F class ?

[rebs]

I have tried shooting quite a few rifles at our club range including 308's, 6 BR's and 6.5 creedmoor's and always come back to my Tikka varmint 223. I love shooting this rifle and score upper 190's on 300 yd F class.

 

[XTR]

Shooting a 223 set up for F-TR is more fun and pleasant than just about anything else I have done in competition shooting. I'm not recoil sensitive, and I shoot a lot more 200gr 308s than 90gr 223s these days, but an 18lb rifle launching 90gr 223s has almost no perceived recoil. There have been days at 500 yards that I could watch my trace all the way into the target in my NF scope. (at 300 yds the trace/blast obscures the target and the bullet is there before you pick it back up, and at 600 yards on 42 power the bullet trace leaves the top of the view so you lose it before it gets there)

You can shoot it for probably 4000+ rounds before you wear out the barrel. The bullets cost ½ to 2/3 what others do, you use about 1/2 the powder of a 308, if you don't try to wring the last 50FPS out of them the brass life is good, (I've shot Lake City brass for yrs and gotten good results) and did I mention the lack or recoil?

If you are serious and you don't shoot in gruesome winds every weekend you will get to High Master pretty quickly. If you decide you want to start shooting a long range or traveling to bigger matches you can get a bolt and a new barrel and chamber it up for a 308. (my 223 is a switch barrel Remington 700 short action)

The only time I take my 308s to the line in mid range are at major matches, or if I need to use the match to test a load. Otherwise I shoot the 223 because it's just fun.

If I were to build a mid range open rifle for local shooting I'd build a 6SLR because I am set up for that chambering. If I was starting from scratch with an open gun for mid range, and I knew I never intended to go to the Nationals or Bergers, and never intended to shoot long range, it would be a 6 of some flavor. In the end it comes down to the shooter, they all work.

If you start this and you decide to go to other venues you will eventually have more than one rifle. If you shoot open you'll end up with a 6 and a 7, if you shoot F-TR and you start with a 223 you'll eventually have a 308.