Easiest rifle competition to get started in ?

[Hammer]

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What is the easiest rifle competition for a 60 year old to get started in ?

Very familiar with rifles and handloading over a lifetime.

Wants to get into some rifle competition for fun and friendship.


F-class ?

Benchrest ?

High Power ?

1,000 Yard ?

Fifty caliber ?


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[LHSmith]

Many Benchrest venues offer a factory class. The Score discipline offers the most opportunity. It helps to be located near a club that offers matches. Go to the IBS and UBR , NBRSA (although I am not sure they allow factory guns) websites to find match locales, dates, and rules. Also groundhog and egg shoots may be another option depending on your location.

 

[Raythemanroe]

Hammer, Your location is kinda vague. I would lean to my interests, short range vs long and go with the nearest venue to give it a go..


Ray

 

[Hammer]

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Will be spending the winter in the Phoenix area near Ben Avery.

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[LHSmith]

I suggest you contact Lester Bruno (Bruno Shooters Supply). He is HOF Benchrest Competitor active in both IBS and NBRSA , located in Phoenix and will gladly assist a new shooter to get started in competition.

 

[akajun]

Smallbore prone or f class . You will need a gun , mat, spotting scope and stand, and a coat and glove if you shoot prone.
For a rifle try a savage , or cz if you go new, if you go used an anschutz. 54 or Remington 40x , 513t, win 52 or hr model 12

Next would be service rifle highpower , you can buy a top notch nm ar capable of making high master for 1k$.
F class, savage f class gun , sightron or weaver scope. No coat or glove needed but need a bipod.

 

[Alex Wheeler]

F-class is my recommendation.

 

[expiper]

OP,,,if you build it right you can shoot the same gun in "B"enchrest and F-class,,,,it may need two barrels but it can be done and hav a winning rifle,,,OBTW,,,you can use the same front rest in both also...talk to Bruno !!!...Roger

 

[6BRinNZ]

To just get started I would go FTR .308. You can cut your teeth on very cheap gear, figure out what you do and don't like. .308 bolt face is used by many cartridges so that is probably a good choice whatever you do.

Top end FTR rigs are starting to look like BR rigs, certainly in the stock profile and weight so thats a +2 for Roger.

Once you have some time under your belt you can up the ante and get top end gear or just carry on with what you have or swap bits and pieces as you see fit or budget allows.

 

[sixdrumquads]

Being that I am not experienced with f-class, I would say benchrest. I have gone to a few local varmint shoots and shot in factory class/ borrowed a custom gun from my mentor. The one thing I have been told over and over is to shoot whatever match is most common in your area. Here in Ohio, there are varmint matches pretty much weekly if you split between a few clubs; most of these clubs are within an hour and a half of where I live. Benchrest would probably be a little bit easier on your body, but if you can shoot prone no problem then that's not necessarily an issue either.

Pretty inexperienced here but this is what I have found to work for me as a starting point.

 

[Matthew Schwartzkopf]

Hammer.
Ben Avery offers everything your heart can desire when it comes to shooting sports. A lot of it depends on the money and time your willing to spend on the sport. If you are willing to shoot from the prone position I would recommend getting in touch with the Desert Sharpshooters at www.desertsharpshooters.com. They offer matches for F-Class and prone shooting in smallbore, mid range and long range as well as across the course matches. If you are not willing to lay down then I would recommend Benchrest. The Ben Avery Benchrest Shooters is the club that holds all of the Benchrest practices at the facility. Their website is www.benaverybenchrestshooters.com. Both organizations are full of some of the best shooters in the world in their respective sports. I would recommend just going to one of their matches or practices and talking to the shooters. they are always willing to help new shooters.

As for my personal opinion the easiest and cheapest sport to get into would be F-Class Target Rifle. All you really need is a rifle with a decent scope, bipod, shooting mat, and rear bag.

 

[vtmarmot]

I have shot all of it except for long range bench rest. I would ask, at 60, how much time you want to spend in the sun and how much you like shlepping equipment around a range and working target butts. If you are iffy about any of that, than I would take a hard look at bench rest. The benches are almost always covered, you can usually drive up close, and having had skin cancer and new hips already, I prefer that to the other types of competition. I still do the others, but not as often, and with less enjoyment.

