who is telling you that you have to compete with a savage axis and a 3x9 tasco scope? you stay in your class and other meets can be made with stock rifles hopefully to lure younger guys in. car racing has classes. you don't see fuelly dragsters racing street cars in 1/4 mile races. they are separate classes. I do not know if you get money when you win a match. if not a lot of young guys would figure all the money time and devotion put into it equals zero dollar return
Where all all the shooters???
- Thread starter JEFFPPC
- Start date
DHuffman
Silver $$ Contributor
I thought that was what I said?
What money? This is my point if you want to shoot benchrest you are doing it because you want to shoot benchrest not because there is some payday somewhere down the road.
I went by what you said which was I never thought to bring those shooters down to my equipment level. I wanted to get to their level. so I interpret that as to bad if you cant afford the best gear. then you misunderstand me. I said most guys will not put all that time and money into competition if they are not getting paid money for it. if you buy ladders a truck sprayers etc it is a bunch of money. then the time it takes to paint a house. BUT you get paid well for it. so a lot of guys figure I can spend my time making money that is what I meant
DHuffman
Silver $$ Contributor
You've completely misunderstood almost everything I've posted.
I'm have no problem with different classes with different requirement of equipment and experience. I chose to jump straight into the deep end. That's my choice and it's not for everybody!
I don't discriminate against anyone because of what they can't afford. I've worked and made sacrifices my whole life and been broke myself and could be again someday you never know.
All this talk of race cars and paint sprayers is irrelevant and I get you're trying to make a point but you keep ignoring my point. No one is getting paid for it other than a few who have figured out a way to make a living in the community such as gun smiths, bullet makers etc. but I bet most of them have a regular job or business to help them along as well.
I personally chose to do it because I want to test myself against the best and I'll gladly pay my own way because I enjoy it for as long as I can afford it knowing the real payoff is the satisfaction of my progress to compete at the top level and spend time with some like minded people.
If someone else is happy shooting a factory type class I'm happy for them and more than a little jealous. That would make things much simpler.
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dmoran
Donovan Moran
When shooting competition, I use everyone in attendance results to judge how I stack up, with the primary person I am really trying to beat is myself. Personal bests is what motivates me and drives me to do better each time I go to another match. For me, Benchrest brings this out of me more then other shooting disciplines that I have participated. Its demands to excellence has never let me settle for one accuracy level, and challenges me and all my equipment to do better every time I head to another match. Hence, why I get high off it and envy those in attendance finishing in front of me.
@DHuffman... you have basically the exact motivation that got be going in the sport as well.
It's to late for you.... your an addicted LR addict now to !.!.!
@DHuffman... you have basically the exact motivation that got be going in the sport as well.
It's to late for you.... your an addicted LR addict now to !.!.!
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Shooter13
Gold $$ Contributor
I told this story in this forum before but I'm going to tell it again because it is worth repeating and show what the people are made of:
At a match this past summer and get called to the line, I shoot my 3 minute warmup (UBR) at 100 yards then we are ready to shoot the relay, my gun is shooting really good, fire command is given and my trigger wound pull, I mess with it for the first 4-5 minutes and at that point I pick the gun up and carry it to the bench (bolt out) and announce that I am done, @John Beauchamp comes over and offers me his gun and ammo (I'm shooting my 30BR and he is shooting a 30 major), at first I refuse and tell him its fine I'll just enjoy the day, he insist he has enough ammo so I shoot his gun in the first relay shooting a 66 (6 Xs) I had never been behind his gun but when he hands it to me he motions with his finger a circle like the x and says I'm holding here, LOL so I take 1 or 2 sighters and fire 6 round making the score in less than 3 minutes with about 10 seconds left when I finished, I couldn't thank him enough as I was worried he would have enough ammo prepped (thank goodness he did) I fix my gun between relays (a grain of powder had dropped into the trigger) and shoot 3 65s with my gun winning the 100 yard relay. Had John not offered I would have sat and watched the 100 and 200 yard relays and shot the breeze for a couple of hours, this is the kind of people that are at the matches. It also inspired me to make sure I have plenty of ammo "just in case" someone else is ever in that situation. Thanks @John Beauchamp again!
