New Texas matches

[Mega]

Les and Anthony have been very helpful in this endeavor.

Yes, they are the main guys for the Web Site and Forum. Both put a huge effort into not only that but submissions / suggestions etc to the main controlling body which I think is the Benchrest Committee of the SSAA. I'm not really into the politics of the whole show, just used to really enjoy my weekends away and shooting with a terrific bunch of guys / gals and the kids and boy some of the kids can really shoot extremely well. The juniors (under 18 I think) get great mentions when they attend and it's great to see their great interest in these events. Especially the 200 Yard Rimfire Fly events.

Les and Anthony are the ones to help you sort out the details for your event and I suppose any diversion from our setup.

Muzzle Brakes are a real issue over here with most ranges and competitions not allowing them. Non competition general range use those that do allow muzzle brakes usually send those shooters down the end of the benches away from anyone else. Personally if I was setup next to a bench using a brake I'd pack up and go home. Yes, I do have a couple (clamp on) but haven't used them for years. Don't think I've ever seen a rifle used where the brake has been covered over for use in a competition.

Another category of Fly Shooting is the "Factory Class" at 300 Metres and gets pretty good interest for those that want to use their favourite varminting / hunting rifle if it complies to the rules set by the club running the event.

Yep, the colours of the fly target are part of the challenge when conditions aren't perfect. That orange (red) on yellow at distance really puts the pressure on when conditions aren't so flash and heavy mirage really turns it into more of a guessing game, perhaps the real challenge to skills reading the range. The big "V" does help finding a centre.

I'm sure you all will have a great time and hope it grows in interest over there.

 

[mikecockcroft]

I only have three of the official Fly targets so I have been hesitant to shoot them. But I think I may go out to my range this afternoon and hang one at 500 meters and look at it thru scope. I'm sure mirage will he heavy today as the humidity is very high. Wanting to know how hard it is to see scoring rings and discern center of target. Curious to see what the big V looks like at distance.

 

[comagutsa]

haha yeah once heavy mirage comes in you wont even see they fly and you just go off your sighter plate , but everyone is in the same boat, the V helps in this instant and ya just hope they are going where they hit on the sighter plate

 

[JoeDuke]

Mike, how did the target look today? It couldn't be much worse than when we shot 300 yard NBRSA score at Larry Deese's range about a month ago. Couldn't see bullet holes. Couldn't see scoring rings. Just the big outside ring.
If this takes off, I may have to build a light gun.
Joe

 

[mikecockcroft]

Didn't make it to range today. Had a pallet of fertilizer to put out before it rains. Will make it tomorrow.
In left handed rifles, my 6brdx will make light and my right handed 6 br will too.
I still have the left right stiller python you found for me. It has a magnum bolt. Wish I could find a .473 left hand bolt for it. Rebarrel it in 260 AI and have another light gun with a little more bullet then the 6
You know how long I have wanted to start this fly match. Hope the interest is there.

 

[JoeDuke]

I may be sorely tempted to put a grinch barrel on my bench rest rifle. It ts a panda ppc boltface.

 

[mikecockcroft]

http://www.500mflyshooter.com.au/index.cfm/forum/

Join Joe duke and I on the Aussie Fly shooting forum. They are very helpful with information and are looking forward to the match too.

Link above gets you there. Only takes a minute to sign up. They will answer questions and give advice on match tactics

 

[Kings X]

Thanks for putting this together. Sounds like fun.
Keep us informed.

 

[mikecockcroft]

Your welcome. Looking forward to September 23

 

[Darrel Martin]

Looking over this thread and the Australian forum,I think we are going to need a break in the mirage to match their targets and records. I see some pretty good shooting.
Sure will be fun to try.In my own back yard no less. Canberra would be a long drive, I think that is over in far south west Texas, well past Utopia and Sabinal.
In our Texas sized mirage , I think we should be allowed a Texas horsefly on the target.Not a real big one , you know ,just big enough so that we could hold him down and paint that V on his side.

 

[X-Caveman]

Looking over this thread and the Australian forum,I think we are going to need a break in the mirage to match their targets and records. I see some pretty good shooting.
Sure will be fun to try.In my own back yard no less. Canberra would be a long drive, I think that is over in far south west Texas, well past Utopia and Sabinal.
In our Texas sized mirage , I think we should be allowed a Texas horsefly on the target.Not a real big one , you know ,just big enough so that we could hold him down and paint that V on his side.

I agree. It's tough to see a 6mm impact on steel at 600 at Pine Valley. We'll figure it out though.

