New Mid-Range Game for AR's in 2016
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At our first match we had two people shoot the AR class. One was a 12 year old grand daughter of one of our F-class shooters and the other was a gentlemen brand new to the sport. You may have people start gaming it with cartridges but since its provisional and there is currently no place to take it (i.e. a National Championship) then doing that would be rather pointless. My brother and I gave thought to having his daughter (8) shoot it this year, but she'll probably just shoot f-class till she can sling up on a rifle. I tend to think that people will migrate from this into f-class personally more than sling as it is more similar but they may not since SR now is allowed to shoot with a scope.
Couple of issues we had is the f-class shooters weren't use to having brass kicked on them (since the AR guys were squaded down on that end) and two of the rifles flash hiders were thought to be muzzle breaks. However one guy did show up with a break on.
Couple of issues we had is the f-class shooters weren't use to having brass kicked on them (since the AR guys were squaded down on that end) and two of the rifles flash hiders were thought to be muzzle breaks. However one guy did show up with a break on.
That brass slinging will get their attention. I never mind the flash holders but some brakes are a booger.
Greg
How has this "Mid-range Tactical AR" thing worked out? See the last post was just over a year ago. DOA?
Jdne5b
Gold $$ Contributor
Fairly popular at our local club. At least 4 guys built rifles just for it.
We had our first match 600 yard of the year. Of 15 shooters, 5 shot tactical. And of those 5 shooters, 4 were new. There was a lot of excitement with that group and they commented on how much fun it was. I noticed there was 6.5 grendel and .223 on the line. The set ups were factory up to custom to personal taste
What I saw Saturday was flexibility for someone who wants to run bare bones lead slingers or the guy that loves the quirky approach.
There are many ways to look at what rules do what or don't do. The end results is new shooters may get bitten by the shooting bug. Heaven knows all of us need stronger membership. My association has embraced this new opportunity and look forward to having full relays if it goes well.
What I saw Saturday was flexibility for someone who wants to run bare bones lead slingers or the guy that loves the quirky approach.
There are many ways to look at what rules do what or don't do. The end results is new shooters may get bitten by the shooting bug. Heaven knows all of us need stronger membership. My association has embraced this new opportunity and look forward to having full relays if it goes well.
It was becoming quite popular at Mill Creek Rifle Club, DeSoto KS before I moved to Texas in June. There were usually 6-8 competitors out of ~30 shooters shooting F Class or sling prone at 3x20 @. 500. I was able to achieve Master classification by the end of '16. I went back full bore into F Open Mid Range this year though.
I believe the biggest challenges are: 1) to get clubs to accept the format, 2) incorporate competitors into the prone & F Class matches, 3) and for shooters to actually abide by the rules instead of 'gaming' them.
White Oak's new 20" match uppers are perfect for AR tactical competition. I've used both a AR15 & AR10 uppers using the White Oak A4 with Mk7 rail as well as an AR10 National Match upper in competition. .308 definitely has an edge over .223, but the shooter has to meet weight limits. 12x provides for a slight edge over the more common 10x riflescopes. I like AR Tactical because one can use techniques and equipment from multiple disciplines in shooting it. Conventional wisdom characterizes it as an entry point into high power. I believe it is the most relevant of all disciplines, and having shot it know that it has a character all its own, very much enjoyable in its own right.
I can say it has a small loyal following at my club after supporting it this season. We have added 3-4 shooters that show up regularly. This is 3-4 more than we had before. I shoot it once. Had a bunch of fun. I get so wrapped up in the ftr compitition that I forget I can have fun. The shooters we have seen was just word of mouth, no active recruiting.
As far as equipment. I have been allowing suppressors to shoot. It seems the 6.5 grendel and 223 are the most popular calibers. If the NRA does make it official and does not allow suppressors, I'll continue to allow them to shoot, just won't turn the score (no classification) in and they cannot win the match.
Will it die? Don't know, wish i knew what the NRA was thinking. I hope it doesn't. But if the NRA does pull the plug, I will continue to support it at the club. I would encourage you to build the rig and shoot it. That's the only way you can prove is worth keeping .
I don't see this as a gateway to sling or F class at this point. It seems the guys that like it want more of it. I think this will get bigger if the NRA stays behind it. I like the rules as they are. Why complicate the situation? We have a perfectly good squirrel hunt going, no need to turn it into a safari.
The whole point of this exercise was to get the many AR15 safe queen's onto the range and there are a bazillion of them. Sadly, NRA misconstrued the original intent and made the average .223 AR15 non-competitive against the ballistically superior AR10's in .243, 6.5x08, 6,5Creed and 7/08. Oh well.....
memilanuk
Gold $$ Contributor
Question for those of you at ranges where this style of shooting (mid-range Prone AR 'tactical') is more common: how strictly are the MDs interpreting the scope magnification limit (current rules show it as 15x)?
Are they saying the scope can't physically be capable of more than 15x, period... i.e. a 4.5-18x or 6.5-20x is a no-go, or are they simply making the shooters keep it at 15x or less?
If they are allowing the shooter to just dial it down, are they trusting the 'honor' system, or doing something like putting a strip of tape around the power ring to help encourage people to not touch it during the match?
Are they saying the scope can't physically be capable of more than 15x, period... i.e. a 4.5-18x or 6.5-20x is a no-go, or are they simply making the shooters keep it at 15x or less?
If they are allowing the shooter to just dial it down, are they trusting the 'honor' system, or doing something like putting a strip of tape around the power ring to help encourage people to not touch it during the match?
Stumpy1
Gold $$ Contributor
I can't speak for anyone else, but the honor system works at my range. If anyone gets wound up, I would go to taping the power ring, but so far no issues or complaints.
Frank
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