At a match this past summer and get called to the line, I shoot my 3 minute warmup (UBR) at 100 yards then we are ready to shoot the relay, my gun is shooting really good, fire command is given and my trigger wound pull, I mess with it for the first 4-5 minutes and at that point I pick the gun up and carry it to the bench (bolt out) and announce that I am done, @John Beauchamp comes over and offers me his gun and ammo (I'm shooting my 30BR and he is shooting a 30 major), at first I refuse and tell him its fine I'll just enjoy the day, he insist he has enough ammo so I shoot his gun in the first relay shooting a 66 (6 Xs) I had never been behind his gun but when he hands it to me he motions with his finger a circle like the x and says I'm holding here, LOL so I take 1 or 2 sighters and fire 6 round making the score in less than 3 minutes with about 10 seconds left when I finished, I couldn't thank him enough as I was worried he would have enough ammo prepped (thank goodness he did) I fix my gun between relays (a grain of powder had dropped into the trigger) and shoot 3 65s with my gun winning the 100 yard relay. Had John not offered I would have sat and watched the 100 and 200 yard relays and shot the breeze for a couple of hours, this is the kind of people that are at the matches. It also inspired me to make sure I have plenty of ammo "just in case" someone else is ever in that situation. Thanks @John Beauchamp again!
Dusty Stevens
Shiner
JEFFPPC
Gold $$ Contributor
Yea I agree, my original question was so so many on this forum and so few actually shooting matches? I think if a lot of guys would give it a try and see how much they could learn and what a friendly group of guys they meet, more would give it a try. About the only shooting game I have not participated in is Fclass. I know out of all the different disciplines I shot, by far the most helpful and friendly have been 95 percent of the benchrest shooters. Yes , there are a few obsessed with winning and records but they are a small minority. I tell groudhog hunters bring your rifle and shoot some ground hog paper matches for a season and you will be amazed at what you did not know, what you will learn, and how it will help your live hunting. Same goes maybe even much more so for big game hunters.Funny stuff,
Ok back to on topic,
Tim Singleton
Gold $$ Contributor
JEFFPPC
Gold $$ Contributor
SPJ, you may be on to something. When I was 8 we moved. Two house away was my new best friends whose dad Boyd was an avid ground hog Hunter who had a pair of M70s in .220 Swift. Boyd I came to find out was a very decorated WW2 veteran who had been shot down multiple times, machine gunned while coming down in a parachute, captured, escaped only to get back in a plane to fight on. Boyd always took me along with his son to the range and hunting. My dad did not hunt. That summer , at 8, I shot my first ground hog at just over 200 yrs. That's were it started for me. If my buddy and I got bored at the range or while hunting, we could entertain each other . That was how my love for shooting started. So maybe when you take a youngster out consider taking their buddy and introducing them to our spot also. Never know what you might start. My buddy hunts but never got into shooting per se, but thanks too his dad I was introduced to a life long enjoyment of the shooting sports.
If we are talking specifically about BR, it’s this. There is no way to actually get competitive without dropping a crap load of money on gear that will be totally useless at anything else besides BR, and even then you’re still not going to even be able to come close to the people who have been doing it for 10+ years. BR is just not a good sport to start out on and actually see semi good results until you’re experienced at it. That’s why I’am going to start in midrange F t/r.
Shooter13
Gold $$ Contributor
Sometimes or maybe most of the time what discipline we shoot is determined by were we are located and what is "near" us, like I have said in previous post I have 3 ranges with a little over an hour from me and another one 3.5 hours away all shooting UBR, I would love to try my hand at 1000 yards and beyond but just not possible, and this has been mentioned before just because you spend the money on a gun you can get a return on it, it is not a total loss, you can as I have recoup 80 to 90% of my money (except on barrels) on guns I've purchased and even more on some.
While I am not trying to start an argument, some of your assumptions are not quite correct. Some of what you say is true. If you happen to live in a part of the country where the only game is short range group benchrest or maybe serious long range benchrest, then you are probably correct. However, those who happen to live in the south central US may be within driving distance of a range that holds UBR matches. It started in KY & TN, but has grown into most of the connecting states and has moved north as well. It is certainly not necessary to spend an exorbitant amount of $$ to compete in UBR score matches. Of course, should one choose to go into custom class then that's another conversation. However, it is a proven fact that to compete and win in Modified class does not cost an arm an a leg, it just requires some good judgement as to where you spend your $$. I have won SSOY in Modified Class twice with rifles that I bought for less than $500. I'm pretty sure you can't compete in FTR for that, but then I could be wrong. I'm simply pointing out that a new shooter can compete in a fun benchrest environment without mortgaging the ranch. I looked at your location and it seems you are in MS. Of course, I don't know what part, but you are probably close enough to at least check out what I'm saying. Brock's Gap in Hoover AL holds 100 yard UBR matches on the 3rd Saturday of every month year round. Also, should you or anyone else who wants to give it a try, would be welcome at Dry Branch Rifle Range in Dixon Springs TN. I provide a complete rifle/ammo/bench setup for a first time shooter who is willing to pay the $30 match fee for the day which includes lunch. That's surely affordable for anyone who is even considering competitive shooting.
