For those who’ve done Mammoth …

[Little_Fish]

A friend and I want to do Mammoth in 2027. Obviously I need to get my ass in shape, but I’m also looking at the larger pieces of gear I don’t have. How unrealistic is it to shoot without a weapon mounted laser rangefinder? Seems like most serious competitors are running the Vortex Impact 4000, but I’ve also seen a lot of reports of it being unreliable. I have a pair of Vortext Fury binos, that I would trade up to the AB version. It just seems like I’d be leaving so much on the table doing it that way vs the WMLRF.

I’m also thinking of running one tripod between the two of us, but leaving the ball head behind and shooting off a bag on top of it if needed.

For some context: We have no illusions of winning or placing. We are going for the experience and our goal is finishing all of the rucks and having a good time. My partner is going to be a friend who has essentially zero shooting experience in either rifles or pistols, and absolutely zero experience shooting long range. Hence our 2027 timeline. He’s going to start accumulating gear and shoot PRS matches with me next season. None of my shooting partners are interested in something like Mammoth, but he is. It’s right up our alley of loving a good dose of suffering. I figure it’s going to be easier to teach him to shoot, than to teach my shooting buddies to ruck and love a good suck fest. Him and I are both ultralight backpackers and have tons of experience living out of our packs in all conditions, so the camping, rucking part isn’t as intimidating to us, although we know very well just how difficult it will be.


How do these idea sound for those who have completed it?

 

[Jeff Karrels]

I have run it twice so far both being top 20. Not the greatest performance, but also not horrible. I have never had a weapons mounted laser range finder. Both times we have run 1 tripod for the team. 1 set of range finding binos. 1 laser range finder monocle. G34. 6CM, .223 bolt guns. 50lb load out per team member. Suppressed and good ZCO optics.

Train up on pistol. Easy points that add up quickly. Take your time and try to get points on the board, don't overly focus on complex strategies to get ALL of the points, just be consistent and dont zero a stage. Don't wait until 2027, just get out there and do it. It is a great group of people.

 

[Little_Fish]

I have run it twice so far both being top 20. Not the greatest performance, but also not horrible. I have never had a weapons mounted laser range finder. Both times we have run 1 tripod for the team. 1 set of range finding binos. 1 laser range finder monocle. G34. 6CM, .223 bolt guns. 50lb load out per team member. Suppressed and good ZCO optics.

Train up on pistol. Easy points that add up quickly. Take your time and try to get points on the board, don't overly focus on complex strategies to get ALL of the points, just be consistent and dont zero a stage. Don't wait until 2027, just get out there and do it. It is a great group of people.

What was your workflow using the RF binos? Were they paired to a Kestrel?

 

[Jeff Karrels]

We never carried a kestrel. Ran sig 10k and a sig8k both times. I would say 45% of the time one teammate was calling out the range to the other teammate and arm boarding the solution. Armboard with a flap and store your teammates ballistics on your second card. 35% of the time I have been in a divide and conquer setup where we are both going after our own targets at the same time. 20% of the time we either switched the ballistics in each of our devices to the ballistics of the other gun or just swapped range finders.

 

[Little_Fish]

We never carried a kestrel. Ran sig 10k and a sig8k both times. I would say 45% of the time one teammate was calling out the range to the other teammate and arm boarding the solution. Armboard with a flap and store your teammates ballistics on your second card. 35% of the time I have been in a divide and conquer setup where we are both going after our own targets at the same time. 20% of the time we either switched the ballistics in each of our devices to the ballistics of the other gun or just swapped range finders.

Ok thanks. Thats more or less how i envisioned doing it without a WMLRF. Using all that, were you able to complete or get close to completing each COF? Obviously a WMLRF is faster and more efficient, but like I said in my first post we just want to finish and experience it all but obviously want to actually get to shoot too.

 

[Jeff Karrels]

I would go back to my first post. Don't worry about clearing the COF. Worry about not zeroing a COF. Worry about not getting DQed. Worry about not dropping a ruck. Do those three things and you will probably be in the top 50%. There will be stages you will clear the COF and high five. There will be stages where you will struggle to find the first target. Try shooting NRL Hunter or other team sniper comps rather than PRS to work on skills closer to Mammoth. PRS is a different mindset.

 

[Little_Fish]

I would go back to my first post. Don't worry about clearing the COF. Worry about not zeroing a COF. Worry about not getting DQed. Worry about not dropping a ruck. Do those three things and you will probably be in the top 50%. There will be stages you will clear the COF and high five. There will be stages where you will struggle to find the first target. Try shooting NRL Hunter or other team sniper comps rather than PRS to work on skills closer to Mammoth. PRS is a different mindset.

All good points, thank you. What’s the thinking behind shooting .223 vs .308 for the secondary shooter? Just a weight savings measure in being able to shoot a lighter rifle?