Competition shooter

[Sandstorm]

There is nothing better than shooting long range F-Class for me. Ive enjoy'd every moment
since i started competitive shooting and im still improving and that's a bonus.
Its a great mental game and keeps you sharp.

 

[AlNyhus]

I compete in short range BR Score shooting. The thing I enjoy about it is that you really just compete against yourself. At the end of the day, you find out how you stacked up with the other shooters. We also have several local club tournaments that are a lot of fun. These are a good way to expose new shooters into the competitive side of the sport. The people are another good part of it. I like characters and there's no shortage of them in shooting.

I enjoy the mechanical side of it...bullet making, stock work, making stuff on a mill and lathe, etc.

Good shootin' -Al

 

[rayporter]

the hard part=
you have to practice and tune with only yourself to compete against with no idea how that session will compare in actual competition. you must be brutally honest with yourself - a trait many lack.

 

[JLT]

I shoot F Class. I turn money into noise.

 

[jelenko]

I shoot F Class. I turn money into noise.

Don't we all

 

[Alex Wheeler]

Do most here shoot in competition or are you just a casual range shooters

if you shoot in matches what is some of the main reasons you do?
I use to shoot in big matches but now just shoot smaller local matches
mainly just to enjoy friends and enjoy the day and do what we love todo
we shoot the bull about as much as we shoot bullets. No one leaves crying if they don’t win
whats you take

For me I attend matches to enjoy the company. Most of the time I dont even shoot I just like seeing my buddies and customers. For me its 100% about the people.

 

[Will Henry]

I started competing at local turkey shoots 55years ago, then started shooting short range BR. I shot 1000 yd BR, and shot "F" class 25 years ago. Since I have to travel around 250 miles for everything else, I've been shooting nothing but Metallic Silhouette for the last 7 or 8 years. Realizing that I missed the accuracy competitions, I've decided to start short range BR, and maybe a little "F", again. I've been away from both for so long, it'll be like starting anew. Kind of exciting. WH

 

[jelenko]

I started competing at local turkey shoots 55years ago, then started shooting short range BR. I shot 1000 yd BR, and shot "F" class 25 years ago. Since I have to travel around 250 miles for everything else, I've been shooting nothing but Metallic Silhouette for the last 7 or 8 years. Realizing that I missed the accuracy competitions, I've decided to start short range BR, and maybe a little "F", again. I've been away from both for so long, it'll be like starting anew. Kind of exciting. WH

Maybe new, but certainly you know where the path should lead and remember some of the dead ends. You have been there before.

 

[Bill Norris]

Began handloading in the mid 90's due to reading a lot of magazine articles about the subject and I began to think that factory loads simply could not be as accurate as something I could build at home. Did lots of reading and research on all the aspects of handloading over a period of the last 30 years. Although I have done well with that process I never had much interest or desire to shoot matches but I did enjoy competing with myself to see if I could improve my processes at the reloading and shooting bench and anything in between until a couple years ago I met (SVT_Tactical) locally. Realized he was heavily into rifles, handloading, and such and we began a friendship second to none and even though I do not care to travel much at all I have gained enough interest in matches to begin putting some effort into attending a few with him here at Rattlesnake Range about 2 hrs. away. Attended my first one back in December 24' and really enjoyed it. I figure since I have a builder @ ODCR (WSMNUT) that builds rifles that shoot fantastically I might as well see how well (or poorly) I might do. I feel the rifle and ammo will certainly be up to par but my bench manners and wind reading skills both will suffer.

 

[TRSR8]

I am one of the dummies that shoot both CFBR and RFBR, I enjoy spending absurd amounts of money on both disciplines.
I shoot fewer CF matches because for years shot RF every week, we had sanctioned matches within 1 hour, three weeks a month and CF where I could including a few IBS nationals.
Very fortunate to have a world class facility right in town ( will host IBS nationals 2025) and we shoot pretty competitive club matches every week of the year… 100 yd group all winter, 200yd group all spring summer which allows a lot of shooting. The guys are great plus I love fooling with all the equipment. Have to balance it out cause I’m a passionate fly fisherman, fresh water and salt and been lucky, fished all over the world, love to shoot but would never skip Montana every summer.

 

[Texas Solo]

I only shoot F Class, but I take it seriously. Being retired, I have the time to be anal about ammo.
I shoot every club match, but I greatly prefer bigger matches. But health and money prevent me from traveling too far. I make all the matches at CMP Talladega.

 

[Fast14riot]

I compete so my shooting has a purpose. I find that if I don't have a match coming up I won't have everything together to the best of my abilities. I shoot monthly club F/class matches and just getting into some registered matches.

I grew up shooting pistol matches and left shooting sports for a long time as I pursued racing sail boats, got good, got paid, won a bunch, then got fed up with it. Walked off the dock about 10 years ago and right back to shooting. Great friends, great times and great fun!

 

[jelenko]

I find that if I don't have a match coming up I won't have everything together to the best of my abilities

Same!