 

[Mega]

Remember, you can have a "Spotter" sitting beside you at the bench during the event. Not that I've ever seen the advantage, maybe I'm usually too nervous or just don't want the distraction of someone talking to me whilst I'm shooting... But, many do to help with a different focal distance to watch the Mirage and/or Wind Flags and save you some mental space. I am by no means an expert shot compared to a lot of others that compete in the 500M Fly over here. There has been some discussion on the 500 M Fly Forum over here on what a "Spotter" can do or cannot do in all fairness to the sport. Some of that discussion I believe is being written into the next set of rules to clarify some points, call it fair play.

The times I have had a Mate beside me we used a "Score Plate" being a centre piece of a fly target glued to a metal plate and magnetic pins numbered to show the shot placement. The spotter has far more time to be looking through either his own scoped rifle or using a spotting scope to concentrate on looking for your shot landing on the target even in heavy mirage, just a few seconds that dark mark might appear and he can mark it on the score plate then hole it up in your own line of sight without distracting you. Other times we just look at each other and say "no idea" but it might be marked at a later stage...maybe.

I don't think I have ever missed seeing a shot on the steel plate (painted white) as it leaves quite a large black mark, well using 6.5 calibre and most times even the person beside me on the next bench from memory using a 6mm Dasher or 6mm BR. Shots on the steel plate, yes but many times no clue where the shots landed on the actual target other than looking at it when it turns up posted on the whaling board and you sometimes say, wow, not what I was expecting to see be it good and/or bad.

Saying all this, the most common Scope used would have to be a 12-42x56mm Nightforce BR and sometimes that is wound back in magnification. Some very fancy Spotting Scopes on the line. My favourite scope would have to be the 8-80x56mm March-X closely followed by the 5-50x56mm March-X and/or the 10-60x52mm March-X..have not looked through the latest offerings of March Competition or even the newer Nightforce Competition series. All impressive.

Some I have seen use far less powerful scopes but they are at a loss in my view especially setting up and trying to get on target asking others if they can see any mark / hole in their target.

All this thinking, might have to go move some livestock on the weekend so I can have a play at home since it's winter and lovely freezing cold wild frosty mornings with no breeze.

 

[barnjoer]

Anybody close to Abilene or San Angelo TX.??

 

[mikecockcroft]

Tad Emert is in Water Valley and has a range that goes to 1000 and also comes to Pine Valley to shoot.
Dennis Reed, Lance Modawell are in San Angelo and shoot with us

 

[comagutsa]

I agree. It's tough to see a 6mm impact on steel at 600 at Pine Valley. We'll figure it out though.

nah its easy to see white or yellow paint on steel shows up 6mm easy even in heavy mirage
most of our shoots we always get mirage in from 2nd or 3rd round, just have to back the scope off from 55 power but never really gone below 20 power but you wont see your holes then but a trick is, one shot on steel plate, then 2 or 3 into target, 1 back on steel to see if impact has moved then 1 or 2 back on target, 1 back on plate then last shot on target, this way you pick up any condition changes you might not see

 

[Darrel Martin]

Mike and I took one of the targets out to the range on Sunday afternoon when the sun was really bright and the mirage was running. I was looking through a NF competition . As expected the fly and score rings were not visible when mirage was at it's worst.When a cloud came by, the fly and rings appear. We did not shoot the targets as there are no spares.The dark part of the V will be very useful. Going to be fun and challenging.

 

[mikecockcroft]

Targets ordered from printer and Travis has the sighter plates in production. Working on a few rule details with the Aussies then I will send out registration packets to those on my email list and attach them to a post here. Going thru match calendar to set up practice days now.
Some guys seem to be getting hung up about gun weight. Worried about rifle weighing over 17 pounds and being in heavy class. Not sure why this is a sticking point. I really doubt we will see a rifle weighing over 29 pounds (only a few I know of) and most heavy guns will probably weigh from 19 to 22 pounds in my opinion. This match seems to have a weight class structure that fits in very well with the "clay bird" rifles we use, F class, nbrsa and ibs.
A 17# dasher or brx should do quite well.
While I was typing this I decided to go weigh some of my rifles so see where my rifles would be classed. I haven't worried about weight in the past because the matches I normally attend do not have weight classes or restrictions.
6BRDX 16-10 oz
6Br 16-4 oz
260AI 21-7 oz
6.5-284 21-3 oz
7mm mag 16-9 oz

Anyone wanting to be added to my email list please send email to mike at cockcroftconstruction dot com

 

[RWilson]

Checked local weather for 08/21/2017 in Canberra, Australia @ 12:30 PM AEST. Temp 55, High 60, Wind 3MPH WNW, 43% Humidity,BP 30.07", Visibility 8 MI. A little different than what we were experiencing last Saturday. Sounds like pretty good shooting weather to me... Looks like they may have a weather advantage on us.
Does anyone have the GPS coordinates for the Canberra range?

 

[RWilson]

You can pull up Canberra Rifle Range by searching "Majura rifle range Canberra ACT" in google maps or google earth.