Competed in my first rifle match...

Local private range (A little over an hour from my house) held a "Hunters Rifle Challenge" this past Saturday. The match had been planned for months and I had been paid up just as long.

First, let me say I had a BLAST (no pun intended)!!!

This match was set up to simulate different hunting scenarios with targets from 100 - 300 yards in varying sizes. I've never really shot past 100 yards until this match. I disappointed myself on some of the "easier" shots, and surprised myself on some of the "more difficult" shots.

1st stage - 2 shots: standing position off a T-post at 12" steel plate at 200 yds. T-Posts without any fence stretched and attached are not that sturdy... I hit both shots 2 points
2nd stage - 2 shots: unsupported (No Bipods or shooting bags, Only Slings allowed) shooting a 200yd Pig plate (Steel plate shaped like a pig and sized to mimic a pig at 200 yards). Shooter had choice of position with points value based on position chosen.
Standing Unsupported = 4 points per hit
Kneeling Unsupported = 3 points per hit
Seated Unsupported = 2 points per hit
Prone Unsupported = 1 point per hit
I chose to stand and hit my first shot, but missed my 2nd shot.
3rd stage - 4 shots: Bench or Prone Bipods allowed. Had 4 shots to break one 4" clay pigeion and one 2" clay pigeon at 200 yards. Hit both, but took 4 shots. 2 points
4th stage - 2 shots: Bobcat Vital Zone from "Reaper" rest (Rifle Rest mounted to a tripod. The rest was quite awkward, and I missed both shots. No excuses here.
5th stage - 4 shots: "Know Your Limits", Bench or Prone supported. 7" plate, 6" plate, 4" plate, 2" plate at 200 yds. 7" = 1pt, 6" = 2pts, 4" = 3pts, 2" = 4pts. Each hit accumulates points. Miss and you lose all points. Key here is to "Know Your Limits" and when to stop and keep your points. Only 3 people scored on this stage. Everyone's egos, mine included got in the way. 0 Points
6th stage - 3 shots: 200 yard offhand at 12" plate, 1 point per hit. 2 points for me.
7th stage - Deer Blind: 220 yd shot at vital zone of deer target. 2 shots. Missed first shot, hit the 2nd shot. 1 point for me
8th stage - Prairie Dogs: Steel prairie dog targets at 150yd, 200yds, 250yds, and 300yds. 1 point for each hit. I missed the 150 and 200yd shots, but nailed the 250 and 300yd shots.
9th stage - Barricade: 4-stepped wall. 3 shots at 12" steel plate at 200yds, with each shot having to be taken from a different step/position. 1st shot off top standing, 2nd off the next step down, kneeling, 3rd shot off the 3rd step sitting. 1 point for each hit. Hit 2
10th stage - 5 dot drill: 5 one inch dots at 100 yds. I hit 1 of 5. Very disappointing.
11th stage - Ferris Wheel: My Favorite stage of the day. 4 shots at a 6" swinging steel plate at 200 yds. 2 points for making 2 hits, and an additional 2 point if you could swing the plate all the way around like a ferris wheel. I got my 2 points only on this one. It was all about timing and hitting the plate on its down/back swing to get it swinging harder/faster and spin all the way around. A few people got it to spin with 3 shots.

All in all I finished 14th out of 28 shooters. The top 8-10 shooters were all shooting custom rigs with $2k-$5k scopes. I was shooting my 18" barreled Savage .308 with Vortex Viper scope and bipod.

All of the stages were timed with typically 1 minute to complete the stage. I did better than I thought I would, but not as good as I would have liked. Most importantly, I had a ton of fun and can't wait till the next match.
Now to practice practice practice till the next one...
 
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jwrowland77

New member
That actually sounds like a really fun match to shoot in. Welcome to the addiction of competition shooting. It only gets worse from here. Lol
 

4EVERM-14

New member
Interesting variety of targets and distances. Sounds like a nice test of equipment and marksmanship skills. I'll bet it was a fun day for everyone
 
I was having too much fun and forgot to take a lot of pics/video. Here are the few pics I did take and a couple videos I took as well as a video of me someone else got.

Clay Pigeons and Bobcat stages


Clay Pigeon stage. Shooters choice of positions - Bench or Prone 200yds


Ferris Wheel stage. 200 yds


Clay Pigeon stage with suppressed .308.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=dpb2x2Lkuxw

Clay Pigeon stage custom .243AI.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=zQq_OIJ2KBc

Me shooting 200yd target from barricade kneeling.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8csttuKpbuY
 
Thanks everyone. It was a lot of fun and I can't wait till the next one.

The biggest problem is where I live. There aren't a lot of matches around here. Have to drive 2-3 hours, or more, just to get to a decent range where public matches are held.
 

jwrowland77

New member
Thanks everyone. It was a lot of fun and I can't wait till the next one.



The biggest problem is where I live. There aren't a lot of matches around here. Have to drive 2-3 hours, or more, just to get to a decent range where public matches are held.


Is that it, just 2-3 hours? Lol. It's crazy what we do for our love of shooting. I drive to Tulsa once a month which is around 4 hours one way to shoot in a monthly F-Class match, along with driving to Memphis (about 3 hours). Love it though.
 

Snyper

New member
To get to a range to even practice beyond 100yds is a good 2 hour drive. I can't do that every weekend...
You need to find a farmer somewhere close who will lease you enough room to stretch out without having to travel so far
 
That bench was actually very stable. Heavy gauge steel construction. Was more stable than some of the cinder block shooting benches at some of the ranges I've been to.
 
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