don't realize is that a target with scoring rings and a shot plot on an overlay grid (or better yet, electronic targets) will tell you much more about the rifle/shooter system capability than some steel plates with a rough line spray-painted across ever could.
If you want to be humbled, shoot a Palma course of fire with a sling-supported, aperture-sighted rifle.
If you want to be humbled, shoot a Palma course of fire with a sling-supported, aperture-sighted rifle.
I’ve done that, but now the eyesight has determined that I shoot glass!!
Fixed it for you. Adding +.50 to your distance prescription brings that aperture into clearer detail, allowing a few more years shooting metallic sights.
Thanks, I suppose first I should see about that prescription. Up till now it's only been for reading!
You watch, it'll be .50 to .75 less than your current reader script (assuming a 30" Palma Barrel).....
Oh man I love this thread, it’s great to see old rifles on the line and reminds me of the time I shot my M24 in the Maine State F Class Championship by accident but still finished 3rd! 
Long story short, I had just moved back to Maine 2016, I had a new lot of M118LR that I had chrono data for but wanted to proof at distance. An older fellow who lives down had told me about the Scarbrough fish and game club having matches and practice on the weekends. So I think oh this weekend would be a great chance to confirm data. Mind you my M24 was completely bone stock with an M3A and everything, I knew what the F class game was all about and I just figured I squeeze in on the big end an collect my data.
Well I show up to the range and lo and behold that weekend was the Maine State F Class Championship! I wasn’t going to not get my data though so I paid the match fee and hopped on the line. The little 12lbs. .308 with fix 10x , harris bipod and sand sock gathered attention quick.
There was a lot of WTF? looks from the veteran F class crowd, I didn’t even have a shooting mat, though I wish I had because the ticks were freaking horrible that year.
That said everyone was nice and pitted me greatly, I was even offered a spare rifle from another competitor but I keep pace with the M24 and cleaned my targets all the way out to the 600y line holding in the reticle and this is where I lucked out.
Out of the west there was a huge afternoon thunderstorm began brewing up, it got really dark quick and light rain which made the mirage disappear and a couple of the wind flags got wrapped up around the flag pole effectively killing what 99% of what most F class dude use to call wind. I just watch the rain and the grass and keep firing.
By the end of it I think I had only dropped four 9’s which wouldn’t have be all that spectacular for F class but that storm evened the playing field. I got 4th then bumped to 3rd on a technicality regarding one of the other shooters. I’ll never forget the look on some of those old guys faces.
Point is old rifles can still shoot, you just gotta work harder for it.
Long story short, I had just moved back to Maine 2016, I had a new lot of M118LR that I had chrono data for but wanted to proof at distance. An older fellow who lives down had told me about the Scarbrough fish and game club having matches and practice on the weekends. So I think oh this weekend would be a great chance to confirm data. Mind you my M24 was completely bone stock with an M3A and everything, I knew what the F class game was all about and I just figured I squeeze in on the big end an collect my data.
Well I show up to the range and lo and behold that weekend was the Maine State F Class Championship! I wasn’t going to not get my data though so I paid the match fee and hopped on the line. The little 12lbs. .308 with fix 10x , harris bipod and sand sock gathered attention quick.
There was a lot of WTF? looks from the veteran F class crowd, I didn’t even have a shooting mat, though I wish I had because the ticks were freaking horrible that year.That said everyone was nice and pitted me greatly, I was even offered a spare rifle from another competitor
but I keep pace with the M24 and cleaned my targets all the way out to the 600y line holding in the reticle and this is where I lucked out. Out of the west there was a huge afternoon thunderstorm began brewing up, it got really dark quick and light rain which made the mirage disappear and a couple of the wind flags got wrapped up around the flag pole effectively killing what 99% of what most F class dude use to call wind. I just watch the rain and the grass and keep firing.
By the end of it I think I had only dropped four 9’s which wouldn’t have be all that spectacular for F class but that storm evened the playing field. I got 4th then bumped to 3rd on a technicality regarding one of the other shooters. I’ll never forget the look on some of those old guys faces.
Point is old rifles can still shoot, you just gotta work harder for it.
