Hahaha, I find it interesting that even service rifle has resorted to using scopes to bolster their numbers. And those scoped service rifle shooters are still using Helen Keller targets. WWI snipers used scoped rifles, what is it with you sling guys that want to stay in the dark ages.
Is F-Class for second class shooters?
- Thread starter Travelor
- Start date
What IS IT with you 'belly shooters' that can't stand up and shoot offhand??
What IS IT with you "offhand shooters" that can't turn the rifle upside down and shoot upside down hand?
Sadly, I agree with @Downeast assessment. With a few exceptions, highpower shooting in general is dying off. Tacticool and field match shooting as well as three gun and run and gun shooting is still growing, despite the cost of everything related to compete. We are slowing dwindling away.
I don’t get the animosity towards any one class. Now, there is going to be some light hearted ribbing, but that one of the pleasures of shooting to me. It’s one of the few places I can talk smack at a high level and not be worried about getting fired or doxed but some snowflake. However, I haven’t seen a club that doesn’t treat F and Match rifle shooting as equal in probably 10 years.
I started my LR journey in 2000, shooting what is now considered FTR. As I progressed I made the “mistake” of slinging up and it was an obsession after that for many years. Many of those years I ran matches and used have used F class to introduce A LOT of shooters to long range shooting. Over those years maybe 50-60 people who I handed that rifle to cut their teeth and another 150 -200 that had their first 1k experience. I wish even 50% of them would have continued to shoot, sadly most don’t as this is not easy nor is it a very exciting sport. (Says the guy who still gets nerves when I’m clean after 15 shots.)
I don’t get the animosity towards any one class. Now, there is going to be some light hearted ribbing, but that one of the pleasures of shooting to me. It’s one of the few places I can talk smack at a high level and not be worried about getting fired or doxed but some snowflake. However, I haven’t seen a club that doesn’t treat F and Match rifle shooting as equal in probably 10 years.
I started my LR journey in 2000, shooting what is now considered FTR. As I progressed I made the “mistake” of slinging up and it was an obsession after that for many years. Many of those years I ran matches and used have used F class to introduce A LOT of shooters to long range shooting. Over those years maybe 50-60 people who I handed that rifle to cut their teeth and another 150 -200 that had their first 1k experience. I wish even 50% of them would have continued to shoot, sadly most don’t as this is not easy nor is it a very exciting sport. (Says the guy who still gets nerves when I’m clean after 15 shots.)
Downeast
Gold $$ Contributor
To shoot F Class properly one has to have a lot of land and money. Since we cannot find any volunteers to stand next to the targets to mark the shots 
we have to use the biggest Shoot-n-c targets we can find. We use a standard F class target and center up the reactive target on the back side. So you are shooting at a reactive target and when you are done we score the F Class target on the back. We will be using steel targets for sighters for the next match. It's a PITA but it's all we have and where else can you shoot F Class without driving hundreds of miles and spending hundreds of dollars per match? I can shoot PRS and 3 gun within an hour of my home. I live in se NC by the way. There are two F class venues that I'm aware of in the entire state. Three to four hour drive one way and they hold monthly two day matches so you will have to add in lodging and meals. And these ranges are government owned and only open to the public during formal matches so there are few places to practice, sight-in, or test your loads. The majority of shooting clubs have waiting lists, lots of rules, and have 200-300 yard ranges at the most. I'm not sure about BR opportunities? It's quite a challenge overall.
we have to use the biggest Shoot-n-c targets we can find. We use a standard F class target and center up the reactive target on the back side. So you are shooting at a reactive target and when you are done we score the F Class target on the back. We will be using steel targets for sighters for the next match. It's a PITA but it's all we have and where else can you shoot F Class without driving hundreds of miles and spending hundreds of dollars per match? I can shoot PRS and 3 gun within an hour of my home. I live in se NC by the way. There are two F class venues that I'm aware of in the entire state. Three to four hour drive one way and they hold monthly two day matches so you will have to add in lodging and meals. And these ranges are government owned and only open to the public during formal matches so there are few places to practice, sight-in, or test your loads. The majority of shooting clubs have waiting lists, lots of rules, and have 200-300 yard ranges at the most. I'm not sure about BR opportunities? It's quite a challenge overall.You just live in the wrong State. You also can shoot just one day of a 2 day match. Sounds like y'all have your 300 match figured out enough to have fun..To shoot F Class properly one has to have a lot of land and money. Since we cannot find any volunteers to stand next to the targets to mark the shots
ronsatspokane
Gold $$ Contributor
Aren't those Helen Keller targets more appropriate for a bow and arrow or maybe even an ax. Why use a rifle?
