Long range event

Wildlife · June 29, 2018, 10:08pm

Tomorrow is a public friendly LONG RANGE RIFLE COMPETITION at our local gun range.

I’ve never participated in such a competition ever before in my life.

According to what I was told over the phone, this specific event will consist of one shooter with 40 shots total using a centerfire varmint type bolt action rifle setting up at various distances shooting at (300, 400, 500 & 600 yard) steel targets. Shots will be taken from different positions as well, such as bench, prone and perhaps another.

There’s no major money involved to participate and there’s no major grand prize for the winner. Just bragging rights and your score.

Since I’ve never competed in such an event like this ever before, I’m reaching out to all of you for any good tips and/or suggestions before I take off tomorrow morning.

Please understand that I will be using my Savage Arms WIN .308 rifle that I recently completed back in April.

My loads with be ‘Federal Sierra Match-Kings’ 168 grain.

Last weekend, I shot a 100 rounds of them through my rifle plinking steel targets at distances of 200, 300, 400 and 500 yards with ease. At this point, I feel very comfortable and confident that the rifle will perform at those competition distances mentioned.

Like I said, I’m asking for any decent tips and/or suggestions from anyone with experience competing in long range rifle events.

Appreciate it, thanks!

switchpod · June 29, 2018, 10:54pm

Mid- range should be a walk in the park for you. The best piece of advice is don’t rush your shots. Wait for the wind to die down. Be patient, and like I said don’t rush. Sit with your rifle and set a timer for 5 minutes. Pick a spot on the wall that’s your target and dri fire your 40 shots. Now look at all the extra time you have left. Good luck and have fun!

DOSE_OF_FREEDOM · June 30, 2018, 6:50am

Im in the same boat as you. Hitting up my first hipower clinic tomor…well…today at 10am. Supposed to be 100 degrees out. Best of luck to you. Nice stock choice btw. I have the same and have had great results after bedding shooting prone off a bipod. I went with blue

Wildlife · June 30, 2018, 10:41am

Appreciate the tip and suggestions, thank you!

Wildlife · June 30, 2018, 10:45am

Hey thanks!

Yeah, I pillared & bedded mine too and yes, suppose to be real hot out later today. Best of luck to you today as well!

mjrfd99 · June 30, 2018, 11:23am

Take your time and enjoy just being out there. I go- I don’t have high dollar rifles, I shoot for the fun and to improve myself.
Made friends and have gotten geat tips from the regulars.
Guess it’s more of a social event than competition for me.

Wildlife · June 30, 2018, 6:22pm

Had a good time this morning!

I showed up a half an hour early and I was still the second to the last person to fill the range group.

Most of the regulars filled the list and I had the opportunity to met several of them before we started. A couple of them were very helpful and kind after letting them know this was my very first competitive match ever.

Definitely learned a lot about this particular event. Your next door neighbor helped with the spotting for you, which was very nice!

I took my time and gave it my best for what it was worth. I ended up towards the bottom end of the pack after all said and done, but that’s okay with me after looking at the group I was competing against.

Definitely plenty of room for improvement for me and I have to say, I’m still getting familiar with dialing in my scope for the different distances and loads that I’ve been using since the completion of the build back in April.

I successfully hit at least one target (1 out of 3 specified targets) on all stage distances.

I have no complaints other than I definitely need to practice much more if I’m going to compete against those same regulars no question about it.

My rifle performed flawlessly and it would be me that needs to work more towards perfection if I choose to go forward competing,

The match lasted a little over an hour or so and it was most definitely starting to get hot out when I packed up to head home.

The next match is suppose to be in a couple of weeks and I’m not sure if I’ll be able to attend that one or not, but we’ll see,

Thanks again for all the helpful tips guys! Have a great weekend!

DOSE_OF_FREEDOM · July 2, 2018, 4:19am

Thanks for the update. Glad to hear you had fun. I dont have the right rifle system for that type of competiton (well till november anyways). But it sounds like a good time! I got my 600 zero at 200 for the wind reading clinic on sunday and it went well.