Exactly! Workin' hard for it. It's easy on nice days to sit there inside your 50X scope and watch mirage gently float by and adjust minimally. When weather is shitty, and it's basically taking a scope picture and thinking of it like a sight picture, that it gets tough. I always still look at trees and grass to tell me what wind is. At the Michigan Regional I went to, all these guys are talking about crazy mirage. The firing line berm was at least 20' high and the 1k line was at least 10' high. Meaning you ain't getting meaningful info from mirage. The flags verified by trees was telling me how hard to hold. I did alright, 19th out of 61.Oh man I love this thread, it’s great to see old rifles on the line and reminds me of the time I shot my M24 in the Maine State F Class Championship by accident but still finished 3rd!
Long story short, I had just moved back to Maine 2016, I had a new lot of M118LR that I had chrono data for but wanted to proof at distance. An older fellow who lives down had told me about the Scarbrough fish and game club having matches and practice on the weekends. So I think oh this weekend would be a great chance to confirm data. Mind you my M24 was completely bone stock with an M3A and everything, I knew what the F class game was all about and I just figured I squeeze in on the big end an collect my data.
Well I show up to the range and lo and behold that weekend was the Maine State F Class Championship! I wasn’t going to not get my data though so I paid the match fee and hopped on the line. The little 12lbs. .308 with fix 10x , harris bipod and sand sock gathered attention quick.
That said everyone was nice and pitted me greatly, I was even offered a spare rifle from another competitor
Out of the west there was a huge afternoon thunderstorm began brewing up, it got really dark quick and light rain which made the mirage disappear and a couple of the wind flags got wrapped up around the flag pole effectively killing what 99% of what most F class dude use to call wind. I just watch the rain and the grass and keep firing.
By the end of it I think I had only dropped four 9’s which wouldn’t have be all that spectacular for F class but that storm evened the playing field. I got 4th then bumped to 3rd on a technicality regarding one of the other shooters. I’ll never forget the look on some of those old guys faces.
Point is old rifles can still shoot, you just gotta work harder for it.
Couldn't agree more, yea they make you work a little harder, but it's well worth it. Next time I'm shooting my M70 copy.Oh man I love this thread, it’s great to see old rifles on the line and reminds me of the time I shot my M24 in the Maine State F Class Championship by accident but still finished 3rd!
Long story short, I had just moved back to Maine 2016, I had a new lot of M118LR that I had chrono data for but wanted to proof at distance. An older fellow who lives down had told me about the Scarbrough fish and game club having matches and practice on the weekends. So I think oh this weekend would be a great chance to confirm data. Mind you my M24 was completely bone stock with an M3A and everything, I knew what the F class game was all about and I just figured I squeeze in on the big end an collect my data.
Well I show up to the range and lo and behold that weekend was the Maine State F Class Championship! I wasn’t going to not get my data though so I paid the match fee and hopped on the line. The little 12lbs. .308 with fix 10x , harris bipod and sand sock gathered attention quick.
That said everyone was nice and pitted me greatly, I was even offered a spare rifle from another competitor
Out of the west there was a huge afternoon thunderstorm began brewing up, it got really dark quick and light rain which made the mirage disappear and a couple of the wind flags got wrapped up around the flag pole effectively killing what 99% of what most F class dude use to call wind. I just watch the rain and the grass and keep firing.
By the end of it I think I had only dropped four 9’s which wouldn’t have be all that spectacular for F class but that storm evened the playing field. I got 4th then bumped to 3rd on a technicality regarding one of the other shooters. I’ll never forget the look on some of those old guys faces.
Point is old rifles can still shoot, you just gotta work harder for it.
I shot my M24 Rebuild rifle in a local F-class match a few years ago. I held my own, the full minute adjustments in the issue scope meant the only X's were harder to come by. I ran issued M118LR as well and the gun and ammo combo was spot on. I did not kill it as hard as Rudy but it was a very good time. I used the Harris bipod and bagged the buttstock. Other than being on the heavy side, the rifle worked as advertised.
My buddy and I are big fans of shooting these rifles in comps. This weekend I'm shooting my M70 sniper copy. I have a ton of Lake City match, for the M40 but it's old 1968-1971. I've tried the old trick of seating the heads .005' deeper and have also sorted by oal and ogive length. Bottom line is it's ok for ringing steel, but it's no longer match quality.
The benefit of any formal competition is that it forces you to pay attention each time you fire. You get an accurate assessment and feedback of your performance and the rifle/ammunition. Doing well or holding consistent groups is a reward in itself.
It's a personal challenge, my attitude is I want to shoot better than I did last time.
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