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EQUIPMENT LIST FOR VFS.

I understand why it doesn't get done, it takes work. I just wish it would happen for the VFS matches.
There may be other reasons, but the larger group matches seem to include the information while the VFS matches usually do not.

To be honest, it looks like including all of the technical information takes a lot of time and work.
Even though I probably don't show it often enough, I appreciate the time and effort people provide to have the matches.
 
If you are talking about NBRSA/IBS Best Edge Score shooting, all you have to do is ask any of the several shooters who frequent this Site, and are pretty proficient at it, what they are using.

If it is caliber Neutral Score Shooting, such as UBR, we have several top shooters who also are members here.

We fill out Equipment Lists at some matches, but the only place you will possibly see them is ina magazine two months later.
 
Quite often, equipment lists are included with match results published in the official NBRSA magazine. As far as publishing them online here, thats a bit different. Most of the results posted online seem to be done by shooters taking photos of the results posted at the match. I am not sure i have ever seen an equipment list posted at a match other than the Nationals.
I think if you will search on here for the 2023 and 2024 NBRSA score nationals that you can find the equipment lists posted. Bear in mind that some of the details may not be exactly accurate as competitors often make last minute changes that do not get recorded. But if you look at those lists, you will see 99 percent of anything you would see at any other match.
 
Jayplace said:
I understand why it doesn't get done, it takes work. I just wish it would happen for the VFS matches.
There may be other reasons, but the larger group matches seem to include the information while the VFS matches usually do not.

To be honest, it looks like including all of the technical information takes a lot of time and work.
Even though I probably don't show it often enough, I appreciate the time and effort people provide to have the matches.
Click to expand...
Jay, Jim Cline just gave a great answer. That is one thing the IBS does.
And, some of the top Score Shooters attend a lot of IBS Matches.
 
jackieschmidt said:
If you are talking about NBRSA/IBS Best Edge Score shooting, all you have to do is ask any of the several shooters who frequent this Site, and are pretty proficient at it, what they are using.

If it is caliber Neutral Score Shooting, such as UBR, we have several top shooters who also are members here.

We fill out Equipment Lists at some matches, but the only place you will possibly see them is ina magazine two months later.
Click to expand...
I am interested in VFS, specifically/typically 30 BR. What powder seems to be preferred, would it be H4198 when available? Is the "NEW" H4198 equivalent to the earlier H4198?
 
Jayplace said:
I am interested in VFS, specifically/typically 30 BR. What powder seems to be preferred, would it be H4198 when available? Is the "NEW" H4198 equivalent to the earlier H4198?
Click to expand...
I still have 12 pounds of H4198, but decided to switch to N-130 when Hodgdon decided we weren’t worth making powder for. Now, I think N-130 might be the better choice.
It is difficult to improve on the typical 30BR that is being used by many now. We all have our little quirks within the basic design, but suffice to say that a .330 neck zero free bore 1-17 or 1-18 twist 30 shooting any of the fine Benchrest Flat Base bullets will get the job done.

My set up is my own 30BR .330 neck chamber, shooting my own 112 grn FB out of either a Krieger or Bartlien 1-18 twist barrel. My load is 35.7 grns of N-130 about .010 off the lands.

If you have read any of our match reports this spring, it’s doing pretty good.
 
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35.7gr N130 seems to be popular at our club with 118gr BIBS, shoots well in 4 different guns. My gun shoots the 112’s a little better at 36.1gr.
One long time H4198 shooter converted to N130 after seeing how my gun was shooting with it and feels it is just as good as 4198 if not better. Plus it is easy to find and at better prices.
 
Websurfer said:
Most shooters I know use LT30 or VV130. Try both, and go with whichever performs better. The "new" H4198 might be worth playing with, too. Once you find a "best" powder, buy til you cry...
Click to expand...
I'm still a relatively inexperienced shooter still trying to sort out the big things like picking a powder that shows a likely hood of being the better choice. Until somewhat recently, H4198 seemed to the obvious choice. Now it seems there are several options.

What's puzzling to me is, Lt30 and N130 have both been available for a long time and until H4198 became unavailable, they were seldom used for the 30BR.

I understand the concept of buying all you can afford. My problem is, I don't want to buy all three and end up having two that don't get used. I currently use LT30, but a number of people have good luck with the N130. I'm not sure if anyone is using the H4298 at my club, but then, it hasn't been available for many. I'm approaching that time to purchase powder and would like to see what the trend is with those who can/will/have experiment with those powders and have good results.

I do like to look at charts to see what works the best for most shooters. I am aware that certain shooters tend to do better, more often and other factors are involved.
 
Somewhere back in the older conversations there is a long string concerning powders. It bears reading and thinking on. There are several powders that will work. But probably today the big four would be H4198, LT30, N120, and N130. All will work but be aware that N120 is fast enough that you can get too much in a 30BR case. Both 120 and 130 give excellent accuracy and as a bonus, they are less expensive today than H4198. I stocked enough of both that I have not tried the new H4198.
 
In the current market place, N-130 will [probably] provide the most bang for the buck ($): the other candidates have gone to much higher pricing. As Joe pointed out, N-120 is currently readily available,
with the only "down-side" being that, if one gets carried away with it, wrecking brass is a possibility.
In addition to the three most commonly used, should you have a stash - or, stashes - H-4227; Rl-7; H-322 (Extreme); & other similar burn rate powders can work quite well - they just require some risk taking and experimentation.