 

[Turbulent Turtle]

F-Open would be easier to get started in than F-TR. You can pick up a rifle you would like to shoot in any caliber you like and use any type of front rest you want and go have fun. F-TR is more specialized and more difficult to get good scores, especially at long range.

 

[Steve Blair]

F-Open would be easier to get started in than F-TR. You can pick up a rifle you would like to shoot in any caliber you like and use any type of front rest you want and go have fun. F-TR is more specialized and more difficult to get good scores, especially at long range.

[br]
I shoot both F-TR and F-Open. While you are correct that higher scores are easier in Open without bipod issues and using ballistically superior cartridges, competing is another issue. Both are equally difficult to effectively compete.

 

[6BRinNZ]

F-Open would be easier to get started in than F-TR. You can pick up a rifle you would like to shoot in any caliber you like and use any type of front rest you want and go have fun. F-TR is more specialized and more difficult to get good scores, especially at long range.

I don't agree.

Ditto Steves comments - certainly if you have something just go and use it.

 

[johara1]

I would vote for 600 yd. BR.being the easiest on you…… no target pulling, small caliber guns and no rat race with shoot offs like 1000 yd BR.and you only need one gun. Short range bench rest is a real rat race with loading and cleaning to get ready for the next relay but you can get by with one gun. F class you lay in the dirt, get wet when it rains and you need to be able to with stand recoil in large caliber guns and you will pull targets and score and it's a busy day. X.T.C. Is for the young laying in a 100 degrees with a sweat shirt and a leather coat and getting hot brass down your neck ……. it isn't fun all the time ……….. 600 yd. BR you can have fun till you can't drive anymore ……… jim

 

[Erud]

X.T.C. Is for the young laying in a 100 degrees with a sweat shirt and a leather coat and getting hot brass down your neck ……. it isn't fun all the time ………..

Or the young at heart. Here in MN we have a grand senior who at 78 years old, still manages to turn in High Master aggs about 1/4 of the time. I shot a XTC team match with him 5 weeks ago and he shot a 776-21x. Considering most HP shooters don't ever make HM in the first place, I'd say he's still doing fine! There are plenty of shooters over 60 shooting Highpower. The downside is there is no quick payback, and it takes a lot of work to do it well.

 

[johara1]

This is about the easiest ……. 600 to me is the easiest for some one 60+ to start out in and continue with a min. of gear guns and conditions you have to shoot in. Most 600 yd. ranges are covered and out of the elements ….. he only needs one light gun, 17LB. a rest for front and rear and he can shoot both light and heavy all are 5 shot targets - 4 each. He can fool with F class and 1000 BR also with the same equipment …….. jim

 

[Turbulent Turtle]

I shoot both F-TR and F-Open. While you are correct that higher scores are easier in Open without bipod issues and using ballistically superior cartridges, competing is another issue. Both are equally difficult to effectively compete.

The OP question was "easiest rifle competition to get started in." It did not say anything about being competitive and wanting to shoot at the national level, just "fun and friendship."

I recommended F-Open because the rules are very inviting and easy to follow. Any caliber up to .33 cal, weight up to 22 pounds, any front rest you want. It doesn't get any easier. In F-TR, we have stricter weight limit, bipod or sling only and .223 or .308 only.

For 600 yards the OP can select a nice 6mm or 6.5 and go have fun with a cheap bipod and then get a nice rest and have a great time. Easy to get decent scores at 600 and plenty of opportunity for buying stuff and so on. F-TR is very restrictive.

 

[6BRinNZ]

I shoot both F-TR and F-Open. While you are correct that higher scores are easier in Open without bipod issues and using ballistically superior cartridges, competing is another issue. Both are equally difficult to effectively compete.

The OP question was "easiest rifle competition to get started in." It did not say anything about being competitive and wanting to shoot at the national level, just "fun and friendship."

Differences in opinion I suppose - nothing wrong with ya hunting .308 and a Harris bipod and factory ammo to meet this criteria, we have plenty of guys start this way.

We have 300, 500 and 600 yard matches lined up for the hunters.

There is a trap with FO in that if you want to take it to the next level you are probably going to ditch that 6mm or 6.5 and get a .284 or variant which will probably mean new components, reloading dies etc.