In all honesty....
My first two shoots were a shit show.
First one, dead last. Was shooting a borrowed RPR in .308 with questionable hand loads, I couldn’t group better than 5” at 200yrds after it heated up. No zero stop, non-zeroed elevation and windage knobs. How did my day go? I missed 10 straight targets at 330yrd because I still had wind dialed for the 970yd. I refreshed some of my training from the 90s and when I was on the game, I was fine. Multiple hits at 1070 with the iffy rifle/ammo. Was open to advice from my squad, had a great attitude and had an amazing time. Take home lesson, shoot known equipment.
Shoot number two. Was using my rifle and factory Berger match loads. Comp site has no zero range to verify, well shit, this is going to end poorly. A week earlier I had forgotten/neglected to dial out my 20-25mph full value wind or zero my wind knob... had to leave the range quick because kiddo was sick at school. Think I would have learned from that first shoot? HA, fat chance!! After missing my first 50rds a member of my squad pulled me aside and had me look at the target stand through some binos.
The Saint: “See to the left of the target, right by the leg of the stand, on the berm, you see that dark splotch of dirt?”
Me: Yes
The Saint: “That’s where ALL 20 rounds you just fired landed.”
Me: Thank you!
Bagged up my rifle aimed on target, then moved my reticle to POI. The last 50rds went much better, and ended middle of the bottom third for the day. This included going 3/4 off the floating dock, and clearing the KYL at 660 in 7rds with one miss and one double strike on #4 because I forgot where I was.
Since then, bought a new scope because reasons, and got lucky with a dead calm day for zeroing. Elevation is now zeroed right at 100yrd, zero stop at -5mil, and wind knob is now at exact zero. He glitch has been fixed.
Just bought my first bag, Warhorse Clyde. Till now people were happy to loan their kit to try out.
Moral of the story, good attitude will get you far when shit goes south, keeps others willing to help. The shoots were a blast, even though I was doing very poorly, my squad kept me going. If there was serious shit being talked, I didn’t hear it. Only thing I heard was the expected ribbings, people offering advice, and providing help for the newbie. Oh, and make sure you know where zero is, you’ll be making lots of adjustments through the day.
Already signed up for my next Border Wars comp, and can’t wait. Wife says I’d better break the 50 percentile this go, or she’ll not let me live it down.