Local pal, Mike Bigelow, 2024 NBRSA National TWO GUN Champion, used N-120 in both his Hunter and VfS rifles last July . . . and, just last weekend, during a NBRSA tournament at Lincoln, NE, in trying conditions, posted a semi-respectable VfS (100 yd.) score of 250-24x . . . not bad for having drawn THE "honey-hole".:eek: A squandered opportunity - probably due to the "odd-ball" N-120 load . . . :p

In combination with bullets of up to 118 Gr., and H-4198; Lt-30; & N0130, attaining excessive pressure is very unusual. Regarding favorites, "back-in-the-day", the H-4198 was not only readily available, is was the most cost effective . . . from inception, the Lt-30 (the new kid on the block) was decently priced until the covid shortages created some paradigm shifting . . . Any/ALL of these top three options will out-shoot almost everyone who breathes oxygen . . . ;) RG
 
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Jayplace said:
I'm still a relatively inexperienced shooter still trying to sort out the big things like picking a powder that shows a likely hood of being the better choice. Until somewhat recently, H4198 seemed to the obvious choice. Now it seems there are several options.

What's puzzling to me is, Lt30 and N130 have both been available for a long time and until H4198 became unavailable, they were seldom used for the 30BR.

I understand the concept of buying all you can afford. My problem is, I don't want to buy all three and end up having two that don't get used. I currently use LT30, but a number of people have good luck with the N130. I'm not sure if anyone is using the H4298 at my club, but then, it hasn't been available for many. I'm approaching that time to purchase powder and would like to see what the trend is with those who can/will/have experiment with those powders and have good results.

I do like to look at charts to see what works the best for most shooters. I am aware that certain shooters tend to do better, more often and other factors are involved.
Click to expand...
Hi jayplace,
I am betting that someone at your club, or at a match you might attend, will have a few partial containers of powder laying around, that you can probably have for free or at low cost. Look there.
It is inevitable that you will, if you really get into competitive shooting, end up with remnants of powder, bullets and primers that you test and that simply don't work out. No way to get around that - this is an expensive sport. Things like kids in college, a mortgage, medical bills, and so much more eat up a lot of the budget, and don't leave a lot of room. So you need to buy wisely and need to accept that this is a money pit.
Financially, benchrest shooting makes zero sense. My fiancé and I recently shot at a registered match in Tomball, TX. $125 for a hotel, about the same for food, $100 for gas, at least $100 for the ammo we shot, $100 for registration fees, $20 for money shots, $50 tip for the pit crew, etc. Don't even ask what our trip to the Saint Louis VFS Nationals in July will cost. If you want to make money at a sport, try golf. Or tennis. Or bowling. Or almost anything else.
Back to powder: if you already have LT30, how is it performing? Try testing differing powder amounts and bullet lengths, and see what works best. Then go shoot a few matches with that load. And, get a mentor - or at least follow some of the shooters here. Read some books about benchrest shooting. A lot of videos on the subject are available on YouTube. After a few matches, you will get an idea of how your load (and rifle, and rest, and scope, and technique, etc.) is doing. Then you can try to change up various things, to see the effect (hint: change only 1 thing at a time). And, have someone at the match watch you shoot - they may spot things that you can fix/address.
Your line about certain shooters tend to do better, more often - is 110% spot on! Better shooters win the most frequently, on average. This is where time into the sport - and experience - and skill - pays off.
Best of luck to you!
 
Websurfer said:
Hi jayplace,
I am betting that someone at your club, or at a match you might attend, will have a few partial containers of powder laying around, that you can probably have for free or at low cost. Look there.
It is inevitable that you will, if you really get into competitive shooting, end up with remnants of powder, bullets and primers that you test and that simply don't work out. No way to get around that - this is an expensive sport. Things like kids in college, a mortgage, medical bills, and so much more eat up a lot of the budget, and don't leave a lot of room. So you need to buy wisely and need to accept that this is a money pit.
Financially, benchrest shooting makes zero sense. My fiancé and I recently shot at a registered match in Tomball, TX. $125 for a hotel, about the same for food, $100 for gas, at least $100 for the ammo we shot, $100 for registration fees, $20 for money shots, $50 tip for the pit crew, etc. Don't even ask what our trip to the Saint Louis VFS Nationals in July will cost. If you want to make money at a sport, try golf. Or tennis. Or bowling. Or almost anything else.
Back to powder: if you already have LT30, how is it performing? Try testing differing powder amounts and bullet lengths, and see what works best. Then go shoot a few matches with that load. And, get a mentor - or at least follow some of the shooters here. Read some books about benchrest shooting. A lot of videos on the subject are available on YouTube. After a few matches, you will get an idea of how your load (and rifle, and rest, and scope, and technique, etc.) is doing. Then you can try to change up various things, to see the effect (hint: change only 1 thing at a time). And, have someone at the match watch you shoot - they may spot things that you can fix/address.
Your line about certain shooters tend to do better, more often - is 110% spot on! Better shooters win the most frequently, on average. This is where time into the sport - and experience - and skill - pays off.
Best of luck to you!
Click to expand...
Yeh, but some of us are getting so old we can’t remember where the last bullet hit :)
 
Thanks for asking about my LT30 results. I haven't shot as much as I need to in order to provide accurate information, but it started out reasonably well for a new gun set-up. It was shooting .170-.180'S using 115 grain bullets, a lower level amount of powder and just touching the lands while fire forming my brass. I switched to more powder, good custom bullets and various amounts into the lands. And, it seemed to have gone downhill. However, the winds haven't cooperated at all recently. The first time, the wind was very light and co-operative.

What is your powder of choice currently?
 
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