 

[Nvcnvc]

I enjoy hand loading more than anything and I am a precision nut. I like accurate rifles and seeing small holes at long distances. I shoot fclass mainly in local settings because I enjoy hanging out with people and shoot the breeze. Gets me out of the house.
Sometimes I think I like the tuning process more than shooting! Ha!
I thank God every day that I am at a point in my life where I don’t have to worry about the costs of components, rifles, scopes, etc.
I am also a good student. I ask questions and take advice in from the best shooters out there. I learned a lot by listening to others.

 

[dusterdave173]

After retiring I took up shooting at a range during Covid--had the range to myself--was there every day.
Fell in love with reloading, assembling rifles, etc my engine building skills transferred over perfectly.
I raced cars for decades but had never shot a match in my life until last year--I was hooked right off the bat! Have learned more in one season of match shooting than I could have in a lifetime of just playing around. We are currently up to our ears in the ARA 22 match show--Loving every minute!
The fellowship has been really good and...the best part is in over a year I have not heard ONE word about politics etc--just guns, bullets , powders, etc I like it that way--I partly do this to get Away from all that BS
If you have never shot a match I urge you to get over any fear or whatever is holding you back--Jump In! Folks are very welcoming to new shooters--It is like going off the high dive the first time--takes a lot but then you Run back up the ladder to do it again

 

[JeTarget]

I learned to shoot at 30, shooting smallbore with a local junior program. For those of you who know smallbore 3p you can imagine the shock of being beaten by high schoolers. I learned fast, shooting in winter 3p and summer outdoor prone leagues. I met some of the best people I’ll ever have the pleasure of knowing, and some frustrating ones too.

After a few years I tried high power XTC and found out that while I could shoot, I couldn’t shoot sitting very well due to some back problems so that only lasted a summer. Last year at 40 I fired my first palma match and spent the summer shooting long range. I got to try f class but really prefer the sling. Again, some of the best people you could ever meet.

I shoot handgun and shotgun for enjoyment.

This winter I was lucky enough to meet a great new friend on the forum who invited me to try short range benchrest and after 2 matches am currently diving in head first. Nothing quite like shooting an agg in the .2s

I’m all of that time I’ve never related to anything quite as much as the phrase “I turn money into noise”

 

[BCP1980]

I have never shot in a competition but plan on changing that this year…..there are some local UBR matches I plan on attending. Up until now everything has been informal and just test of my skills (reloading and shooting) behind my house with mainly pistols and hunting rifles. Last year myself along with my dad who is a retired machinist found out about Hawks Ridge Gun club and the 1000yrd range just a little over 1 hour from where we live and joined. We decided to put together a couple of rifles and go have some fun. We ended up buying a couple Howa 1500 barreled actions (308), oryx chassis and Arken scopes and got after it. We mainly just went by ourselves during middle of the week when no one was there and were amazed at how fun it was to hit steel targets spread across the field at varying distances (something I really never even knew was possible without a very large budget) Then last summer we were invited to a privately owned range 15 min from home with steel targets up to 1150 yards and have since had more fun than anything else I’ve ever done. We have a small group of guys usually 6-8 and we meet up about once a week to have fun and compete informally against ourselves and each other. My dad and me ended up building our version of Erik Cortina’s KYL rack (10”,8,6,4,3,2 pic below)and set it at 600yrds. I have since convinced my dad to chamber us a couple of 6GT barrels and true up our Howa 1500’s for this years shooting season. My dad is an amazing machinist and engineer and it has been fun just watching him get involved with this and have the passion to make everything perfect…..just to chamber the barrels he crated a reamer holder and pusher unlike any I’ve seen before, action wrench,pic below, for Howa 1500 (I could not believe how tight the factory barrel was),made several other jigs to lap bolt face, true receiver face with threads, and list goes on and on. I have since purchased a true benchrest rifle for UBR competitions as well as had my brother (another machinist in the family)chamber me a 30BR barrel for a Mack Bros single shot action that I have bedded to a revolution stock.

Somewhat of a rambling post but getting to spend this much time with my dad and having something to compete at again (played sports all my life), and watching my dad create and build, has truly been a blessing.

 

[BCP1980]

I wish I had a better pic but his holder/pusher is 2 pieces there is a plate mounted to a center in the tail stock that can be adjusted via a swash plate and 4 screws to be dead true with the lathe chuck (via an indicator on chuck sweeping plate in tail stock, tail stock had be verified to maintain this trueness to the chuck throughout the travel of the quill. I will try to get a better picture of the two pieces and post later if anyone is interested.

 

[Pawnee Bill]

I only shoot when I'm alone or with somebody.

 

[Jon Turner]

Sounds like I'm the odd man out here. I'm a 70 year old sling shooter, not a BR or F-class shooter. I shoot XTC, Service Rifle and mid range, been doing that since '79 or '80. I, too, only compete against mineself. The chances of me winning, placing, or showing, are slim to nill, but I still have a great time on the range. Agreed, it's more about the comeraderie than the shooting, well, maybe not, but they both go hand-in-hand. I got into shooting at a very young age due to my dad's interest in firearms (he was a WWII vet). I started reloading in the early 70's and got into comps in the early 80's, even got my DCM "one per lifetime" M1 rifle in '82 if I remember correctly. I shot the M1 exclusively until 4 years ago when I got my fiirst AR15 just to remain competitive.
Well, I've rambled enough, hope I'm not off-topic too much.
Catch you all later here in the forums.

Jon