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ARA Factory getting Tougher

dusterdave173

Silver $$ Contributor
So my first full year in ARA factory has been great! I have had an amazing season with many positive results but....
This week end I shot 5 2400's and 1 2450 in a 6 card match and still finished 4th! The winner the next day on the 5 card shot 5 2500's! A year ago my scores would have been winner but now ..not so much.
I am one of only a couple still using a bipod and rear bag--most are on top line rests
One other thing I have noticed is when I first started CZ MTR was it--now almost every shooter is going with Bergara.
I hear I don't know --Many Bergara shooters have switched from a CZ to Bergara--there is a little bit of Monkey See-Monkey Do but they all seem to say the Bergaras are not as ammo picky as the CZ--and you get the options of any of the wonderful Remington 700 triggers that are available --that fit in the Bergara.
I may consider getting a rest but I am sticking with my CZ--it does seem to be damn picky on ammo but When it gets a lot it is happy with it shines--I shot 3 x 2500's in a row last month.
All this to say there has been an arms race --everyone has upped their game--new rests, new scopes, multiple rifles being brought in--suit cases full of various ammo coming in with a factory class entry.

So Bergara is the rifle choice--on scopes it comes down to Lots of Sightron 45x's, other Sightrons, Lots of Nightforce with about a 50/50 mix between the 15-55 and the 12-42 The DD reticle is Very popular in the 12-42 with most others opting for some kind of dot-- I do see folks show up with new high end scopes only to use a couple of times then pass them on saying "I could not see that tiny dot" or "it was Too Fine" so many two week old scopes get traded around--one showed up with the very latest Sightron--Boy was that scope CRISP but you better have 18 year olds vision to see the dot
Older guys like me lean toward the 12-42 Nightforce with the awesome DD reticle which seems made in heaven for ARA target bull It frames in the bull and the dot is big enough.

Oh well.....practice practice practice--it ain't going to get any easier out there Bottom line these days it seems ammo driven--one shooter will get a fantastic lot and wear us out until it is gone--then they are back to normal --and then another shooter gets that "magic" lot and just tears us up. This weekend with low humidity and cooler but moderate temps everybody seemed to be dialed in--it was a slug fest at the North Carolina indoor

Congrats to Mark Tolbert for his 5x 2500's in a row for the win! I shoot against Mark at a lot of clubs and he is always the one to beat. Folks are going to regret he found his way to the ARA oh ..and he did it with a CZ MTR, 45x Sightron, Randolph front and rear rest and I think some 23 speed Center X .

Oh and shout out to Phil Dorman and crew for running a Great match!
 
I shot ARA Factory in 2022. I shot eleven 2500’s. Never more than two in a row. When the B14R’s became legal I bought one. It was lackluster. Sold it. Bought another. Same. Sold it. Both shot well, but not as well as my 24” VPC that I sold when the two nearest ARA venues stopped having matches. They also didn’t shoot as well as my VPT MTR which is now illegal. Now it’s legal to chop off the threads though. Maybe this would have improved the B14’s I had. I have a new CZ VPC MTR “blem” that I’ve been shooting in ABRA on a bipod. It’s doing well.


I’ve had the same thought about how I wouldn’t stack up as well as I did in 2022 against the current Factory shooters.IMG_1406.jpeg
 
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I have also been in ARA Factory for about a year. Today they had a 6 card match. The winner shot 6 2500's. He uses a B14r Composite barrel. I took a third. I have heard a lot of stories about CZ outsourcing the Barrel production. No clue if true. Sounds like your CZ is doing you pretty well. Have you been to Capstone for a lot match?
 

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I have also been in ARA Factory for about a year. Today they had a 6 card match. The winner shot 6 2500's. He uses a B14r Composite barrel. I took a third. I have heard a lot of stories about CZ outsourcing the Barrel production. No clue if true. Sounds like your CZ is doing you pretty well. Have you been to Capstone for a lot match?
I’ve not heard anything about CZ outsourcing their barrels. I haven’t been to the Test Center with this rifle. I’ve been shooting a few bricks of Center X that I traded for.
 
I am impressed by all you who can really shoot!

If I were to compete, I think I could finish 11th place out of ten shooters. Seriously. I have been shooting some in one of the fun RFC matches. I shot a 50 yard unlimited target yesterday with a "squirrel rifle" and my inexpensive (cheap!) bench equipment. I managed to score 1850 7X. A 25 yard 2500 was pretty easy for that rifle. 50 yards is whole nuther animal. Humbling to say the least.

1000008050.jpg


1000008052.jpg
 
So my first full year in ARA factory has been great! I have had an amazing season with many positive results but....
This week end I shot 5 2400's and 1 2450 in a 6 card match and still finished 4th! The winner the next day on the 5 card shot 5 2500's! A year ago my scores would have been winner but now ..not so much.
I am one of only a couple still using a bipod and rear bag--most are on top line rests
One other thing I have noticed is when I first started CZ MTR was it--now almost every shooter is going with Bergara.
I hear I don't know --Many Bergara shooters have switched from a CZ to Bergara--there is a little bit of Monkey See-Monkey Do but they all seem to say the Bergaras are not as ammo picky as the CZ--and you get the options of any of the wonderful Remington 700 triggers that are available --that fit in the Bergara.
I may consider getting a rest but I am sticking with my CZ--it does seem to be damn picky on ammo but When it gets a lot it is happy with it shines--I shot 3 x 2500's in a row last month.
All this to say there has been an arms race --everyone has upped their game--new rests, new scopes, multiple rifles being brought in--suit cases full of various ammo coming in with a factory class entry.