when one the the sling shooters gives me a little jab about using a scoped rifle, I just remind them that "they are using a spotting scope to see mirage and that a purist sling shooter should not be using any optics". just poking the bear for a little fun.
Time on my hands today so I'll add my $.02.
I started target rifle shooting in 7th grade, participating in a weekly NRA .22 youth league held in Sasebo, Japan where my Dad was stationed in the USN. The program was run by a Navy Captain and a Marine Major. I believe both were smallbore shooters in college. They built a 50 yard range inside an abandoned shipyard warehouse, piling sand to the ceiling on one end, held in place by old RR ties. It was pretty dark as they had to add lighting with limited resources. But we were very excited to have a place to shoot and learn 3 position. We would stop by the base Exchange every Friday on the way home from school and purchase two 50 round boxes of RF ammo to be ready for Sat. morning. They tracked progress with NRA classifications and medals which really motivated us. I still have those certificates and medals and they are as important to me as the ones I've received as an adult. Those two guys are gone now but I'll be forever grateful to them for starting me on this lifelong adventure.
Moving forward, I spent 20+ years shooting High Power XTC and LR, a bit of smallbore, some air rifle, a little bullseye pistol, a fair amount of USPSA pistol, plus 2 and 3 gun. PRS came late for me but I would have really enjoyed it if I still had the required mobility and stamina. Actually took a 2 day class and had to purchase a scope with hold over hashes, since all my scopes were target scopes. It was very gratifying to shoot 8 different steel targets at odd distances from 200+ to 1100+ yards with first round hits. I just can't change firing positions, etc. and do it in a time box.
When I shot High Power I had to shoot Match Rifle since I did not have the vision to shoot Service Rifle. Trust me I really tried, even purchasing a used match prepped M1A (with the longer sight radius). I really wanted to go Distinguished and try for the President's 100. But it just wasn't in the cards. Even then there were some SR shooters who really did not like MR shooters being on the line. When F Class first started I was still shooting from a sling and it did not interest me since they originally used the same HP target as we did. It seemed too easy, basically an X count race. I still didn't care if they shot with us, the more the merrier. And some moved over to the sling. I can't shoot from a sling anymore after I damaged the nerves in my left elbow. Trust me, I'd love to try SR with a 4.5X scope. Not automagic but possible.....
It really got interesting IMO when they changed the F-Class target to be smaller/harder. Does F-Class remove some of the critical marksmanship mechanics when compared to sling shooting? Absolutely. But it redirects your focus to your rifle/load tune. I thought I understood precision handloading until I started shooting F-Class. When I was sling shooting I'd cut corners by saying "I can't hold that tight, so why bother?" (And results back then indicated that nothing was left on the table.) Now I'm no BR level handloader but I had to really improve my handloading game to get satisfactory F-Class results. And of course there is always the wind to deal with.
A new (secondary) interest of mine is RF Benchrest. Shot at 50 yards it is gangs of fun. Different but fun. I'm kinda distracted that you can't control your tune by handloading your match ammo. And to be able to shoot unlimited sighters in the middle of your scoring shots just seems crazy. But it definitely ain't easy, you have to change your thinking and strategy on match day.
So why all the hate? We hear that stuff everywhere else in our lives, can't we just enjoy the day and the company of other shooters?
For me it all started in a dark, dusty warehouse in Sasebo. Hey, I warned you that I had time on my hands...........
