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Lots of good advise has been given. I suggest a .223, maybe used, seeing that it could have everything you would need for shooting out to 600 yards. If you want to build a rifle keep in mind “buy once cry once”. There are lots of options. My Remington 223 shoots great and there are lots of aftermarket parts available. Ruger also makes a RPR that lots of folks like. I also agree a mentor to help you get started will help you get a jump start on learning the proper way to shoot Your new rifle. This forum is a great place to ask questions. Lots a great shooters here.
I am pretty conversant here with the forums; over the past year, I have been reading them and learning. I have only been shooting for a year and a half, and in that time, I have only shot 12-15 times. I would now like to get into competitive shooting. Ideally, I would like advice on which type of rifle would be suitable for a 36-year-old, 108 pound, 5ft 4 girl. I have used a 22 Shotgun at 100 yards, which is insanely easy, and have also shot an AR-15 at 100 yards, which is quite easy as well. I am not looking for something cheap. To start, my max budget on a rifle for now would fall somewhere between $1000-$2000. I would appreciate any all-around and insightful advice.
define the type of competition or casual target shooting FIRST then look for a rifle.
simple at this point would be a 6br/6bra/6dasher.
are you going to load for this( best idea) or shoot purchased ammo....
go to some matches and see what is involved. most clubs will let you shoot a gun to see real life
where are you ??
I am pretty conversant here with the forums; over the past year, I have been reading them and learning. I have only been shooting for a year and a half, and in that time, I have only shot 12-15 times. I would now like to get into competitive shooting. Ideally, I would like advice on which type of rifle would be suitable for a 36-year-old, 108 pound, 5ft 4 girl. I have used a 22 Shotgun at 100 yards, which is insanely easy, and have also shot an AR-15 at 100 yards, which is quite easy as well. I am not looking for something cheap. To start, my max budget on a rifle for now would fall somewhere between $1000-$2000. I would appreciate any all-around and insightful advice.
I would find out if there are any f-class matches close to you. When I first started shooting FTR, there was a 1000 yd range within an hour of my house. We lost access to that range, so now I have to drive 3.5 hr to shoot any F-Class distance. Don't get into a discipline you can't do relatively close to your home. Today there are very few 1000 yard ranges in the US. Many states don't have a range at all. Even as big as Texas is, we only have 2-3 ranges that go to 1000 yards. Hopefully with the e-targets available, more places will open up.
I would find out if there are any f-class matches close to you. When I first started shooting FTR, there was a 1000 yd range within an hour of my house. We lost access to that range, so now I have to drive 3.5 hr to shoot any F-Class distance. Don't get into a discipline you can't do relatively close to your home. Today there are very few 1000 yard ranges in the US. Many states don't have a range at all. Even as big as Texas is, we only have 2-3 ranges that go to 1000 yards. Hopefully with the e-targets available, more places will open up.
Good advice here. It's hard to practice/compete at distance if there is no range close to you. Finding one and going to what matches they have will help. Buying a used Custom rig that my need a barrel is a good place to start (a lot of worn out BR bbls) will still shoot better than anything from a factory and can be bought in your price range. Good luck and enjoy the sport.
The best advice I can give you at this stage in your development is to find a mentor in the specified class of shooting you want to do and wait to buy any rifle scope or other equipment until you do. Most clubs or ranges in your area will have folks that have the necessary experience and will be glad to help you. If you list your geographic area here, you will probably find a few seasoned shooters that will be generous with their time.
6mm in an XLR Element stock (shorter length of pull) with a really nice scope is a good place to start. Keep it lighter than the boys rifles. Go to a match and watch, most people will let you mess around with thier stuff. Be careful though, those guys don't meet many women at matches and might be scared of real ones.
Getting started suggests working with a light recoil cartridge that doesn’t ihwve to be the most competitive out there. For example the Creedmore has a lot of followers, but the recoil is enough to distract a new shooter in spite of many saying it is a “low recoil“ cartridge.