Rick
drags
Silver $$ Contributor
Good post Jeff, but there are not many live groundhog hunters anymore in my area. At one of the clubs that I belong to when groundhog season came along the sight in was almost like the deer season sight in. As far as learning about your rifle's accuracy a fellow asked one of our helpers if he could shoot in one of our shoots he said he had a savage rifle with a (bull) barrel and would we get mad if he beat everybody. He did not shoot very well but he never came back and tried to improve and many other shooters fall in that category. This year I will start my 61st year hunting groundhogs and I plan my travel plans so I can shoot as many matches as possible. If you are in your 60's you are one of the young guys at most of the shoots in our area.
Drags
CaptainMal
Silver $$ Contributor
So maybe I should quit and lower the average age of benchrest shooters at Manatee? I was 75 LAST year. Occasionally read comments about the shooters I post pictures of. The comments deal with the average age of some. Well, I am one of the oldest around so if all us older shooters quit, we can do everyone a favor as that would lower the average age of our benchrest shooters. Then benchrest would be more palatable to our younger shooters???
Convoluted logic it is. All of us will get older. The option is not very pleasant. Please don't blame us for having gotten old. We did not do that out of spite or any special desire. It is fun to be able to do things within our abilities. I think our presence should be an encouraging thing to youngsters looking to find something they can do in the future.
Try shooting. It just may be the reason you need to live longer.
Convoluted logic it is. All of us will get older. The option is not very pleasant. Please don't blame us for having gotten old. We did not do that out of spite or any special desire. It is fun to be able to do things within our abilities. I think our presence should be an encouraging thing to youngsters looking to find something they can do in the future.
Try shooting. It just may be the reason you need to live longer.
I’am specifically talking about mid and long range f-open NRA approved.You’re competition is people shooting wildcats 40lbs custom rifles and 10+ years of reloading experience with $1000 front rests and the like. You have no chance even if you drop $8000 right then you can’t just buy wind reading and reloading experience. Now there are tons of other local stuff to do that’s fun competitive and isn’t so overbearing. But it isn’t NRA approved, so it’s just a starting point. The first post of this thread seems to target BR/f-open type, that is what I’am referring to.
I'm not a golfer but I use it as an analogy pretty often, as it's a popular sport and the games have some things in common.
Benchrest(my example) is a sport where you are playing a PGA tournament every time you show up at a big match. Now, even if you could, how much would it cost to tee off for the green jacket with the best the sport has to offer, in the world? And, even if you just play the nicer semi local courses, what would that cost to do a couple of times a month?
As for equipment, well, most people buy a golf cart. I'd like to have one to take to matches but I can't afford it! Oh, and a quick google search turned up some rough numbers on clubs. A mid level semi custom driver alone can run around $500, not to mention all the irons and putters. Oh, and since I'm probably not very good at it, I probably shouldn't start driving $5 each pro vee 1's all over the rough. All in all, I think the costs are comparable except that I get to shoot against the best in the world for about the same cost as a golfer gets to tee off with his buddy for. As for rests, I've used and owned the higher priced ones but I couldn't tell that, other than some of them look beautiful, I couldn't see a difference in my scores so I currently shoot off of a shadetree top on a rock br base.
Bottom line is, I don't think cost is the driving factor here. You either have it in you to WANT to do it or you don't.
Tim Singleton
Gold $$ Contributor
Those guys had to put the time and effort in
They didnt show up and win their first match
OK, I think it's clear that they shouldn't expect to see you at Brock's Gap. And that's fine. We do agree that what we do isn't for everybody. BTW- I have been competing in UBR since the beginning nine years ago and I have see a rifle weighing mor than 26lbs less than a half dozen times. Some people do use expensive front rests, others not so much. However, from what I've seen here the F class shooters have some pretty pricey stuff as well. But that brings up the rest of your points. I will not dispute that it takes some experience to be a winner, although I'm aware that at least twice that a new shooter has won a match using his mentor's rifle. And you are certainly correct that a newby probably won't have the wind reading skills that it takes to win. But then, who would want to play a game that required no skills and not much in the way of equipment to win? If someone must be a winner from the beginning and can't stand to lose, I agree, this sport is not for them. It's not for everybody. I am a member of the NRA and our club requires NRA membership to be a club member, so we support the NRA. But the NRA does not sanction every form of shooting. Good luck with F Class in MS. I hope you enjoy it and do well.
Rick
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