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First BR rifle

DShortt

DShortt

Gold $$ Contributor
Kind of a poll here.

Knowing what you know, not knowing if benchrest is going to prove to be something you are interested in.

What cartridge would you start with?

Just interested in old faithful stuff. Not gonna set the world on fire wiz-bang neeto stuff.

Thanks for looking. Looking forward to the opinions.
 
If there are any ABRA/ARA (Rimfire/22lr) matches in your area, or a reasonable distance go visit a match or two, ask some questions, etc., you may be able to take a few shots with their setup, and it will give you an "feel" for these BR games. Ammo is strictly OTC stuff, so caliber is set. LOL
 
Started with a 6 PPC.
A BR shooter was selling very reasonable because he was left handed and the action was right handed. When he was able to get a left handed action from Stiller he sold me his right handed gun. A very good deal, brass, fire-form barrel, chambered barrel stub and load info. It's a Viper drop port Kelbley club stock smithed by G OCock.
 
If you're not sure if short range BR is for you, I'd go with a straight 6BR with a twist rate and freebore to shoot 68 - 75 grain bullets.

PPC's can be a pain, whereas the 6BR is the "easy button" without giving up too much in the accuracy department.
 
With Alpha making high-quality 6ppc brass and a whole lot of custom bullets being made for them all over the country, I would consider that one. If you don't run it in the top node barrels will last a good while. You could perfect just throwing charges out of a Harrels or something similar and be amazed by how accurate they are.

Regards
Rick
 
I just got into it 2 years ago. We shoot UBR score matches and groundhog matches.
Guys at our club almost unanimously recommended the 30 BR for a beginner, very accurate, easy to tune, and less finicky than the PPC.
Found a good deal on here for a Kelbly Panda in 30 BR and by the end of the year I was placing and winning matches.
Now I also own a PPC. The PPC may be a better choice for outright accuracy, mine seems to shoot groups a little better than my 30 but they are pretty close if I do my part.

The 30 has more recoil, especially shooting free recoil, the PPC is much more pleasant to shoot. 30BR is much better on brass life. Going on year 3 with the same brass and primer pockets are still tight, got the PPC going late last year and primer pockets are already getting loose. 30 BR has better barrel life also.

Go to a match and see if guys will let you shoot their rigs, guys at our club are very generous about trying to recruit new blood, or maybe they just want more donators to their winnings.
I like both calibers but probably lean more towards the 30 simply because the barrel and brass life and I am a tightwad.
 
Obviously a 6PPC is king of that sport.
A couple of locals started with a plain vanilla 6BR and both finished mid pack. They're both shooting PPC's now and not doing as well as they did with the 6BR. Of course learning a new cartridge and new guns takes a bit. One other guy started with a 222 and he too could finish mid pack with it. He has a PPC, and a Waldog and the 22's are still his favorite. If you in an area where most folks run n-133, then the PPC is likely the easy button. If you shoot out west where its dry, 133 has caused a lot of spicy sentence sandwiches.

CW
 
I'll confess I was leaning towards a 30BR simply because I have read it's the cheaper and easier version just to see if BR is really something I'm interested in.
But I thought I'd see what a 'poll' would turn up. So far, the 6PPC is way ahead.
But it sounds like it's more complicated, particularly for a first-timer.
I'm not delusional. I just want to not embarrass myself. I don't expect to come out on top moving into competition for the first time.
 
I started with a 30 BR. I think that cartridge is an excellent option for a new shooter. The 30 BR is very easy to get tuned and stay in tune. I was amazed at what my rifle would do the first time I took it to the range without any load development or knowledge on how to develop a good load. You just have to be prepared for a little extra recoil.

My PPC will shoot smaller than the 30 BR I had, but the learning curve took a little more time to get to that point.
 
Last edited:
tikkaman308 said:
Do you have any friends that have either caliber that would let you try it out,the 30 br is mild compared to a 308,a 6 ppc is even milder recoil
Click to expand...
Nope. Only know 2 regular shooters that compete. One shoots pistols. The other shoots PRS.
 
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