Look closely at the 6mm ARC and the 6.5 Grendel. The Grendel will ring steel with authority out to past 1200 yards one most days. The ARC can also but the lighter bullet won’t make as much noise.
Both cartridges are known to be very competitive out to 600 yards. Both will give impressive results out to at least 1,000 yards. Both are hugely fun to shoot.
Start with one of them to get a feel for the sport and help decide which discipline you want to start doing serious work in. In the meantime, explore whch cartridges win matches regularly in the various disciplines.
You will probably know when you are ready to try the most most competitive cartridges where managing recoil is a more significant factor.
6 BR. Easy to shoot and load. Accurate and will do 600 & 1000. I shoot FTR so I like 308, but when I have a rough shoot, I take the BR out to get a little confidence back. If your leaning towards FTR, a fast twist 223 will get the job done for midrange 600 and 1000 after you get a handle on the wind.
Torif - given your intentions, the first question I would ask is whether you reload your own ammunition. Although it is not absolutely "essential" to get started in F-Class, eventually you will want to roll your own if you want to compete at a high level. There are two reasons I mention this. The first is that you will want to consider the cost of reloading equipment and supplies at some point, which will be above and beyond the cost of a complete rifle setup. Secondly, your intentions and physical description would match up very well with using .223 Rem as a caliber, which would put you into the F-Target Rifle (F-TR) subdivision of F-Class. Unfortunately, most .223 Rem offerings in commercial ammunition are not at all ideal for shooting at 600+ yd, due to the lighter bullet weights used. In order to get started (if you don't already reload), the .308 Win would be a better choice for F-TR shooting at 600+ yd, as a few heavier bullet options are commercially available. However, the .308 Win will have substantially more recoil than a .223 Rem, which might be a deal breaker in terms of just getting started. These are things to think about.
Given your location, the Milan Rifle Club might be a good place to get started:
Last I heard, they host High Power/F-Class matches out to 600 yd and are located a bit closer to you than Des Moines, being just across the river almost straight south of Davenport. There are certainly other options in the general region, but most will be in the range of 4+ hr driving time. I shoot F-TR at Eastern Nebraska Gun Club (https://engc.us/home), slightly southwest of Omaha, but that would also be a bit of a drive for you. Nonetheless, you are more than welcome to come out and shoot with us next season. In fact, I have a couple .223 Rem F-TR rifles that I shoot regularly in matches in addition to .308 Win. I would be willing to load up rounds and let you shoot one in a match to see what you think. I'm sure you would also find plenty of discussion with our shooters regarding an F-Class rifle setup and competing in F-Class. We have a few shooters from IA that may also be able to point you to a venue closer to home. I appreciate that the logistics of traveling to Omaha are not as appealing as finding a range that hosts F-Class matches closer to home, but the offer is open if you ever want to make the drive. You can always contact me via PM here if interested, or just for answers to any questions you might have.
To elaborate a bit more on the .223 Rem, most F-TR competitors that use one are hand-loading bullets in the 80-95 gr weight range, as these bullets are noticeably more resistant to wind deflection than the lighter (77 gr and below) bullets typically found in commercial ammunition. Because the bullets most often used are much longer (heavier) than those found in commercial ammunition, you want a rifle with a chamber that has a long throat better able to accommodate them. Barrel lengths of 30" (or more) are also the norm. These long bullets also require a relatively fast rifling twist rate (7.0-twist is generally sufficient) in order to fully stabilize them. One rifle that satisfies most of these requirements that also falls well within your price range is the Savage 12 F/TR rifle in .223 Rem.
The one caveat to that is that I don't know exactly how long the throat of the Savage 12 F/TR rifle is out of the box is, but the barrel length and twist rate are spot on. Further, the throat length can be extended with a special tool. There are other considerations with the Savage rifles, those being the Accu-trigger, which some don't care for, and that the factory barrels are generally pretty rough inside the bore. Nonetheless, factory Savage rifles can shoot straight out of the box, and I have seen many very fine scores posted by folks using them. Further, once the factory barrel is shot out, it can be replaced with a quality aftermarket barrel chambered any way you like. So another attractive feature about the Savage rifles for those just starting out in F-Class is that they will typically burn out the factory barrel while learning more about F-Class shooting and gaining experience in the discipline. By the time the factory barrel is burned out, they will be more experienced and ready to upgrade with a new barrel. For that reason, the factory barrel really shouldn't be a deal-breaker, and as I mentioned, factory Savage rifles can shoot extremely well. Again, something to think about.
