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Newb shoots a match

cliffy110

Sergeant of the Hide
Full Member
Minuteman
Oct 6, 2020
167
128
I'm a complete newb when it comes to long range shooting. I'm not a newb to rifles in general but my experience is with scout and "practical" rifles. Prior to Saturday, I had never pulled the trigger on a target beyond 500 yards and only once beyond 300. I've been doing a lot of research on the subject though and I've been listening to a number of podcasts, watched videos and read everything I can on the matter.

I have found that my goal however, is hard to explain to long range enthusiasts. My goal has never been to become a dedicated long range shooter. That is completely unrealistic for a number of reasons, including the fact that there just are no places to shoot beyond 300 yards near me. My goal was to take what I know about the scout rifle and figure out just how far I could push that platform. Let's face it, the scout rifle is fine out to MPBR but to reliably hit beyond that requires different equipment and different skills. I wanted to see how much of the handiness of the scout I could retain and learn to hit out to 800 or perhaps even 1000 yards.

After months of study, questioning and listening, I set up my rifle in a way that I think can accomplish all of this. My plan was to take a long range class and then take what I had learned and find a match to put it to the test. I believe that competition is the best way to discover what works and what doesn't.

This gets to the point of this thread. I found a local (well... 4 hours from my house but that's as local as I could find) match that turned out to be a great way to get my feet wet. The format doesn't sound like anything else I've heard of but it sure met my needs as a shooter. I shot the match before the training and it showed me how much I need the training but also got me well on my way.

I wrote up a full review of it and I'm glad to share it but keep in mind, this was written for the scout rifle community, not the long range one. A lot of it doesn't apply to you guys but if you're trying to figure out how to attract new shooters, it might be worth a read.

 
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Reactions: Pete B
If you are in VA there is probably a few matches closer than 4 hours. Where do you live?