Question about getting better (on the cheap)

So I own an AR platform with a leupold AR 3-9 scope that I purchased to practice shooting at a distance. I am interested in eventually competing in amateur F/TR competition for fun. So I purchased a 308 F/TR savage recently to get a more accurate bolt gun. Bought my first load and am getting ammo and scope remorse because of the price (I do not reload yet and haven't got a scope for it yet). I had an idea that I wanted to get someones opinion on. My motorcycle mechanic said once that you can learn to read wind with a 22LR at shorter distances.

How much better can you get shooting 22LR out to 300 yards? Will it directly correlate to getting better with my 308 F/TR? I don't want to fool myself into coming up with an excuse for getting another gun. You know how Tom Brady is forced to throw footballs wet in practice. I thought if you handicap yourself will it translate? Wondering if the big arch (40+ MOA) of the bullet at 200-300 yards from a CZ 452 Ultra Lux .22LR (28" barrel) will have its own learning curve and it will or wont teach me to be better at a 308 F/TR. If so it could save me alot of money getting to an intermediate level. Or is it better to just learn on the F/TR and spend the bigger $. Any advice is much appreciated, thanks!!!

 

Getting down on your rig and dry firing is good free practice and will get your neck and back in shape. If you don't already do a bit of prone shooting your body will will thank you. Some rimfire practice will definitely help but shooting your FTR rig and learning to read wind flags and conditions along with reading mirage through a spotting scope will be the most benefit.

 

22LR at 300 yards is really tough with any decent shifting wind. 200 yards might be better for practice since a blown wind call is more likely to hit the paper.

 

I think 100 yards is the right distance for the 22 rimfire practice that you are considering. It is comparable in difficulty to high power at the longer ranges. Beyond 100 yards with the 22 rimfire is too far. Use the 100 yard prone smallbore target.

 

Using a 22LR will definitely help hone your trigger skills and shooting form to a point and is an economical way to do so. You can learn to read the wind with a 22lr, but it won't be the same when you go to a 308 so you will have to learn that cartridge all over. If F/TR is what you want to do, then you need to build a F/TR rifle and practice as much as you can with that rifle until you know it like the back of your hand. The recoil, trigger, stock, and scope will be different on your F/TR rifle and create a whole new learning curve.

I love challenging myself to shoot small ground squirrels on the prairies of Montana with a 22LR in 20+ mph winds at 125+ yards. It's tough to do with gusting winds and definitely takes a good amount of trigger time in those conditions to land the shots with any sort of consistency. However, it's nothing like knowing how to hold for wind for my much faster centerfire rounds. And many of my centerfire rounds require different wind holds. They ALL take practice to learn because all of my rifle cartridges perform differently.

I would recommend you get started on the rifle you intend to use and start taking it to competitions right away. You probably wont be winning at first, but you'll be blown away by how much senior competition shooters are willing to help you with setting up your rifle properly, loading precision ammo, and anything else you may have questions about. You will gain knowledge and experience much faster that way and with practice, dedication, and a little luck, you'll be taking home some wins.

 

I assign the priorities differently.

I shoot thousands of rounds of 22 because I want to.

Hopefully at some point my center-fire ftr also gets to competitive levels.

200 yd 22 is very doable. Worst problem is seeing the holes consistently.
Over 200 seems very difficult and pointless.
How does one even get 40moa into the rail/scope?
200 yd standard/match velocity 22 has the wind effect(in moa) of 800yd+ with 308.
That should be plenty for practice.

 

Your topic of getting better on the cheap.

Well as mentioned, with a .22LR using Standard Velocity ammo.

100 Yards to start, put out some form of a wind flag or three/four... plastic survey tape if you have that over on your side of the world. Look at what it's doing, learn to pick consistent conditions and shoot on the same conditions. The wind closest to you has the biggest affect on your target.

I shoot 500 Metre Centrefire (550 Yards for you guys) plus I shoot 300 Metres but the fun part is a 200 Yard Rimfire shoot that happens from time to time. 5-10 thousand dollar custom rifles I use a 700 dollar Brno Model 2 and can be in the top dozen shooters.

One of our top Benchrest Shooters, Internationally is Stuart Elliott and his wife Annie... their advice is to shoot a .22LR Standard at distance and learn, learn to look around, read the wind and you become better. They don't win International Competition for no reason.

Shooting a .22LR is cheap even with the most expensive ammunition... go through the lot, find the best for your rifle, weight sort it, head space it or whatever and just enjoy shooting with accuracy.

 

I really appreciate you all taking the time to answer my query and the advice given. Reading all your posts gives me different angles on the options with reasoning and it is much appreciated. Cheers and Thanks!!!!!

 

After having tinkered with 22rf at 200 just enough to say I gave it a try. Don't be afraid to put up a huge backer, at least to begin with.
IMHO it makes no difference where the group is as long it is a group and not a pattern. Groups can be moved, patterns, well......
I would say 8x8 should catch everything. Guys may laugh, others may have better options to try. I had no spotter on the days I could play with this. It is not for the faint of heart. Best I ever do with my old 52 was about a 6" group with ten shots.

 

My sentiments exactly. You will eventually need to start shooting your centerfire to get the actual experience with the caliber, but the 22lr is a great wind reading training tool at it's extreme range