F-class, great way into match shooting!

[M700]

F-class, which only started a few years ago, has grown tremendously in popularity, and a bunch of guys who might not have ever shot in competition have taken it up, and have done well. The top-flight gear to be truly competitive at the highest levels is pretty specialized stuff, but to get involved all it takes is an accurate rifle, a bipod or rest, a decent scope and good ammo. Most matches seem to be shot at 300, 500 & 600 yards here in Washington state, where F-class is growing rapidly. Some ranges are limited to 100 yards, others stretch to 1000 yards. A good .308 is competitive, as is a .243 Winchester. Other cartridges do fine too. I'm delighted to see F-class growing so rapidly, it is bringing a lot of casual shooters and hunters into the world of competitive shooting.

Here are a few photos from 600 yard F-class matches at the North Central Washington Gun Club:

A .243 Win I believe. This fellow changes rifles too fast for me to track!

A superbly accurate .308 built on a Remington 700 action.

A deer-slaying 6.5-06!

Monte's excellent little 6mmBR on a Savage action!

If you've ever thought about rifle competition, but didn't want to invest in all the paraphernalia associated with NRA highpower shooting, consider F-class. All you really need is a decent rifle with a good scope, a bipod and some good ammo. Most of us already have all of that. F-class is a way to put it to more use, and sharpen your shooting skills too!

Regards, Guy

 

[memilanuk]

Hey! It's the ghetto Salvage!

 

[Forum Boss]

Hey! It's the ghetto Salvage!

Hey I have a Frankengun Salvage 6BR too.

Nice pix in this thread. Shows you don't need a $4000 showpiece to compete and enjoy F-class. Thanks guys.

 

[StephenPerry]

Guy
Tell some of the guys is F-class registered IBS. Are you shooting target or silhouette What are the weight classes. I would like to know and where would the closest Shoots be to So Cal.
Stephen Perry

 

[memilanuk]

Stephen,

Just passed Guy on the street... he's out writing tickets and chasing tweakers

F-Class is neither IBS nor NBRSA. It is NRA High Power Rifle. For detailed information, you might check www.usfclass.com for the official U.S.A. team site, www.long-range.com which is a forum like this one that specializes solely in NRA Long Range HP Rifle... Palma, F-Class, iron sights or scoped. Finally you can read the official rules,well, they'll be 'official' as of this coming January) at: http://www.nrahq.org/compete/rules/rul_hpr_06.pdf and http://www.nrahq.org/compete/rules/rul_fb_prone_06.pdf,some of the F-Class stuff got rolled into NRA Fullbore... another 'long range' discipline from across the border the NRA is finally picking up the ball on).

Classes... well, there's 'TR' aka 'Target Rifle', which is as follows: unmodified .223 Rem or .308 Win, bipod and/or sling, rear bag, total of 8.5kg,~18.15#) including scope, bipod, i.e. anything attached to the gun). Then there's 'Open' class, which is any caliber under .35 cal, 10kg,~22#) weight limit, front rest, rear bags,no mechanical rear rest, no one-piece rests, no little 2" tall 'tables'...), ~3" or 75mm wide fore-end. There will also be shooter classifications by way of your running average score... i.e. Marksman, Sharpshooter, Expert, Master, High Master. Most ranges require at least five shooters in any given class for award purposes, so in 'normal' HP you see a lot of a 'HM class' and a combined 'MA/EX/SS/MK' class w/ everybody else in it, except at big matches like State, Regional, or National Championships. Doubt it'll be much different that way for F-Class.

Targets are going to be 1/2 MOA X-ring, 1 MOA 10-ring, 2 MOA 9-ring, 3 MOA 8-ring. Targets are pulled and scored for each shot. 200-0X beats a 199-19X, etc. like other 'score' disciplines. Targets look like this,standard MR-1 target w/ 1 MOA X-ring, 2 MOA 10-ring):

Probably a number of ranges near you that have F-Class... it can be and is shot anywhere from 300yds out to 1000+ yds. Since 1k ranges are a little harder to find, 500-600yds is seeing a fair amount of activity, for the same reasons 600yd BR is. Dunno how close 29 Palms is to where you're at, but I'm pretty sure they have a big match,Regional?) coming up this late summer/ early fall. Best bet is to check either online at long-range.com,they have a pinned listing of 1000yd ranges in the U.S. and elsewhere) or check w/ your local state rifle & pistol association... most likely they are NRA affiliated and can give you a hand finding active programs in your vincinity. Me, I had to take one over and am trying to breath life into it so I don't have to travel 2-3 hours every time I want to shoot in a match

HTH,

Monte

 

[rhino]

1000 yard F-class is a great hoot! Nothing like the wind at bodines to spoil a 10 or an x...8...wtf!

RHINOUT!

 

[M700]

Monte laid it out pretty darned well. I like F-class because it is so easy to get into, and it is a true precision rifle sport. We see benchrest guys bring their bench rigs, set up on the ground and have at it. We see highpower guys put a scope on their match rifles, set 'em up on the ground with a rest or bipod and have at it. We see varmint hunters and long-range precision big-game hunters take their favorite game-getters, set 'em up on the ground and have at it.

Sometimes the results are very interesting... There's been more than once that a good wind-doper with a stock, or nearly stock, Rem 700 in .308 has cleaned clock on guys with some very serious equipment...

Of course, more often than not, the more dedicated shooters, with correspondingly dedicated equipment, do real well. It's been very interesting watching the growth of F-class shooting here in Washington State, and across the country. I think it would be even more popular if more shooters hear about it, and give it a try!

Regards, Guy

 

[JeffT]

Stephen,
like mentioned before, Monte laid it out very well. If you want some more info, check out Jeff Cochran's article on this site, it is very informitive.


Jeff

 

[JER]

Has the growth of F-class in Washington impacted the growth of Conventional Prone?

 

[M700]

I truly don't know. Don't have any figures to cite, only my observations. I've been seeing the same guys and gals at conventional prone matches for a long time w/no real growth that I noticed anyway. We're just getting older.

I know one conventional prone shooter who turned to F-class due to injuries. Have also seen a bunch of varmint hunters and other shooters start competing - guys who likely wouldn't have ever bothered with all the specialized gear needed to compete in conventional prone, or cross-course.

Regards, Guy

 

[memilanuk]

What growth of conventional Prone? Outside of the state Junior team, I'd almost say we're negative... old shooters kickin' off faster than we can replace them ,just kidding!)