I should add that between me and my partner we have had two scopes in the thousand dollar range fail. That being said these run and gun shoots will test your equipment between sand and bangs and such. A thousand dollar optic will get you rollin but when you get shootin these comps you better save your money cause you are gonna want a better scope. Just my experience.
How to get started in PRS?
- Thread starter 300_whisper
- Start date
Try and separate the shooting fundamentals and equipment likely useful for most accurate rifle work at similar ranges from the tricks, techniques, and specialized equipment commonly found in PRS and less useful in other disciplines.
Unless you are already a pretty good marksman over the ranges of interest (through informal shooting or another discipline), odds are pretty good you would do well to spend a year or so (and a few thousand rounds) focusing on the shooting fundamentals and equipment with more broad applicability rather than trying to come up both THAT learning curve as well as the tricks, techniques, and specialized equipment commonly found in PRS and less useful in other disciplines.
My advice is to become a fundamentally sound rifleman first, and then learn at the tricks to game your favorite rifle sport.
Unless you are already a pretty good marksman over the ranges of interest (through informal shooting or another discipline), odds are pretty good you would do well to spend a year or so (and a few thousand rounds) focusing on the shooting fundamentals and equipment with more broad applicability rather than trying to come up both THAT learning curve as well as the tricks, techniques, and specialized equipment commonly found in PRS and less useful in other disciplines.
My advice is to become a fundamentally sound rifleman first, and then learn at the tricks to game your favorite rifle sport.
"Stop picking at that or it will never heal" still ranks #1 in my book
I can offer some advice as this was my first year shooting PRS type matches in a smaller league called the Border Wars Rifle Series. I did attend one actual PRS match.
As said before, the best things you can do are find a mentor, show up, take a class, and shoot-a lot! You can also volunteer as a range officer, that helped me a lot and the shooting community really appreciates it.
I did have a competitive rifle built and topped it with a great scope but only bought a rear bag, a game changer bag, and a good sling. I already had a 6-9" swivel Harris bipod and I use the same backpack I take elk hunting. I never felt under geared.
I have a great mentor and his best advice to me was, "90% of it is the shit you do before a match."
He's right, and I found that out after over the course of the season with shit like this: I didn't have exact dope, didn't re-zero a new load, didn't chrono before match, rear action screw loose, mixed lots of firings on brass, etc. All stuff that should have been done before matches.
That said, I had a great time and felt I improved immensely.
I borrowed a bag from fellow squad members several times and loaned my game changer a couple times. 99% of the guys and gals are awesome and willing to help.
The PRS match was extremely humbling as it's almost unbelievable how some of the top shooters scored in those winds. However, I never felt unwelcome and met some great folk's willing to share knowledge.
One more thing, buy 500 rounds brass and a shit load of bullets and powder.
Good shooting,
Chris
P.S. if you're loading H4350, buy 2 or 3 jugs when you find it, you're going to need it.
As said before, the best things you can do are find a mentor, show up, take a class, and shoot-a lot! You can also volunteer as a range officer, that helped me a lot and the shooting community really appreciates it.
I did have a competitive rifle built and topped it with a great scope but only bought a rear bag, a game changer bag, and a good sling. I already had a 6-9" swivel Harris bipod and I use the same backpack I take elk hunting. I never felt under geared.
I have a great mentor and his best advice to me was, "90% of it is the shit you do before a match."
He's right, and I found that out after over the course of the season with shit like this: I didn't have exact dope, didn't re-zero a new load, didn't chrono before match, rear action screw loose, mixed lots of firings on brass, etc. All stuff that should have been done before matches.
That said, I had a great time and felt I improved immensely.
I borrowed a bag from fellow squad members several times and loaned my game changer a couple times. 99% of the guys and gals are awesome and willing to help.
The PRS match was extremely humbling as it's almost unbelievable how some of the top shooters scored in those winds. However, I never felt unwelcome and met some great folk's willing to share knowledge.
One more thing, buy 500 rounds brass and a shit load of bullets and powder.
Good shooting,
Chris
P.S. if you're loading H4350, buy 2 or 3 jugs when you find it, you're going to need it.
Lots of good advice in the posts above, pay attention to the ones from folks participating in the sport. Best advice by far is to show up and shoot a few matches before you do anything else.
One thing I'll caution is that when you show up you will likely see the "gear race" in full effect. There will be guys with all sorts of cool toys and bags and accessories that look like they would be helpful (and some of them actually are). You could easily walk away from a match feeling like you needed to go spend a crap ton of money to keep up with everyone else. There's a lot of disposable income and shiny new toy buying that can be a part of the sport. But, if you know what to really look for and which shooters to watch you can see past the gear and learn what really wins matches. IMO, here's the secrets of success in the sport.
1) Learning to hold yourself and the rifle really still from compromised shooting positions and making good trigger pulls.
2) Keeping a clear head and executing a complex shooting plan efficiently (smooth transitions, target acquisition, correct shooting order of targets, managing dope, correcting for wind)
3) Having a well prepared, accurate rifle with known dope out to distance.
None of the above hinges on how many shooting bags or accessories you buy. It's 90% a mental game, with a big chunk of that being adrenaline management. It's really, really hard to do #1 and #2 well when you've only got 90 seconds and you're amped up because it's your turn to shoot and you're being scored and everyone is watching you.
I've been able to have some small success at the sport and have gotten to practice with some very good national level shooters. There's nothing like getting your butt handed to you all day long shooting practice stages, when the only piece of gear they used was a simple bag full of sand as a rest. It helps me remember that at the end of the day buying a new piece of gear is not what's going to make me win or lose.
One thing I'll caution is that when you show up you will likely see the "gear race" in full effect. There will be guys with all sorts of cool toys and bags and accessories that look like they would be helpful (and some of them actually are). You could easily walk away from a match feeling like you needed to go spend a crap ton of money to keep up with everyone else. There's a lot of disposable income and shiny new toy buying that can be a part of the sport. But, if you know what to really look for and which shooters to watch you can see past the gear and learn what really wins matches. IMO, here's the secrets of success in the sport.
1) Learning to hold yourself and the rifle really still from compromised shooting positions and making good trigger pulls.
2) Keeping a clear head and executing a complex shooting plan efficiently (smooth transitions, target acquisition, correct shooting order of targets, managing dope, correcting for wind)
3) Having a well prepared, accurate rifle with known dope out to distance.
None of the above hinges on how many shooting bags or accessories you buy. It's 90% a mental game, with a big chunk of that being adrenaline management. It's really, really hard to do #1 and #2 well when you've only got 90 seconds and you're amped up because it's your turn to shoot and you're being scored and everyone is watching you.
I've been able to have some small success at the sport and have gotten to practice with some very good national level shooters. There's nothing like getting your butt handed to you all day long shooting practice stages, when the only piece of gear they used was a simple bag full of sand as a rest. It helps me remember that at the end of the day buying a new piece of gear is not what's going to make me win or lose.
Kurz
Silver $$ Contributor
This conjured up a memory from a shoot a while back where one of the established shooters showed up looking like the Michelin Man...
As it turned out, he apparently was able to use nearly every single bag, given some of the ridiculously contorted positions offered by the Match directors.
you definitely need one of these bags.
http://www.armageddongear.com/Numero-Uno_p_98.html
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I actually ordered one as a gag, and my daughter loves to shoot off of it. She uses it as a bean bag chair most of the time.
http://www.armageddongear.com/Numero-Uno_p_98.html
<iframe width="640" height="360" src="
I actually ordered one as a gag, and my daughter loves to shoot off of it. She uses it as a bean bag chair most of the time.
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