New California LR Champion

[21shooter]

Congratulations Steve, Good shooting way to go!!!

John R Perkins

 

[Steve Blair]

Congratulations Steve, Good shooting way to go!!!

John R Perkins

[br]
Thanks, John. [br]
Shameless plug for John: All my cases were neck turned using the excellent 21st Century neck turning lathe. Using a two-pass approach, I am able to hold ±.0001" neck thickness. That is a big contributor to consistent, low ES figures.

 

[mattt]

Who won f/tr? With out f/tr shooters you might have not got 10 shooters to give you a trophy.

 

[Steve Blair]

Thanks very much. Win or not, it is a great range and club and I look forward to my next visit. Maybe the CA Palma after Berger SW Nationals?

 

[Steve Blair]

BTW, shoot in that "special" boil more often, OK?

[br]
That will give me nightmares for weeks. I hope to never see it again.

 

[M14AMU]

...who needs a scope!!!

The guys shooting at a 10 ring 1/4 the size!

Erik

We both know that 'target definition' means everything...whether or not shooting glass or aperture sights...right?? Current Palma competition target size is on a bull of 44" diameter with an inner ten ring measuring 20" diameter with the X ring at 10" diameter. Even though the black bullseye appears large in size.....the main reason the bull is 44" in diameter is for 'target definition' giving the iron sight/aperture shooter the ability for alignment of the sights. The 'glass shooters' targets do not offer the iron sight/aperture shooter a target large enough to attain adequate sighting alignment but I dare say that many Palma shooters that I know and have shot shoulder to shoulder with over the years would have the ability to be competitive on the scoring rings of the F Open target if the target were of adequate size and said shooters were allowed to compete with the same cartridges as utilized in current F Open class events! I've had the occasion recently to view some targets used in 600 yard Bench Rest events and the color of the bullseye used is what I refer to as a 'bastardized red', not black! An aperture shooter would go absolutely blind trying to use this color!

What say you sir?

 

[Steve Blair]

Sling shooting, either Match Rifle or Palma, is very different from F-Class, particularly F-Open. The sling shooter has a variety of parameters that must be juggled simultaneously. These include: breathing, position, hold, changing focus from the spotting scope to the sight and vice versa, sight picture, trigger control, windage clicks, etc. It is a true testament that shooters post the impressive scores commonly seen at tournaments. [br]
When I am shooting F-Open, I almost never think about my rifle unless to click 1/8 MOA for elevation and reposition on the rest after a shot. Otherwise, all my focus is on the target, mirage and flags. Unless the conditions are horrible, I do not use a spotting scope. The rifle has a 2 ounce trigger. When shooting well, all my shots are in a rectangle shorter than the X ring and within the 10 ring (or close) horizontally. That precision is not reasonable to expect from a sling position. So, the answer is no, I don't think a top sling shooter could be competitive, regardless of cartridge. That doesn't mean much because the two are completely different approaches to the same problem and each have a lot to recommend them. The F-Class target is right for that game, not for sling.

 

[DBailey]

Congratulations Steve, Good shooting!

 

[Erik Cortina]

...who needs a scope!!!

The guys shooting at a 10 ring 1/4 the size!

Erik

We both know that 'target definition' means everything...whether or not shooting glass or aperture sights...right?? Current Palma competition target size is on a bull of 44" diameter with an inner ten ring measuring 20" diameter with the X ring at 10" diameter. Even though the black bullseye appears large in size.....the main reason the bull is 44" in diameter is for 'target definition' giving the iron sight/aperture shooter the ability for alignment of the sights. The 'glass shooters' targets do not offer the iron sight/aperture shooter a target large enough to attain adequate sighting alignment but I dare say that many Palma shooters that I know and have shot shoulder to shoulder with over the years would have the ability to be competitive on the scoring rings of the F Open target if the target were of adequate size and said shooters were allowed to compete with the same cartridges as utilized in current F Open class events! I've had the occasion recently to view some targets used in 600 yard Bench Rest events and the color of the bullseye used is what I refer to as a 'bastardized red', not black! An aperture shooter would go absolutely blind trying to use this color!

What say you sir?

I have never shot sling, so this is only a SWAG, but I do not think they would be competitive shooting at the same small target used in F-Class.

Sling shooters might be able to hang in there in calm conditions, but I think the ability to shoot fast for a F-Class shooter would have the advantage in switchy conditions.

 

[NateG]

I have never shot sling, so this is only a SWAG, but I do not think they would be competitive shooting at the same small target used in F-Class.

Sling shooters might be able to hang in there in calm conditions, but I think the ability to shoot fast for a F-Class shooter would have the advantage in switchy conditions.

I'm a sling shooter... and a very good sling shooter can, on occasion, be competitive on the F-class target. For example, this weekend at Bridgeville at 600 yards, the top two sling shooters (both Palma rifles) had a 600-43X and a 598-45X (both would be a 583 on the F-class target: sling score minus total number of shots out of the X-ring) and as it happened, the winning F/TR score was also a 583. (Palma rifles, under my understanding of the rules, meet the definition of F/TR)

As far as staying with the F-class shooters... if it's calm (or a very readable day), then the advantage of a reduced shot dispersion favors F-class markedly. If it's a very tough wind day, then the F-class advantages of smaller call radius, faster shooting, and the ability to see mirage right up until the shot breaks trump again.

But, on a challenging-but-not-too-much wind day, a particularly good sling shooter (who's also a good wind reader) has the best chance to come out on top. The wind reading skill can be enough to offset the holding/etc. advantages.

I shoot my Palma gun as an F-class gun (sling and irons) reasonably frequently. (I actually really like shooting on the F-class target) When the wind's calm I usually finish the farthest back. When it's really hard, I do better, but when it's merely tough, I tend to have the best results--winning one this year and coming close a few times.