I started target rifle shooting in 7th grade, participating in a weekly NRA .22 youth league held in Sasebo, Japan where my Dad was stationed in the USN. The program was run by a Navy Captain and a Marine Major. I believe both were smallbore shooters in college. They built a 50 yard range inside an abandoned shipyard warehouse, piling sand to the ceiling on one end, held in place by old RR ties. It was pretty dark as they had to add lighting with limited resources. But we were very excited to have a place to shoot and learn 3 position. We would stop by the base Exchange every Friday on the way home from school and purchase two 50 round boxes of RF ammo to be ready for Sat. morning. They tracked progress with NRA classifications and medals which really motivated us. I still have those certificates and medals and they are as important to me as the ones I've received as an adult. Those two guys are gone now but I'll be forever grateful to them for starting me on this lifelong adventure.
Moving forward, I spent 20+ years shooting High Power XTC and LR, a bit of smallbore, some air rifle, a little bullseye pistol, a fair amount of USPSA pistol, plus 2 and 3 gun. PRS came late for me but I would have really enjoyed it if I still had the required mobility and stamina. Actually took a 2 day class and had to purchase a scope with hold over hashes, since all my scopes were target scopes. It was very gratifying to shoot 8 different steel targets at odd distances from 200+ to 1100+ yards with first round hits. I just can't change firing positions, etc. and do it in a time box.
When I shot High Power I had to shoot Match Rifle since I did not have the vision to shoot Service Rifle. Trust me I really tried, even purchasing a used match prepped M1A (with the longer sight radius). I really wanted to go Distinguished and try for the President's 100. But it just wasn't in the cards. Even then there were some SR shooters who really did not like MR shooters being on the line. When F Class first started I was still shooting from a sling and it did not interest me since they originally used the same HP target as we did. It seemed too easy, basically an X count race. I still didn't care if they shot with us, the more the merrier. And some moved over to the sling. I can't shoot from a sling anymore after I damaged the nerves in my left elbow. Trust me, I'd love to try SR with a 4.5X scope. Not automagic but possible.....
It really got interesting IMO when they changed the F-Class target to be smaller/harder. Does F-Class remove some of the critical marksmanship mechanics when compared to sling shooting? Absolutely. But it redirects your focus to your rifle/load tune. I thought I understood precision handloading until I started shooting F-Class. When I was sling shooting I'd cut corners by saying "I can't hold that tight, so why bother?" (And results back then indicated that nothing was left on the table.) Now I'm no BR level handloader but I had to really improve my handloading game to get satisfactory F-Class results. And of course there is always the wind to deal with.
A new (secondary) interest of mine is RF Benchrest. Shot at 50 yards it is gangs of fun. Different but fun. I'm kinda distracted that you can't control your tune by handloading your match ammo. And to be able to shoot unlimited sighters in the middle of your scoring shots just seems crazy. But it definitely ain't easy, you have to change your thinking and strategy on match day.
So why all the hate? We hear that stuff everywhere else in our lives, can't we just enjoy the day and the company of other shooters?
For me it all started in a dark, dusty warehouse in Sasebo. Hey, I warned you that I had time on my hands...........
As if a leather tourniquet on your arm and a fifteen pound coat are not "artificial".
Between how good a “John” or “Bob” can shoot versus how good can a certain bullet, cartridge, or gun shoot, it’s about a 1:10,000 ratio of what our passion expressed here in number of posts is all about.
But F-Class, now it lets the guns have their day in the sun. It’s not possible that we can all be the best, equal shooter. But it is very possible that we can all be great loaders and rifle designers, if we enjoy thinking this all through, and that constant scrum of equipment and skills being raced all the time keeps the ball moving forward.
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And a hat with a bill to the target, and an eyepatch banded and hermetically attached, if they were any more immobilized a pee collector would need to be included in the gear.
jelenko
Gold $$ Contributor
Right.
So, I wear mine all the time so it's become natural.
Seriously, it's hard to understand the line between artificial and not artificial.
Mic drop! End of discussion!
To this day my favorite match that i just went to watch.He said hell no watching sets up a 308 and bipod shot pretty good until his mirage shield got in front of the muzzle. Thanks Chris sorry about your shirt being shot up
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