Equipment needed for my first F-Class shoot on Sunday

[Amazingrandy]

Good evening everyone, I am going to be competing in my first 300yrd F-class F/TR shoot this coming Sunday and would appreciate any ideas of what type of equipment or supplies I should have with me for when I am behind the berm. Also, I was wondering if I should bring rifle cleaning equipment being that it is a 100-120 round shoot. thank you in advance, Erik.

 

[effendude]

Besides rifle and ammo, bring your spotting scope, shooting mat or carpet to lay on, stool to sit on for scoring. Pencil and paper for notes, camera, water, lunch, extra ear plugs, billed cap and safety glasses for pit duty. A cleaning rod is ok, I usually don't need them for an 88 shot day, buit yes foir 2 day matches. Above all else, come with a good attitude and an open mind. I guarantee you will meet new friends and learn much.

You will be hooked, no matter how you perform!

Good Luck,
Scott

 

[Nodak7mm]

Welcome Grandy,

I sincerely hope you have a blast. I wrote up a little story about how easy it is to have fun and get started. Here is a link to get you headed towards it. http://bulletin.accurateshooter.com/2012/03/getting-started-in-f-class-by-rod-vigstol/

Please report back on your experience, looking forwards to that.

Rod

 

[Immike]

Good for you! A journey always begins with the first step. Keep in mind we all had our first match, even Robin Hood shot his first arrow at one time in his career. As far as being prepared I recommend rehearse setting up the bags so you know the routine and don't have to shoot uncomfortable with your position. And cleaning a rifle will keep it accurate thru the match, I clean each relay with 2 wet and 2 dry patches just to keep the fouling down.

 

[Amazingrandy]

Thank you for the insight and the advice everyone, im not going to lie when I say that im a bit nervous. But it seems like I have everything that I need for this shoot. The gentleman that runs the event is retired and very nice and quite helpful, which makes thing a little easier. I am sure that I will have a great time and meet some good people in the process. And I will gladly let you know how the day went, either good or bad.

 

[DennisH]

My cheat list hanging on the wall!

DON'T FORGET THE AMMO!

My rifle in a case, sometimes it's too early in the morning!
My shooting mat
Small clipboard for score card
Radio's
70 to150 rounds of ammo
An empty chamber indicator.
A couple different rear bean bag type devices
My spotter / tripod (there will be plenty there)
At least 20-30 bucks for match entry fee and lunch afterward
A truck load of water, I am in the deep South
Cleaning rod (it has come in handy many times not for me but..)
Cleaning fluid, equipment, et., Bore Tech
A small box with minimal tools allens, driver, bits, etc
Soft sided cooler with plenty of h2o and a couple granola bars

eyes/ears/hat/sunscreen/light jacket

 

[Rtheurer]

Randy
Take a look at the picture in this thread. The Fclass guys are closest to the camera. Matt, Rear bag, front rest or bypod. Chair if your scoreing and bino's or spotting scope. Dennis has a good idea about the small clip board. I like to take a 1 gallon Ziploc in case its wet out for the score card. Stash Ear plugs in every peice of equipment you have in case you drop them or set them down and forget where there at. ( i buy a box every year and stash them all over the place)
If you dont have a good Zero let your scorer know and most times he will help out. Wind chart on your rifle or the back of your clip board. ( though at 300 shouldnt be to bad) more for later at longer ranges.

RT

http://forum.accurateshooter.com/index.php?topic=3783310.15

 

[Erik Cortina]

You have received solid advise. However, I would strongly disagree with lmmike on cleaning between relays. You will have so much going on since it will be your first time that you will not have time/need to run patches down your barrel between relays. I have shot entire weekends without cleaning and I shoot F-Open! Go and have fun, do not worry too much about your score but do the best you can. Remember to feast and forget. Celebrate a good shot (in your head), and forget the bad ones (also in your head), but sometimes Tourette syndrome seems to take over some shooters while on the line when they shoot an 8 because of a wind reversal! ;D

Get to the pits as soon as pits are open, take water, some snacks, eye and ear protection, and wear a baseball cap or a hat. Make sure you have plenty of supplies at your target, especially shot marker spindels. At 300 yards, shooters tend to shoot them very regularly. When you run the target up, make sure you put a paster sticker on your finger so you can have it ready when the target goes down. Move shot marker to new hole, paste old hole, check score marker to make sure it's in the right place, run target back up, get new paster on finger. Do this as fast as possible but also as smooth as possible. Do not try to do it so fast that you forget to move the score marker or you will catch yourself when the target is almost all the way up and you will pull it back down, breaking the shooters concentration, especially if he's a fast shooter.

Please do not paste your pasters anywhere on the target or target frame thinking you are preparing ahead of time. That sometimes becomes a distraction for the shooter and the pasters will not stick as good on the target when you need them. Plus, on the extreme case, you can void a National Record by making that target look different than the others if anyone points that out if a National Record was shot, and believe me, shooter will not be happy with you.

Remember, there are no stupid questions. If you don't know, ask. You will enjoy it and you will have a grea time.

Disclaimer:
Everyone on this site is only trying to help you, and since you asked we did our best to help you get through your first match. Therefore, we are not responsible for all the money you will spend after you shoot your first match and get hooked! ;D

 

[Immike]

Eric is right I am one of very few that clean during a match, and time for it is difficult to find for most people. The benchrest training forces me to do it so I have found a quick way that's less than a min. It's what my rifle likes and i always pay attention when it won't group. I had the opposite experience with bullets blowing up at the end of a match I had easily won and was about to reset the range record, I didn't clean and it cost me.

 

[Amazingrandy]

Thank you for the disclaimer notice Erik, but it is too late... I have a girlfriend and her son who also love to shoot, so money is already getting spent. I just want to say thank you again aI will gladly let everyone know how my first shoot went in a couple of days. Im still kind of nervous though.

 

[Turbulent Turtle]

Let me just add that your goal is to complete the match safely. There will be lots going on and it may be all new to you but please observe all safety rules and pay attention to what you are doing. As Erik said, try to provide good pit service and look at how the other folks are doing it.

Most importantly, have fun.

 

[Amazingrandy]

Good evening everyone. I successfully and safely completed my first F/TR shoot today, and am fairly pleased with how I did. My aggregate for five, twenty round strings was 879-10X and can only hope to get better. While I was there I learned a few things from some seasoned shooters, along with just meeting some really nice people. I just want to say thank you to everyone who gave me advice before this shoot, and to let everyone know that I am addicted!!

 

[Immike]

Wow you should be hooked, that's a good score for 1st time. The prep payed off! I'm sure you will give them someone to reckoned with your positive attitude. AWSOME! I threw a gold medal target in the trash at my 1st natl match about 25yrs ago, things look up after that! I also did my my 1st crossfire at lodi last year but that's a bridge under water and I don't look back, you must love the Battle to love shooting!