So Bergara is the rifle choice--on scopes it comes down to Lots of Sightron 45x's, other Sightrons, Lots of Nightforce with about a 50/50 mix between the 15-55 and the 12-42 The DD reticle is Very popular in the 12-42 with most others opting for some kind of dot-- I do see folks show up with new high end scopes only to use a couple of times then pass them on saying "I could not see that tiny dot" or "it was Too Fine" so many two week old scopes get traded around--one showed up with the very latest Sightron--Boy was that scope CRISP but you better have 18 year olds vision to see the dot
Older guys like me lean toward the 12-42 Nightforce with the awesome DD reticle which seems made in heaven for ARA target bull It frames in the bull and the dot is big enough.

Oh well.....practice practice practice--it ain't going to get any easier out there Bottom line these days it seems ammo driven--one shooter will get a fantastic lot and wear us out until it is gone--then they are back to normal --and then another shooter gets that "magic" lot and just tears us up. This weekend with low humidity and cooler but moderate temps everybody seemed to be dialed in--it was a slug fest at the North Carolina indoor

Congrats to Mark Tolbert for his 5x 2500's in a row for the win! I shoot against Mark at a lot of clubs and he is always the one to beat. Folks are going to regret he found his way to the ARA oh ..and he did it with a CZ MTR, 45x Sightron, Randolph front and rear rest and I think some 23 speed Center X .

Oh and shout out to Phil Dorman and crew for running a Great match!
The same thing is happening at our club. In a 5 card match, if you don't get at least 3 or 4 2500s you are not going to win. Our top 3 shooters are using CZ MTRs and a Tikka T1X. One of our old timers just started shooting a new B14R and it is performing better than his previous 457 At One. All of our best factory guys are using bipods.
 
I am impressed by all you who can really shoot!

If I were to compete, I think I could finish 11th place out of ten shooters. Seriously. I have been shooting some in one of the fun RFC matches. I shot a 50 yard unlimited target yesterday with a "squirrel rifle" and my inexpensive (cheap!) bench equipment. I managed to score 1850 7X. A 25 yard 2500 was pretty easy for that rifle. 50 yards is whole nuther animal. Humbling to say the least.

View attachment 1710342


View attachment 1710343
Considering your set up and the fact that unlimited target is pretty tuff that is a very respectable score.
 
I am impressed by all you who can really shoot!

If I were to compete, I think I could finish 11th place out of ten shooters. Seriously. I have been shooting some in one of the fun RFC matches. I shot a 50 yard unlimited target yesterday with a "squirrel rifle" and my inexpensive (cheap!) bench equipment. I managed to score 1850 7X. A 25 yard 2500 was pretty easy for that rifle. 50 yards is whole nuther animal. Humbling to say the least.

View attachment 1710342


View attachment 1710343
Very respectable score you shot.....Fine shooting Sir!!!! :cool:
 
The same thing is happening at our club. In a 5 card match, if you don't get at least 3 or 4 2500s you are not going to win. Our top 3 shooters are using CZ MTRs and a Tikka T1X. One of our old timers just started shooting a new B14R and it is performing better than his previous 457 At One. All of our best factory guys are using bipods.
Them boys have definitely been putting on a show this year!!! Miss 2 shots out of 5 cards and you'll be going to the end of the line!!! LOL!!!

The CZ 457 At-one came out of retirement this year and couldn't keep up. I agree, looks like the B14R is going to shoot better for him as it had a very good dabut.
 
This thread has turned into a testament to what a great many have felt for a very long time, behind the scenes.
i do not shoot factory, and I’m sure to take a lot of flack but, these days, the target is far too easy, plus, whether you realize it or not, guys now, some guys, have learned how to “game” the system .
Years back, even in UNL, guys took years to shoot a single 2500.
BR…..any kind of BR, is supposed to be hard, not easy IMHO.
 
This thread has turned into a testament to what a great many have felt for a very long time, behind the scenes.
i do not shoot factory, and I’m sure to take a lot of flack but, these days, the target is far too easy, plus, whether you realize it or not, guys now, some guys, have learned how to “game” the system .
Years back, even in UNL, guys took years to shoot a single 2500.
BR…..any kind of BR, is supposed to be hard, not easy IMHO.
Please explain have learned to "game" the system - Very interested
 
You hear a lot rumors at the events. One guy was saying the CZ uses a "coating" inside the barrel
to improve performance however this so called coating wears off after 2,000 rounds with no way
to retreat it.
Mine has an outsourced barrel. Both of them do. And I can prove it. I have the receipts, from whidden. Best money I’ve spent in a long while. Criterion
 

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