Best of luck with whatever you choose to do in competition precision rifle shooting! It's not exactly the "least expensive" sport you could have chosen, but you'll meet a lot of great folks and enjoy the thrill of competition.
The best advice I can give you at this stage in your development is to find a mentor in the specified class of shooting you want to do and wait to buy any rifle scope or other equipment until you do. Most clubs or ranges in your area will have folks that have the necessary experience and will be glad to help you. If you list your geographic area here, you will probably find a few seasoned shooters that will be generous with their time.
Wait, since I have not shot in a competition before, I need a rifle for the F-TR, a .223, correct? So what would you recommend for that? I also need to know the scope type for it. Please!
Hello and welcome aboard!
Personally I think you are pigeon holing yourself too much. You are new and asking questions about scopes etc.... If I were you, I would go to a match or 2 and watch and ask questions and I am certain someone would let you shoot their rifle. Shooting 1 or 2 different guns would give you a ton of experience and may lead you down the appropriate path sooner.
Having buyers remorse stinks, so why go out and buy a rifle, scope etc and then say wait, I would like to try XYZ. I have tons of stuff that I don't use and I have tons of stuff that I have sold for a fraction of what I paid because I "thought" it was what I wanted or needed. Looking back I would have saved a lot of time and money if I had a mentor or if I had gone to a couple of matches with someone. Instead I just started buying and going. It got expensive real quick.
You may be happy with a factory gun and then again you may want a full blown custom. To get the most accuracy out of any rifle you may want to learn how to reload too. In rifle shooting accuracy usually equals money spent. Everyone has a budget, even the wealthiest.
I don't want to hurt your enthusiasm, but I hate to see people waste money just because they didn't know any better. That dirty green paper doesn't come easy.
Also, the best thing you could have done for yourself is to come here. There are many world class shooters on this forum and great rifle builders too. You will learn a ton from the people on this forum.
I am pretty conversant here with the forums; over the past year, I have been reading them and learning. I have only been shooting for a year and a half, and in that time, I have only shot 12-15 times. I would now like to get into competitive shooting. Ideally, I would like advice on which type of rifle would be suitable for a 36-year-old, 108 pound, 5ft 4 girl. I have used a 22 Shotgun at 100 yards, which is insanely easy, and have also shot an AR-15 at 100 yards, which is quite easy as well. I am not looking for something cheap. To start, my max budget on a rifle for now would fall somewhere between $1000-$2000. I would appreciate any all-around and insightful advice.
Got the page -
Yes we are in Davenport Iowa, Milan is the nearest range for 600 with pits (no electronics there).
My wife (4'11" and not adding weight but say very petite) started shooting 2 years ago with a Remington 223 in a HS Precision stock, Bartlien 1:7 barrel HV, ISSF reamer to run Berger 90's. (That got me too HM in Mid Range) Last year I built a new one for her. I went with Borden action HBR with no ejector, another Bartlien 1:7 barrel HV, ISSF reamer and she wanted to stick with the HS Precision stocks even though I had a Cerus FTR stock sitting. Not debating a caliber .223 VS .308 but I will say the recoil is less. I shoot Van Meter as well couple times a year. I would be more than happy to bring the gear and let you see and shoot a .223 and .308 set up for FTR. Just PM me and we can set something up.
Find a club or range in your area that is active in the discipline you want to shoot...go to a couple events...watch/talk to club officers they will generally point you in the right direction...a lot of times you can get a really good deal and good advice on equipment...pay attention to the equipment that the guys/girls that are most competitive are using....do you reload?....thats a whole other wormhole to head down....welcome to competitive shooting!
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